CLAT
Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is a national level common Law entrance examination for the admission of UG, PG and other integrated Law courses (LLB and LLM) in 16 National Law Universities of India.
This is a two hour paper which consists of only multiple choices of questions based on subjects such as English, General Knowledge, Logical reasoning and Mathematics. The minimum education qualification to attend this exam is 10+ 12th standards cleared for the admission of UG and Integrated courses.
The minimum educational qualification for the admission of PG courses is a UG degree in Law.
The CLAT scores are also considered by other private law colleges and by some public sector recruitments.
List of National Law Universities:
The list of 16 National Law Universities which offer admission through CLAT are
- 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
- Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur
- Gujarat National Law University, Gandhi Nagar
- Ram Manahar Lohia National Law University, Lucknow
- Chanakya National Law University, Patna
- National University of advanced Legal studies, Kochi
- Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala
- National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi
- National Law University, Cuttack
- National Law University and Judicial Academy, Guwahati
- Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, Vishakhapatnam
- Tamil Nadu National Law School, Srirangam
Programs offered by 16 NLU’s:
The following are the different UG and PG programs offered by the 16 NLU’s:
They are
- A.LL.B (Hons) (LLB-Bachelor of Laws)
- Sc.LL.B (Hons)
- S.W LL.B (Hons)
- Com LL.B (Hons)
- L.M (LLM- Master of Laws)
Important dates for CLAT 2016:
These dates are tentative. Thus, refer the official website of CLAT for any official announcement of important dates of CLAT 2016.
Application form available from: 1st week of January to Last week of March 2016
Last date for the online application form submission: Last week of March 2016 Admit card availability: Mid of April 2016.
Examination date of CLAT 2016: 1st or 2nd week of May 2016
Declaration of results of CLAT 2016: 3rd and 4th week of May 2016
Admission process: From 4th week of May till 1st week of July 2016
Admission closes on: 1st week of July 2016
Eligibility criteria for CLAT 2016:
- Candidates applying for this exam for UG degree must have cleared higher secondary education from the recognized board with at least 45% of scores for general category students. For students belonging to the SC/ST and PwD they must have secured at least 40% of marks in their higher secondary education.
- The candidates applying for CLAT should be below 20 years as on 1st July 2016 for general category students. For students belonging to SC/ST/PwD category the age should be below 22 years.
- For PG program there is no upper age limit prescribed by the participating Universities.
- Candidates applying for PG degree exam must have completed LLB or 5 year integrated LLB degree with at least 55% of marks(General category students) and 50% of marks (SC/ST/PwD students) from a recognized University.
- The candidate must be an Indian or NRI.
How to apply for CLAT 2016?
The official notification of CLAT 2016 is yet to be announced in the official site of CLAT . After announcement, please follow the steps below:
- Visit the official site of CLAT 2016 http://www.clat.ac.in
- Since this exam is conducted only in online mode, the candidates can apply this exam only through online.
- Application forms for CLAT 2016 are expected to be available from January 2016. Thus, download the application form from the website.
- Please fill in all the details of candidate such as correct name, address, contact number and active email id. Please be sure that these details are very correct. These details are used to communicate further with the candidates.
- Last date of the application submission in on last week of March 2016.
- Submit the application form through online with required necessary documents like scanned copy of certificates, photos, etc.,
- The application fee is Rs.4000/- for general candidates and Rs.3500 for SC/ST/PwD candidates.
- The candidates can pay this application fee through net banking/debit card or credit card.
Pattern for CLAT 2016:
- Mode of the examination: Online only
- Duration of the examination for UG: Two hours
- Exam Venues: The exam will be conducted in number of test centres across India. The test centres will be announced later in the official site.
- Total number of questions: 200 each carrying one mark (UG exam)
- Total number of questions: 150 each carrying one mark (PG exam)
- Every correct answer will be awarded one mark whereas every wrong answer will be deducted 0.25 marks.
- For UG courses the exam pattern is as follows:
- Reasoning: 40 questions
- Legal Aptitude: 50 Questions
- English and comprehension: 40 questions
- Elementary mathematics: 20 questions
- General Knowledge and current affairs: 50 questions
- For PG Course the exam pattern is as follows:
- Constitutional law: 50 questions
- Jurisprudence: 50 questions
- Other law subjects: 50 questions
- Total marks for PG entrance exam: 150
- Each question carries one mark
- Time duration for PG exam: 2 hours.
