CLAT Syllabus and Exam Pattern for the UG Paper

CLAT exam pattern and marking scheme

The CLAT marking scheme is simple: gain 1 for every right option, lose 0.25 for every slip, and score nothing either way on a skipped item. The Consortium publishes ranges rather than fixed numbers, so the exact split moves a little each year. In the latest paper, held in December, reports counted 24 English, 28 current affairs, 30 legal, 26 logical and 12 quantitative questions.

The paper has been cut from 150 to 120 questions in recent cycles, with the time kept at two hours, so you now get a minute per question.

CLAT English syllabus

You read passages of roughly the length of a newspaper opinion piece, drawn from contemporary or historically important fiction and non-fiction, and answer a set of questions on each.

• The main idea and the author's argument or point of view
• Inferences and conclusions that follow from the passage
• Summarising the passage or a paragraph
• Meaning of words and phrases in context
• Comparing arguments or viewpoints within the passage

There is little stand-alone grammar. Daily reading of editorials and long-form essays is the best preparation.

Current affairs and legal reasoning

Current affairs, including general knowledge

Questions follow passages taken from news and journalistic writing. They test your awareness of what the passage refers to, and the background around it.

• Big developments in India and abroad over about a year before the exam
• Arts and culture
• International affairs and organisations
• Historical events of continuing significance
• Legal and constitutional developments in the news

Legal reasoning

Each passage sets out a legal rule, principle or policy issue, followed by facts. You apply the rule to the facts and pick the outcome.

• Identify the rule or principle in the passage
• Apply it to fact situations, sometimes with a twist
• Understand how a change in the rule or the facts changes the answer

You do not need prior knowledge of law, though awareness of legal issues in the news helps you read faster.

Logical reasoning and quantitative techniques

Logical reasoning

• Recognising an argument, its premises and conclusion
• Assumptions, strengthening and weakening arguments
• Inferences and contradictions
• Analogies and relationships
• Applying the reasoning of one passage to a new situation

Reports on the latest paper noted that some traditional analytical puzzles appeared alongside critical reasoning, so practise both.

Quantitative techniques

Short sets of facts, graphs or tables, followed by questions that ask you to work out figures from them. The maths is at Class 10 level:

• Ratios and proportions, percentages, averages
• Basic algebra, profit and loss, time and work
• Mensuration and data interpretation

How to divide your preparation

• Legal and current affairs together carry about half the paper. Read the news through a legal lens: what court ruling, new law or constitutional issue is involved.
• Reading speed decides everything. With about 120 minutes for many passages, a slow reader runs out of time well before the last section.
• Quantitative techniques is the smallest section but the most mechanical; ten to fourteen questions can be secured with routine practice.
• Negative marking is light. If you can eliminate two options, an attempt is usually worth it.

A six-month plan for Class 12 students

1. Months 1 and 2: daily editorial reading and summaries; basic maths revision; legal reasoning basics.
2. Months 3 and 4: two sectional tests a week; monthly current affairs notes made by you.
3. Months 5 and 6: full-length mocks at the same time of day as the real paper, with careful review of each error.

Balance this with your board exams. If you also plan to take other law entrances, compare the papers on the entrance exams hub, and see how closing ranks work on the CLAT cut off page.

CLAT syllabus in Hindi (clat ka syllabus)

क्लैट यूजी का सिलेबस पाँच भागों में है: अंग्रेज़ी भाषा, समसामयिकी और सामान्य ज्ञान, विधिक तर्क, तार्किक तर्क और मात्रात्मक तकनीक। कुल 120 सवालों के लिए 120 मिनट मिलते हैं। प्रत्येक सही विकल्प पर पूरा एक अंक, और हर ग़लत विकल्प पर पाव अंक की कटौती। सभी प्रश्न गद्यांश पर आधारित होते हैं, इसलिए तेज़ी से पढ़ने और समझने की आदत सबसे ज़्यादा काम आती है। कानून का पहले से ज्ञान ज़रूरी नहीं है।