CLAT 2018

Common Law Admission Test is a non-statutory body created to conduct the entrance exam for the 19 participating National Law Universities.

National Law School of India University, Bangalore (NLSIU)
National Academy of Legal Study and Research University of Law, Hyderabad (NALSAR)
The National Law Institute University, Bhopal(NLIU)
The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata (WBNUJS)
National Law University, Jodhpur (NLUJ)
Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur (HNLU)
Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar (GNLU)
Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow (RMLNLU)
Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab (RGNUL)
Chanakya National Law University, Patna (CNLU)
The National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi (NUALS)
National Law University Odisha, Cuttack (NLUO)
National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi (NUSRL)
National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam (NLUJAA)
Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, Visakhapatnam (DSNLU)
Tamil Nadu National Law School, Tiruchirappalli (TNNLS)
Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai (MNLU)
Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur
Maharashtra National Law University, Aurangabad

The details of seats in colleges for CLAT 2018 is as below:
1. NLSIU, Bangalore – TOTAL 80 – General 55, SC 12, ST 6, PWD 2, Foreign National 5
2. NALSAR, Hyderabad – TOTAL 99 – General 65, SC 13, ST 6, Foreign National 15, State Domicile 28
3. NLIU, Bhopal – TOTAL 120 – General 68, SC 8, ST 4, NRI/NRI Sponsored 18, J&K residents- 2, State Domicile 54
4. WBNUJS, Kolkata – TOTAL 125 – General 74, SC 13, ST 7, PWD 2, NRI/NRI Sponsored 18, J&K residents- 2 Foreign National 4, State Domicile- 10
5. NLUJ, Jodhpur – TOTAL 115 – General 77, SC 15, ST 8, NRI/NRI Sponsored 15, PWD 2, State Domicile 80
6. HNLU, Raipur – TOTAL 180 – General 62, SC 12, ST 6, PWD 2, NRI/NRI Sponsored 16, Foreign National 4, State Domicile 80
7. GNLU, Gandhinagar – TOTAL 180 – General 115, SC 27, ST 14, PWD 5, NRI/NRI Sponsored 17, Foreign National 6, State Domicile 44
8. RMLNLU, Lucknow – TOTAL 160 – General 80, State Domicile 80, NRI/NRI sponsored
9. RGNUL, Patiala – TOTAL 175 – General 133, SC 27, ST 14, PWD 4, Foreign National 5, State Domicile 18
10. CNLU, Patna – TOTAL 120 – General 60, NRI/NRI Sponsored / Foreign National 20, State Domicile 60
11. NUALS, Kochi – TOTAL 120 – General 33, PWD 2, NRI Sponsored 12, Foreign National 4, State Domicile 29
12. NLUO, Orissa – TOTAL 159 – General 78, SC 10, ST 14, PWD 4, NRI/NRI Sponsored 10, Foreign National 4
13. NUSRL, Ranchi – TOTAL 120 – General 24, SC 8, ST 4, OBC 14, State Domicile 50
14. NLUJA, Assam – TOTAL 60 – General 30, SC 4, ST 9, PWD 2, State Domicile 15
15. DSNLU , Vishakhapatnam – Total 132, General 12, State Domicile 120
16. TNNLS, Tiruchirapalli – Total 180, General 70, SC 14, ST 6, State Domicile 90
17. MNLU, Mumbai – Total-50, General 25, SC 7, ST 3, OBC 9

*The details of the seats in the NLUs in Nagpur and Aurangabad could not be ascertained at the time of the publication of this article.

The entrance test is conducted to provide a list of candidates on the basis of ‘merit-cum-preference’ to each University for admission to their UG/PG programs, as per the eligibility, reservation and other criteria laid down under the respective statutes of the participating Universities.

Eligibility Criteria for Appearing in CLAT-2018

For U G Program

1. Passed 10+2 or equivalent examination with the minimum of: –
(a) Forty-five percent (45%) marks in case of candidates belonging to Unreserved/OBC/ (Specially Abled Persons) Categories and
(b) Forty percent (40%) marks in case of candidates belonging to SC/ST Category

2. Candidates who are appearing in the qualifying examination in April/May 2018 are also eligible for appearing in CLAT-2018 examination. However, they shall be required to produce an evidence of their passing the qualifying examination at the time of admission, failing which they shall lose their right to be considered for admission.

3. No upper age limit is prescribed for appearing in CLAT-2018. *

* Bar Council of India has come with a new circular which prescribed that, as per the clause 28 of the legal education rules 2008, the maximum age for seeking admission in the 5 years integrated program is 20 years. But this not finalized yet.

For P G Programme

1. LL.B. or equivalent degree in law examination with a minimum of 55% marks in case of Unreserved/OBC/ (Especially abled persons) categories and 50% marks in case of SC/ST category

2. Candidates who are appearing in the qualifying examination in March/April 2018 are also eligible for appearing in CLAT-2018 examination. However, they shall be required to produce evidence of their passing the qualifying examination in the respective National Law Universities at the time of admission failing which they shall lose their right to be considered for admission.

