CLAT Exam Pattern 2026: Total Questions, Sectional Weightage, Negative Marking, Latest Changes

The Consortium of National Law Universities (CNLU) has finalized the new CLAT Exam Pattern 2026 and Syllabus on its official website, consortiumofnlus.ac.in. Last year, the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) modified the CLAT Exam Pattern for the Common Law Admission Test (UG). The CLAT UG Entrance test in 2026 would have 120 questions instead of 150, as per the Revised CLAT paper Pattern. We expect the pattern to be the same as the previous year’s format this year. Check the latest changes for the UG and PG papers from this page.

CLAT Exam Pattern 2026

The CLAT exam pattern 2026 will consist of 120 multiple-choice questions (MCQs). CLAT questions will cover disciplines such as English, legal aptitude, logical reasoning, math, and general knowledge, including current events. There are currently no changes to the CLAT Question Paper. However, if the Consortium makes any modifications later on, they will be posted on this page.

The exam is conducted in an offline, pen-and-paper format, with candidates answering questions about English, Current Affairs and GK, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Mathematics for the UG course, as well as Constitutional Law and other law subjects such as Jurisprudence, Torts, IPC, CrPC, CPC, Family Law, and IPR.

Download CLAT Syllabus PDF for UG and PG 

Is CLAT Exam Pattern Revised for 2026?

The Consortium of National Law Universities will release an official notification about the CLAT Exam Pattern 2026 and syllabus soon. As last year, the pattern of CLAT was changed. This year, there is a high chance that the paper format will be the same as last year’s revised pattern. Students may check last year’s notification regarding severe recanting of the revised exam pattern by the Governing Body of the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs).

CLAT Paper Pattern 2026

The Common Law Admission Test, or CLAT, is a national-level law entrance exam administered by the Consortium of NLUs for admission to 5-year integrated LLB (UG) and one-year LLM (PG) courses. NLUs offer admission on the basis of CLAT scores. The exam is held for admission to 26 NLUs for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. The collaborating NLUs include several of the country’s leading legal colleges, including NLSIU Bangalore, NALSAR Hyderabad, WBNUJS Kolkata, and NLU Jodhpur.

CLAT UG Exam Pattern
Name of Examination Common Law Admission Test (CLAT)
Exam Conducting Body Consortium of National Law Universities
Courses offered undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) Law studies
Participating Colleges 22 National Law Universities in India
Exam Mode Offline (Pen-paper Mode)
Exam Duration 2 Hours
Number of Questions 120 Questions
Question Type Multiple-choice questions
CLAT Exam date 2026 December 7, 2026 (Expected)
Sections FIVE sections – 1) English Language 2) Current Affairs, including General Knowledge 3) Legal Reasoning 4) Logical Reasoning, and 5) Quantitative Techniques.
Marking scheme
  • For Correct answers, 1 mark to be awarded.
  • For Incorrect answers, 0.25 marks will be deducted.
Official Website consortiumofnlus.ac.in.

CLAT UG Exam Pattern: Key Changes

Check out the Key changes of the Last year CLAT Exam Pattern UG, which are given below

  • The Undergraduate (“UG”) CLAT 2026, for admissions to Undergraduate courses at participating National Law Universities, will consist of 120 questions rather than 150 questions as in prior years.
  • As in previous years, candidates will have two hours to complete the test.
  • These 120 questions will be divided into five categories: English Language, Current Affairs including General Knowledge, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Techniques.

CLAT Exam Pattern

As per the recent notification from the Consortium of National Law Universities, there has been no change in the CLAT PG Exam Pattern and Syllabus. The syllabus and number of questions for the Postgraduate CLAT will remain unchanged. Candidates can check the complete overview of the CLAT Exam and the marking scheme given in the table below.

Particulars Details
Mode Offline – Pen and Paper
Duration 120 Minutes (2 Hours)
Sections Objective/ Passage-based Questions
Nature of Questions MCQ/ Essay Type
Number of Questions 120 questions
Medium English only
Total Marks 120 Marks
Marks Awarded +1 mark for every correct Answer
Negative Marking -0.25 marks for every wrong answer
Unattended Questions 0 marks

CLAT Exam Pattern: Section Wise Weightage

There will be 120 passage-based multiple-choice questions on the CLAT test paper for UG course admissions, which will amount to a total of 120 marks. Candidates may take into consideration the section-wise question weightage for each section as follows, based on the CLAT 2026 sectional weightage:

CLAT Sections Name Number of Questions per Section Maximum Marks per section Weightage in %
English Language 28 – 32 28 – 32 18.66 – 21.33
Current Affairs including General Knowledge 35 – 39 35 – 39 23.33 – 26
Logical Reasoning 28 – 32 28 – 32 18.66 – 21.33
Legal Reasoning 35 – 39 35 – 39 23.33 – 26
Quantitative Techniques (Elementary Mathematics up to Class 10) 13 – 17 13 – 17 8.66 – 11.33
Total  120 120 100

 

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FAQs

Is CLAT Exam Pattern 2026 Changed?

The CLAT exam pattern was gone many changes last year, The number of questions in the CLAT UG exam paper will carry 120 questions.

About the Author

Soumyadeep specializes in content creation for board exams, catering to the demands of CBSE, ICSE, and other state boards students. He has two years of experience in the education industry. He has a graduate degree in Zoology Honours, he delivers content across several domains, including CUET (UG and PG), NEET, JEE, and universities.