CLAT 2026 Exam Pattern & Syllabus: Complete Guide

TL;DR

• The CLAT is a national entrance exam for admission to NLUs and other prestigious Indian law schools.
• The CLAT UG 2026 exam consists of 120 questions with negative marking.
• The UG paper comprises five sections: English, Current Affairs and GK, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Techniques.
• Both multiple-choice and subjective questions are included in CLAT PG, which focuses on fundamental legal topics.
• To get success in CLAT 2026, consistent practice, test series, and a reading habit can take you a long way.
• Scoring chances are increased by early preparation and a complete understanding of the exam syllabus and pattern.

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is a national-level exam administered annually by the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs). Through this exam, students can get admission to the top law colleges and universities in India. CLAT is conducted at both UG and PG levels to offer admission to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. CLAT 2026 was conducted on December 7, 2025.

If you’re interested in taking admission to law courses after your 10+2, then you can consider sitting for the CLAT examination. As per the CLAT exam pattern, this is a 2-hour, offline, pen-and-paper exam. According to the exam details, students are required to prepare for subjects such as English Language, General Knowledge, Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Techniques. Understanding the detailed paper pattern is crucial to cracking this examination.

Find the detailed breakdown of the CLAT exam syllabus 2026, exam pattern, subjects covered, and all exam details at one place.

CLAT 2026 Exam Pattern

The CLAT exam pattern is designed to test a student's knowledge in English, General Knowledge, and other subjects. CLAT UG is an MCQ-based examination, objective in nature. This examination is worth 120 marks (reduced from the earlier 150 marks), and has 120 questions worth 1 mark each.

The CLAT PG session examination also comprises subjective questions. With regard to the marking criterion, candidates will be awarded 1 mark for each answer, and as such, any answer that is wrong will attract a penalty of 0.25. The medium of instruction for this exam is English.

CLAT UG Syllabus

The subjects for CLAT examination (UG) are mainly divided into the following sections, namely:

Let's examine each of these sections in detail.

English Language

Questions: 28-32

Topics Covered:

• Comprehension passages
• Grammar
• Vocabulary

Focus:

• Understanding the passage
• Responding to passage-based questions
• Correct grammatical usage
• Vocabulary — Knowing & Using Proper Word Choices

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Current Affairs and General Knowledge

Questions: 35-39

Topics Covered:

• National and international events
• Important dates of events
• Sports and entertainment news

Focus:

• Keeping up with the news every day
• Reading newspapers regularly
• Reading the monthly current affairs magazines

Legal Reasoning

Questions: Approximately 35-39

Topics Covered:

• Legal principles
• Situational analysis
• Legal issue spotting

Focus:

• Understand legal propositions
• Applying legal propositions to real-life scenarios.
• Drawing a conclusion based on principles.

Logical Reasoning

Questions: 28-32

Topics Covered:

• Logical puzzles
• Statement and argument
• Statement and assumption
• Statement and conclusion

Focus:

• Analysing arguments
• Identifying patterns
• Solving logical puzzles

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Quantitative Techniques

Questions: Around 13-17

Topics Covered:

• Maths 1 to X Standard
• Arithmetic
• Algebra
• Geometry

Focus:

• Solving mathematical problems
• Basic mathematical concepts and their applications
• Interpreting data and graphs

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CLAT PG Syllabus

The CLAT PG exam focuses mainly on core legal subjects that candidates have studied during their LLB programs. The test sections are as follows:

• Constitutional Law
• Jurisprudence
• Other Major Law Subjects

Constitutional Law

Topics Covered:

• Fundamental rights
• Principles that are Fundamental in the Governance of the Country
• Structure, functions, and power of the Executive and Legislature
• Recent Amendments and Key Judgements

Focus: The questions in this part evaluate the information on constitutional ideas, landmark rulings, and their applicability.

Jurisprudence

Topics Covered:

• Legal theories
• Concepts of law and justice
• Schools of jurisprudence
• Key Jurists and Their Contributions

Focus: This section tests the candidate's understanding of different legal theories and their interpretation of policy domains in law.

Other Major Law Subjects

Topics Covered:

• Administrative Law
• Law of Contracts
• Law of Torts
• Criminal Law
• International Law
• Property Law
• Company Law

Focus: Probing questions in these subjects are posed to discern how thoroughly a candidate is prepared about core principles, landmark rulings, and recent legal developments.

Subjective Questions

The CLAT PG exam contains subjective questions in addition to MCQs. These are essay (and other long-form) questions in which candidates answer thoroughly on topics related to law and its intersection with society. This section is most relevant as it verifies the knowledge of writing briefs, difficult topics, and explaining them in a way that makes sense.

How to Prepare for CLAT 2026

Follow the steps given below to prepare well for the CLAT 2026 exam:

• Make reading a daily habit: Make it a habit to read newspapers and informational magazines to stay updated with current affairs and news. This will help you answer the Current Affairs and English Language sections.
• Practice regularly: Practice old years' question papers and take mock tests. The mock test will allow you to know the exact exam pattern and help manage your time in the exam hall.
• Working on weak areas: Recognise where you are unclear and work on it. This will increase your overall efficiency.

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Conclusion

Having a comprehensive understanding of the CLAT syllabus 2026 and exam pattern can help you ace the exam. Once you’re confident in your preparation for the prelims examination, you can then shift your focus to each individual section, practice well and keep track of the current affairs and important national news. With consistent effort and an effective strategy, you can definitely score well in the CLAT 2026 examination.

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