CLAT
Common Law Admission Test
Important dates
Eligibility criteria
UG CLAT: 10+2 or equivalent with 45% marks for General/OBC/PwD/NRI/PIO/OCI categories and 40% for SC/ST/PwD categories; candidates appearing in the qualifying exam may apply provisionally. PG CLAT: LL.B. or equivalent with 50% marks, 45% for SC/ST/PwD. There is no upper age limit.
Should you attempt CLAT?
Attempt it if
- Students who read fast and enjoy argument — CLAT is a reading-speed exam wearing a law costume
- Those targeting the NLU brand specifically: corporate law recruitment concentrates heavily at the top 5–6 NLUs
- Students comfortable with 5 years of BA-LLB study followed by junior-lawyer years where pay starts modest outside corporate firms
Think twice if
- Anyone choosing law only as a "safe backup" to other exams — litigation pays poorly for years and corporate law seats are few
- Students who dislike sustained reading; the exam and the profession both punish that daily
- Families expecting engineer-style placement salaries from any law college — outside the top NLUs and a few private names (Jindal), median outcomes are far lower
Exam pattern
UG CLAT: 120 multiple-choice questions, 120 minutes. Passage-based comprehension and reasoning format. +1 for correct, -0.25 for wrong.
Cutoff trends
Top NLUs such as NLSIU Bengaluru, NALSAR Hyderabad, and WBNUJS Kolkata close at very high ranks. Exact cutoffs vary by category, domicile/reservation rules, seat matrix, and counselling round. NLU Delhi is not a CLAT college; it conducts AILET separately.
Preparation tip
6–12 months dedicated preparation of dedicated preparation is recommended. Start with the official syllabus and previous year papers.
What selection actually takes
Around 60,000–75,000 candidates compete for roughly 3,000+ NLU seats, but the career-changing seats — the top 5–6 NLUs that corporate firms visit — number only a few hundred. Ranks beyond the top ~1,500 mostly open newer NLUs, where outcomes are decent but not the ₹15–20 LPA corporate-firm track the CLAT ads picture. NLU Delhi runs its own exam (AILET) — top aspirants should write both.
Accepted colleges
Full cost of an attempt
The CLAT application costs about ₹4,000 (check the consortium notification). Coaching runs ₹50,000–1.5 lakh for 1–2 year programmes; a mock series plus newspaper habit can replace most of it. NLU fees that follow are the real number: ₹2–3 lakh per year for 5 years (₹10–15 lakh total), with private options like Jindal at 2–3× that. Litigation-track students should also budget for 2–3 lean earning years after graduation.
How to prepare (coaching vs self-study)
The syllabus is thin; the skill is reading 120 minutes of dense passages fast without losing accuracy. Daily reading of editorials and legal-news summaries builds more score than any content memorisation — current affairs including legal news is the highest-weight section to systematise. Weekly full mocks from 4–5 months out; track time-per-passage, not just marks. Legal reasoning needs no prior law: it tests applying a stated principle to facts, so practise exactly that format.
Syllabus overview
English Language: Comprehension, grammar, vocabulary
Current Affairs (including legal news)
Legal Reasoning: Legal principles and fact application
Logical Reasoning: Analogies, arrangements, syllogisms
Quantitative Techniques: 10th level Maths, data interpretation
If it doesn't work out
A middling CLAT rank still leaves good routes: AILET (NLU Delhi), MH-CET Law and other state exams (government law colleges like GLC Mumbai and ILS Pune are respected and cheap), LSAT-India for private schools, or a 3-year LLB after any bachelor's degree — a path many successful lawyers take. If the pull was "argument and public life" rather than law practice itself, consider UPSC or journalism honestly before a second drop year.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Is CLAT only worth it for the top NLUs?
The corporate-firm recruitment pipeline concentrates at the top 5–6 NLUs, so the jump in outcomes there is real. Newer NLUs still beat most private law colleges on cost and credibility — but check their placement reports, not the CLAT brand halo.
Q: What does a lawyer actually earn at the start?
Corporate law from a top NLU: ₹12–20 LPA at big firms. Litigation under a senior: often ₹15,000–40,000 a month for the first years, in any city. Judicial services (via separate state exams) sit in between with high security. Plan finances for the path you actually intend.
Q: Do I need coaching for CLAT?
A reading habit plus a good mock series covers most of the exam. Coaching mainly buys structure and current-affairs curation. If budget is tight, spend on mocks and one current-affairs compilation, not classroom hours.
Q: BA-LLB after 12th or LLB after graduation?
The 5-year BA-LLB via CLAT front-loads the brand and campus placement. The 3-year LLB after any degree costs less total and suits later deciders; it relies more on your own hustle for the first job. Neither closes doors — judges and partners come from both.
Not sure if CLAT is right for you?
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