The Logical Reasoning section of the CLAT paper is generally considered to be a tricky yet very scoring section. Acing this section is essential as there is generally a lot of disparity in the marks of students in this section. Due to the need of immense practice and conceptual clarity for effectively tackling this section, this section generally has a very low average score amongst all sections. As is the case with other sections of the CLAT paper, this section has a wide array of questions, including some very easy questions. The distinguishing factor for this section is that the trick lies in attempting the questions with both speed and accuracy. The combination of speed and accuracy can only be achieved through conceptual clarity and practice.

Break up of marks of each section in the CLAT paper:

Legal Reasoning: 50

General Knowledge: 50

English: 40

Logical Reasoning: 40

Mathematics: 20

Logical reasoning is the third most important section in terms of marks, as it carries 40 marks. However, it has been observed over the years that this section contributes to the maximum marks which an individual can score as compared to the other sections. Scoring a perfect 40 is also not a difficult task; however, as has been reiterated earlier, a lot of practice and conceptual clarity is a prerequisite for the same.

An important factor which needs to be considered is that even the silliest of mistakes can lead to the wrong answer and therefore this section needs to be attempted with the highest precision possible.

An analysis of the previous 4 CLAT papers shows that out of the 40 questions, 15-17 questions are easy to solve and can be easily attempted in 8-10 minutes in total. The section consists of around 12-15 questions of moderate difficulty level which require around 15-18 minutes to be solved accurately. Further there are 8-10 questions which are difficult and require time and conceptual clarity in order to be attempted perfectly and would require somewhere around 12-15 minutes. Hence if we sum up this analysis we can see that the logical reasoning section requires almost 35 to 40 minutes in a 2 hour paper. Time to be devoted to other sections should be planned according to the same.

A student who practices adequately can score a perfect 40 in this section as this section is tricky but not difficult. A score of 32 marks or more can be safely considered to be a good score for this section. Translating this in terms of number of questions which a student needs to answer correctly, a student should attempt a minimum of 34 questions correctly. This flows from the assumption that a student attempts all questions in this section and hence 6 incorrect questions lead to 1.5 negative marks. Hence in essence meaning that a student loses 7.5 marks in this section.

Few general essential tips for attempting the logical reasoning section

1. Reading the question carefully and correctly is imperative for attempting the logical reasoning section of the CLAT paper. The facts or assertions provided in the question need to be assumed to be true even though it factually incorrect or absolutely absurd. Hence a student should base his answer only on the facts that are provided and should for the sake of attempting the question, assume that the facts are true.
2. Reading too much into the question or assuming any fact or information should never be done for the purpose of attempting this section.
3. Certain question may have multiple options which may be correct. In those cases, all options must be examined and the most appropriate option should be chosen. Hence apart from reading the question, a student must read the options and study them well before arriving at an answer.
4. The language of the question should be read with special emphasis. Words like “all”, “some”, “none”, “unless” etc should be given special emphasis and must be highlighted while reading the question. Furthermore, an attempt must be made to clearly understand as to what is asked in the question.
5. Avoid jumping between questions in this section. Try and attempt to complete a question and only then move to the next one because leaving a question in the middle and attempting it at a later stage can lead to a wastage of time as the question would have to be read again completely.
6. In questions related to patterns and passages attempt to ensure that you are sure about the problem before attempting as one wrong answer can lead to wrong answers for all the related questions.
7. Time management is essential for attempting this section. Each student should devise an independent strategy for time management based on his or her strengths and weaknesses.
8. It is imperative that students practice questions and gain conceptual clarity for attempting this section.

COURSE OUTLINE FOR LOGICAL REASONING

The logical reasoning section of the CLAT paper can be divided into two major parts, the critical reasoning segment and the analytical reasoning segment. The critical reasoning segment in the paper generally comprises of the verbal reasoning questions and the analytical reasoning section comprises of the non verbal reasoning questions.

In other words, the analytical reasoning questions test the students to analyze the provided data and arrive at a solution to a problem based on the data that is provided while the critical reasoning question test the student on his ability to interpret the given data and identify a logical inference from the same. In terms of weightage, in the CLAT paper, it has been observed that the paper comprises of about 80-85% questions based on analytical reasoning and about 15-20% questions on the section of critical reasoning.

The syllabus can hence be divided into the following broad topics-

1. Codes
2. Family Relations
3. Directions
4. Groups and Arrangements
5. Logical Series
6. Logical Puzzles
7. Syllogisms
8. Ordering of Sentences
9. Assumptions
10. Conclusions
11. Forcefulness of arguments
12. Assertion and Reasoning
13. Degree of Truth and Falsity
14. Critical Reasoning

TYPES OF QUESTIONS ASKED FROM THIS SECTION IN THE CLAT PAPER

An analysis of previous year’s papers from year 2013 to year 2015 provides us with a fair idea about what topics are considered important in the Logical Reasoning section of CLAT exam. The following are the topics which have been regularly tested over the course of the past three years as have been provided below

1. Puzzle (Maximum Questions on Puzzles in year 2013)
2. Pairing Questions
3. Data Sufficiency
4. Coding Decoding
5. Series completion (only asked in year 2013)
6. Statement Conclusion questions
7. Questions on Seating Arrangement, Distance and Direction.
8. Syllogisms

Certain new topics which have been tested in CLAT 2015

1. Blood Relations
2. Make meaningful words from jumbled alphabets
3. Calendar
4. Questions based on number/symbol
5. Questions based on Facts, Judgment & Inference

Probable new topics for CLAT 2016

1. Non – Verbal Reasoning Questions: here you are usually given a figure series and are expected to tell which figure will follow next.
2. Combination of existing types of questions: a combination of blood relations and seating arrangement questions.
3. Statement-Course of Action
4. Questions based on cause and Effect