Experts’ Speak: What is the Revised Exam Pattern for CLAT 2020?

By: Abhishek Vikram

The revised examination pattern for CLAT emphasises on taking those aspirants who have developed reading habits and inferential reasoning skills.

The CLAT consortium has decided to revise the examination pattern of Common Law Admission Test with effect from 2020. The main reason that has been given in support for the revision is that the new pattern will reduce the stress level among the aspirants and will be a more practical approach of testing them since solving 100 questions in one hour seems impractical.

The major changes that have been introduced are:

• The number of questions shall be 150, instead of 200.
• The sections of the examination paper shall remain the same, i.e. General English, General Knowledge, Legal Aptitude, Mathematics, and Quantitative Reasoning.
• The mathematical problems and quantitative reasoning questions shall be of Class 10th standard.
• Comprehension-based questions will form a major part of the paper as per the revised examination pattern.

Impact on Aspirants

There is going to be a huge impact on the aspirants due to the change in the examination pattern. Since the number of questions has been reduced from 200 to 150, the aspirants will now have more time per question. However, this will come with a higher level of questions in the examination, which might make it somewhat difficult for the aspirants. While some sections will have a high impact on the aspirants due to this change in examination pattern, the others might not, to keep the level of the examination fairly moderate.

English

In the English section, the questions will now require regular usage of words for the aspirants to be able to solve them. If the aspirants turn up at the examination centre only by mugging the words up, they're going to be at a disadvantage for sure. Also, the aspirants who have developed a habit of reading will be at an advantage due to the revised examination pattern of CLAT 2020.

Current Affairs

The current affairs section has also been revised and comprehension based questions have been included in the revised pattern. Therefore, the questions will now require more time to be solved as the clubbing of 3-4 questions in one has been done. However, the candidates will also be able to find clues, if they have the appropriate knowledge to solve the questions they have no clue about.

Quantitative Reasoning

This section is now expected to be a highly scoring section for the CLAT 2020 aspirants. They can now afford to spend 10 minutes or so in this section and easily solve 5-6 questions, which would turn out to be a differentiator in the examination. The level of questions has gone from mathematical to logical, and the aspirants having fair reasoning skills can score well in this section.

Logical Reasoning

This section has minimal impact on the revision of the CLAT examination pattern. The type of questions is going to be more or less similar, and therefore, the amount of time and practice shall remain the same. However, a good practice might prove out to be useful since the level of questions might go up in the exam.

Legal Aptitude

One of the most important sections is that of legal reasoning. Once the aspirants are through this section, they will get to know that the questions in this section are based on legal principles and terms but no legal knowledge is required to solve them. Only a logical and rational thinking is required, which shall come only by regular practice of the questions. This section shall remain as it was in the previous patterns of the examination.

 Mathematics

The mathematical problems are surely going to have an impact on the examination as the level of questions is expected to go up by at least one level. However, with the average time per question being increased, this should not remain a concern for the aspirants.

Importance of Revised Exam Pattern

Due to the revision in the exam pattern, the aspirants will now be able to spend more time per question, which will enable them to score more marks by attempting more questions correctly. Also, due to more time available per question, the aspirants will have less pressure than they had to face in the previous examinations.

The revised CLAT 2020 pattern also provides for the better self-assessment of the aspirants, and they can use a better strategy for their preparation. They can get to know their strong and weak points easily as well.

Evaluation Criteria for Revised Exam Pattern

The CLAT 2020 examination pattern includes five different sections with the marks distributed roughly for each of the five sections. The English Language and Logical Reasoning sections will hold a weightage of 20% each, whereas the General Knowledge and Legal Aptitude sections will hold a 25% weightage each. 10% weightage shall be held by the Quantitative Reasoning section. The revised examination pattern for CLAT emphasises on taking those aspirants who have developed reading habits and inferential reasoning skills.

About the Author:

Abhishek Vikram is an alumnus of the Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar, pursuing B.Com LL.B. He has a keen interest in Indian History & Polity. In his free time, he likes to read books and watch movies.