Busting Myths about CLAT Preparation

CLAT is designed to be a test of aptitude and skills that are necessary for a legal education rather than prior knowledge.

CLAT is organized by the Consortium of National Law Universities (CNLU), which comprises representative universities. (Representative image)

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is a national-level entrance exam for admissions to undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) law programs offered by National Law Universities in India. CLAT is organized by the Consortium of National Law Universities (CNLU), comprising representative universities.

Several affiliate universities and organizations also use the CLAT exam for admissions and recruitment purposes. Law is a five-year integrated program offering degrees such as BA LLB, BBA LLB, BSc LLB, BCom LLB with specializations in Civil Law, Tax Laws, Patent Laws, Criminal Laws, International Laws, Labour Laws, Cyber Law, etc.

Eligibility for the undergraduate program

There is no upper age limit for the UG program in CLAT 2024. Candidates who are appearing in the qualifying examination in March/April 2024 are also eligible to appear in the CLAT 2024 examination. However, they will be required to provide evidence of passing the qualifying examination (i.e., 10+2) at the time of admission, failing which they will lose their right to be considered for admission.

About the examination

UG-CLAT is designed to evaluate the comprehension and reasoning skills and abilities of candidates. Overall, it is designed to be a test of aptitude and skills that are necessary for a legal education rather than prior knowledge, although prior knowledge may occasionally be useful to respond to questions in the Current Affairs section.

The test areas of UG-CLAT 2024 are:

1. English Language

2. Current Affairs, including General Knowledge

3. Legal Reasoning

4. Logical Reasoning

5. Quantitative Techniques

English Language

In this section, passages of about 400 to 450 words each, derived from contemporary or historically significant fiction and non-fiction writing, are given. A Class 12 student may be able to read them in about 5-6 minutes. Each passage is followed by a series of questions that require the candidate to demonstrate comprehension and language skills, including the ability to:

- Read and comprehend the main point discussed in the passage, as well as any arguments and viewpoints presented.

- Draw inferences and conclusions based on the passage.

- Summarize the passage.

- Compare and contrast different arguments or viewpoints presented in the passage.

Current Affairs, including General Knowledge

In this section, passages of up to 400 to 450 words each, derived from news, journalistic sources, and other non-fiction writing, are given. The questions may include an examination of legal information or knowledge discussed in or related to the passage, but they do not require any additional knowledge of the law beyond the passage. Each passage is followed by a series of questions that require the candidate to demonstrate awareness of various aspects of current affairs and general knowledge, including:

- Contemporary events of significance from India and the world.

- Arts and culture.

- International affairs.

- Historical events of continuing significance.

Legal Reasoning

In this section, passages of around 450 to 500 words each, related to fact situations or scenarios involving legal matters, public policy questions, or moral philosophical inquiries, are given. This section does not require any prior knowledge of law. However, a candidate can benefit from a general awareness of contemporary legal and moral issues to better apply general principles or propositions to the given fact scenarios. Each passage is followed by a series of questions that require the candidate to:

- Identify and infer the rules and principles set out in the passage.

- Apply such rules and principles to various fact situations.

- Understand how changes to the rules or principles may alter their application to different fact situations.

Logical Reasoning

This section includes a series of short passages of about 250 to 300 words each. Each passage is followed by one or more questions that require the candidate to:

- Recognize an argument, its premises, and conclusions.

- Read and identify the arguments presented in the passage.

- Critically analyze 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 equivalences, and assess the effectiveness of arguments.

Quantitative Techniques

This section includes short sets of facts or propositions, graphs, or other textual, pictorial, or diagrammatic representations of numerical information, followed by a series of questions. Candidates have to derive information from such passages, graphs, or representations and apply mathematical operations to such information. The questions require students to:

- Derive, infer, and manipulate numerical information presented in such passages, graphs, or representations.

- Apply various Class 10 mathematical operations to such information, including areas such as ratios and proportions, basic algebra, mensuration, and statistical estimation.