What is CLAT Full Form? Eligibility Criteria, Syllabus, TOP NLUs, Other details
Common Law Admission Test 2026 ( CLAT )
Counselling - 22 Jan '26 - 29 Jan '26
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 Yesterday
NLU Assam CLAT Cutoff 2026 has been released till round 2 for admission to BA LLB (Hons) and LLM courses for various categories under both the All India and Home State quota.
For the SC AI category, the round closing ranks ranged between 4884 and 11777, for the LLM and BA LLB (Hons) courses, respect
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
NLU Assam CLAT Cutoff 2026 has been released till round 2 for admission to BA LLB (Hons) and LLM courses for various categories under both the All India and Home State quota.
For the SC AI category, the round closing ranks ranged between 4884 and 11777, for the LLM and BA LLB (Hons) courses, respect
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
The NLU Assam CLAT Cutoff 2026 was released for admission to BA LLB (Hons) and LLM courses. The cutoff was released in the form of opening and closing ranks for both the All India and Home State quota till round 2.
For the SC AI category, the round cutoff ranged between 11777 and 4884 for the BA LLB
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
NLU Aurangabad CLAT Cutoff 2026 was released for admission to the BBA LLB (Hons), LLM and BA LLB (Hons) courses for various categories under the All India and Home State quota.
For the PWD HS category, the BA LLB (Hons) course had a cutoff of 42450 in round 2. To know more details, students can clic
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
The MNLU Nagpur LLM Cutoff 2026 was released for various categories under the All India quota till round 2 as of now. Further rounds are expected to be released soon.
In the meantime, according to the General AI category cutoff in round 2, the LLM course and its various specialisations had a cutoff
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
The NLU Mumbai CLAT cutoff 2026 has been released till round 2 for admission to the BA LLB (Hons) and LLM courses for various categories under both the All India and Home State quota.
Students can refer to the table below to know the round 1 and round 2 cutoff ranks for the BA LLB (Hons) course for
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
The NLU Ranchi CLAT cutoff 2026 was released for all categories till round 2 for the All India quota.
For the OBC AI category, the cutoff for round 2 ranged from 2456 to 2761 for admission to BA LLB (Hons), LLM and BBA LLB (Hons) course. Among all three, LLM course and its various specialisations w
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
NLU Odisha accepts the CLAT cutoff ranks for admission to the LLM and the BA LLB (Hon) course. The NLU Odisha CLAT cutoff 2026 was released for all categories under the All India quota till round 2.
Students can refer to the table below to know the round 1 and round 2 cutoff for the General AI categ
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
The NLU Patiala CLAT Cutoff 2026 was released till round 2 for admission to UG and PG level law courses for various categories under the All India quota.
For the SC AI category, the cutoff for the BA LLB (Hons) course was 9650 in the 2nd round. On the other hand for the LLM course and its variou spe
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
The NLU Lucknow CLAT Cutoff 2026 was released till round 2 for all categories under the All India quota. For the PWD AI category, the round 2 for the BA LLB (Hons) course was 16485. On the other hand, for the LLM course, the cutoff was 5286. Students can click here to know the round 1 and round NLU
N
Contributor-Level 10
CLAT Notifications
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.