However, please refer the official site of CLAT for the official announcement of the pattern.
Syllabus for CLAT 2016:
Syllabus for CLAT UG LLB:
The most important topics that are covered under the syllabus of CLAT (LLB-UG course syllabus) are:
English and comprehension:
This is to mainly test the candidate’s proficiency in English and his understanding capacity of comprehension passages and its theme. Questions based on comprehension passage test the candidate’s ability of understanding such passages. The other topics which are included are identify correct and incorrect sentences in grammar, active and passive voice, reading comprehension, sentence sequencing, spotting error and using appropriate word. This section carries 40 marks with 40 questions.
General Knowledge and current affairs:
The candidate’s are tested the knowledge in current affairs, general questions on India, world geography, history, freedom struggles, Indian economy, Indian constitution, international news, etc. This section carries 50 marks with 50 questions.
Elementary Mathematics:
This section covers all the fundamental concepts in mathematics. Thus, students who are strong enough in the fundamental basics can easily clear this section. The most important topics covered under this are Number system, roots, average, HCF and LCM, Logarithm, profit and loss, discounts, interest calculation, areas and volumes, decimals and fractions, etc. This section carries 20 marks.
Legal Aptitude:
This section will test the candidate’s knowledge in legal propositions. The questions are based on the legal propositions or principles and facts. These principles have to be applied accordingly to arrive at a most reasonable conclusion. The total number of questions in this section is 50.
Logical reasoning:
This section totally consists of 40 questions each carrying one mark. Questions based on logical links, identify patterns, rectifying illogical arguments are covered under this section. Other questions such as syllogism, logical sequences, analogies, etc are also covered under this section.
Syllabus for CLAT PG LLM:
The most important topics for CLAT PG LLM
- Law of Contracts
- Criminal Law
- Family Law
- Legal Theory
- Constitutional Law
- Law of Torts
Important books to refer for CLAT 2016:
- English:
- Word power made easy 1st edition by Norman Lewis
- Objective General English Edition 1 by R.S.Agarwal
- General Knowledge:
- Manorama year book
- Lucents General Knowledge
- Mathematics:
- Quantitative aptitude for competitive examinations, 17th edition by R.S.Aggarwal
- Quantitative aptitude for competitive examinations 4th edition
- Legal awareness:
- Legal awareness and legal reasoning for the CLAT and LLB.
- Logical reasoning:
- Analytical reasoning 3rd edition by M.K.Pandey
- A modern approach to logical reasoning by R.S.Aggarwal
Preparation tips for CLAT 2016:
Here are the few preparation tips for CLAT 2016.
- Study according to the latest syllabus and pattern of CLAT 2016:
This is the most important thing that a candidate must note. Students have to know the pattern and syllabus of CLAT 2016 and cover all topics thoroughly. Also, students can refer to the previous year questions papers to be clear and confident.
- Proper time management:
Time management is the most important thing for clearing any competitive exam. Thus, be sure that you can solve any particular question within the given time. If it is not possible try to solve it within the given time. This is the very important thing for any candidate.
- Take part in the online mock tests:
There are huge numbers of websites providing the online mock test for CLAT examination. Attending these exams, students can be clear about the types of questions asked for, duration of each section and importance of each section. Thus, students must definitely attend the mock examination.
- Prepare notes:
Practice yourself to prepare notes for all lengthy and important topics. Making note of all important formulas, important information, dates of the incidents, etc., which will help you during the last minute preparation of the examination.
- Be aware with the current affairs:
Unlike other competitive exams, CLAT needs more knowledge and awareness in the Current
affairs. Thus, read daily newspapers and magazines without fail.
- Solve previous year question papers:
Download last five years question papers and try to solve it on your own. Try to solve all mathematical questions, logical reasoning questions and legal awareness questions on your own. Test your General Knowledge skills by attending various mock tests.
- Refer all important books for CLAT :
Prepare the exam through books specified for CLAT 2016. Always prepare from those books.