CLAT 2023 Exam: Important Details, Eligibility Criteria, Syllabus and much more!

The CLAT exam is an entry-level exam for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in law. The exam is held once every year and usually in May. However, for various reasons, the exam has been postponed by almost 6 months. It will now be held in December each year. The CLAT 2023 exam is scheduled for 18 December 2022.

Essential Details about the CLAT exam

The CLAT exam is held separately for undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Both exams have their distinct eligibility criteria, syllabus and exam pattern.

S.No.	Particulars	Details
	Name of the Examination	Common Law Admission Test (CLAT)
	Exam Date	18 December 2022
	Conducting body	The Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs)
	Frequency	Once a Year
	Exam Level	National Level
	Purpose	Admission to undergraduate and postgraduate courses in law.
	Exam timings	2 PM - 4PM (Might be subjected to changes if needed)
	Duration	120 Minutes i.e. 2 Hours
	Mode	Pen and Paper
	Medium	English
	Total no. of questions	CLAT UG- 150 Questions CLAT PG- 120 Questions
	Maximum Marks	CLAT UG- 150 Marks CLAT PG- 120 Marks
	Question Type	MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions)
	Participating Institutions	22 NLUs except NLU, Delhi and other private institutions.
	Total Sections	5 Sections (English Language, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, Current Affairs including General Knowledge and Quantitative Techniques.)
	Negative Marking	Yes, Deduction of 0.25 for every wrong answer.

CLAT 2023 Timeline

The Consortium released the schedule for CLAT 2023. The schedule includes the last date for application, the sample paper release date and much more. The CLAT 2023 exam timeline is as follows.

IMPORTANT EVENTS	DATES
Application Open	8 August 2022
Release of First Sample Question Set	September 2022
First Open Campus Visit day for Registered Candidates	September 2022
Release of Second Sample Question Set	14 October 2022
Second Open Campus Visit Day for registered Candidates	22 October 2022
Last Date for Receiving Applications	13 November 2022 (11:59PM)
Release of Third Sample Question Set	October 2022
CLAT 2023 Exam Date	18 December 2022

CLAT 2023: Eligibility Criteria

The candidates who wish to appear for the CLAT exam must fulfil certain prerequisite conditions. The candidates are granted admission only if they satisfy the eligibility criteria. Therefore, it is essential to know the eligibility criteria before applying for the exam. The Consortium released the CLAT 2023 eligibility criteria through an official notification on their website.

CLAT 2023 UG: Eligibility Criteria

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA	GUIDELINES BY CONSORTIUM
Qualifying Examination	10+2 or an equivalent examination from a recognised board or institution
Minimum Qualifying marks	For General / OBC / PWD / NRI / PIO / OCI category candidates: 45% or its equivalent grade in Qualifying examination. For SC/ST candidates: 40% or its equivalent grade in Qualifying examination.
Age	No upper age limit

CLAT 2023 PG: Eligibility Criteria

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA	GUIDELINES BY CONSORTIUM
Qualifying Examination	An LL.B Degree or an equivalent degree/ examination from a recognized university.
Minimum Qualifying marks	50% marks or its equivalent grade for General/OBC/NRI/PIO/OCI candidates. 45% marks or equivalent for SC/ST candidates.
Age	No upper age limit

CLAT Exam Pattern

CLAT UG exam and CLAT PG exam have distinctive exam patterns. The consortium has released details about the exam on its official website. The intention is to help the candidates understand the CLAT exam better and prepare for it well.

