Common Law Admission Test – CLAT 2026

OVERVIEW

As per the CLAT notification released by the Consortium of NLUs on July 20, 2025, CLAT 2026 is to be conducted on December 7, and the application form has been live since 8 PM on August 1, 2025.

Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2026 is a national-level entrance examination for UG (undergraduate) and PG (postgraduate) law aspirants.

It is a significant event on the legal education calendar, attracting roughly 70,000 law students who aspire to pursue law after class XII. Conducted by the Consortium of NLUs, this exam opens the door to 26 National Law Universities(NLUs).

The exam has a total of 120 questions, which are spread across five sections, with a +1 for every correct negative ¼ for every incorrect answer

Although CLAT is conducted for both UG and PG students, on this webpage, we’d only be focusing on UG-CLAT 2026.

ABOUT

What is the CLAT Exam?

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is a national-level entrance test for admission to undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) law studies at India’s 24 National Law Universities.

CLAT is conducted by the Consortium of National Law Universities, which includes the representative universities. Several affiliated institutions and companies utilize the CLAT test for admissions and recruitment.

All admissions to the 5-year integrated L.L.B. and LL.M. programs beginning in the Academic Year 2026-2027 shall be through the CLAT exam 2026.

Keep checking the table below to stay updated on the important exam dates.


CLAT 2026 Test Details

This page is periodically updated and includes Consortium announcements for academic years 2026-2027. CLAT exam 2026 is on the way, and the best practice is to know about the test details in advance.

Test HighlightsDetails
Full FormCLAT (Common Law Admission Test)
Test Conducting BodyThe Consortium of National Law Universities
Test LevelUG
Test FrequencyOnce a year
Test ModeOffline
Test Duration120 Minutes
Test LanguageEnglish
Test PurposeAdmissions to BA LLB, BCom LLB, BSc LLB, BBA LLB, BSW LLB, and LLM courses

 

Schedule

The final dates for CLAT 2026 are mentioned in the table below.

EventTimeline 
Release of CLAT admission notificationJuly 20, 2025
Start of online CLAT application formAugust 1, 2025
Last date to submit the CLAT application formOctober 31, 2025
Release of CLAT 2026 admit cardMid-November 2025(Tentative)
CLAT exam date 2026December 07, 2025; 2-4 PM
Release of provisional CLAT answer keyDecember 8-9, 2025(Tentative)
Release of the CLAT final answer keySecond week of December 2025(Tentative)
Declaration of CLAT resultsSecond week of December 2025(Tentative)
Commencement of CLAT counselingDecember 15, 2025(Tentative)

CLAT Notification 2026

The Consortium has released the CLAT 2026 exam date with the official notification release on July 20, 2025. This notification had all the details regarding the application’s starting and ending dates.

This release marked a clash in dates and time with AILET 2026 initially, but all is sorted now
NLU Delhi is changing the dates to December 14, 2025.

The CLAT 2026 Notification had no other surprises with no alteration in exam patterns or eligibility criteria, and more.

Eligiblity

CLAT 2026 Eligibility Criteria

In the CLAT notification, the Consortium also adds the CLAT eligibility criteria to appear for the CLAT UG exam. Following the previous year’s trend, CLAT 2026 is likely going to have the following eligibility criteria.

Educational Qualification

Any applicant who has passed the 10+2 or an equivalent examination can apply for the CLAT 2026 exam. The minimum marks required for different categories are listed below:

  • 45% marks for General/ Other Backward Class (OBC)/ Specially abled person categories
  • 40% marks for Scheduled Class (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe (ST) categories

Note: Candidates who will pass the Class 12th examination in March/ April 2025 are also eligible for the test. 

Upon admission, these candidates must provide proof that they passed their Class 12th exam. Candidates who fail to fulfill this will be rejected and lose their right to admission.

CLAT 2026 Age Limit

The Consortium does not have an upper age limit for candidates who wish to appear for the CLAT exam. As long as you meet the eligibility criteria you can give the exam.

For an in-depth analysis of the Consortium’s latest Eligibility Criteria for CLAT, read about the CLAT Eligibility Criteria in detail.

Syllabus

CLAT Exam Pattern 2026

Each section in the CLAT exam has a different weightage and number of questions. The CLAT exam pattern is designed in a way that the exact number of questions is never known, but the weightage for each section is highlighted in the table below.

Every question carries 1 mark, and 0.25 marks will be deducted for every wrong answer.

