CLAT exam pattern is a blueprint of the CLAT exam provided to the candidates. It helps the candidate get familiar with the exam. It answers questions like: What is the duration of the CLAT 2023 exam?; What is the total number of questions in the exam?; How many sections are included in the exam and many other questions about the structure of the exam. The consortium releases all these details about the exam through an official notification. The official notification of CLAT 2023 is yet to be released. The candidates can view the notification on the consortium’s website, https://consortiumofnlus.ac.in/.
The CLAT 2023 exam will be held on a national level. It is a standardised and centralised test to assess candidates whether or not they have an aptitude for legal studies. This year, the CLAT 2023 exam is being held months ahead of this schedule. Usually, it is held in May each year. But this year, the exam will be administered on 18 December 2022. The shift in the exam date has been made to avoid clashes with the board exams of the candidates. However, the last CLAT exam took place per the usual schedule. Therefore 2022 witnessed the administration of CLAT twice. CLAT 2022 was held on 19 June 2022, and CLAT 2023 will be held on 18 December 2022. This article will provide you a fair idea of the CLAT exam pattern.
This article is a concise explanation of what the eli5 volts amps mean. It provides a breakdown of each term and how to calculate it in detail for the reader to understand.
CLAT 2023 Exam Pattern
CLAT is conducted both for undergraduate as well as postgraduate programmes. The exam pattern of the CLAT UG exam and CLAT PG exam is a little different from each other. The CLAT exam pattern for both exams is given below.
CLAT Exam Pattern: Undergraduate
| 1. | Duration | 2 hours |
| 2. | Mode | Offline Mode |
| 3. | Type of Questions | MCQ type, Passage based Questions |
| 4. | Number of Questions | 150 |
| 5. | Sections | English LanguageCurrent AffairsLegal ReasoningLogical ReasoningQuantitative Techniques |
| 6. | Total Marks | 150 marks |
| 7. | Marking Scheme | For correct response: 1 markFor incorrect response: -0.25 mark |
CLAT Exam Pattern: Postgraduate
| 1. | Duration | 2 hours |
| 2. | Mode | Offline Mode |
| 3. | Type of Questions | MCQ type, Passage based Questions |
| 4. | Number of Questions | 120 |
| 5. | Sections | Constitutional LawOther Law Subjects, including Contracts, torts, Criminal Law, International Law, IPR and Jurisprudence. |
| 6. | Total Marks | 150 marks |
| 7. | Marking Scheme | For correct response: 1 markFor incorrect response: -0.25 mark |
Please note: The updated exam pattern will be posted once the Consortium releases the CLAT 2023 official notification.
CLAT 2023 Syllabus
The Consortium of NLUs does not prescribe a syllabus explicitly. Therefore it might be difficult for the candidates to figure out the important topics and themes of each exam section. Only through analysis of previous years’ papers can one devise a syllabus for the CLAT exam. Therefore our group of experts and academicians have laid out a syllabus keeping the previous years’ papers in reference. The topics covered under each section of CLAT 2023 have been discussed below.
English Language syllabus
This section intends to check the learners reading comprehension, grammar and various other topics of the English Language. The focus is on candidates’ command of the language. This section will have passages of 450 words each. It includes questions from the following topics:
Tenses, Articles, Prepositions, Active & Passive Voice, Modals, Concord (Subject-Verb Agreement), Verbs- Their formation and usage, Spotting grammatical errors in sentences.
Legal Aptitude Syllabus
Since this section aims to check the candidates’ legal aptitude in general, it won’t be easy to point toward all the possible topics. The vastness of the syllabus in this section cannot sum up the vastness into a few topics. So the candidate must read the newspaper regularly. The candidates are expected to have a good understanding of legal concepts. However, some of the important topics included in this section are:
Legal Terms & Maxims, Indian Constitution, Torts, Criminal Law, Landmark Judgments, Reading Newspaper & Understanding legal concepts.
Logical Reasoning Syllabus
Passages about 300-400 words in length will be given in the logical reasoning section to force students to think differently and analyse the paragraph correctly. This section will test the candidates’ ability to think analytically, draw relationships between the arguments in a passage, et cetera. Some important topics of this section are:
Series Completion; Number Series and Alphabet Series, Analogy, Blood Relation, Puzzle Test, Syllogism, Premises and Conclusion, Cause and Effect, Course of action.
Mathematics Syllabus (Quantitative Aptitude)
This section will likely consist of 13-17 questions from various topics designed to measure the familiarity and grasp of the candidate on these topics of quantitative techniques. The topics included in this section are:
Average, Percentage, Ratio & Proportion, Time & Distance, Volume & Surface Area, Statistics, Basic Algebra, Bar Diagram, Bar Graph, Tabular Diagram, Line Graph, Pie Chart.
General Knowledge Syllabus
This section will include 35-39 questions about current affairs and static General Knowledge. It includes the following sections:
Current events of significance from India and the world, Arts and culture, International affairs, and Historic events of continuing significance.
The candidates are recommended to read the newspaper and current monthly affairs magazines to prepare for this section.
CLAT Section-wise mark distribution and number of questions
The following table includes the section-wise question distribution and marks weightage of the CLAT 2023 exam.
| S.No. | Subjects | Questions(approx.) | CLAT total marks | Weightage |
| 1 | English including Comprehension | 28-32 | 28-32 | 20% |
| 2 | General Knowledge and Current Affairs | 35-39 | 32-35 | 25% |
| 3 | Legal Reasoning | 35-39 | 35-39 | 25% |
| 4 | Logical Reasoning | 28-32 | 28-32 | 20% |
| 5 | Quantitative Techniques | 13-17 | 13-17 | 10% |
| TOTAL | 150 | 150 | 100% |
Other key features of CLAT 2023
- The candidates must refine their reading skills as every section has passages to read and comprehend.
- Reading must be done effectively and efficiently to give due time to each question. Therefore a lot of practice is needed.
- Make strategies to complete the paper in time and achieve 100% accuracy.
Thus, CLAT needs a lot of practice and strategic studying. Candidates must focus on efficiency and accuracy. For further details about the CLAT paper pattern, visit CLAT’s official site.
Writer