CLAT 2027 Exam Date Confirmed (6 December 2026): 30-Week Roadmap

The Consortium of NLUs has confirmed CLAT 2027 for 6 December 2026 — exactly 30 weeks from today. With the official notification expected in July 2026 and registrations opening in August 2026, the next 7 months are the highest-leverage stretch for any aspirant aiming at a National Law University. This guide gives you the verified CLAT 2027 exam date timeline, the current NLU seat matrix and competition density, a 30-week preparation roadmap calibrated for both first-attempt aspirants and CLAT 2026 takers preparing a second attempt, and a candid look at what NLSIU, NALSAR and NUJS closing ranks now demand.

Confirmed CLAT 2027 Calendar

• Exam date: Sunday, 6 December 2026 (CBT or pen-and-paper format to be confirmed by Consortium)
• Notification release: July 2026 (expected first week)
• Registration window: Opens 1 August 2026 (expected); closes late October / early November 2026
• Admit card: Mid-November 2026
• Provisional answer key: Within 48 hours of the exam (per Consortium’s standard practice)
• Result: Mid-to-late December 2026
• NLU counselling: January 2027 onwards
• Session start: July 2027 at allocated NLU

The official source remains the Consortium of NLUs portal at consortiumofnlus.ac.in. Track every official notice on the CLAT Gurukul homepage.

The Current Competition Density

To calibrate your preparation honestly, here’s what CLAT 2026 closing ranks looked like for the top tier:

• NLSIU Bangalore (BA LLB Gen): Round 1 closing AIR 112
• NALSAR Hyderabad (BA LLB Gen): Round 1 closing AIR 159
• NUJS Kolkata (BA LLB Gen): Round 1 closing AIR 327
• NLU Delhi: Admission via AILET, not CLAT. AILET 2026 general closing for BA LLB(H): around AIR 60–65; cut-off ~120/150.
• Total NLU seats (CLAT pool): ~3,700 across 22 NLUs
• CLAT 2026 applicants: ~65,000

The top-5 NLU ranks (NLSIU, NALSAR, NUJS, NLIU Bhopal, NLU Jodhpur) absorb roughly the top 500 ranks of the CLAT pool. If your target is one of these, you need a score that translates to a 99.2+ percentile in CLAT 2027.

The 30-Week Preparation Roadmap

The roadmap below assumes 30 weeks (15 May 2026 — 6 December 2026) and is designed for an aspirant who is fresh out of Class XII or in their first year of college, with no prior CLAT-focused preparation.

Weeks 1–6 (15 May – 26 June): Foundation

• Read the official CLAT syllabus 2026 in full. The 2027 syllabus will be near-identical — do NOT wait for the July notification.
• Build a reading habit: 30 minutes daily of The Hindu Editorial or The Indian Express Op-Ed. CLAT’s English section is reading-comprehension heavy.
• Start Legal Reasoning fundamentals: tort, contract, criminal law, constitutional law conceptual basics. Use NCERTs (Political Science Class XI & XII) as the anchor.
• One diagnostic CLAT mock at the end of Week 6 to set your baseline.

Weeks 7–14 (27 June – 21 August): Section Mastery

• English & Reading Comprehension: 4 passages a week, untimed. Focus on author tone, central idea, vocabulary in context.
• Current Affairs & GK: Daily 30-minute current-affairs sweep. Maintain a one-line summary register.
• Legal Reasoning: Build a question bank of 500 LR questions from past CLAT papers (2020 onwards) + supplementary practice.
• Logical Reasoning: Critical reasoning, syllogisms, assumption-conclusion. Daily 20 questions.
• Quantitative Techniques: Percentages, ratios, data interpretation, basic algebra. CLAT QT is calculation-light but reading-heavy.
• End-of-fortnight sectional tests to track section-wise improvement.

Weeks 15–22 (22 August – 16 October): Integration + Mocks

• Begin weekly full-length CLAT mocks (every Sunday). Aim for 10 mocks before mid-October.
• Spend at least 3 hours analysing each mock — identify section-wise time leakages, question-type weaknesses.
• Read 2–3 SC judgments per week (basic facts + ratio decidendi). Use Live Law’s summaries.
• Complete the CLAT Gurukul foundation mock series if you want structured benchmarking.

Weeks 23–28 (17 October – 27 November): Acceleration

• Two full-length mocks per week (every Wednesday + Sunday). 12 mocks in this stretch alone.
• Last 12 months of current affairs revision — condensed monthly compendiums.
• Speed building: target 1.6 minutes per question average across the 120-question paper.
• One pass of all major legal awareness topics: Articles 12–35, 73–124, BNS / BNSS / BSA highlights, recent SC judgments (2024–2026), Article 370 jurisprudence, Right to Privacy line.

Weeks 29–30 (28 November – 5 December): Taper

• One light mock (week 29), one full-length (week 30 start), then taper.
• Skim your “mistake register”. Sleep, hydration, no new content.
• Visit the exam centre on 5 December if it’s reachable.

Section-Wise Weightage (CLAT UG)

• English Language: 22–26 questions (about 18–20% of the paper)
• Current Affairs & GK: 28–32 questions (~25%)
• Legal Reasoning: 28–32 questions (~25%)
• Logical Reasoning: 22–26 questions (~20%)
• Quantitative Techniques: 10–14 questions (~10%)

Total: 120 questions, 120 marks, 2 hours, with -0.25 negative marking per wrong answer. The two biggest sections (Current Affairs and Legal Reasoning) together carry 50% — mastering these alone can push you into the top 1,500 ranks. For verified topic-wise question banks, see the CLAT Gurukul courses.

