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.
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.
- 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
| 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:
Commonly asked questions
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.
The Consortium will release atleast five merit list to complete the admission process through CLAT Score. However, the number of merit list might change in case of some discrepancy in answer key or result.
Candidates can apply for CLAT Exam by visiting consortiumofnlus.ac.in. Candidates must check the eligibility criteria before applying. CLAT Admission Process is completely online and no offline form will be accepted.
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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.
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered Yesterday
For CLAT 2026 Category 1 students (General/OBC/PwD/NRI/PIO/OCI), the fee structure has three main components:
CLAT 2026 Fee Structure for Category 1
1. Exam Registration Fee
- ₹4,000 (without question papers)
- ₹4,500 (with question papers)
- Payment via online modes (credit/debit card, net banking, UPI).
2. C
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
Yes, you can join the BBA LLB programme in Amrita International School of Law without CLAT exam. If you have a valid AILET score, you can submit it for admission. Else you can appear for Amrita Law Admission Test (AmLAT).
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
Yes, you can join Amrita International School of Law without CLAT exam. If you have a valid AILET score, you can submit it for BA LLB admission. Otherwise, you can appear for Amrita Law Admission Test (AmLAT).
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
Both the Andhra Pradesh LAWCET and CLAT entrance exam are conducted for admission to the Law schools in India, however, the syllabus for these exams are different on many parameters and candidates should strategise differently for both the exams. Andhra Pradesh LAWCET exam has sections including Cur
R
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
No, CLAT is not compulsory to take admission in Ishaan Institute of Law. The institute offers admission into the courses such as LLB, BA LLB and LLM based on the merit achieved by the candidates in their last qualifying exam. Application process is compulsory and it can be conducted online/offline.
R
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 3 weeks ago
You can find it on many platforms, such as Lawprep Tutorial and Shiksha itself, but I'm a Law Prep student, and I found their format of solutions better.
P
Beginner-Level 1
Answered a month ago
The charges for CLAT registration are 4000 Rs. for General/OBC/PWD/NRI/PIO/OCI candidates. While its Rs. 3,500 for SC/ST/BPL candidates. Candidates have options like UPI, Credit Card, Debit Card & Net Banking when it comes to paying for the same.
Read more
D
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
Based on recent CLAT analyses, the English Language and General Knowledge & Current Affairs sections were rated as the easiest. English is more about reading comprehension with direct questions. GK is highly scoring for those with consistent, up-to-date daily news preparation.
M
Contributor-Level 8
Answered a month ago
The CLAT exam for both undergraduate and postgraduate courses will be held for 2 hours. There will be 120 MCQs. The total number of sections in the question paper will be five.
D
Contributor-Level 8
Law Education & Competitive Exams Content Specialist
Role: Senior Content Writer, Shiksha.com
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