The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is an all India entrance examination conducted by 11 National Law Universities for admissions to their under-graduate and post graduate degree programmes (LL.B & LL.M). The 11 participating NLUs in the order of their establishment are:

National Law School of India University, Bangalore (NLSIU).
NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad (NALSAR).
National Law Institute University, Bhopal (NLIU).
The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata (WBNUJS).
National Law University, Jodhpur(NLU).
Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur (HNLU).
Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar (GNLU).
Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow (RMLNLU).
Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala (RGNUL).
Chanakya National Law University, Patna (CNLU).
National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi (NUALS).

CLAT was conceptualized and implemented pursuant to a case filed at the Supreme Court of India highlighting the hardships of students who would have to appear for several separate entrance examinations. Prior to the case being decided, the Ministry of Human Resource Development brokered a settlement between the various law schools to conduct a common, all India entrance examination which was labeled as CLAT.

As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the first CLAT Committee (consisting of Vice-Chancellors of the participating NLUs) decided that the test should be conducted by rotation in the order of their establishment. CLAT-2008 (NLSIU, Bangalore), CLAT-2009 (NALSAR, Hyderabad) and CLAT-2010 (NLIU, Bhopal) were conducted accordingly. CLAT 2011 conducted by The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata (WBNUJS).

THE UNDER-GRADUATE PROGRAMME OFFERED BY THE NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITIES

[5 year integrated BA/B.Sc/B Psc/ BBA/ BCom LL.B (Hons) Degree Course]

Eligibility:

To be eligible to appear for CLAT-2011, a candidate should have passed his/her Higher Secondary School/Intermediate Examination (10+2) or its equivalent examination with not less than 50% marks in aggregate (45% in case of SC/ST/OBC and persons with Disability).~ Candidates who have appeared in the 10+2 examination and are awaiting results are also eligible to appear in the test.° Age of candidate should not be more than 20 years in case of General/OBC candidates (22 years in case of SC/ST and persons with Disability).
Pattern of the CLAT Paper for entry to the Under-graduate Programme:

The different subject areas of the exam are explained as under:

1. English including Comprehension

The English section will test the candidate’s proficiency in English based comprehension passages and grammar. In the comprehension section, candidates will be questioned on their understanding of the passage and its central theme, meanings of words used therein etc. The grammar section requires correction of incorrect grammatical sentences, filling in of blanks in sentences with appropriate words, etc.
2. General Knowledge/Current Affairs

This section will only test students on their knowledge of current affairs (broadly defined as matters featuring in the mainstream media between May 2010 and May 2011)
3. Mathematics

This section will test candidates only on “elementary” mathematics i.e. maths that is taught till the class 10.
4. Logical Reasoning

The purpose of the logical reasoning section is to test the student’s ability to identify patterns, logical links and rectify illogical arguments. It will include a wide variety of logical reasoning questions such as syllogisms, logical sequences, analogies, etc. However, visual reasoning will not be tested, as this tends to disadvantage those that are visually impaired.
5.Legal Aptitude/Legal Awareness

Legal Aptitude/Legal Awareness This section will test students only on “legal aptitude”. Questions will be framed with the help of legal propositions (described in the paper), and a set of facts to which the said proposition has to be applied. Some propositions may not be “true” in the real sense (e.g. the legal proposition might be that any person who speaks in a movie hall and disturbs others that are watching the movie will be banned from entering any movie theatre across India for one year). Candidates will have to assume the “truth” of these propositions and answer the question accordingly.

Candidates will not be tested on any prior knowledge of law or legal concepts. If a technical/legal term is used in the question, that term will be explained in the question itself. For example, if the word patent is used, the meaning of patent (“a legal monopoly granted by the government for certain kinds of inventions”) will also be explained.

Categories: CLAT, Common Law Admission Test, Features
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