CLAT EXAM: Common-Law Admission Test, commonly called CLAT, is a national stage entrance examination organized once every year. It is conducted via the Consortium of Nlus for applicants searching for admission in UG and PG law courses presented via 22 National Law Universities.
It includes the NLUs and diverse private and self-financed regulation universities in India that consider the CLAT scores and rankings. All the National Law Universities accept the scores and rankings of the CLAT examination, excluding the NLU of Delhi.
The NLU of Delhi organizes a separate entrance examination, the AILET, for the law aspirants. The CLAT, in other words, is also known as the most challenging entrance examination for law aspirants due to various factors such as high competition, the fewer number of seats, vast syllabus, etc.
The pattern of the CLAT Examination
The CLAT examination is held for 2 hours (120 minutes), having 150 and 120 questions for the CLAT UG and CLAT PG, respectively. Moreover, the questions (excluding the Quantitative Analysis section in the CLAT UG) are based on comprehension passages consisting of around 350 to 500 words each, followed by the MCQs.
- CLAT UG (under-graduate)
The CLAT UG exam consists of five sections with a hundred and fifty questions and each one of them containing 1 mark.
The five sections are:
- The English language section.
- Current Affairs (including the General Knowledge) section.
- Logical Reasoning section.
- Legal Reasoning section.
- Quantitative Techniques (or Analysis) section.
- CLAT PG (Post-graduate)
The CLAT PG examination consists of 2 significant sections having 120 questions, each containing 1 mark. Moreover, one of the sections consists of the Constitutional Law, which includes 60 questions.
The other section comprises various legal concepts or topics like the Indian Contract Act, Law of Torts, International Law, Criminal Law, Family Law, Jurisprudence, and many others.
The step-wise registration process and admission procedure for the CLAT examination
The registration process for the CLAT examination and the admission procedure is given below:
(i) Announcement of the examination and commencement of the registration: Firstly, the date for the examination is announced, followed by the commencement of the registration process.
(ii) Registration form: Secondly, After the dates are announced, the aspirants must fill out the registration form. Furthermore, It requires the candidates’ details, the documents for verification, and the registration fees for the CLAT examination.
(iii) Admit Card for the examination: Thirdly, After the registrations are completed for the examination, almost a week before the commencement of the examination, the admit cards for the same are released online containing all the information like the roll number of the aspirant, examination center, etc.
(iv) Releasing the answer key for the examination: Moreover, After the examination is held, the answer key is provided to the aspirants two or three days after the exam. It contains the answers to the questions given in the examination, and sufficient time is provided to the aspirants to report the error in the answer key, if any.
(v) Announcement of the results: Lastly, Once the answer key is given to the aspirants, the results are announced almost two to three days after the examination. The results are given online in the form of a scorecard having the scores and ranking of the examination along with the roll number of the aspirant.
(vi) Counselling of the applicants and the admission process: Finally, counseling is held for the applicants after the results are declared by the Consortium of NLU(s). Moreover, after the applicants’ counseling is finished, the application procedure begins for the applicants for admission to different NLUs.
Syllabus of the CLAT Examination
The CLAT UG consists of five sections :
- English Language section,
- Logical Reasoning section,
- Current Affairs, including the General Knowledge section,
- Legal Reasoning section, and
- Quantitative Analysis section.
The syllabus for the sections is given below:
(i) English Language section: The most important topic or concept under the English Language section is the comprehension passages. Moreover, The passages are based on fictional and non-fictional stories, followed by 4 to 5 MCQs. Other concepts include grammar portions like word meanings, sentence correction, etc.
(ii) Current Affairs including General Knowledge section: The Current Affairs section (including the General Knowledge) is one of the most critical sections. Moreover, It is considered to be more difficult than other sections. The most important topic is Current Affairs from at least the past year or more. Other topics include history, geography, science, technology, etc.
(iii) Legal reasoning section: The Legal Reasoning section is another section that is considered to be very important. The most important concepts are the Indian Contract Act, Law of Torts, Family Law, Constitution of India, etc.
(iv) Logical Reasoning section: The Logical Reasoning section contains some of the most specific topics. Furthermore, Some of these topics include a clock, direction test, distance test, blood relations, analogies, series, seating arrangements, logical sequence, calendars, etc.
(v) Quantitative Analysis section: The Quantitative Analysis section consists of questions based on basic mathematics. The essential concepts include ratio and proportions, graphs, measurement, algebra, etc. In addition, The difficulty level of the section is moderate.
The CLAT PG consists of two major sections. One section consists of the Constitutional Law. The other section consists of other law concepts like family law, international law, labor law, administrative law, Indian Contract Act, Law of Torts, Company Law, Intellectual Property Rights, etc.
