The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2026 notification is expected to be released soon by the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) on its official website consortiumofnlus.ac.in. It is a national level entrance exam for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate law programs offered by 24 NLUs across India. To get admission in top law universities candidates must have passed Class 12 with at least 45% marks (40% for SC/ST) for UG programs. For PG, an LL.B. degree with minimum qualifying marks is required.
The exam is held in offline mode and includes multiple-choice questions in subjects like English, legal reasoning, and current affairs. Every year lakhs of students appear for CLAT which is one of the most competitive law entrance exams. For CLAT 2026 candidates who are interested in getting into prestigious law universities like NLSIU Bengaluru, NALSAR Hyderabad, and WBNUJS Kolkata its important to stay updated on eligibility, registration, syllabus, and top NLU rankings
CLAT 2026: Important Dates
As there is no official notification yet but candidates who are interested to appear in CLAT 2026 can apply in July (expected) after the release of application forms for 2026. Candidates can the table below for more information:
| Particulars | Dates (Tentative) |
| Release of CLAT 2026 Notification | July 2025 |
| CLAT 2026 Application Opens | July 2025 |
| Last Date to Submit Application Form | November 2025 (1st week) |
| Release of Admit Cards | November 2025 (Last week) |
| CLAT 2026 Exam Date | December 1, 2025 (Tentative) |
| Release of Provisional Answer Key | December 2025 (2nd week) |
| Objection Window for Answer Key | 2–3 days post answer key |
| Release of Final Answer Key | December 2025 (3rd week) |
| CLAT 2026 Result Announcement | December 2025 (Last week) |
| Commencement of Counselling Process | January 2026 |
NIRF Top 5 Law Institutes (2024–2021)
As per the NIRF ranking for top 5 law universities from 2024-2021, NLSIU Bengaluru is on rank 1 for the years 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021. NIRF hasn’t yet released the ranking for 2025 but candidates can assume top law universities from the 2024-2021 data given below:
| Year | Rank 1 | Rank 2 | Rank 3 | Rank 4 | Rank 5 |
2024 | NLSIU Bengaluru (83.83) | NLU Delhi (77.48) | NALSAR Hyderabad (77.05) | WBNUJS Kolkata (76.39) | Symbiosis Law School, Pune (74.62) |
2023 | NLSIU Bengaluru (80.52) | NLU Delhi (73.91) | NALSAR Hyderabad (73.76) | WBNUJS Kolkata (69.34) | Jamia Millia Islamia (68.30) |
2022 | NLSIUBengaluru (78.00) | NLU Delhi (73.96) | Symbiosis Law School (73.73) | Nalsar Hyderabad (73.05) | WBNUJS Kolkata (70.72) |
2021 | NLSIU Bengaluru (78.06) | NLU Delhi (74.55) | NALSAR Hyderabad (72.39) | WBNUJS Kolkata (71.24) | IIT Kharagpur (Law) (71.09) |