3. No upper age limit is prescribed for appearing in CLAT-2018

CLAT 2018 Important Dates

Event	Date
Issuance of 1^st admission notification	3rd week of December 2017
Commencement of online application	1^st week of January 2018
Closing date to submit filled-in online application form	last week of March 2018
Availability of admit card	3^rd week of April 2018
Examination date	2^nd week of May 2018
Release of answer key	2^nd week of May 2018
Results declaration	3^rd week of May 2018
Release of merit list	1^st week of June 2018
Counseling will start from	1^st week of June 2018

Application fee

The applicants will have to pay Rs. 4,000/- (for UR, OBC, SAP applicants) as application fee. The application fee for SC/ST applicants is Rs. 3,500/-. The application fee can be paid either online or offline mode. The application fee once paid will not be refunded in any circumstances.

CLAT 2018 Exam Pattern

The CLAT 2018 will be conducted in online mode. The medium of the examination will be in English.

For UG Courses

The question paper will be total of 200 marks. The applicants will get 1 mark for each correct answer and there will be a penalty of 0.25 marks for each wrong answer. The duration of examination will be 2 hours.

Subjects	Marks
English including comprehension	40 marks
General knowledge & current affairs	50 marks
Elementary mathematics (numerical ability)	20 marks
Legal aptitude	50 marks
Logical reasoning	40 marks
Total	200 marks

For PG Courses

There will be total 150 MCQ type questions with total duration of 2 hours for CLAT 2018 examination. The applicants will get 1 mark for each correct answer and there will be a penalty of 0.25 marks for each wrong answer.

Subjects	Marks
Constitutional Law	50 marks
Jurisprudence	50 marks
Other subjects such as contract, torts, criminal law, international law, IPR etc.	50 marks
Total	150 marks

NUALS Kochi (The National University of Advanced Legal Studies Kochi) is conducting CLAT 2018 on May 13 for admissions to five-year integrated law programmes in as many as 19 NLUs (National Law Universities) including MLNU Mumbai, MNLU Nagpur and MNLU Aurangabad, which have been added recently.

The CLAT 2018 conducting NLU, NUALS Kochi is to publish an official notification on the undergraduate law admission test on December 20, 2017 as it will begin CLAT 2018 application process on January 1, 2018.

Further to add more information on CLAT 2018, the NLU administered law admission test scores are utilised not only by the 19 NLUs participating in CLAT, but around 25 other law schools for admissions into the five-year integrated UG law programmes.

In addition to the undergraduate law programmes, CLAT is also conducted for admission into postgraduate law programmes including LLM.

CLAT Syllabus

English including Comprehension (40 marks)

The CLAT syllabus 2018 for English consists of vocabulary, proficiency, usage errors and comprehension.

English Vocabulary

This section consists of synonyms, antonyms and analogies.

English Proficiency

This section consists of idioms & Phrases, fill in the blanks, one word substitution, cloze tests, sentence improvement, rearrangement of sentences in paragraph, jumbled sentences.

English Usage errors

This section will have questions from spot the error & correct the sentences, spelling mistakes, use the correct word.

English Comprehension

This section consists of passage(s) with questions asked based on the passage(s).
The applicants need to understand what the passage(s) state & answer questions accordingly

GK & Current Affairs (50 marks)

The applicants are advised to follow magazines such as Competition in Focus & Pratiyogita Darpan and read newspapers (preferably the Indian Express and/or the Hindu) to do well in the Current Affairs section.
The focus should be equally divided between Static GK as well as Current Affairs.
The applicants also should know the important events of national as well as global importance.
Also staying updated with the happenings related to Science, Technology, Legal Affairs, Sports, People & Places is immensely beneficial.

Elementary Mathematics (20 marks)

The applicants who are thorough with the fundamentals of mathematics will have good scope in this section.
They need to cover these topics for score well in the mathematics section: Numbers, HCF & LCM, Ratio & proportion, Approximation, Average, Surds & Indices, Decimals & fractions, Roots, Number system, Areas & volumes, Interest calculation, Discounts, Profit & loss

Legal Aptitude (50 marks)

This section will check the applicants’ ability to judge the given circumstances in the most legal ways. This section covers 50 questions with each question consisting of legal principle(s) and facts. These principles are to be applied to the given facts to reach at the most reasonable conclusion. These principles may or may not be true in real sense. However, the applicants have to conclusively assume them to be true for the purpose of this section. In answering the questions in this section, applicants must not rely on any prior knowledge/assumptions/moral perspective except the principle(s) that are provided for every question. Further, the applicants must not add or omit anything from the facts other than the one which is mentioned in the question. The main purpose of this section is to check the applicants understanding towards law, research aptitude & problem solving ability even if the outcome is any different from the conventionally held notions.

Logical reasoning (40 marks)

This section is divided into Analytical Reasoning and Critical Reasoning.
Analytical Reasoning is more objective in nature and is the conclusion has to be derived from the information already existing in the question. No outside information can be added to the questions. Blood-Relation, Syllogisms, Directions are some examples of questions from Analytical Reasoning.
Critical Reasoning is subjective and outside knowledge is applicable in such questions. Statement-Conclusions is a typical example of a Critical Reasoning question.
Unlike Analytical Reasoning where the answer is definite and absolutely conclusive, an answer in Critical Reasoning might not be absolute in nature and could be the one closest to the answer.