CLAT Syllabus 2026: The Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) has released the CLAT 2026 syllabus pdf on its official website - consortiumofnlus.ac.in. The CLAT UG 2026 syllabus has five sections namely English language, logical reasoning, legal reasoning, general knowledge, current affairs, and quantitative techniques. The maximum difficulty level of the CLAT 2026 syllabus is of class 12th level. On the other hand, the CLAT LLM syllabus 2026 covers different law topics testing the candidate's suitability to pursue post-graduation in law. Read the complete article about the CLAT syllabus 2026, including subject-wise topics, marking scheme, and more. The Common Law Admission Test is a reading intensive law entrance exam. A common skill tested in the CLAT 2026 syllabus across all the syllabus is the ability to read and comprehend long text passages. The CLAT question papers often require students to read around 20,000 words across passages and answer the questions within 120 minutes.
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As per the CLAT exam pattern, the total number of questions in CLAT 2026 will be 120, each carrying one mark, spread across the five sections as per the assigned weights. Candidates will have 2 hours to answer the questions. The CLAT participating institutes include 24 national law universities (NLUs), 1 private university, and 60+ affiliated colleges that accept CLAT scores for their law admissions. CLAT 2026 will be conducted on December 7, 2025 offline for 5-year LLB and LLM admissions.
| Details | Particulars |
|---|---|
Exam name | Common Law Admission Test |
Duration of CLAT exam | 2 hours (offline exam) |
CLAT exam timings | 2 pm to 4 pm |
Total number of questions in CLAT 2026 | 120 |
Subjects | Legal reasoning, logical reasoning, maths, current affairs, general knowledge and English comprehension |
Level of difficulty | Class 12 or equivalent |
Whether the CLAT 2026 syllabus is tough or not can be gauged by the success rate in CLAT. Close to 60000+ candidates appear for the exam every year vying for a very limited number of seats in the top NLUs. The table below provides the success rate in CLAT.
Exam | Number of registered candidates | Number of appeared candidates | Attendance | Seats | Maximum Success Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CLAT UG | 62832 | 60544 | 96.35% | 4054 | 6.66% |
CLAT PG | 16082 | 14817 | 92.91% | 1591 | 10.73% |
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There are five sections in the CLAT 2026 exam syllabus. Each section contains comprehension passages followed by a series of multiple-choice questions. Candidates are required to answer the CLAT questions after reading the passages. The subject-wise distribution of questions and marks is given below.
| Subject name | Number of questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|
English Language | 22-26 | 22-26 |
Current Affairs including General Knowledge | 28-32 | 28-32 |
Legal Reasoning | 28-32 | 28-32 |
Logical Reasoning | 22-26 | 22-26 |
Quantitative Techniques | 10-14 | 10-14 |
Total | 120 | 120 |
There are five subjects in CLAT. As can be seen in the overview above, the CLAT 2026 subjects have different weights in the syllabus. Among the CLAT exam subjects, current affairs and legal reasoning have the maximum weight at 25%. English and logical reasoning have 20% weight. The lowest weight among the CLAT subjects is for Mathematics at 10%. The CLAT subject-wise marks are also distributed according to the weight of each subject.
| Sl. no | Sections | Weightage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Current affairs | 25% |
| 2 | Legal reasoning | 25% |
| 3 | English | 20% |
| 4 | Logical reasoning | 20% |
| 5 | Quantitative techniques | 10% |
The CLAT 2026 syllabus is designed to test whether the candidates possess the basic skills and aptitude required to pursue a career in law. The five subjects of the CLAT UG syllabus 2026 test some common and some subject-specific skills. The common skills tested in the CLAT syllabus are those personality traits that will be required for anyone interested in pursuing the legal profession. Such skills include critical thinking and analytical skills. The subject-specific skills tested in the CLAT syllabus are different for each subject. Let's do the section-wise breakdown of the CLAT syllabus in depth.
The CLAT English section is primarily a test of a candidate’s language skills — reading, comprehension, and grammar. The English syllabus for CLAT 2026 will contain 3-4 passages of around 450 words each. Each passage is followed by multiple-choice type questions based on the passage. Students have to read the passages and answer the underlying questions accordingly. The passages are usually drawn from non-fiction and journalistic sources such as newspapers and magazines.
