Common Law Admission Test
| Acronym | CLAT |
|---|---|
| Type | Computer Based Standardised Test |
| Developer / administrator | CLAT Committee |
| Knowledge / skills tested | Legal aptitude, Logical reasoning, English, General knowledge, Elementary mathematics |
| Purpose | Entrance to National Law Universities |
| Duration | 2 Hours |
| Score / grade range | -50 to 200 |
| Score / grade validity | 1 year |
| Offered | once a year |
| Restrictions on attempts | none |
| Languages | English |
| Annual no. of test takers |
 45,000 (in 2015) |
| Prerequisites / eligibility criteria | Senior Secondary Exam (12th) |
| Fee | 4000 INR |
| Scores / grades used by | National Law Universities, Private Law Colleges, PSU's |
| Website | clat |
Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is a centralised test for admission to 17 prominent National Law Universities in India. The test is taken after the Higher Secondary Examination or the 12th grade for admission to integrated undergraduation programmes in Law and after Graduation in Law for Master of Laws(LL.M) programmes conducted by these law universities. This test was conducted for the first time on 11 May 2008. The two-hour admission test consists of objective type covering questions on Elementary Mathematics or Numerical Ability, English with Comprehension, General knowledge and Current affairs, Legal Aptitude and Legal Awareness and Logical reasoning. The CLAT scores are used by other private law colleges across the country and Public Sector Undertakings for admissions and recruitment respectively.
CLAT is conducted on second sunday of the month of May. CLAT 2016 was conducted by Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law (RGNUL), Patiala on May 8, 2016. In 2015, CLAT exam was conducted by Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University (RMLNLU) on May 10, 2015.
CLAT 2017 is set to be conducted by CNLU, Patna on May 14, 2017. From 2017 onwards, there is also an upper age limit of 20 years in CLAT for candidates applying to LLB programs.
Before the introduction of CLAT, the autonomous law schools in India conducted their own separate entrance tests, requiring the candidates to prepare and appear separately for each of these tests. The schedule of the administration of these tests sometimes conflicted with the other or with other major entrance tests such as the Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination and the All India Pre Medical Test. This caused students to miss tests and experience much stress.
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