The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is a national-level entrance examination for admissions to undergraduate and postgraduate law programs offered by 24 National Law Universities in India. Understanding the exam structure and syllabus is the first crucial step toward effective preparation. This guide provides a detailed breakdown of the updated CLAT 2026 exam pattern and syllabus.
CLAT 2026 Exam Pattern Overview
Familiarity with the examination structure is essential for crafting a successful preparation strategy. The CLAT is a comprehension-based test designed to assess a candidate’s aptitude and reasoning skills.
Key Features of the Exam
- Mode of Examination: CLAT is conducted in an offline, pen-and-paper format.
- Duration: Candidates will have a total of 2 hours (120 minutes) to complete the entire test.
- Total Questions: The question paper will consist of 120 multiple-choice questions (MCQs).
- Marking Scheme: Each correct answer will be awarded 1 mark. For every incorrect answer, 0.25 marks will be deducted. No marks are deducted for unanswered questions.
- Medium: The examination is conducted exclusively in the English language.
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Detailed CLAT 2026 Syllabus
The CLAT UG 2026 syllabus is designed to evaluate a candidate’s reading, analytical, and reasoning abilities. It comprises five distinct sections, with questions derived from passages and other contextual materials.
English Language
This section assesses proficiency in the English language through comprehension-based questions. Passages of approximately 450 words each will be provided, drawn from contemporary or historically significant fiction and non-fiction writing. Candidates are not required to have any prior knowledge of the topics.
Your ability to read and comprehend the main points discussed in the passage will be tested. Furthermore, questions will require you to draw inferences, summarize arguments, and compare different arguments presented. The section also evaluates your understanding of word meanings and phrases within the given context.
Current Affairs Including General Knowledge
In this section, you will be presented with passages of up to 450 words each. These passages will be sourced from news, journalistic articles, and other non-fiction writing. The content will cover contemporary events of significance from India and around the world.
Questions will test your awareness of various aspects of current affairs and general knowledge. This includes an understanding of the legal information or knowledge discussed in or related to the passage. A thorough reading of daily newspapers and magazines is fundamental to scoring well in this section.
Legal Reasoning
The Legal Reasoning section is crucial for aspiring law students. This part will include passages of around 450 words, focusing on fact situations or scenarios involving legal matters, public policy questions, or moral philosophical inquiries. You do not need any prior legal knowledge to answer these questions.
The primary task is to identify and infer the rules and principles set out in the passage. Subsequently, you must apply these principles to the given fact scenarios. The assessment also involves understanding how changes to the principles may alter their application.
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Logical Reasoning
This section evaluates your critical thinking and reasoning skills. You will be provided with short passages of about 300 words each. Questions will require you to recognize an argument, its premises, and its conclusions.
Candidates must critically analyze the reasoning within the passage and identify the assumptions it makes. Additionally, the ability to assess how evidence affects the argument and to draw logical conclusions is tested. You will need to infer what follows from the passage and apply these inferences to new situations.
Quantitative Techniques
The final section tests your numerical ability through short sets of facts, propositions, graphs, or other textual, pictorial, or diagrammatic representations of numerical information. A series of questions will be derived from each passage or representation.
You will need to derive information, manipulate it, and apply mathematical operations. The required mathematical knowledge is of an elementary level (up to the 10th standard). Questions will involve topics such as ratios and proportions, basic algebra, mensuration, and statistical estimation.
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