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    AILET vs CLAT Success Rate: Which Exam Is Harder to Crack?

    AILET vs CLAT Success Rate: Which Exam Is Harder to Crack?

    Sansar Singh ChhikaraUpdated on 31 Jul 2025, 02:59 PM IST

    The Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) conducts the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), the biggest law entrance exam in India. CLAT exam is conducted for admission to 24 NLUs. The All India Law Entrance Test (AILET) is conducted by National Law University, Delhi, for admissions exclusively to NLU Delhi. Both CLAT and AILET are amongst the most difficult law entrance exams in the country. The difficulty level and paper pattern of both these exams are largely similar. In terms of number of candidates vs number of seats available, the CLAT 2025 success rate was approximately 6%. In comparison, the AILET 2025 success rate was just 0.59%. However, candidates cannot take the success rates of both these exams at face value. Read the complete article for a detailed analysis on CLAT vs AILET exam in terms of difficulty level, success rate, syllabus and more.

    AILET vs CLAT Success Rate: Which Exam Is Harder to Crack?
    AILET vs CLAT Success Rate

    CLAT vs AILET Success Rate - Historical Data

    Year

    Candidates Appeared in AILET

    AILET Seats

    AILET Success Rate (%)

    Candidates Appeared in CLAT

    CLAT Seats

    CLAT Success Rate (%)

    2025

    18,717

    110

    0.59%

    60,544

    3,700

    6.11%

    2024

    17,174

    110

    0.64%

    53,180

    3,200

    6.02%

    2023

    15,454

    110

    0.71%

    42,766

    2,860

    6.68%

    2022

    15,642

    70

    0.45%

    53,226

    2,801

    5.26%

    2021

    13,824

    70

    0.51%

    53,532

    2,622

    4.90%

    Is the AILET more difficult than CLAT in terms of success rate?

    On first look, the success rate of AILET and CLAT may create a perception that AILET is more difficult to crack than CLAT. However, a deeper analysis reveals, there is not much difference. AILET exam is conducted only for admissions to NLU Delhi, while CLAT exam is conducted for admissions to 24 NLUs and other participating universities and law schools. If you compare the success rate of AILET with tier 1 NLUs participating in CLAT, the former has slightly better passing rate than NLSIU Bengaluru and NALSAR Hyderabad. Rest all NLUs have a higher success rate than NLU Delhi, which means they are easier to get into compared to NLUD. In this context, NLU Delhi, very closely competes with NLSIU and NALSAR Hyderabad, the top NLUs in CLAT. The below-given table below denotes last year's success rates of all participating NLUs of CLAT.

    AILET Vs CLAT 2025 Success Rate - General Category

    Name of Exam

    Total Seats

    Number of Candidates

    Success Rate

    CLAT

    3705 (approx)

    62,832

    5.896

    AILET

    110

    19830

    0.554

    CLAT 2025 NLU Wise Success Rate — General Category

    NLU Name

    Closing Rank

    Success Rate (in %)

    NLSIU Bengaluru

    112

    0.30

    NALSAR Hyderabad

    159

    0.42

    WBNUJS Kolkata( BA LLB)

    327

    0.86

    NLU Jodhpur

    367

    0.97

    GNLU Gandhinagar

    444

    1.17

    NLIU Bhopal (BA LLB)

    480

    1.27

    WBNUJS Kolkata (BSc.LLB Hons)

    711

    1.88

    RMLNLU Lucknow

    780

    2.06

    HNLU Raipur

    807

    2.13

    NLIU Bhopal (BSc LLB)

    915

    2.41

    NLU Odisha BA LLB

    1013

    2.67

    NLU Odisha BBA LLB

    1176

    3.10

    RGNUL Patiala

    1279

    3.38

    NUALS Kochi

    1346

    3.55

    CNLU Patna (BA LLB)

    1398

    3.69

    GNLU Silvassa Campus

    1461

    3.86

    MNLU Mumbai

    558

    1.47

    MNLU Nagpur - BA LLB

    1529

    4.04

    CNLU Patna (BBA LLB)

