CLAT is conducted by the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) and covers English, Current Affairs/GK, Legal, Logical and Quantitative. This page summarises the CLAT exam pattern, marking scheme and syllabus as a study snapshot for previous year question practice. Confirm eligibility, dates and marking in the latest official notification on consortiumofnlus.ac.in.
Pattern snapshot
| Item | CLAT UG (2024 onward) |
|---|---|
| Questions | 120 multiple-choice, passage-based |
| Duration | 2 hours |
| Marking | +1 correct, minus 0.25 wrong, 0 for blank |
| Mode | Pen and paper; four sets (A to D) |
| Conducting body | Consortium of NLUs |
| Section | 2020 to 2023 | 2024 onward |
|---|---|---|
| English Language | 28 to 32 | 22 to 26 |
| Current Affairs including General Knowledge | 35 to 39 | 28 to 32 |
| Legal Reasoning | 35 to 39 | 28 to 32 |
| Logical Reasoning | 28 to 32 | 22 to 26 |
| Quantitative Techniques | 13 to 17 | 10 to 14 |
Official notification wins
Question ranges and rules can change each year. Read the Consortium’s notification at consortiumofnlus.ac.in before you apply.
What each section tests
- English Language: comprehension of passages of about 450 words, vocabulary in context, inference and the author’s tone.
- Current Affairs including GK: passages and questions on events from roughly the previous 12 months, plus static GK such as international affairs, awards and the Constitution.
- Legal Reasoning: passages stating a legal principle or a statute, then fact situations to which you apply it; no prior legal knowledge is assumed beyond what the passage gives.
- Logical Reasoning: arguments, premises and conclusions, assumptions, strengthening and weakening, and analogies.
- Quantitative Techniques: short sets of data (tables, graphs) tested with Class 10 mathematics: ratios, percentages, averages and basic algebra.
Eligibility snapshot
A Class 12 pass or equivalent with 45% marks (40% for SC and ST candidates); there is no upper age limit. Students appearing in Class 12 can apply. Confirm the exact rule in the current notification.
Link papers to the syllabus
After each paper, record per section: questions attempted, correct, wrong and skipped, and time spent. Legal Reasoning and Logical Reasoning together form roughly half the paper, so a consistent loss there costs more than anywhere else. Quantitative Techniques is the smallest section, but wrong answers still carry the 0.25 penalty, so skip a set when the first question is unclear.
See the year pages for the officially published question papers: 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020.