Books and Resources to Prioritise

• English / RC: Word Power Made Easy (Lewis), High School English Grammar (Wren & Martin), daily editorials
• Current Affairs: Monthly current-affairs compendium, The Hindu summary, Manorama Yearbook 2026
• Legal Reasoning: Universal’s Legal Reasoning, A.P. Bhardwaj for Legal Awareness, NCERT Political Science Class XI & XII
• Logical Reasoning: R.S. Aggarwal’s Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning (CLAT-relevant chapters)
• Quantitative: NCERT Maths Class IX–X, plus dedicated CLAT QT practice books

Common Mistakes to Avoid in CLAT 2027 Prep

• Over-investing in static legal awareness. CLAT shifted decisively to passage-based legal reasoning in 2020. Old-pattern “match the article” rote learning hurts speed.
• Skipping Quantitative. Even though QT is the smallest section, scoring 10/12 here is the difference between AIR 800 and AIR 200.
• Mock without analysis. A mock taken without 3 hours of post-mortem is half a mock.
• Starting late. Aspirants who begin in October-November can crack CLAT, but you’ll be competing against those who started in May. Start now.

FAQ

Q1. When is the CLAT 2027 exam?
Sunday, 6 December 2026, as confirmed by the Consortium of NLUs. The exam is held in a single shift, 14:00–16:00.

Q2. When will the CLAT 2027 notification be released?
Expected July 2026 (first week). Registrations open 1 August 2026 on consortiumofnlus.ac.in.

Q3. What is a “good” CLAT 2027 score to target?
For a top-5 NLU (NLSIU, NALSAR, NUJS, NLIU Bhopal, NLU Jodhpur), target 100+/120 raw marks. For any of the 22 NLUs, target 80+/120.

Q4. How is CLAT 2027 different from AILET 2027?
CLAT is the consortium-conducted exam for 22 NLUs (excluding NLU Delhi). AILET is NLU Delhi’s separate test. Many aspirants prepare for both — the syllabi overlap substantially.

Q5. Should I join coaching for CLAT 2027 or self-study?
Both routes succeed. Self-study works if you can be disciplined about daily reading, weekly mocks, and feedback loops. Coaching helps if you need structured doubt-resolution, peer benchmarking, and panel-graded essays. Many CLAT toppers used hybrid approaches.

5 CLAT-Pattern Legal Reasoning MCQs

1. Principle: A contract is voidable at the option of the party whose consent was obtained by undue influence.
   Facts: A, a 70-year-old widow, is persuaded by her financial advisor B to sell her ancestral property to him at half its market value. A later seeks to recover the property. Decision?
   (a) Contract is valid; A cannot recover. (b) Contract is voidable at A’s option; she can recover the property. (c) Contract is void ab initio. (d) Contract is enforceable as written.
   Explanation: The advisor-client relationship creates undue influence presumption under Section 16 of the Indian Contract Act. The contract is voidable at A’s option.
2. Principle: Negligence is the failure to take reasonable care that a prudent person would take.
   Facts: X, a doctor, performs surgery on Y without checking Y’s allergy history. Y suffers an allergic reaction. Is X liable?
   (a) No, doctors are immune from negligence claims. (b) Yes, X failed to take reasonable care. (c) No, allergic reactions are acts of God. (d) Yes, only if Y proves intent.
   Explanation: A reasonable medical professional would check allergy history pre-surgery. Failure constitutes negligence; intent is not required for tortious liability.
3. Principle: Self-defence is a complete defence to criminal liability if the force used was proportionate.
   Facts: Z, faced with an unarmed slap from W, shoots and kills W. Is Z liable?
   (a) No, self-defence applies. (b) Yes, the force was disproportionate. (c) No, any force is permitted. (d) Yes, only for civil damages.
   Explanation: Self-defence requires proportionality. Lethal force in response to a slap is grossly disproportionate; the defence fails.
4. Principle: Under Article 21, the right to life includes the right to a dignified existence.
   If a state government denies a slum-dweller alternative accommodation before eviction, can the eviction be challenged under Article 21?
   (a) No, Article 21 protects only against arbitrary state action. (b) Yes, dignified existence includes shelter; eviction without alternative violates Article 21. (c) No, slum-dwellers have no Article 21 rights. (d) Yes, but only after compensation.
   Explanation: As per Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation (1985), the right to livelihood and shelter is a facet of Article 21.
5. Principle: A bailee is liable for any loss caused by his negligence but not for loss without his fault.
   Facts: P deposits his car at Q’s parking garage. A burglar breaks in and steals it. Q had locked the gate, posted a guard, and installed CCTV. Is Q liable?
   (a) Yes, bailees are strictly liable. (b) No, Q took reasonable care and is not negligent. (c) Yes, only for half the loss. (d) No, parking garages have no bailment obligations.
   Explanation: Sections 151-152 of the Indian Contract Act require a bailee to take care of the bailed goods as a reasonable person would. Q’s precautions met that standard, so he is not liable for the burglary.

Final Word

Thirty weeks is enough time. The aspirants who walk into the CLAT 2027 hall on 6 December 2026 with confidence are the ones who started today — not the ones who waited for the July notification. Build your reading habit this week, take your diagnostic mock, and put the 30-week roadmap on your wall. Take the CLAT 2027 diagnostic mock here.