    1555

    4.10

    MNLU Nagpur - BBA LLB

    1623

    4.28

    NUSRL Ranchi BA LLB

    1667

    4.40

    DSNLU Visakhapatnam

    1682

    4.44

    NUSRL Ranchi BBA LLB

    1760

    4.64

    TNNLU Tiruchirappalli BA LLB

    1763

    4.65

    DBRANLU Sonepat

    1930

    5.09

    TNNLU Tiruchirappalli BCom LLB

    1947

    5.14

    MNLU Aurangabad- BA LLB

    1949

    5.14

    NLUJA Assam

    2141

    5.65

    MPDNLU Jabalpur

    2243

    5.92

    MNLU Aurangabad - BBA LLB

    2393

    6.32

    RPNLU Prayagraj

    2469

    6.52

    HPNLU Shimla - BA LLB

    2555

    6.74

    HPNLU Shimla - BBA LLB

    2634

    6.95

    IIULER Goa BA LLB

    2784

    7.35

    IIULER Goa BA LLB

    2832

    7.47

    NLUT Agartala

    2855

    7.53

    CLAT vs AILET - Difficulty level in terms of syllabus

    Above, we have compared the CLAT and AILET success rate in terms of number of students against the seats available and also on the basis of how hard it is to get admission through these exams based on cutoff. However, the syllabus of both these exams is also a crucial factor that affects the success rate. Talking about the difficulty level, both exams have a vast syllabus. While CLAT syllabus has more subjects than AILET, the latter has more questions than CLAT (150 vs 120). Furthermore, CLAT requires reading of 8-10,000 words in two hours, making it extremely challenging. AILET, in this respect, has a more balanced approach. It requires reading skill, but has a lot of objectivity in questions. A detailed comparison between CLAT vs AILET in terms of syllabus has been discussed in the table below:

    CLAT vs AILET Syllabus - Which is more difficult?

    Aspect

    CLAT 2026

    AILET 2026

    Total Questions

    120 (comprehension-based)

    150

    Total Marks

    120

    150

    Sections

    5 – English, Current Affairs including GK, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude

    3 – English Language, General Knowledge & Current Affairs, Logical Reasoning

    Most Weightage Given To

    Legal Reasoning & Current Affairs (25% each)

    Logical Reasoning (47% of paper)

    Quantitative Section

    Yes (10%) – requires basic maths with topics like basic arithmetics, profit and loss, time and work, ratio and proportion, algebra.

    Not included

    Legal Reasoning

    25% – case-based reasoning required

    Legal reasoning not part of the syllabus, but some questions in Logical Reasoning require legal knowledge; all in all, weightage is less than that of CLAT

    Current Affairs (GK)

    25% – heavy reading-based comprehension

    20% – more direct questions

    Question Type

    Entirely comprehension-based

    English & Logical Reasoning section has passage-based MCQs, GK & CA has direct MCQs

    Reading Load

    Very High – all sections are passage-based

    Moderate when compared with CLAT. The GK & CA section has no passages.

    Speed Requirement

    Moderate (deep focus on understanding)

    High – 150 questions in 120 minutes

    Overall Difficulty Level

    Conceptual & reasoning-intensive

    Speed + logic intensive

    There can be many subjective opinions around which is the more difficult exam - CLAT or AILET. While in AILET, candidates have no room for errors as they’ll lose out on an NLU Delhi seat, whereas in CLAT, if the candidates miss out on top 1000 ranks, they can still aim for tier-2 or tier-3 colleges. Also, if you are a law aspirant who isn’t specifically looking for a college in Delhi, it is advisable to appear for both AILET and CLAT exams. If candidates choose to appear for just AILET, they will lose out on some of the best law schools of the country. Law aspirants can prepare for both the exams simultaneously. It may sound hard, but if candidates plan their preparation properly, they can prepare for both the exams together by segregating common topics and preparing for unique subjects and topics separately.

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    Questions related to CLAT

    On Question asked by student community

    Have a question related to CLAT ?

    Hello Santosh,

    Domicile cut-offs are unpredictable. You can apply and get a seat only if the domicile category is selected. You can apply, but the chances of getting either of them are rare.

    CLAT is an entrance examination conducted for admissions into law colleges. The qualifying marks vary with the colleges. You should check the details on the website to get a clear idea regarding cut offs for the colleges. You will also get the exam pattern through the article shared.

    The exact number for students appeared for CLAT has not been revealed yet. About 88,657 students appeared Nationwide for CLAT examination.

    Hello, it is highly unlikely to get admission to the GGSIPU Main Campus or VIPS. However, you can target other colleges affiliated with GGSIPU through the counselling process.

    Hi,

    You can get the CLAT section-wise mock test, previous year question papers and comprehensive study material here .