What is CLAT Full Form? Eligibility Criteria, Syllabus, TOP NLUs, Other details
Common Law Admission Test 2026 ( CLAT )
The CLAT exam is conducted for admission to 24 NLUs for UG courses and 21 NLUs for PG courses. Apart from the NLUs in India, there are 61 other private affiliated colleges that considers CLAT Scores and several PSUs that accept it for recruitment. Read further to know the CLAT exam date, application process, and other important details.
What is CLAT Full Form? Eligibility Criteria, Syllabus, Participating Universities, other details
CLAT Full Form: The Consortium of Law Universities (NLUs) conducts a national-level law entrance exam called CLAT. The full form of CLAT is the Common Law Admission Test. CLAT is conducted for admission to 5-year integrated LLB (UG) and one-year LLM (PG) courses. The exam is conducted for admission to 24 NLUs for UG courses and 21 NLUs for PG courses. Apart from the NLUs in India, 61 other private affiliated colleges consider CLAT Scores and several PSUs accept it for recruitment.
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CLAT Exam Date 2026 was December 7, 2025. The Consortium released the CLAT Provisional Answer Key 2026 PDF on December 10, 2025. The CLAT Final Answer Key has been released on December 16. Candidates can expect the result announcement anytime soon on the website. Read further to know more about CLAT in depth.
If the candidates is not satisfied with the CLAT seat allotment result, they can either accept or opt for upgradingt the college alloted. The Freeze option is used by candidates to confirm their choice of NLU. Apply for upgrade option is used when candidates want to change the allotted institute to his or her higher choice (upward shifting).
Yes, with a CLAT Rank of 1500, you have a very good chance of getting into several good NLUs. Some fo the NLU where your chances are high are NLIU Bhopal or NLU Jodhpur.
- CLAT Important Dates 2026
- CLAT Participating Universities
- CLAT Highlights
- CLAT Exam Full: Syllabus
- CLAT Exam Pattern
CLAT Important Dates 2026
Check the CLAT exam dates below
There is no restriction as such for the CLAT exam. Thus, one can give CLAT any number of times they want to. Candidates should not feel bad if they are not able to clear the CLAT exam in first time.
No you can not get admission to 24 participating NLUs without clearing CLAT Exam. For admission to NLU Delhi, you need to clear AILET Exam.
| Event |
Dates |
|---|---|
| CLAT 2026 exam day |
07-Dec-2025 |
| CLAT 2026 Admit Card |
22-Nov-2025 |
| CLAT 2026 Application Date |
01-Aug-2025 to 31-Oct-2025 |
| CLAT 2026 Answer Key |
10-Dec-2025 |
| Official CLAT Final Answer Key 2026 |
16-Dec-2025 |
| Declaration of CLAT 2026 results |
Expected Soon |
Also Read:
CLAT Participating Universities
Every year, 24 NLUs participate in the counselling and seat allotment process of the CLAT exam for UG and PG course admission. Here's the list of NLUs for CLAT exam:
| CLAT participating National Law Universities (NLUs) |
|
|---|---|
| National Academy of Legal Study & Research (NALSAR) University of Law, Hyderabad |
|
| The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata |
National Law Institute University, Bhopal |
| Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur |
|
| Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow |
|
| Chanakya National Law University Patna |
|
| National Law University Odisha, Cuttack |
|
| National Law University & Judicial Academy, Assam |
|
| Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University (DSNLU) Visakhapatnam |
The Tamil Nadu National Law School, Tiruchirapalli |
| Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur |
|
| Himachal Pradesh National Law University, Shimla |
|
| Dr B R Ambedkar National Law University Sonipat, Haryana |
|
| NLU Tripura |
|
CLAT Highlights
Every year, some of the key details of the CLAT exam remain the same, including exam mode, pattern, syllabus, marking scheme, etc. CLAT 2026 can be understood from the table given below, which also carries details of CLAT important dates 2026
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Name of the exam | Common Law Admission Test |
| Popularly known as | CLAT |
| Conducting body | The Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) |
| Exam Level | National-level exam |
| Exam Purpose | CLAT is conducted for:
|
| Application Fee | INR 4,000 for General/ OBC category, INR 3500 for all other reserved categories |
| Question Paper Language | English |
| Exam mode | Pen-and-paper exam |
| Exam duration | Two hours |
| Number of seats | For UG courses - 3, 213 and for PG courses - 1,217 (Not including sponsored, supernumerary, NRI, and extra seats.) To read more about CLAT score accepting institutes - Click Here |
| Accepting colleges |
24 participating NLUs, and 61 private law colleges
|
| Top-ranked participating NLU |
Here are top-ranking participating NLUs as per NIRF Ranking 2022
|
| Exam helpdesk number | 08047162020 |
| Official website | https://clatconsortiumofnlu.ac.in/ |
CLAT Exam Full: Syllabus
Before starting your preparation, the first thing you should do is go through the CLAT syllabus carefully.