Duration of the test120 minutes (2 hours)
ModeOffline mode
Type of QuestionsMultiple Type Questions (MCQs)
Number of Questions120
Test Sections
  1. English Language
  2. Current Affairs, including General Knowledge
  3. Legal Reasoning
  4. Logical Reasoning
  5. Quantitative Techniques
Marking schemeTotal marks: 120 marks

Objective questions will each carry 1 mark. 0.25 marks to be deducted for an incorrect answer.

LanguageEnglish

 

CLAT 2024 and CLAT 2025 had the same number of questions in each section. Whether this pattern is suggestive of the future exam pattern or not is hard to say, but students must keep a note of this.

Subject/SectionNumber of questions (weightage)CLAT 2025 (No. of Questions)
English Language22-26 (20% of the paper)24
Quantitative Techniques10-14 (10% of the paper)12
Logical Reasoning22-26 (20% of the paper)24
Current Affairs, including General Knowledge28-32 (25% of the paper)28
Legal Reasoning28-32 (25% of the paper)32
Total Questions120 questions of one mark each120
Total Marks120120
Total Time (min)120120
Marks for correct answer11
Negative Marking0.25 marks for each wrong answer0.25 marks for each wrong answer

 

CLAT 2026 Syllabus

The test is conducted in offline mode where the paper has 120 questions from five different sections. Below is a summary of the section-wise CLAT Syllabus 2026 based on the syllabus of the previous CLAT exam.

CLAT Subject/SectionBrief Summary
English LanguageTotal Questions: 22-26

Word Count of Each Passage: 450 words each
Passage Source: Contemporary or historically significant fiction and non-fiction writing

Quantitative TechniquesTotal Questions: 10-14

Word Count of Each Passage: 450 words each

Expected Time to Read Each Passage: 5-7 mins
Question Type: Short sets of facts or propositions, or other textual representations of numerical information, followed by a series of questions

Logical ReasoningTotal Questions: 22-26

Word Count of Each Passage: 450 words each
Abilities Tested: Identify, recognise an argument, its premises and conclusions

Current Affairs, including General KnowledgeTotal Questions: 22-26

Word Count of Each Passage: 450 words each

Passage Source: News, journalistic sources, and other non-fiction writing

Legal ReasoningTotal Questions: 28-32

Word Count of Each Passage: 450 words each
Passage Will be Based On: Fact situations or scenarios involving legal matters, public policy questions, or moral philosophical enquiries

 

fees

CLAT Exam Fee

The fee for CLAT examination can only be paid in online mode, via NEFT and NetBanking. Once paid, students must remember that the CLAT exam fee is non-refundable.

The category-wise CLAT exam fees are mentioned below:

CLAT Fee Structure
CategoryExam Fee
General/OBC/NRIRs 4,000/-
SC/ST/BPL/PWDRs 3,500/-

If you’re stuck somewhere in the form-filling process, read about the exact CLAT Registration steps to be followed at the time of form-filling, or you can also watch our expert fill out the form.

Procedure

How to fill out the CLAT Application Form 2026?

CLAT registration 2026 for the Common Law Admission Test 2026 has begun on August 1, 2025.

CLAT 2026 Application Process

Candidates seeking admission to undergraduate law courses offered by the participating NLUs can fill out the CLAT application form for the exam on the official Consortium website.

The steps to apply are as follows:

  • Candidates must first register on the CLAT website using their personal mobile number and email address.
  • An OTP will be given to the registered mobile number for validation after registration.
  • Once the mobile number has been verified, applicants can log in with the registered mobile number and the password they gave during registration.
  • Once logged in you can fill out the form, pay the fees, and upload the relevant documents.

Note: Once an application has been submitted and paid for, the candidate will be unable to modify the program, category, or BPL field. Any change/alteration found in the name entered may disqualify the candidature.

 

CLAT Application Form 2026 Correction Window

The Consortium allows CLAT 2026 candidates time to change or update the information previously filled in the application form by the candidates. Any subsequent requests to change or update the details are not entertained by the Consortium.

Steps to update the test location preferences on the portal:

  • Log in to your CLAT account at the CLAT 2026 website.
  • Click the ‘Edit Application Form’ button.
  • Navigate to the ‘Test Centre Preferences’ tab.
  • Check your test location preferences and update if required.
  • Click the Next (>) button to go to the ‘Reservation’ tab.
  • Scroll down, and agree to the declaration
  • Click the ‘Submit Form’ button.

