CLAT exam pattern & paper structure

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) UG consists of 120 multiple-choice questions divided into five passage-based sections.

​

Basic structure

Particular	Detail
Conducting body	Consortium of National Law Universities
Mode	Offline, pen and paper based with an OMR sheet
Question type	Multiple choice, all of them based on passages
Total questions	120
Total marks	120
Duration	2 hours
Marking	1 mark for a correct answer
Negative marking	0.25 marks deducted for a wrong answer
Medium	English only
Sectional time limit	None, you manage the two hours yourself
Usually held in	December, for admission in the following academic session

​

Section wise question distribution

Marks per section depend on each subject's relative weightage in the exam. Current Affairs and Legal Reasoning together carry maximum weight, so these two sections decide your rank more than any other.

Section	Number of questions	Share of the paper
English Language	22 to 26	About 20 percent
Current Affairs including General Knowledge	28 to 32	About 25 percent
Legal Reasoning	28 to 32	About 25 percent
Logical Reasoning	22 to 26	About 20 percent
Quantitative Techniques	10 to 14	About 10 percent
Total	120	100 percent

​