UG Syllabus CLAT
Take a look at the syllabus and weightage for CLAT UG as mentioned in the table below:
| Subjects | Topics | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Current Affairs, including GK |
|
35 - 39 marks |
| English |
|
28 - 32 marks |
| Logical Reasoning |
|
28 - 32 marks |
| Quantitative Techniques |
|
13 - 17 marks |
| Legal Reasoning |
|
35 - 39 marks |
CLAT LLM Syllabus - Section-Wise Weightage
Check the table below for more details on LLM syllabus for CLAT:
| CLAT LLM Sections | Main Topics | Marks Per Section |
|---|---|---|
| Sec A – Constitutional Law |
|
120 |
| Sec B - Contract, Torts, Criminal Law, International Law, IPR and Jurisprudence |
|
|
| Sec C – Law topics and Contemporary issues | Important constitutional and legislative provisions, recent judgments, historical case law and amendments, legal issues and facts. |
CLAT Exam Pattern
CLAT exam is held in pen-and-paper mode at various exam centres in the country. Read key points related to the exam pattern below.
| CLAT Exam Pattern | ||
|---|---|---|
| Features | 5-Year LLB | 3-Year LLB |
| Exam mode | Pen-and-paper mode | Pen-and-paper mode |
| Exam duration | 2 hours | 2 hours |
| Type of questions | Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs) | Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs) |
| Total questions | 150 questions | 120 questions |
| Maximum marks | 150 marks | 120 marks |
| Marking scheme |
|
|
| Test language | English | English |
While the candidates who are aiming to crack CLAT 2026 must be in preparation mode. They must have a strategy for effective preparation and best results. Those who are still wondering how to prepare for CLAT can plan it as under:
- Make an effective preparation plan
- Have a subject-wise approach
- Get all the prep material based on the exam pattern & syllabus of CLAT
- Cross-check and practise previous year papers for CLAT (past 3 years are relevant as per the new pattern)
- Take CLAT Mock Test 2026/ CLAT sample papers 2026 to improve test-taking skills and performance
The effective strategy for CLAT 2026 will help ensure result-oriented performance, which is to score above cutoff marks.
Also Read:
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 9 hours ago
Candidates must understand that the CLAT Exam is for admission to NLUs and it is national level competitve exam. But AIL LET Exam is for one specific college. It is completly a personal choice to choose.
N
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 9 hours ago
The AIL LET Exam is comparatively easier than the CLAT. While CLAT is held for NLUs, the AIL LET Exam is only for Army Institute of Law. Hence, the competition and difficutly level is bit less.
M
Contributor-Level 7
Answered Yesterday
The Chanakya National Law University Patna BA LLB (hons) cutoff trend has shown an increase in competition for admissions. The BA LLB (hons) admission cutoff has seen a small increase which might be the result of either better CLAT-UG scores than the previous year or more applicants for BA LLB (hons
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
Candidates with a high score in CLAT may be preferred for selection in BA LLB at Ramaiah College of Law. But if you qualify the eligibility criteria and clear all the rounds of the selection process, you may get a seat at Ramaiah College of Law without appearing for CLAT.
S
Beginner-Level 5
Answered Yesterday
Candidates with a high score in CLAT may be preferred for selection in BA LLB at Ramaiah College of Law. But if you qualify the eligibility criteria and clear all the rounds of the selection process, you may get a seat at Ramaiah College of Law without appearing for CLAT.
S
Beginner-Level 5
Answered Yesterday
No, the CLAT-UG has been concluded for the 2026 Chanakya Law University Patna BBA LLB admissions. Candidates who are interested in applying for the aforementioned course are now required to wait for CLAT 2027 to begin. The CLAT-UG registrations generally begin in the month of August.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
Yes, the CLAT-UG is a mandatory entrance exam for Chanakya National Law University Patna BBA LLB (hons) admissions. There are no other entrance exams that are accepted by Chanakya National Law University Patna for deciding the admissions to its BBA LLB (hons) course.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
Both exams are national level. While AIBE is a certification exam, CLAT is an entrance exam to get admission into NLUs. The difficulty level of both the exams are more or less same.
N
Contributor-Level 7
Answered Yesterday
- Go to consortiumofnlus.ac.in.
- Enter your registered mobile number and password.
- Click on the Login button.
- Click on the Download Admit Card.
M
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 2 days ago
The Allahabad HC has ordered that Question No. 9 of Booklet C (and its equivalent questions across all sets) be re-evaluated by treating both options 'B' and 'D' as correct answers. The revised CLAT Score 2026 shall not affect candidates who have already been allotted seats in Round 1 of CLAT UG 202
Contributor-Level 10
In order to know if you are eligible or not check the official notification and the eligibility criteria. There is no other way to check the the eligibility criteria. Do not fill the form without checking the eligibility criteria.