CLAT 2026: Dates, Application Form, Eligibility, Admit Card, Pattern, Syllabus

CLAT Exam 2026: The Consortium of NLUs conducts the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) every year. Candidates interested in taking admission to the National Law Universities in India need to register online to appear for the exam. CLAT 2026 exam dates will be announced soon at consortiumofnlus.ac.in. 

Latest Updates:

• CLAT 2026 exam dates are expected to be announced soon at consortiumofnlus.ac.in. 

CLAT exam is conducted for students who are planning to pursue legal studies for Undergraduate or Postgraduate courses such as LLB and LLM in National Law Universities. The CLAT application form for 2026 session will be released in online mode at the official website. Candidates registering for the exam are have to fulfill all the eligibility requirements for their respective courses. 

Candidates are advised to check the CLAT syllabus and exam pattern while preparing for the examination. The syllabus and pattern for CLAT UG and PG exams are different.

CLAT 2026 Exam Date

The Consortium of National Law Universities will release the official date for the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2026 soon. Meanwhile, check examination related dates for CLAT 2025 session below: 

CLAT 2026: About exam

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is a national level law entrance exam conducted for students seeking a legal profession. The test is conducted and administered by renowned NLUs for admission in the integrated 5-year LLB or postgraduate courses like LLM.

Apart from the NLUs, the CLAT result is also accepted by various private and self-financed law schools located in India. The exam pattern and syllabus are different for UG-CLAT and PG-CLAT.

CLAT Eligibility 2026

Candidates must check the CLAT eligibility requirements before submitting an application. If the authorities find any errors in the eligibility, candidates will be disqualified. 

CLAT UG Eligibility

The following requirements must be fulfilled by students in order to be eligible for CLAT UG exam:

• There is no stated upper age limit for students wishing to register for CLAT undergraduate programs.
• Education from a recognized or accredited state or central board in the 10+2 level is mandatory
• If a student belongs to the General, OBC, PWD, NRI, PIO, or OCI categories, they must have at least 45% of the grade in the twelfth standard or the equivalent grade.
• If the candidate falls under the ST or SC categories, they must obtain a minimum of 40% of the grade in the twelfth standard or the equivalent grade
• The candidate will not be admitted to the program for which they may have applied if they do not submit their qualifying examination (10+2) score at the time of admission
• The test is also offered to 12th graders who will be taking the board exams in March or April of 2025. They will be disqualified, nevertheless, if they fail to produce a legitimate mark sheet

CLAT PG Eligibility

The following conditions must be met by applicants in order to be eligible for the CLAT PG programs:

• Students must certify that they have a LI.B. or a comparable degree in graduation 
• Students from the General/OBC/PWD/NRI/PIO/OCI categories must have at least 50% marks or an equivalent score
• Students from the ST/SC categories must have a minimum of 45% marks or an equivalent score
• There is no declared upper age limit
• Candidates who will take qualifying tests in the field of law in April or May 2025 are also qualified to take the exam

CLAT Registration 2026

The application form for CLAT exam is released in the online mode. Students can fill out the CLAT application form on the official website, consortiumofnlus.ac.in. The CLAT registration process includes following steps:

• Visit the official website, consortiumofnlus.ac.in
• Click on the "Register" option on the homepage 
• Next, students will need to fill up the required information 
• Choose the preferred NLUs
• Choose the preferred degree and course
• Next, upload the asked documents on the website
• Before confirming, cross-check the provided information
• Confirm and pay the fee
• Print the application form when the registration is completed for future use

CLAT Admit Card 2026

The CLAT admit card is issued a few days before the examination date. Candidates will be notified about the hall ticket release date at consortiumofnlus.ac.in. 

The following details will be mentioned on the CLAT Admit Card:

• The preferred college selected by the students
• Exam details such as the venue, slot time, and dates
• Reporting time at the allotted test centre
• Guidelines designed by the exam-conducting body
• Student's personal details such as the Date of Birth, name of the student, reservation category, and other such information
• Recent and valid passport-size photo
• Candidate's signature
• The preferred course selected by the students

CLAT Exam Centers 2026

Once the notification has been made live and students proceed with the exam registration, they will be asked to select an exam centre. Applicants can check the list for the conduct of CLAT examination.

CLAT Exam Pattern 2026

The CLAT exam pattern for UG and PG exams is somewhat similar including the total number of questions, exam duration, and marking scheme. Check the pattern below: 

CLAT Syllabus 2026

Along with the official notification, the CLAT syllabus for UG and PG will be made available separately. Both undergraduate and postgraduate programs have different curricula. For UG programs, students do not require proper knowledge of the law and legal concepts as it is conducted straight after grade 12th. Hence, basic knowledge of the law and international affairs is enough. Contrastingly, for PG-CLAT, students must thoroughly understand the Indian Constitutional Law and have a grasp on other law subjects.

Note: The topics from courses taught in undergraduate law will be covered in the exam, and students must be familiar with them in order to get the target grade and rank. Constitutional law would be the primary topic carrying the maximum weightage.

CLAT Result 2026

The CLAT result contains details about the candidate's overall and sectional scores, and merit rank, which is based on how well they did on the test. Along with a merit list, the authorities will also publish an invite list. Following the results announcement, the CLAT counselling process would begin. NLUs will use the CLAT scorecard to assess admission to law schools.

The candidates would receive the CLAT Result in the form of a scorecard. The following details will be mentioned in the CLAT scorecard:

CLAT Counselling 2026

Students will be divided into a merit and invite list based on their exam performance after the CLAT results are released. By paying the necessary fee, both will be qualified to sign up for the CLAT counselling. Prior to being allocated a course and a college, students on the merit list will be contacted for counselling. After the counselling has been completed, the seats would be allocated to the selected candidates. Students on the invite list may also be contacted if there are any remaining seats available.

CLAT 2026: Top 10 Law Colleges in India

Check the list of top 10 law schools in India, based on the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2024 rankings below: