CAREERS360

ALL ABOUT
1

CLAT

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ALL ABOUT CLAT

CONTENTS
Foreword3

Common Law Admission Test An Introduction

Who conducts CLAT?

CLAT Seat Intake

CLAT Eligibility

CLAT Exam Pattern

10

CLAT Timeline

11

CLAT History

12

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ALL ABOUT CLAT

FOREWORD

agerly waiting for the next session of undergraduate law

admissions? After qualifying Class 12th, you have a number
of gateways to pursue undergraduate law admissions.

Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is the most sought after

gateways to five-year integrated law programmes in National Law
Universities.
All about CLAT E-book compiled and designed by Careers360
brings you an overview of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT),
the courses offered, participating institutes and their fees.
The E-Book also outlines the history of the coveted law entrance
exam and controversies embroiled.

Let us now begin!

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ALL ABOUT CLAT

COMMON LAW ADMISSION TEST AN INTRODUCTION

ommon Law Admission Test abbreviated as

CLAT was started in 2008 as a common
entrance test for admissions to participating
National Law Universities (NLUs).

The first CLAT was conducted on May 11, 2008

by National Law School of India University (NLSIU)
Bangalore. In 2008, as many as seven NLUs participated in the law entrance test and collectively offered
a total of 1037 seats for under graduate admissions.
Over the last 6 years, eight more NLUs have joined
the law admission test committee as participating
institutes of CLAT. As of 2015 admission year, only two
NLUs (NLU Delhi & NLU Maharashtra) conduct their
own entrance exams.
The participating NLUs and CLAT Committee offer
admissions on the basis of admission test score.
These participating NLUs conduct a common

counselling for admissions to their five-year integrated

undergraduate law programmes.
Over the last 7 years, number of candidates applying for CLAT has increased four-folds, where a total
of 11000 candidates registered for the first CLAT in
2008, the 2015 registration almost quadruplicated with
45140 registrations. Below is the year-wise registration
numbers for CLAT since 2008.

Year

UG Registration Numbers

2015

39686

2014

31231

2013

30915

2012

25769

2011

24256

2010

18375

2009

15000

2008

11000

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Besides

NLUs

many

private

law institutes also accept CLAT

scores

for

admissions

undergraduate

law

to

their

programmes.

Interestingly, National Law University Delhi (NLU-D) and Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai
(MNLU) are the only National Law
Universities which dont participate
in CLAT and admit students after conducting their respective entrances,
All India Law Entrance Test (AILET)
and Maharashtra National Law University Admission Test (MNLUAT)

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WHO CONDUCTS CLAT?

n 2008, for the very first time Common Law Admission

Test (CLAT) for admissions to five-year integrated law programmes in participating NLUs was conducted by National
Law School of India University Bangalore.

Since then the test is being conducted by the different

NLUs based on rotation process. The participating NLUs of
CLAT are the members of the CLAT committee. The table
below brings you year-wise name of CLAT conducting NLUs.

Year

CLAT conducting National Law University (NLU)

2016

Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law Patiala*

2015

Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University Lucknow

2014

Gujarat National Law University Gandhinagar

2013

Hidayatullah National Law University Raipur

2012

National Law University Jodhpur

2011

West Bengal National University of Juridical Universities Kolkata

2010

National Law Institute University Bhopal

2009

NALSAR University of Law Hyderabad

2008

National Law School of India University Bangalore

* RGNUL Patiala to conduct CLAT 2016

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CLAT SEAT INTAKE

here are more than 2000 seats at different

NLUs, which are filled by CLAT. We here bring
you seat statistics with institute-wise break-up
in different NLUs (2015-20 admission session).

National Law Universities (NLUs)

UG Seats

NLSIU Bangalore

80

NALSAR Hyderabad

115

NLIU Bhopal

128

WBNUJS Kolkata

116

NLU Jodhpur

115

HNLU Raipur

185

Law Schools accepting CLAT Scores

GNLU Gandhinagar

187

Nirma University Institute of Law

RMLNLU Lucknow

176

UPES College of Legal Studies, Dehradun

RGNUL Patiala

196

SRM University, Tamil Nadu

CNLU Patna

140

N.A. Global Law School

NUALS Kochi

120

Galgotias University, Greater Noida

NLUO Cuttack

120

Alliance University, Bangalore

NUSRL Ranchi

120

SRM University, Haryana

NLUJAA Guwahati

60

Altius Institute of Universal Studies, Indore

DSNLU Vishakhapatnam

132

Manipal University

TNNLS Tiruchirappalli

200

Lloyd Law College, Greater Noida

Total

2190

ITM University, Gurgaon

OTHER LAW INSTITUTIONS

ACCEPTING CLAT SCORES
In addition to the above 16 National Law Universities
(NLUs), following are some of the other institutes which
participate in CLAT and accept scores of the Common
Law Admission Test.

