What Is CLAT?

The Common Law Admission Test is conducted by the Consortium of National Law Universities. CLAT UG is the entrance route to five-year integrated law programmes, including BA LLB. CLAT PG is for LLM admission after a qualifying law degree. It is not an entrance route to a three-year LLB programme.

The year in the exam name refers to the admission cycle: you take CLAT 2027 in December 2026 and join the 2027-28 academic session. Each NLU sets its own date for the start of classes. The Consortium conducts the examination and central admission process; the allotted university checks your qualifications and documents.

CLAT 2027 Dates

The application deadline covers both submission and payment. Creating a login before 31 October does not leave the form open for payment afterwards. Admit-card availability and the detailed admission schedule will be announced separately.

Who Can Apply for CLAT 2027?

There is no upper age limit for either paper. UG eligibility does not prescribe a particular Class 12 stream. Arts, Commerce and Science students can apply if they meet the qualifying examination and marks requirements. PG applicants need an LLB or equivalent; a BCom, BSc or BA degree without the required law qualification does not qualify them for CLAT PG.

Can students waiting for board or LLB results apply?

Yes. Class 12 candidates appearing in March/April 2027 can apply for UG, and candidates appearing in their qualifying law examination in 2027 can apply for PG. The Consortium also addresses April/May result-pending candidates in its FAQs. Admission requires proof of passing with the applicable minimum marks; the NLU will specify how and when that proof must be submitted.

A category benefit must match the particular rule. PwD candidates have the lower academic threshold shown above. BPL applicants receive a reduced application fee, but BPL status alone is not listed as a relaxation in qualifying marks.

CLAT Application Form and Fees

Apply online through the CLAT 2027 portal at consortiumofnlus.ac.in. Register with your personal mobile number and email address, validate the mobile OTP, and sign in with the registered number and password. Enter names exactly as they appear on your certificates and identity records.

The optional previous-year question-paper purchase costs INR 500. Bank transaction charges are additional, and the application fee is non-refundable and non-adjustable. The PG instructions also list NRI applicants in the INR 4,000 fee group.

The upload list includes a recent photograph, signature and the category, PwD or BPL certificate relevant to your claim. Photograph and signature attestation is not required. Certificates and documents must be uploaded in PDF format as specified in the instructions.

Programme, category and BPL details cannot be changed after the form is submitted and paid. Review these before payment. If you submit more than one application, only the last application is considered, and the fee for the earlier one is not refunded.

CLAT Exam Pattern and Syllabus

CLAT is an offline examination. Each paper has 120 multiple-choice questions for 120 marks in two hours. A correct answer earns 1 mark; a wrong answer deducts 0.25. An unanswered question earns zero. Eligible PwD candidates have the extended examination time of 2 pm to 4:40 pm.

CLAT UG subjects

These are approximate section ranges, not five fixed quotas. The complete paper still has 120 questions. Legal Reasoning and Current Affairs together account for about half the UG paper.

English tests understanding of passages, inferences, summaries and vocabulary in context. Current Affairs covers contemporary Indian and international events, arts and culture, and historically significant events with continuing relevance. Legal Reasoning asks you to identify and apply principles in a passage; prior study of law is not required.

Logical Reasoning focuses on arguments, conclusions, assumptions and relationships between ideas. Quantitative Techniques uses numerical information and Class 10-level operations, including ratios, proportions, basic algebra, mensuration and statistical estimation.

CLAT PG subjects

The PG paper draws on Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence, Administrative Law, Contract, Torts, Family Law, Criminal Law, Property Law, Company Law, Public International Law, Tax Law, Environmental Law, and Labour and Industrial Law. Passages can come from judgments, statutes and regulations. Questions test legal understanding and application, not simply the ability to recognise a case name. The published 2027 format is objective; it does not include an essay section.

How to Prepare for CLAT

Start with a complete paper to identify where marks are being lost. The CLAT previous-year question papers include historical papers and answer material. Match the paper year and booklet set to its key before reviewing your answers; use the current 120-question format for full-length 2027 practice.

The Consortium gives no fixed month range for Current Affairs. A coaching list covering a particular number of months is not an official limit. For PG, work with the legal issue, reasoning and applicable rule in a judgment rather than memorising only its headline outcome.

Keep a record of wrong answers separately from unattempted questions. A wrong answer costs 0.25 marks; an unattempted answer does not. This makes a mock score and the number attempted different measures of your performance.

CLAT Admit Card, Answer Key and Result

Download the admit card from your CLAT account when it is released. The card gives your allotted examination details. The published test start time is not a substitute for the reporting and entry instructions on the hall ticket.

To check your answers, use the answer key corresponding to your paper and booklet. A practice calculation is correct answers minus 0.25 times wrong answers. For example, 85 correct answers and 20 wrong answers give 80 marks; the remaining 15 questions are unattempted. This calculation does not predict a rank.

The qualifying-examination percentages used for eligibility are not CLAT passing marks. A Class 12 requirement of 45% does not mean that 45% in the entrance test secures admission. Admission cutoffs depend on the university, programme, category and allotment round.

CLAT Counselling and NLU Admission

The Consortium lists December 2026/January 2027 as the counselling window. Round-wise deadlines, payment instructions and seat decisions belong to the admission schedule, not the examination application calendar.

Before choosing universities, compare the specific programme, category seats, domicile conditions and annual fee components. The Consortium refers applicants to the participating NLUs for their intake and reservation policies. A single reservation percentage or fee figure should not be applied to every NLU.

The colleges accepting CLAT scores listing also includes institutions outside the Consortium allotment process. A college accepting the score does not automatically mean that the CLAT application registers you for that college. Its own application may be required.

NRI and foreign-national seats

Indian nationals, NRIs, PIO card holders and OCI card holders can appear for CLAT under the stated instructions. Foreign nationals cannot appear for CLAT and must approach the NLU directly. NRI and NRI-sponsored seats are also handled directly by the universities; the Consortium does not allot those category seats.

Admission remains provisional until the university accepts the qualifying result and supporting documents. A mismatch in a reservation claim can remove that category benefit in subsequent counselling rounds. Keep the academic qualification, category evidence and university-specific admission rules separate when judging whether an offer is valid.

Applydates, qualification and fee Preparesubjects and marking Admissioncounselling and documents

1. Dates and timing
2. UG or PG eligibility
3. Fees and form checks

1. Subject guide
2. Marks and ties

1. Admission stages