Important Details	CLAT 2023 UG	CLAT 2023 PG
Maximum Marks	150	120
Mode of Examination	Pen and Paper Mode	Pen and Paper Mode
Exam Duration	2 hours (120 minutes)	2 hours (120 minutes)
Question types	Passage-MCQ Type	Passage-MCQ Type
Total Questions	150 Questions	120 Questions
Marking scheme	1 mark awarded for every correct responses, Deduction of 0.25 for every incorrect response.	1 mark awarded for every correct responses, Deduction of 0.25 for every incorrect response.
No. of Sections	5 Sections English Language, Current Affairs (including general knowledge), Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning Quantitative Technique.	2 Sections Constitutional Law Other areas of law such as Jurisprudence, Administrative Law, Law of Contract, Torts, Family Law, Criminal Law, Property Law, Company Law, Public International Law, Tax Law, Environmental Law, and Labour & Industrial Law

CLAT Syllabus

The CLAT syllabus is very vast. The focus is to test the candidate's aptitude more than their factual knowledge. Therefore no prescribed syllabus has been provided by the Consortium. However, the previous years' question papers and their analysis help us identify the topics we must focus on. Below are the section-wise details of the CLAT UG and PG exams.

CLAT UG Syllabus

The CLAT UG exam comprises 5 sections. Each section assesses certain skills and focuses on specific topics. Even though it is difficult to encircle all the topics in a section, a list of frequently appearing topics would help. Here is a section-wise syllabus of the CLAT UG exam that includes skills at focus and important topics of the section.

English Language

Assessed Skills	Read and comprehend the main point discussed in the passage, as well as any arguments and viewpoints discussed or set out in the passage. Draw inferences and conclusions based on the passage. Summarise the passage. Compare and contrast the different arguments or viewpoints set out in the passage and Understand the meaning of various words and phrases used in the passage.
Important Topics	Sentence Sequence Arrangement Phrase Replacement Synonyms & Antonyms Tenses Spotting Error Fill in the blanks Active and Passive Voice.

Current Affairs (including General Knowledge)

Areas of assessment	Contemporary events of significance from India and the world Arts and Culture International affairs and Historical events of continuing significance.
Important Topics	National & International Affairs Government Schemes Science and Technology Summits and Conferences Foreign Affairs Arts and Culture Awards and Honours Sports Science and Technology.

Quantitative Techniques

Areas to be Assessed	Deriving, inference and manipulation of numerical information given in the paragraphs or the form of other representations; and Application of different 10th standard mathematical operations like ratios and proportions, basic algebra, mensuration and statistical estimation.
Important Topics	Permutation and Combination Average and Percentage Ratio and Proportion Time and Work Time, Distance and Speed Fractions and Equations Mixtures and Allegations

Legal Reasoning

Areas to be Assessed	Identify and infer the rules and principles laid out in the passage; Apply rules and principles to similar and varied scenarios; and To infer the impact of alteration in rules or principles on different scenarios.
Important Topics	Important Supreme Court Judgements Tax Law Environmental Law Contract Law Legal Maxims International Treaties & Conventions affecting National Legal Framework Public International Law Public Policy Questions.

Logical Reasoning

Areas to be Assessed	Understanding the argument, its premises and conclusions. Read and identify the arguments set out in the passages. Critically analyse patterns of reasoning and assess how conclusions may depend on particular premises or evidence. Infer what follows from the passage and apply these inferences to new situations. Draw relationships and analogies, identify contradictions and equivalence and assess the effectiveness of arguments.
Important Topics	Syllogism Statement & Course of Action Statement & Assumption Inference of Statements Cause and Effect Analogy.

CLAT PG Syllabus

There are no clear divisions in the CLAT PG syllabus. The CLAT PG exam aims to evaluate candidates' mastery of the compulsory topics covered in their undergraduate legal studies. Therefore, we can only list essential topics for the CLAT 2023 PG exam.

The important topics for the CLAT PG exam include:

Constitutional Law
Jurisprudence
Administrative Law
Criminal Law
Company Law
Law of contract
Environmental Law
Torts
Family Law
Property Law
Public International Law
Tax Law
Labour & Industrial Law
Other current law-related issues.

These crucial details about the CLAT 2023 exam will help you better understand the CLAT exam. For further information, you can visit the Consortium's official website.