CONTENTS

Forward 02

CLAT syllabus - A brief introduction 03

English language including comprehension 04

General knowledge and current affairs 05

Legal aptitude and knowledge 06

Logical reasoning 07

Mathematics 08

CLAT exam pattern 09

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Foreword
Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is a national-level law entrance exam which is conducted
by the Consortium of National Law Universities (CNLU), or CLAT Consortium. If you are looking
for admission to a national law university in India, cracking in CLAT is a must. There are 24
national law universities in India that are part of CLAT Consortium and thus offer admission to
undergraduate and postgraduate law programmes on the basis of common entrance tests.

Common Law Admission Test is known as a test of reading and analytical skills. The syllabus is
different from many other law entrance exams conducted in India. Hence, if you are a law
aspirant and looking forward to appearing in CLAT, you must be well aware of its syllabus. Thus,
in this E-book, Careers360 brings all the details related to CLAT syllabus and exam pattern.

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CLAT Syllabus - A Brief Introduction
The CLAT consortium has introduced certain changes in the CLAT 2024 UG exam pattern. It
has reduced the number of questions in the CLAT question paper. Now there will be 120
questions spread across the five sections instead of 150. The total marks for the paper will also
be 120. No changes have been made in the CLAT PG pattern. In the year 2020, the CLAT
consortium had announced some changes to the syllabus and pattern of the test. It introduced
comprehension-based questions in all sections of the paper with an objective to test the critical
thinking and analytical skills of the candidates. The consortium made it clear that it wants to
select those students who have good reading and critical thinking skills necessary for pursuing
legal education in India.

The present syllabus is based on similar objectives. CLAT is now a lengthy paper, full of
comprehension passages on various topics. However, the basic framework of the syllabus is the
same as it was in previous years.

CLAT Syllabus - Overview

Subjects Number of Questions Marks

English Language 22-26 questions 22-26

Current Affairs, including General Knowledge 28-32 questions 28-32

Legal Reasoning 28-32 questions 28-32

Logical Reasoning 22-26 questions 22-26

Quantitative Techniques 10-14 questions 10-14

Total 120 120

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English Language and Comprehension
This section is designed to test the reading ability of students. There will be around four to five
comprehension passages of about 450 words each. The content of the passages will be derived
from contemporary or historically significant fiction and non-fiction writing. Each passage will be
followed by four to five objective-type questions that require the candidates to demonstrate the
following skills. This section carries 20% weightage with 22-26 questions.
● Read and comprehend the main point discussed in the passage, as well as any
arguments and viewpoints discussed or set out in the passage
● Drawing inferences and conclusions from the passage.
● Summarizing the passage
● Compare and contrast the different arguments or viewpoints given in the passage.
● Understand the meaning of various words and phrases used in the passage.

Important topics to study

Reading Comprehension Vocabulary based questions

Part of speech Grammar

Figures of speech Tenses

Active passive voice
Concord (subject-verb agreement) Prepositions
Modal and Articles

Related | To download CLAT previous year papers - Click here

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Current Affairs and General Knowledge
The general knowledge and current affairs section will also have comprehension passages of up
to 450 words each. Each passage will be followed by a series of objective types of questions.
Overall, there will be around 28-32 questions, making up around 25% of the test paper. The
content of comprehension passages will be drawn from the following topics.

● News
● Legal editorials and opinions
● Journalistic sources
● Other non-fiction writing
● Contemporary events of significance from India and the world;
● Arts and culture;
● International affairs; and
● Historical events of continuing significance.

The questions from CLAT current affairs and general knowledge may include an examination of
legal information or knowledge.

Also Read | How to prepare for CLAT without coaching

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Legal Aptitude and Knowledge
This section will have 25% weightage in the paper and there will be 28-32 questions. There will
be around four to five comprehension passages of around 450 words each. The passages may
be drawn from various fact situations or scenarios that involve legal matters, questions, public
policy questions or moral philosophical enquiries. Candidates are not expected to have prior
knowledge of law. However, some basic understanding and awareness of contemporary legal
and moral issues will be helpful in answering the questions.

Types of questions;
Legal aptitude may have questions revolving around the following theme;
● Identify and infer the rules and principles set out in the passage;
● Apply such rules and principles to various fact situations; and
● Understand how changes to the rules or principles may alter their application to various
fact situations.
Important topics to study

Subjects Topics

Constitution History of Indian constitution

Important judgments and amendments

Law Important laws like IPC, CrPC, Law of Torts, Law of Contracts Family Law,
International Law, Intellectual Property Law etc

Prepositions and facts

Important events related to legal and constitutional developments

Polity Rights and Duties

Judiciary - Supreme Court and High Court

Parliament - Executive, Legislature, President

Current events related to Indian polity.

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Logical Reasoning
The CLAT reasoning will be designed to test the critical thinking and analytical skills of the
candidates. There will be around 22-26 objective-type questions requiring the candidates to
demonstrate the following skills.

● Recognizing the arguments, and their premises and drawing conclusions

● Reading and identifying the arguments set out in the passage
● Critical examination of the patterns of reasoning, and assessing evidence and premises
on which a particular conclusion can be based.
● Infer what follows from the passage and apply these inferences to new situations
● Drawing relationships and analogies, identify contradictions and equivalence and assess
the effectiveness of arguments.
●
CLAT Logical Reasoning Topics to Study

Analogies Series

Seating arrangement Syllogisms

Infreneces Premises and conclusions

Strengthening and weakening arguments Logical puzzles

Relationships Calendar and clocks

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Quantitative Aptitude
The math section is of Class 10th level. There may be questions from short sets of facts or
propositions, graphs, or other textual, pictorial or diagrammatic representations of numerical
information. Candidates are required to derive information from such facts, diagrams, passages,
graphs or other representations and apply the mathematical formulas and operations to answer
the questions. Overall, one may expect around 10-14 questions from quantitative aptitude.

Topics to study

Profit and Loss Basic Algebra

Areas Mensuration Number Systems

Fractions Mensuration

Work and Time Time Speed and Distance

Probability Statistical estimation

Average Ratios and proportions

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CLAT Exam Pattern
The pattern tells about the important modalities of the exam. For example, by reading the test
pattern, one would know the mode, language and duration of the test. It also informs about the
marking scheme. The CLAT exam pattern for both UG and PG is almost the same now. Both the
exams have total 120 questions. The duration and marking scheme of the exams are also same.
In the present form, the pattern of CLAT is as given below.

CLAT Pattern

Particular CLAT UG & PG

Mode Offline, Pen and paper based

Duration Two hours

Language English

Type of questions Multiple choice type questions from comprehension

passages

Number of questions 120

Total marks 120

Marking scheme ● Each question will carry one mark

● Each incorrect answer will invite a penalty
of 0.25 marks.

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