Particulars | Important details |
|---|---|
Total weightage | 20% |
Type of questions asked | Comprehension-type passage-based questions |
| Number of questions | 22-26 |
| Number of passages | 3-4 passages of around 450 words |
Source material or content of passages | Newspapers, journals, contemporary or historically important fiction and non-fiction writing. |
Standard of questions | 12th standard |
| Skills Tested |
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| Important Topics |
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| Preparation tips for English |
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This section will have 25% of the questions, making the GK and current affairs syllabus for CLAT 2026 one of the most important sections in the question paper. The CLAT general knowledge largely remains static and tests the basic knowledge of candidates in subjects such as history, economics, political science, and technology. Whereas, CLAT current affairs will be based on topics of national and international importance that have been featured in recent news. However, in recent years, questions for CLAT GK and current affairs have been asked based on the information given in the passage iteself. The table given below provides an overview of the CLAT GK syllabus 2026.
| Particulars | Important details |
|---|---|
Total weightage | 25% |
Type of questions asked | Comprehension-type passage-based questions - Static general knowledge and current affairs |
| Number of questions | 28-32 |
| Number of passages | 4-6 |
Source material or content of passages | News, journalistic sources, and non-fiction writing. |
Standard of questions | Class 12th |
| Skills Tested |
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| Important topics |
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| Preparation tips for GK |
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You may also check - CLAT Exam Date
The legal reasoning for CLAT 2026 has a 25% weight in the CLAT syllabus. The consortium of NLUs specifies that prior knowledge of the law is not required for the legal reasoning syllabus for CLAT 2026. However, CLAT experts suggest that some level of familiarity with basic legal principles and current legal affairs will help the candidates answer questions quickly and perform better in the exam. Knowledge of legal and moral issues can help candidates apply general legal principles and propositions in various fact scenarios when attempting the CLAT legal reasoning questions.
There will be 4-6 passages in the CLAT legal reasoning syllabus of 450 words. These passages will contain various fact situations or scenarios with legal matters, public policy questions, or moral philosophical inquiries. The CLAT legal reasoning questions will be based on the given passages. The passages are drawn from non-fictional sources such as policy reports and legal journals.
Particulars | Important details |
|---|---|
Total weightage | 25% |
Type of questions asked | Multiple choice type questions from comprehension passages |
| No. of questions | 28-32 |
| No. of passages | 4-6 |
Source material or content of passages | Legal knowledge, policy reports, legal journals, cases, news and editorials |
Difficulty level | Class 12th |
| Skills tested |
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| Important topics |
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| Preparation tips for legal reasoning |
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The CLAT logical reasoning syllabus has 20% weight in the CLAT syllabus 2026. The section on CLAT logical reasoning attempts to test the ability of candidates to think logically. The questions in CLAT logical reasoning are based on passages that contain statements, arguments, and facts. The language and tone of the passages can be tricky with the use of words like “And/Or, Where/There, All/Some” etc. Additionally, this section will have arguments and patterns in which candidates have to either draw relationships or apply those arguments in different situations.
| Particulars | Important details |
|---|---|
Total weightage | 20% |
Type of questions asked | MCQs from comprehension passages |
| Number of questions | 22-26 questions |
| Number of passages | 3-4 |
Content of passages | Arguments, patterns, statements, and fact situations |
Difficulty level | Class 12th |
| Skills tested |
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| Important topics |
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| Preparation tips for logical reasoning |
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The CLAT Maths syllabus carries 10% weightage in the CLAT 2026 syllabus. The maths section carries the least weight in CLAT 2026. However, it is often considered a game changer as one can get ahead of the rest by performing well in this section which can be difficult for candidates from a non-mathematical background. The difficulty level of CLAT syllabus for quantitative techniques will be a maximum of class 10 level.
