CLAT Overview — Common Law Admission Test

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is India’s leading national-level entrance exam for law. It is conducted every year by the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) and is the main route into the country’s top law schools.

CLAT UG is for students who have passed or are appearing for Class 12. It leads to five-year integrated law programs such as the BA LL.B (Hons.), with some NLUs also offering BBA LL.B, BSc LL.B and BCom LL.B. CLAT PG is for law graduates seeking admission to the one-year LL.M program. Several public sector undertakings also use CLAT PG scores for recruitment.

Unlike many entrance exams, CLAT does not test memorised facts or prior legal knowledge. It is a reading-based test of how well you understand, reason and apply ideas. The UG paper has 120 passage-based questions across five sections: English Language, Current Affairs including General Knowledge, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Techniques.

First held in 2008, CLAT is conducted once a year, usually on the first Sunday of December, in offline (pen-and-paper) mode. CLAT 2027 is scheduled for 6 December 2026.