CLAT vs AILET 2027: Differences & Which to Choose

CLAT is conducted by the Consortium of NLUs and admits students to 26 National Law Universities across India through one common exam. AILET is conducted solely by NLU Delhi and admits only to NLU Delhi. CLAT has 120 questions across five sections; AILET has 150 questions across three sections and is faster-paced. AILET is far more selective, with only about 110 UG seats.

AILET is generally considered tougher — but mainly in competition and speed, not question difficulty. NLU Delhi offers only ~110 UG seats to tens of thousands of applicants (a ratio near 545:1), and AILET gives about 48 seconds per question versus CLAT's 60. CLAT is hard in a different way: long, passage-heavy questions that test reading endurance. Neither is universally harder — it depends on your strengths.

For most aspirants, both. The syllabi overlap roughly 80%, so preparing for CLAT already covers most of AILET, and writing both keeps every top NLU open — CLAT for 26 NLUs, AILET for NLU Delhi. Focus on only CLAT if you are not specifically targeting NLU Delhi; consider leaning toward AILET only if NLU Delhi is your sole goal and you are reasoning-strong.

Yes, and most serious aspirants do. The syllabi overlap by about 80% — English, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning and Current Affairs/GK are common to both. You prepare the shared foundation once, then add AILET-specific Logical Reasoning practice (it is AILET's biggest section) and keep Quantitative Techniques sharp for CLAT. Integrated coaching batches are built exactly around this combined preparation.

CLAT scores are accepted by 26 National Law Universities (up from 24, after NLU Tripura and NLU Meghalaya were added for 2027), offering roughly 3,520 UG seats. AILET is accepted by exactly one — NLU Delhi — with about 110 UG seats. So CLAT gives access to far more universities, while AILET is the single route into NLU Delhi, which does not accept CLAT.

CLAT has five sections: English, Current Affairs & GK, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Techniques. AILET has three: English, Current Affairs & GK and Logical Reasoning. AILET has no separate Quantitative or Legal Reasoning section, and Logical Reasoning is its largest component at roughly 47% of the paper, versus about 20% in CLAT. AILET's GK is statement-based; CLAT's is passage-based.

No. AILET has no Quantitative Techniques (maths) section, whereas CLAT includes one worth about 10% (10–14 questions). This is one reason a maths-averse but reasoning-strong aspirant may find AILET more comfortable. For CLAT, you do need to prepare elementary, Class-10-level quantitative questions set on data passages, even though it is the smallest CLAT section.

CLAT has 120 questions to be answered in 2 hours; AILET has 150 questions in the same 2 hours. So AILET is faster — about 48 seconds per question versus 60 seconds in CLAT. Both use multiple-choice questions with negative marking of 0.25 per wrong answer, and both are offline, OMR-based papers.

CLAT, by a wide margin. CLAT covers 26 NLUs with approximately 3,520 UG seats nationwide, while AILET admits to only NLU Delhi with about 110 UG seats. This large seat difference is the main reason AILET's competition is so much steeper — a similar number of strong candidates compete for a fraction of the seats.

They overlap by roughly 80%. Both test English, Logical Reasoning and Current Affairs/GK. The differences: CLAT adds Legal Reasoning and Quantitative Techniques as distinct sections and is passage-heavy throughout, while AILET drops Quant, leans heavily on Logical Reasoning (~47%), and uses crisper, statement-based GK. Preparing for CLAT covers most of AILET; the extra work is mainly more reasoning practice.

AILET is more competitive by seat ratio. Roughly 60,000 candidates compete for about 110 NLU Delhi UG seats (near 545:1), whereas CLAT draws a larger pool of around 75,000 for about 3,520 seats across 26 NLUs — a far gentler ratio. So although CLAT has more applicants in absolute terms, your statistical chance per seat is much higher in CLAT than in AILET.

Rarely. Both are held about a week apart in December — CLAT 2027 is expected on 6 December 2026 and AILET 2027 on around 13 December 2026 — so candidates can comfortably write both in the same season. Because they do not usually clash, there is little reason to choose only one on scheduling grounds; preparing for both is the norm.

Both lead to top law schools — it depends on which. CLAT is the route to NLSIU Bangalore, NALSAR Hyderabad and the other elite NLUs (26 in total), while AILET is the only route to NLU Delhi, itself among India's most sought-after law schools. Since they cover different universities, preparing for both gives you the widest shot at a top-tier seat.

Possibly yes. AILET has no Quantitative (maths) section, so a maths-averse aspirant avoids that entirely — and if you are also strong in Logical Reasoning, AILET's heavy reasoning weighting (~47%) can play to your strength. That said, most aspirants still take CLAT too, treating its small (~10%) Quant section as manageable with focused practice, to keep 26 more NLUs open.

The eligibility is very similar. Both require Class 12 (10+2) with broadly comparable minimum marks — CLAT needs 45% (40% SC/ST), AILET needs 45% General, 42% OBC and 40% SC/ST — and neither has an upper age limit. Both allow Class 12 appearing students to apply. So if you are eligible for one, you are almost certainly eligible for the other.

Yes, slightly, and they are paid separately to different bodies. CLAT's application fee has recently been around ₹4,000 (₹3,500 reserved), paid to the Consortium of NLUs. AILET's has been around ₹3,500 (₹1,500 SC/ST/PwD), paid to NLU Delhi. Confirm the exact 2027 fees in each exam's official notification, as you apply for the two exams independently.

No. CLAT and AILET produce separate ranks from separate exams — your CLAT All-India rank is used only for the 26 CLAT NLUs, and your AILET rank only for NLU Delhi. There is no common score. This is precisely why you must sit both exams to be considered at both sets of universities; one cannot substitute for the other.

Spend the bulk of your time — around 80% — on the shared core (English, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, Current Affairs/GK), since it serves both exams. Add roughly 15% extra to deepen Logical Reasoning for AILET's heavy weighting, and about 5% on Quantitative Techniques for CLAT, which AILET does not test. Then practise full-length mocks for each exam in its own format and pace.

AILET's effective bar is higher because of its tiny seat pool — a top-60–70 General rank (roughly 125+/150) is typically needed for NLU Delhi. CLAT's cutoffs span a wide range across 26 NLUs: the very top NLUs close within the top ~150 ranks, but many good NLUs admit well into the thousands. So CLAT offers far more cutoff 'room' across its universities than AILET does for its single one.

If you are a first-timer without a fixed NLU Delhi goal, putting your main focus on CLAT is sensible — one exam opens 26 NLUs, giving the widest payoff. But because the syllabi overlap so heavily, adding AILET costs little extra and keeps NLU Delhi in play. Most first-attempt aspirants therefore prepare primarily for CLAT and write AILET as well.

No. NLU Delhi is the only National Law University that does not accept CLAT — it admits exclusively through its own exam, AILET. This is why NLU Delhi never appears in CLAT cutoff lists, and why any aspirant who wants NLU Delhi must sit AILET specifically. All the other 26 NLUs admit through CLAT.

Prepare for both. Build the shared 80% foundation through structured CLAT preparation, layer in extra Logical Reasoning for AILET and keep Quant sharp for CLAT, and take full-length mocks in each exam's own format and pace. Write CLAT (expected 6 December 2026) for 26 NLUs and AILET (expected 13 December 2026) for NLU Delhi. Integrated coaching is built around exactly this combined approach.