Unlike general maths, CLAT maths will not have straightforward problems. Questions in CLAT maths will be framed based on facts, conditions, data, graphs or textual representations containing numerical information. Candidates have to study that information before answering the underlying questions. Gathering and processing such numerical information may take some time, but the skills tested are only basic to mathematics. Students from the science stream may have a slight advantage in the CLAT maths section. However, the questions are basic, and students from other streams can improve their overall CLAT 2026 score by preparing well for the CLAT maths syllabus 2026.
| Particulars | Important details |
|---|---|
Total weightage | 10% |
Type of questions asked | Sets of facts or propositions, graphs, or other textual, pictorial, or diagrammatic representations of numerical information, followed by a series of questions. |
| Number of questions | 10-14 |
| Number of passages | 2-3 |
Standard of questions | Class 10th |
| Skills tested |
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| Important topics |
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| Preparation tips for quantitative techniques |
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Along with the syllabus, it is very important that candidates are acquainted with the paper pattern. CLAT 2026 will be an offline exam. As per the CLAT 2026 exam pattern, there will be 120 questions across five subjects. Candidates will be awarded one mark for every correct answer and 0.25 marks will be deducted for every incorrect response. The detailed exam pattern of CLAT 2026 has been given below:
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
Time duration | 2 hours |
Mode | Offline mode (pen paper-based mode) |
Conducting Body | Consortium of National Law Universities (CNLU) |
Type of questions | Objective-type questions |
Number of questions | CLAT UG - 120 questions CLAT PG - 120 questions |
CLAT Total marks | 120 marks (Both CLAT UG and CLAT PG) |
CLAT UG marking scheme | Correct answer - 1 mark Incorrect answer - 0.25 marks deduction Un-attempted questions - No negative marking |
Language | English |
Analysing the previous year's CLAT question paper will help candidates evaluate the difficulty level of the CLAT syllabus 2026. The table given below provides the CLAT exam analysis of last year's CLAT question paper, including the difficulty level and the topics covered.
| Subject | Difficulty Level | Topics | Good Attempts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current Affairs and GK | Easy | Article 370, Civil Obedience, Shakti Scheme, Olympics | Good Attempts - 105+ Safe Attempts - 110+ |
| Logical Reasoning | Easy to Moderate | Analytical Reasoning | |
| Legal Reasoning | Easy | Less core legal reasoning questions, Valid and Invalid Contract, Right to Privacy, 42nd Amendment | |
| Quantitative Techniques | Easy to Moderate | Dearness Allowance | |
| English Language | Easy | How to Improve Your Life passage by George Orwell |
The difficult sections in the CLAT syllabus vary as per the difficulty level of the exam. Last year's exam analysis shows that quantitative aptitude and logical reasoning were considered moderate, while the remaining sections were considered easy. The maths section in the CLAT exam syllabus can be challenging for students from non-mathematical background. However, the difficulty level of the maths questions is not beyond class 10.
As mentioned above, the CLAT 2026 PG syllabus contains subjects of the LLB programme. The questions are asked in similar comprehension passage formats. However, questions are framed around specific law topics and current legal affairs. All of the questions asked in CLAT LLM 2026 will be objective-type questions. There will be no essay or descriptive section. The topics covered in the CLAT LLM syllabus are listed below.
Law of Torts | |
Administrative law | Criminal Law |
Property law | Public international law |
Company law | |
Intellectual Property Law | International Law |
Tax law | Law of Contracts |
You may also check popular NLUs admission details :
The difficulty level of the CLAT syllabus 2026 can be better understood when looked at in comparison to a few other law entrance exams. The table given below provides a comparison of the syllabus of CLAT 2026 with two other popular law entrance exams namely AILET and SLAT.
| Particulars | CLAT 2026 syllabus | AILET 2026 syllabus | SLAT 2026 syllabus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of sections | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| Sections | English, GK and current affairs, legal reasoning, logical reasoning, quantitative techniques | English, current affairs and GK, logical reasoning | Logical reasoning, legal reasoning, analytical reasoning, reading comprehension, GK and current affairs |
| Number of questions | 120 | 150 | 60 |
| Time | 2 hours | 2 hours | 1 hour |
| Total marks | 120 | 150 | 60 |
| Marks per question | 1 mark | 1 mark | 1 mark |
| Negative marking | 0.25 mark for every wrong answer | 0.25 mark for every wrong answer | No negative marking |
| Number of attempts | Once a year | Once a year | Twice a year |
While preparing for the law entrance exam, candidates must refer to the standard CLAT books that are only meant for the entrance exam. Additionally, a daily English newspaper like The Hindu and internet-based study resources; news analysis, editorials, and journals are required for CLAT preparation. Here is a complete list of CLAT books and study materials that students should keep for their preparation.
