All About CLAT (Common Law Entrance Test): Eligibility | Pattern | FAQs

All About CLAT (Law): The Common Law Entrance Test (CLAT) is a national-level entrance exam. It is conducted for admissions into the undergraduate and post-graduate programs in NLUs (National Law Universities) which have top law colleges around the country. CLAT is conducted by The Consortium of National Law Universities. 

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All About CLAT: Eligibility

Following is the eligibility criteria for appearing in the CLAT examination:

• Age: There is no age limit for this exam.
• Academic qualification: The candidate should have passed class 12th from a recognized board. Students from any stream, be it science, arts or commerce can take this exam.

CLAT exam is of two categories:

• CLAT PG: It is conducted for admission in post-graduate law courses and can be taken after graduation.
• CLAT UG: It is conducted for admission in undergraduate law courses and can be taken after class 12th. This article will focus on CLAT UG.

Alternative Law Exams List

Apart from NLUs, some other renowned universities accept scores of exams other than the Common Law Entrance Test. For example, Delhi University conducts the entrance examination for Law UG. The candidates are advised to know about these exams also. The pattern and syllabus for all of these law examinations in similar to CLAT. So, it is better if you take these examinations also.

These alternative exams are:

• AILET
• SET
• DUET
• LSAT
• MHCET

Mode of Examination

The exam is conducted offline and the duration is 2 hours. The mode of language for this examination is English and it is conducted once a year, typically around June of every year.

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CLAT Syllabus & Exam Pattern

You will be given 120 minutes to solve 150 questions. For each correct answer, 1 mark will be awarded and there is a negative marking of 0.25 mark for every wrong answer.

Common Law Entrance Test consists of 5 sections:

• English

This section tests your English Proficiency based on comprehension passages and grammar. Questions in this section are of class 12th difficulty level and examine your understanding, comprehensive ability, and grammatical skills.

• Legal Reasoning

This is something new for every class 12th student. Here, the questions will be based on legal language and the application of given rules and principles. It doesn’t test your knowledge of the law, but rather how well can you understand law after reading it.

• Quantitative Techniques

Based on class 10th difficulty level, this section will consist of propositions, graphs, pictorials, textual and diagrammatic representation of numerical data. It will also cover ratios and proportions, algebra, mensuration, and statistics.

• Logical Reasoning

Logical Reasoning will include things like analogies, relationships, sequences, arguments, etc. With practice, this can be a scoring and time-saving section.

• Current Affairs with GK

This section will check your static General Knowledge and current affairs. To score well in this section, you need to be equipped with current affairs, both at the national and international levels. Newspaper reading habit can help you a lot in this, For static General Knowledge, you need to study things like Art & Culture, Geography, and History.

Courses Offered

After clearing the Common Law Entrance Test, you would be eligible for courses like BA LLB, Bcom LLB, BSc LLB, BBA LLB, LLM, etc from NLU.

The Competition

The competition in the CLAT examination is reasonably high. The present 22 NLUs have around 2200 seats to offer while in 2020, around 75000 candidates applied for the exam. Considering these numbers, the success ratio is around 3%. But with the right guidance and dedication, it is not too difficult to crack this exam.

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Colleges/Universities

Based on your ranking in the Common Law Entrance Test, you become eligible for admission in UG courses in NLUs. While selecting the college, remember that in Law degree, both curricular and non-curricular activities matter. Top NLUs will provide you with exposure like moot court sessions, greater student diversity, internships, etc.

All About CLAT: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• Is it compulsory to study maths in class 12th for Common Law Entrance Test?

As per eligibility criteria, maths is not compulsory for Common Law Entrance Test. Also, the questions asked in the quantitative techniques section are based on class 10th mathematics level only.

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• Should I drop a year for CLAT preparation?

There is no age limit for taking the exam, so it won’t affect your eligibility. However, the difficulty level of the exam does not demand a drop a year. So, you don’t need to drop a year for the preparation.

• What are the subjects in the Common Law Entrance Test?

The 5 major subjects in CLAT are listed above.