The CLAT 2027 UG syllabus has five comprehension-based sections: Legal Reasoning and Current Affairs & GK (25% each, 28–32 questions), English Language and Logical Reasoning (20% each, 22–26 questions), and Quantitative Techniques (10%, 10–14 questions). All 120 questions are passage-based, answered in 2 hours, with +1 for a correct answer and –0.25 for a wrong one.
Marks Distribution
| Section | Weightage | Questions | Nature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current Affairs & GK | ~25% | 28–32 | News-based passages + linked static GK |
| Legal Reasoning | ~25% | 28–32 | Principle–fact application; no prior law |
| English Language | ~20% | 22–26 | Reading comprehension of ~450-word passages |
| Logical Reasoning | ~20% | 22–26 | Arguments, assumptions, inferences |
| Quantitative Techniques | ~10% | 10–14 | Class-10 maths from data passages |
| Total | 100% | 120 | 2 hours · +1 / –0.25 · offline OMR |
Three sections — Current Affairs & GK, Legal Reasoning and Logical Reasoning — together make up roughly 70% of the paper, so they deserve the bulk of your preparation time. The exact number of questions per section is never fixed in advance; the Consortium publishes the weightage, and the counts above reflect recent papers.
Reading-comprehension passages of ~450 words from contemporary and historical fiction & non-fiction. Grammar and vocabulary are tested in context, not as standalone exercises.
Prep note: Daily newspaper and editorial reading is the single best driver — it lifts English, Legal, GK and Logical at once.
The largest section alongside Legal. News-based passages from roughly the last 12 months, with the static GK linked to those events — you read a passage and answer, not recall isolated facts.
Prep note: Maintain a dated current-affairs log across the year; cramming the last month is not enough for a 28–32-question section.
Tied for the highest weight. Each passage states a legal principle followed by a fact situation; you apply the given principle to the facts. No prior knowledge of law is needed.
Prep note: Practise reading the principle precisely and applying only what it says — not your own opinion of what the law should be.
Short argument passages testing how you analyse reasoning — identifying premises, assumptions, conclusions and patterns, and judging what strengthens or weakens an argument. Critical reasoning carries the most weight.
Prep note: This section overlaps heavily with editorial reading — the same critical-reading habit pays off across English, Legal and Logical.
The smallest section. Questions sit on data passages — graphs, tables or text with numbers — requiring elementary, Class-10-level mathematics applied to the data, not standalone sums.
Prep note: Don't over-invest, but never skip it — for non-maths students it is a low-volume, high-return section once the basics are solid.
As of now, no — the CLAT 2027 syllabus and pattern are unchanged from recent years. However, the Consortium of NLUs has set up an Expert Committee to review the exam, so the number of questions, section weightage or duration could be revised. Any change will be confirmed only in the official CLAT 2027 notification (expected July 2026); prepare for the current pattern and watch the notification.
Because every section is passage-based, reading speed and comprehension are your biggest levers. Spend the early months building a daily reading habit — newspapers and editorials cover English, Legal, GK and Logical at the same time — then layer in sectional tests and full mocks. Prioritise the three high-weight sections (CA&GK, Legal, Logical = ~70% of the paper), keep Quant ticking over with Class-10 basics, and review every mock by section to see exactly where marks leak.
CLAT 2027 (UG) covers five comprehension-based sections: English Language, Current Affairs including General Knowledge, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Techniques. All 120 questions are set on passages, answered in 2 hours with +1 for a correct answer and –0.25 for a wrong one. The syllabus is prescribed by the Consortium of NLUs and tests comprehension and application rather than rote knowledge.
CLAT 2027 weightage is: Legal Reasoning ~25% (28–32 questions), Current Affairs & GK ~25% (28–32), English Language ~20% (22–26), Logical Reasoning ~20% (22–26), and Quantitative Techniques ~10% (10–14). The three high-weight sections — Current Affairs & GK, Legal and Logical Reasoning — together make up roughly 70% of the paper, so they deserve the most preparation time.
Legal Reasoning and Current Affairs & GK carry the highest weightage in CLAT, at roughly 25% (28–32 questions) each. They are followed by English Language and Logical Reasoning at about 20% (22–26 questions each), with Quantitative Techniques the smallest at about 10% (10–14 questions). Focusing on the two top-weight sections gives the biggest return on study time.
Quantitative Techniques has the lowest weightage in CLAT 2027 — about 10%, or 10–14 questions. Despite being the smallest section, it is worth preparing because the maths is only Class-10 level and accuracy here is achievable; many aspirants treat it as a reliable scoring section once the basics are solid, rather than skipping it.
Yes. Since 2020, the CLAT UG paper has been fully comprehension-based — every section, including Quantitative Techniques and Legal Reasoning, is set on passages. You read a passage and answer questions on it, so reading speed, accuracy and application matter far more than memorising facts or formulae. This is the single most important thing to understand about CLAT preparation.
No. CLAT Legal Reasoning questions provide the legal principle within the passage; you simply apply that given principle to the facts that follow. No prior knowledge of law, statutes or case law is assumed or required. What is tested is your ability to read a principle precisely and apply it logically — not what you already know about the law.
CLAT 2027 (UG) has 120 multiple-choice questions to be answered in 2 hours. They are distributed approximately as: Current Affairs & GK 28–32, Legal Reasoning 28–32, English 22–26, Logical Reasoning 22–26, and Quantitative Techniques 10–14. Each carries one mark, with 0.25 deducted for a wrong answer. The exact count per section is not fixed in advance — only the weightage is published.
