CLAT is a national level entrance exam for admissions to candidates in undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) law courses offered at 23 NLUs and several other colleges/ universities which represent some of the best law colleges across India.
The Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) has informed that CLAT 2024 will be held in December 2023 in its latest notification. The Common Law Admission Test 2024 exam dates and application will be confirmed anytime soon. From CLAT 2024 onwards, the law entrance exam will be held once in a year, and in December month. The exam authority has confirmed there will no longer be two CLATs in the same year. The application forms of CLAT 2024 will be available tentatively, from August 2023 onwards. The application forms for undergraduate and postgraduate courses will be available at the
official website - consortiumofnlus.ac.in.
By looking at the current year’s key details, CLAT 2023 can be understood from the table given below:
| Features | Details |
| Exam Conducting Body | Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) |
| Frequency of Conduct | Once a year |
| CLAT 2024 exam date | Third week of December 2023 |
| Exam Level | National-level exam |
| Exam purpose | CLAT is conducted for: 1. Admission to UG and PG law courses offered at the participating NLUs 2. Admissions to Private and self-financed colleges 3. PSUs recruitment for legal positions |
| Application Fee | INR 4,000 for General/ OBC category, INR 3500 for all other reserved categories |
| Mode of Exam | Pen-and-paper mode |
| Question paper language | English |
| Duration of the exam | 2 hours |
| Number of Seats | UG program - more than 3,000 seats PG program - around 1,000 seats |
| Official website | Consortiumofnlus.ac.in |
Candidates seeking admissions to NLUs through CLAT 2024 must be informed about the conditions of eligibility for their respective course. The participating NLUs will also cross-check whether a shortlisted candidate fulfils the eligibility criteria or not. Here is an overview of CLAT 2024 eligibility criteria for UG and PG courses:
| Factors | CLAT Eligibility Criteriafor 5-year LLBe | CLAT Eligibility Criteria for One-year LLMne |
| Age limit | There is no age limit for admission to five-year LLB courses. | There is no upper age limit. |
| Qualifying exam | Class 12 or equivalent exam from a recognized board of education/ university/ institute. | An undergraduate degree in law from a BCI recognized law college/ University. |
| Minimum marks in qualifying exam | Candidates should have obtained at least, • 45% marks for General/ OBC category • 40% marks for SC/ ST categories |
Candidates should have obtained at least, • 50% marks for General/ OBC category • 45% marks for SC/ ST categories |
The application form of CLAT 2024 will be released in online mode tentatively in June 2023 or July 2023. Candidates who meet the prescribed eligibility criteria need to duly fill the form and submit it before the last date. Note that one must only use genuine and verifiable information, as all details will be checked at the time of document verification, which is a part of CLAT 2024 counselling and seat allotment process.
Take a look at CLAT 2023 application process below to understand the steps to fill the form:
There are some documents which need to be submitted as a part of the CLAT 2024 Registration. The list of documents is given below:
| Document | Format |
| Photograph | Jpeg/png |
| Signature | Jpeg/png |
| Category Certificate for SC/ST/OBC candidates | |
| Relevant Certificate for P.W.D. candidates | |
| Relevant Certificate for BPL candidates |
The tentative schedule for CLAT 2024 exam is as per the table below:
| Event | Dates |
| Release of early admission notification | January 2023 |
| CLAT 2024 notification | July or August 2023 |
| CLAT application 2024 begins | August 2023 |
| Last date of application | November 2023 |
| Issue of CLAT admit cards | November or December 2023 |
| CLAT exam day 2024 | December 2023 |
| Official CLAT answer key | December 2023 |
| Release of final answer key | December 2023 |
| Declaration of CLAT results | December 2023 or January 2024 |
| Commencement of counselling | January 2024 |
CLAT exam is being held in pen-and-paper mode at various exam centres in the country. Read key points related to the exam pattern below.
| CLAT Exam Features | Five-year LLB | One-year LLM |
| Exam mode | Pen-and-paper mode | Pen-and-paper mode |
| Exam duration | 2 hours | 2 hours |
| Type of questions | Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs) | Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs) |
| Total questions | 150 questions | 120 questions |
| Maximum marks | 150 marks | 120 marks |
| Marking scheme | +1 for correct answer -0.25 for incorrect answer |
+1 for correct answer -0.25 for incorrect answer |
| Test language | English | English |
| CLAT Participating NLUs |
| National Law School of India University, Bangalore |
| NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad |
| The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata |
| National Law Institute University, Bhopal |
| National Law University, Jodhpur |
| Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar |
| Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow |
| Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala |
| Chanakya National Law University Patna |
| National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi |
| National Law University Odisha, Cuttack |
| National University of Study & Research in Law, Ranchi |
| National Law University & Judicial Academy, Assam |
| Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University (DSNLU) Visakhapatnam |
| The Tamil Nadu National Law School, Tiruchirapalli |
| Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai |
| Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur |
| Maharashtra National Law University, Aurangabad |
| Himachal Pradesh National Law University, Shimla |
| Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur |
| Dr B R Ambedkar National Law University Sonipat, Haryana |
| Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipurtd |
Before starting your preparation, the first thing you should do is go through the CLAT exam syllabus carefully. Take a look at the syllabus and weigtage for CLAT UG as mentioned in the table below:
| Subjects | Topics | Marks |
| Current Affairs, including GK | • Contemporary events of national and international significance • Arts and culture • International affairs • Historical events of continuing significance |
35 - 39 marks |
| English | • Correcting Incorrect Grammar Sentences • Synonyms & Antonyms • Tenses • Fill in the Blanks • Spotting Grammatical Errors • Active & Passive Voice |
28 - 32 marks |
| Logical Reasoning | • Analogies • Relationships • Syllogism • Cause & Effect • Premises & Conclusion • Inferences |
28 - 32 marks |
| Quantitative Techniques | • Short sets of facts or propositions • Graphs • Other textual material • Pictorial or diagrammatic representations of numerical information • 10th standard mathematical operation, including ratios and proportions, basic algebra, mensuration, and statistical estimation • Derive, infer, and manipulate numerical information |
13 - 17 marks |
| Legal Reasoning | • Legal Maxims • Important Supreme Court Judgments • Legal GK • Indian Constitution • Important Acts and Amendments of the Legislature • Current Affairs |
35 - 39 marks |
| Total | 150 marks | |