IAMR Law College, Ghaziabad

Raffles University, Rajasthan
SGT University, Gurgaon

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CLAT ELIGIBILITY
Academic Qualification
You need to have qualified Higher Secondary School/
Intermediate or equivalent examination from 10+2
education system.
You need to secure at least 45% marks in aggregate of the total marks and if belonging to SC/
ST category, need to secure at least 40% marks.

Age Bar
As per the March 27, 2015 Supreme Court order,
there is no upper age limit for applying and appearing in CLAT. Earlier, the upper age limit was 20 years.
Therefore with no age bar, any one irrespective of the
age can apply for CLAT 2016.

Who else are eligible for CLAT?

Candidates who are appearing in their Class 12th or
any other equivalent examination will also be considered eligible for applying for CLAT, subjected to minimum marks required for the common law admission
test.
Candidates will need to submit their proof of qualifying and mark-sheet at the time of admission.

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CLAT EXAM PATTERN

Exam Mode Online
Exam Duration 2 Hours
Number of Questions 200 Questions
Total Marks 200 Marks
Marking Scheme Each question will have four
options provided against it. You are required to mark
the most appropriate option among the four given.
While each correct answer will be awarded 1 mark, for
every incorrect answer, 0.25 marks will be deducted
from the total scored marks following a system of

negative marking. In any case if you respond any

question with more than one answer, itll be regarded
as wrong, even if one of the marked options is correct
and negative marking will be applicable to the very
question.
Subjects The online paper will comprise the questions from the following subjects
l
l
l
l
l

English (including Comprehension)

General Knowledge & Current Affairs
Elementary Mathematics (Numerical Ability)
Legal Aptitude
Logical Reasoning

Subject-wise
distribution of Questions

10

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CLAT TIMELINE

he CLAT Committee issues notification of Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) usually in the
month of December and announces applications from the first week of January.

The applications are invited in online mode and

the window closes by the second week of April.
You can download the admit card of CLAT from
third week of April as the admission test is usually
scheduled to be held in the second week of May.
CLAT
Results
are
announced
by
the
last week of May and is followed by a centralized online counselling from first week of June.
CLAT Committee organizes the counselling and
seat allotment for as many as 4 rounds, as the admission process is closed by second week of July.
Given are the important events of the Common Law Admission Test along with the dates

11

Notification

Last week of December 2015

Application Form

First week of January

Second week of April 2016

Admit Card

Third week of April 2016

Online Exam

Second week of May 2016

Result and Rank List

Last week of May 2016

1st Seat Allotment List

First week of June 2016

Payment of counselling fee

Till second week of June

2016

2nd Seat Allotment List

Second week of June 2016

Payment of counselling fee

Till third week of June 2016

3rd Seat Allotment List

Third week of June 2016

Payment of counselling fee

Till fourth week of June

2016

4th Seat Allotment List

Fourth week of June 2016

Payment of counselling fee

Till first week of July 2016

Closure of admission
process

Till Second week of July

2016

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CLAT HISTORY

LAT 2016 Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala is to conduct the most
sought after law entrance exam for a total of
2190 seats distributed among 16 participating National Law Universities (NLUs). Some petitioners
have approached the Supreme Court of India appealing for the formation of a permanent CLAT conducting
body with an objective to improve the exam system.
CLAT 2015 The year gave a nightmare to both the
examinees and the conducting body, Dr. Ram Manohar National Law University (RMLNLU). The Common
Law Admission Test was embroiled in a number of
controversies including alleged erroneous questions
and wrong merit lists. However, there were some news
worth rejoice too. While the exam was conducted in
online mode for the very first time, the Supreme Court
ordered the CLAT Committee to lift age bar for applications.
CLAT 2014 This year the exam was conducted by
Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) and for the
very first time counselling was held in centralized online
mode. CLAT 2014 was also marred in controversies
including mismatch of answer-sheets.

by several controversies. The test takers alleged that

the several of the questions were set out of syllabus
and the pattern was entirely changed. Moreover errors
crept in the published rank list and a fresh rank list was
put up in place of the wrong one.
CLAT 2011 The coveted law entrance exam was
conducted by WBNUJS Kolkata. The law aspirants
were disappointed with the standard of the examination. Moreover some of the answers of various questions were even underlined due to the negligence of
the organizers.
CLAT 2010 - NLIU Bhopal conducted the law entrance
exam for a total of 11 participating NLUs.
CLAT 2009 The conducting body, NALSAR
Hyderabad had to re-schedule the May 17 exam to
May 31 as the question papers got leaked.
CLAT 2008 Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), a
common but most sought after exam for law aspirants
was conducted for the first time. In 2008, the CLAT
Committee was headed by NLSIU Bangalore and
as many as seven NLUs participated in the common
entrance test for a total of 1037 seats.

CLAT 2013 When CLAT 2013 was conducted by

Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU), Raipur;
the test takers got surprised with the introduction of
the new marking system. As per the negative marking
system, for every wrong answer, a deduction of 0.25
marks (one-fourth) was made from the total marks
secured by the examinee.
CLAT 2012 National Law University Jodhpur had
conducted the exam and this year CLAT was marred

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