The CLAT English Language section (~20%, 22–26 questions) tests reading comprehension on roughly 450-word passages from contemporary and historical fiction and non-fiction. Questions cover the main idea and inference, vocabulary in context, tone and argument, and summary or analogy. Grammar and vocabulary are tested through the passages rather than as standalone exercises, so wide, regular reading is the best preparation.
CLAT Legal Reasoning (~25%, 28–32 questions) presents passages stating a legal principle followed by a fact situation; you apply the principle to the facts. Topics drawn on include contracts, torts, constitutional concepts, criminal law basics and legal current affairs, but no prior law is needed — the principle is always given. It is tied for the highest-weight section, so it is a top preparation priority.
CLAT Logical Reasoning (~20%, 22–26 questions) uses short argument passages to test how you analyse reasoning — identifying premises, assumptions, conclusions and patterns, and judging what strengthens or weakens an argument. Critical reasoning carries the most weight, with some analytical reasoning and analogies. The skills overlap heavily with editorial reading, so a critical-reading habit pays off across several sections.
CLAT Current Affairs & GK (~25%, 28–32 questions) is built on news-based passages from roughly the last 12 months, plus the static general knowledge linked to those events. It spans national and international news, polity and governance, awards and sports, arts and culture, economics and government schemes. Because it is the joint-largest section, a dated current-affairs log maintained across the year is essential.
CLAT Quantitative Techniques (~10%, 10–14 questions) tests elementary, Class-10-level mathematics applied to data passages — graphs, tables or text containing numbers. Topics include ratio and proportion, percentages, averages and mixtures, profit and loss, data interpretation and basic mensuration. Questions are data-interpretation style rather than standalone sums, so practising with passage-based data sets is the right approach.
CLAT maths is limited to elementary, Class-10-level mathematics — there is no advanced or higher-secondary maths. The challenge is not difficulty but applying basic concepts quickly to data given in passages. Non-maths-background students can score well here with focused practice on percentages, ratios, averages and data interpretation, which is why the section is often called a quiet game-changer.
CLAT 2027 awards +1 mark for each correct answer and deducts 0.25 marks for each incorrect answer, with no penalty for unattempted questions. With 120 questions, the paper is out of 120 marks. The negative marking makes intelligent question selection important — reckless guessing lowers your score, so accuracy and knowing when to skip both matter.
Yes. CLAT applies 0.25 negative marking for every wrong answer, against +1 for a correct one. Unattempted questions carry no penalty. This is consistent across recent cycles and is expected to continue for CLAT 2027, though the official notification confirms it. The practical takeaway: attempt questions you can reason through, and avoid blind guessing on questions you cannot narrow down.
As of now, no — the CLAT 2027 syllabus and pattern are the same as recent years: five comprehension-based sections, 120 questions, 2 hours. However, the Consortium of NLUs has formed an Expert Committee to review the exam, so weightage, question count or duration could be revised. Any change will be confirmed only in the official CLAT 2027 notification, expected July 2026.
Students find this varies by background, but Quantitative Techniques is often cited as the trickiest for non-maths students despite its small size, while Legal and Logical Reasoning challenge those weaker at critical reading. Because the paper is passage-heavy, the real difficulty for most is reading speed under time pressure across 120 questions in 2 hours, rather than any single section's content.
Yes. CLAT is a single common exam with one syllabus, and the same paper is used for admission to all participating NLUs — individual NLUs do not set different syllabi. They differ only in their cutoffs and seat numbers, not in what is tested. (NLU Delhi is the exception: it does not use CLAT at all and conducts its own exam, AILET, with a separate pattern.)
The official CLAT 2027 syllabus is published by the Consortium of NLUs on consortiumofnlus.ac.in, within the CLAT 2027 notification and information brochure (expected July 2026). That PDF is the only authoritative source. Third-party summaries (including this page) are useful for planning, but always verify the final syllabus and weightage against the official Consortium document.
Because every section is passage-based, build reading speed and comprehension first — daily newspaper and editorial reading covers English, Legal, GK and Logical together. Maintain a year-long current-affairs log, practise applying legal principles precisely, keep Class-10 maths sharp for Quant, and take regular sectional and full-length mocks. Review every mock by section to find and fix where you lose marks.
Most aspirants complete the CLAT syllabus comfortably with 12–16 months of structured preparation, finishing the core syllabus before October so the final months go to revision and full-length mocks. A focused dropper can cover it in 8–10 months. Because the paper rewards skill over content, the timeline is less about 'finishing topics' and more about building reading speed and accuracy through sustained practice.
They overlap by roughly 80% — both test English, reasoning, GK and (for CLAT) quantitative skills. The key differences: AILET is faster and more reasoning-heavy (150 questions in 120 minutes, with Logical Reasoning the largest section) and is NLU Delhi's own exam, while CLAT (120 questions, five sections) feeds the other NLUs. Most aspirants prepare for both, layering AILET-specific drills on the shared CLAT foundation.
Knowing the CLAT 2027 syllabus is step one; turning it into a section-wise, week-by-week plan is what moves your rank. If you want help mapping this syllabus to a study calendar and mock schedule, talk to a CLAT mentor.
CLAT 2027 is expected on 6 December 2026 — the earlier you start, the more reading and mock practice compounds. Book a free demo class at any Delhi NCR centre. No commitment: attend one session and decide.