NOTE:

Candidates may also take this opportunity to review and, if necessary, correct their Names,

Date of Birth, Programme applied (UG/PG), and reservation eligibility. To do so,

Follow these steps:

  • To verify your details, log in to your CLAT account at the CLAT 2026 website.
  • Click the ‘Print Application’ button;
  • Check your details to see if they are accurate.
  • If any changes are required, click the ‘Edit Application’ button.
  • Once you have made any necessary changes, carefully review the complete application form.
  • Go to the Reservations tab and click the ‘Submit Form’ button.

CLAT 2026 Help Desk

For any queries related to your center or queries related to your registration process, candidates can also write their concerns on the official website.

However, candidates should make sure that they fill out the CLAT 2026 Application Form in time, as most official websites crash due to heavy traffic in the last few days.

 

CLAT 2026 Admit Card

In the month of November, at least 15 days prior to the exam, the Consortium of NLUs releases the CLAT 2026 Admit Card. The admit card once out, can be downloaded from the official website – consortiumofnlus.ac.in

Possessing an admit card is mandatory for appearing in CLAT. The admit card contains information such as the candidate’s roll number, the name and address of the exam center, exam times, and instructions.

Steps to download the CLAT Admit Card 2026 once it’s out

Step 1: Go to the exam’s official website, https://consortiumofnlus.ac.in

Step 2: Select the CLAT exam 2026 and log in by providing your registered mobile number and password.

Step 3: Once logged in, on the top right of the screen, click the Download Admit Card link.

Step 4: Save the admission card PDF file to your device.

Step 5: Print at least two-to-three copies of the admission card on A4 paper for future reference.

Result

 


CLAT 2026 Answer Key

The Consortium generally releases the provisional CLAT answer key on the same day or the next day. For example, for CLAT 2025 exam, the provisional answer key was released on the next day of the exam, i.e, on December 2, 2024, at 4 PM.

However, students must note that it would be a provisional answer key. The final version of the CLAT Answer key was released on December 7, 2024, shortly before the release of the CLAT Result.

Since there were escalations, the final CLAT Answer Key was decided upon by the Supreme Court and was released by the Consortium on May 17, 2025.


CLAT 2026 Result

The Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) releases the CLAT result right after the release of the final CLAT answer key.

For example, Hours after the Consortium released the CLAT answer key for CLAT 2025, the result was declared too.

The CLAT 2026 results are released in PDF format. The scorecard includes the total marks received in the exam, the overall rank attained in CLAT, the category, and other information. Candidates will be invited to the counseling procedure based on their scores. Counseling is the final stage of admission to National Law Universities (NLUs).

Dates

The final dates for CLAT 2026 are mentioned in the table below.

EventTimeline 
Release of CLAT admission notificationJuly 20, 2025
Start of online CLAT application formAugust 1, 2025
Last date to submit the CLAT application formOctober 31, 2025
Release of CLAT 2026 admit cardMid-November 2025(Tentative)
CLAT exam date 2026December 07, 2025; 2-4 PM
Release of provisional CLAT answer keyDecember 8-9, 2025(Tentative)
Release of the CLAT final answer keySecond week of December 2025(Tentative)
Declaration of CLAT resultsSecond week of December 2025(Tentative)
Commencement of CLAT counselingDecember 15, 2025(Tentative)

Counselling

CLAT 2026 Expected Cutoff

The CLAT exam cutoff is the minimum marks and rankings required for admission to NLUs. After the counseling rounds, each NLU releases the cut-off in the form of opening and closing rankings. The table below shows the basic expected cut-off based on expert analysis of previous years.

Based on the exam difficulty level of CLAT 2025, below is a snapshot of the top NLUs for CLAT 2025.

Expected CLAT Cutoff 2026
NLUExpected CLAT Cutoff 
Top 3 NLUs90+
Top 10 NLUs87+
At least 1 NLU85+

It should be noted that the cutoff differs per college and across all student categories. Refer to the detailed CLAT cutoff to check the different criteria applicable to CLAT cutoffs.


CLAT 2026 Reservation Policy

The Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) offers about 3400 seats for the 5-year LLB program. These seats are distributed based on reservations for several groups, including OBC, SC, ST, PWD, KM (Kashmiri Migrants), Armed Forces, and others.

During the CLAT 2024 seat allocation procedure, the reservation criteria established by each NLU are critical. Each university has its own reservation policy, which differs depending on the institution. Candidates should check the individual NLU’s website to know their reservations for different castes.

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