CLAT Subject-wise Important Details
English Language
S.no Particulars Important Pointers
1 Overall Weightage 20% of the overall paper
2 Type of question Comprehension, Passage.
3 Source Books, Non-fiction Books, News.
- 4 Ability Check Firstly, Language & Comprehension Skills
- Secondly, Conclusion & Inferences
- Thirdly, the Passage summary
- Lastly, Identification of Arguments & points of view
- Finally, the Meaning of words & phrases
5 Standard Quality 12th Class Quality
Current Affairs & GK
S.no Particulars Important Pointers
1 Overall Weightage 25% of the Overall Paper
2 Type of question General knowledge & Current affairs.
3 Source News, Media, Research, Non-fiction Writings.
- 4 Ability check Firstly, Important contemporary events in India and the world
- Secondly, Arts and Culture;
- Thirdly, International Affairs; and
- Finally, Historical events of enduring significance.
Also check: Rbse Syllabus
5 Standard Quality 12th class
Logical Reasoning
S.no Particulars Important Pointers
1 Overall Weightage 25% of the overall paper
2 Type of question Comprehension, Passage, and objective follow-up questions.
3 Source Legal matters involving Facts, Situations, and Scenarios. Moreover, questions related to public policy & moral inquiries.
- 4 Ability Firstly, General awareness of legal & moral issues,
- Secondly, Identification of rules & regulations,
- Thirdly, Cases studies,
- Moreover, Changing rules application.
5 Standard Quality 12th Class
Legal Reasoning
S.no Particulars Important Pointers
1 Overall Weightage 20% of the overall Paper
2 Type of question Objective question, Passage
3 Source Puzzles, Diagrams.
- 4 Ability Firstly, Identification of arguments.
- Secondly, Draw a conclusion
- Thirdly, Analyze analogies,
5 Standard Quality 12th Class
Quantitative Aptitude
S.no Particulars Important Pointers
1 Overall Weightage 10% of the overall paper
2 Types of question Graphs, Pictorial, Diagrams, numerical information, and a series of other facts.
3 Source Books, News, Listings, Newsletters, Journals.
- 4 Ability Firstly, Understanding basic math.
- Secondly, the ability to identify errors,
- Thirdly, the ability to solve the equation
Also read:- 10 Best CLAT Coaching in Delhi
5 Standard Quality 10th Class
Also Read: UPSC Syllabus 2023
Eligibility Criteria for attempting the CLAT Entrance Examination
The Eligibility criteria for the candidates who want to participate in the CLAT Entrance Examination are given via the Consortium of NLUs. The candidates are required to follow the instructions to attempt the entrance examination. The eligibility criteria are as follows:
- Firstly, The applicants should have completed their Class 12 (10+2) or an identical exam from a recognized board or institution.
- Secondly, students who will give the board exam in the same year as the CLAT are also eligible to attempt the CLAT entrance examination. Such applicants are required to provide evidence of their academic qualifications at the time of the CLAT counseling and admission process, failing which, their admission will be canceled.
- Thirdly, the candidates must secure at least forty-five percent in the qualifying exam (10+2) or an equivalent grade.
- Lastly, SC and ST class candidates should have at least forty percent marks or equivalent grades on their qualifying exam.
- Finally, there are no restrictions on the candidates based on age. Any candidate of any age group can appear for the CLAT examination.
Books that are recommended for the preparation for the CLAT examination:
The recommended books for each of the subjects are given below:
Current Affairs including General Knowledge:
- Manorama Yearbook 2021 – Mammen Mathew
- General Knowledge 2020: Latest Current Affairs & Who’s Who – RPH Editorial Board
- Current Affairs Yearly 2021 – Arihant
- Pratiyogita Darpan – Upkar Prakashan
- Pearson General Knowledge Manual 2020 – Pearson
English Language:
- Word Power Made Easy – Norman Lewis
- Objective General English – SP Bakshi
- CLAT Guide – Tata McGraw-Hill
- The Pearson Guide to the CLAT
Quantitative Analysis:
⦁ Magical Book On Quicker Maths – Tyra
⦁ Quantitative Aptitude- R S Aggarwal
⦁ Fаst Trасk Оbjeсtive Аrithmetiс – Rajesh Verma
Legal Reasoning:
⦁ Legal Awareness Legal Reasoning – AP Bhardwaj
- Legal Aptitude (for the CLAT exam and other Law Entrances) – AP Bhardwaj
⦁ Universal’s CLAT Guide – Universal
⦁ Universal’s Constitution of India (Bare Act including Short Notes) – Universal
⦁ Legal Aptitude – RK Gupta
Logical Reasoning:
⦁ Universal’s Logical Reasoning for LSAT, CLAT, and other Law Entrances- Jain Prateek
⦁ Analytical Reasoning – MK Pandey
⦁ Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning – RS Agarwal
⦁ Analytical and Logical Reasoning – RS Agarwal
Conclusion:
On the whole, a complete overview of the CLAT exam is discussed above. It includes all the information regarding the CLAT exam like the eligibility criteria, syllabus of the exam, recommended books for the CLAT examination, etc.