Eligibility Criteria for CLAT-2016

The CLAT Committee is a non-statutory body created only for conducting the CLAT exam and providing the merit list to the 16 NLUs for admission to their law entrance exam syllabus as per their qualification, reservation conditions. The candidates are advised to read the eligibility norms carefully before filling the online CLAT application form 2016 for common law admission test .

Educational Qualification for Undergraduate Course

The candidates must have completed the pattern of 10+2 or intermediate or 12^th or its equivalent examination (students appearing can also apply) from the government recognized board with not less than 45% marks (40% in case of SC and ST candidates) as prescribed by the participating universities.

Age Criteria

A candidate belonging to general category should be below 20 years of age as on July 1, 2016 (22 years in case of SC and ST candidates) in order to be eligible for CLAT 2016.

Candidates who are appearing or have appeared in the 10+2 examination and are awaiting results are also eligible to appear in CLAT 2016. However, such candidates are required to have passed the qualifying examination at the time of their admission and should be able to submit proofs in support of their claims. (Subjected to State reservation at the University concerned).

In the year 2015, the upper age limit was subjected to litigation before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, and adopting a relief mechanism, the Hon’ble Supreme Court removed the upper age limit for the candidates who appeared in CLAT 2015.

Other Eligibility

The candidates should be Indian origin or NRIs only. The candidates who have passed the qualifying exam with supplementary or compartment are also eligible, but they have to submit the proof of passing the qualifying examination with prescribed or as applicable. The foreign national’s candidates may direct contact to the university participating in the CLAT for the admission provision of a foreign national candidate.

Stream in 10+2

The stream (commerce, science, humanities) opted by the candidate remains immaterial for claiming the eligibility in CLAT. A candidate belonging to any background can apply for the said examination.  Moreover, stream/background of the candidate in 10+2 does not enhances or diminishes the probability of selection as CLAT is purely and aptitude test which offers equal opportunity to all the aspirants irrespective of their academic background.

Exam Pattern for UG Courses

The candidates appearing for the CLAT exam 2016 must understand the exam pattern.

The 2 hour-long duration CLAT sample (online)will consist of 200 multiple answer type questions. Each question will carry only one mark. There will be a provision for 25 % negative marking for every wrong answer. The questions will be asked from the following areas:

As mentioned earlier, CLAT works on equal opportunity mechanism where 10+2 background of the candidate is immaterial. A misnomer is found rampant amongst the candidates that preparing Legal Aptitude for CLAT means one is supposed to study ‘Law’. It’s an absolute misconception which the candidates must overcome. CLAT Committee does not expect a CLAT aspirant to have the knowledge of ‘Law’. Legal Aptitude is all about a test of “aptitude” of the candidate and there is nothing legal into it.

However, legal aptitude plays an important role as it has been observed that majority of the candidates are able to handle all other sections, but legal aptitude requires an a priori mentoring and extensive practice. Legal aptitude section is also a tie breaker in the sense that if two candidates are having same marks in overall, it’s the legal aptitude section which breaks the tie as the one having higher marks in legal aptitude is preferred over the others.

Important Dates (Tentative)

How to Apply for CLAT 2016

For the CLAT 2016 examination, the candidates need to apply online through the official website on the prescribed date. Beside online registration, no other mode of submitting the application would be permitted. The candidates must have to remit the application fee (4000/- for general candidates and 3500/- for reserve category) by online. The online payment can be made through the CLAT website with net banking, debit card or credit card.

The candidates must have to apply for UG and PG programmes through the official website. The online counselling would take place after the declaration of CLAT 2016 result. The allotment of institutions and seats would be based on the score in CLAT 2016 in merit-list and the choice of law school given by the candidates and availability of seat in desired for best law colleges in India.

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