Subject | Author |
|---|---|
Legal Reasoning |
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General Awareness, Current affairs |
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Logical Reasoning |
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English |
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| Quantitative Techniques | Class 10 textbook by NCERT Quantitative Aptitude by RS Aggarwal |
Previous Year Papers | Previous Year Papers by A.P. Bhardwaj |
Additional Resources | Newspaper - The Hindu or The Indian Express, legal journals, articles, editorials, explanations |
FREE CLAT Study Material - Download PDF
CLAT is one of the toughest law entrance exams in India and is highly competitive. Close to 60000+ students appear for the exam. Most of the sections in CLAT 2026 focus on high-level reading and comprehension skills, which can not be developed overnight. Given below are the tips to prepare for the CLAT syllabus 2026.
The last-minute preparation for the CLAT 2025 syllabus requires slight tweaking. Candidates should focus more on consolidating one's learning than learning about new topics. Here are a few last-minute preparation tips for the syllabus of CLAT 2025.
Also, check:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The CLAT 2026 syllabus comprises five subjects - English Language, Current Affairs including General Knowledge, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Techniques.
The Consortium of NLUs prescribes the syllabus of CLAT 2026.
No, there are no new changes in the CLAT 2026 syllabus.
The Quantitative Techniques section can be termed as the most difficult section of CLAT exam.
CLAT UG exam comprises of five subjects - English Language, Current Affairs including General Knowledge, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Techniques.
Candidates can check the detailed CLAT syllabus in this article. The article comprises detailed subjects and topics list.
Yes, English Language and Logical Reasoning sections have a weightage of 20% each, while Current Affairs and Legal Reasoning sections have 25% weightage each. The Quantitative Techniques section will have 10% weightage.
Candidates can visit the Careers360 Law eBooks and Sample Papers store.
On Question asked by student community
Hello,
For CLAT PG 2026 application :
Photograph: JPEG/JPG, 200x230 pixels, 20–50 KB, white/light background, recent passport-size photo.
Signature: JPEG/JPG, 140x60 pixels, 10–20 KB, sign on white paper with black ink, must match exam documents.
Hope it helps !
Hi dear candidate,
On our official website, you can find various study material EBooks and Sample Papers that can help you prepare better that you can download for free.
Kindly refer to the link attached below:
CLAT E-books and Sample Papers
CLAT Study Material 2026 PDF - Books, Mock Test, Question Papers
BEST REGARDS
Hello,
While NLUs are costly, you can still pursue government-funded law education through state-funded universities and their affiliated colleges that accept CLAT scores, such as institutes like Banaras Hindu University and Aligarh Muslim University.
I hope it will clear your query!!
It is always better to take the CLAT exam right after Class 12 if your goal is to build a career in law, because CLAT UG is specifically designed for admission into integrated five-year law programs like BA LLB, BCom LLB, or BBA LLB. Appearing after Class 12 saves you time, as you complete both graduation and law together in a single course. On the other hand, if you first complete graduation and then plan for law, you will not be eligible for CLAT UG but instead for CLAT PG, which is meant for admission into LLM programs. This path takes longer, because you first spend three or four years on graduation and then add another three years in an LLB program if you choose not to go for an integrated course. So, if you are already sure about pursuing law as your career, writing CLAT right after Class 12 is the smarter and time-saving option, while writing it after graduation makes sense only if you are considering higher studies in law or a shift in career later.
For CLAT, the most important topics are from Legal Reasoning, Current Affairs & GK, the Indian Constitution, English Language, Quantitative Techniques and Logical Reasoning. For a brief detail you can go through the following link: https://law.careers360.com/articles/clat-important-topics
Thank You.
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