CLAT exam is perfect for you if you dream of becoming a lawyer and fighting for justice. CLAT or Common Law Admission Test is held each year around May. This is a national-level exam for entrance into graduate and postgraduate level law courses. Admissions to 22 National Law Universities along with numerous prestigious Law universities also takes place via this exam.
CLAT Eligibility Criteria
| Criteria | General / OBC / PWD / NRI / PIO / OCI categories | SC/ST categories |
| Higher Secondary/XII/+2/ Equivalent level | 45% | 40% |
| Age | No upper age limit | No upper age limit |
Students who are awaiting their results at the time of application are also eligible. However, they would need to show proof of having passed the qualifying examination at the time of admission.
CLAT Exam Details
Duration: 2 hours
Mode: Offline (pen-paper mode)
Sections: 5
Total Questions: 150
CLAT Exam Pattern
| Section | Number of questions |
| English including Comprehension | 28-32 |
| Current Affairs and GK | 35-39 |
| Legal Aptitude | 35-39 |
| Logical Reasoning | 28-32 |
| Mathematics | 13-17 |
Marking Scheme
Each correct answer = 1 mark
Each incorrect answer = – 0.25 marks
CLAT Exam: Section-wise Breakdown
Section I: English Language
In this section of the UG-CLAT exam 2021, you will be provided passages of about 450 words each. These passages will be derived from contemporary or historically significant fiction and non-fiction writing, and would be of a standard that a 12th standard student may be able to read in about 5-7 minutes.
Each passage will be followed by a series of questions that will require you to demonstrate your comprehension and language skills, including your abilities to:
- Read and comprehend the main point discussed in the passage, as well as any arguments and viewpoints discussed or set out in the passage;
- Draw inferences and conclusions based on the passage;
- Summarise the passage;
- Compare and contrast the different arguments or viewpoints set out in the passage; and
- Understand the meaning of various words and phrases used in the passage.
Section II: Current Affairs Including General Knowledge
In this section of CLAT exam 2021, you will be provided passages of up to 450 words each. The passages will be derived from news, journalistic sources and other non-fiction writing. The questions may include an examination of legal information or knowledge discussed in or related to the passage, but would not require any additional knowledge of the law beyond the passage.
Each passage will be followed by a series of questions that will require you to demonstrate your awareness of various aspects of current affairs and general knowledge, including:
- Contemporary events of significance from India and the world;
- Arts and culture;
- International affairs; and
- Historical events of continuing significance.
Section III: Legal Aptitude
In this CLAT exam section, you will be expected to read passages of around 300 words each. The passages may relate to fact situations or scenarios involving legal matters, public policy questions or moral philosophical enquiries. You will not require any prior knowledge of law. You will benefit from a general awareness of contemporary legal and moral issues to better apply general principles or propositions to the given fact scenarios.
Each passage would be followed by a series of questions that will require you to:
- Identify and infer the rules and principles set out in the passage;
- Apply such rules and principles to various fact situations; and
- Understand how changes to the rules or principles may alter their application to various fact situations.
Section IV: Logical Reasoning
The Logical Reasoning section of the UG-CLAT exam 2021 will include a series of short passages of about 300 words each. Each passage will be followed by one or more questions that will require you to:
- Recognize an argument, its premises and conclusions;
- Read and identify the arguments set out in the passage;
- Critically analyse patterns of reasoning, and assess how conclusions may depend on particular premises or evidence;
- Infer what follows from the passage and apply these inferences to new situations;
- Draw relationships and analogies, identify contradictions and equivalence, and assess the effectiveness of arguments.
Section V: Mathematics
This section of the UG-CLAT exam 2021 will include short sets of facts or propositions, graphs, or other textual, pictorial or diagrammatic representations of numerical information, followed by a series of questions. You will be required to derive information from such passages, graphs, or other representations, and apply mathematical operations on such information.
The questions will require you to:
- Derive, infer, and manipulate numerical information set out in such passages, graphs, or other representations; and
- Apply various 10th standard mathematical operations on such information, including from areas such as ratios and proportions, basic algebra, mensuration and statistical estimation.
Exam Centres
The entrance exam is held all over India. In 2021 CLAT will be held in the offline mode in 203 locations.
Important Dates
| Date | Particulars/Events |
| 1st January 2021 | CLAT Application Form opens |
| 31st March 2021 | CLAT Application Form last date |
| May 9th 2021 | CLAT Examination |
Total Seats
At present there are around 2596 seats available in CLAT UG.
Admission Process
- Register online: Fill up personal and academic details. Select venue for the examination center.
- Pay the application fee: Registration fees are INR 4,000 for General and OBC category students whereas INR 3,500 for SC and ST category students. The fees are payable online only, through debit/credit cards and net banking
- Print application form and admit card: Download and print your application form and admit card.
- Appear for the exam: Appear for your exam. Don’t forget to carry your application form signed by a guardian, originals, and photocopies of class 10th and 12th mark sheets, transfer certificate, migration certificate, and photo ID.
- Check results: Check your results on the official website.
- Appear for SA_MP_PI: Candidates who clear the first stage are then called in for a skill assessment test (SA), micro presentation (MP), and a personal interview (PI). Please carry essential documents specified.
- Final results declared: Once the merit list is prepared, you will receive an intimation mail.
- Application and Fees: Fill up an online application for admission and pay the course fees.
- Report for Admission: Time for college. Yay!
Now that you have an overview of the CLAT exam why not check out the CLAT exam pattern in detail or explore the best CLAT colleges.
CLAT 2021 Result (Declared)
The Consortium of NLUs declared CLAT 2021 Result for both UG and PG programs on July 28, 2021. If you want to get admission in the 22 prestigious National Law Universities, you will need to clear CLAT 2021 Cutoff which is the minimum rank required to get a seat in the respective NLUs. In several NLUs there is scope for admission based on CLAT reservations too. Apart from the NLUs, several private as well as self-financed law colleges consider CLAT scores as the benchmark for providing a seat.
CLAT 2021 Cut Off
In order to get admission in the NLUs, you need to secure a certain minimum rank based on marks scored in the CLAT 2021 Exam.