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 ?

Start preparing for CLAT by first understanding the exam pattern and syllabus, which includes English, Current Affairs, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Techniques. Make a simple daily routine and begin with basics read newspapers regularly for current affairs, practice comprehension passages for English and legal sections, and solve basic

Hello

With an AIR of 9076 and EWS rank of 846 in CLAT 2026, getting a top NLUs is unlikely, which is why you didn’t get a seat in the first round. However, you still have some chances in lower-tier NLUs like NLU Odisha, NLU Assam, NLU Tripura, NLU Meghalaya,

Hello

With a CLAT 2026 score of 60.75, AIR 17,715, and OBC-NCL rank 3,347 as an out-of-Delhi candidate, getting a seat in the Faculty of Law, Delhi University is very unlikely. DU’s cut-offs for OBC candidates are usually much higher, even in later rounds. You should keep backup options like

Hello,

With AIR 10542 and OBC rank 1843, getting top NLUs is unlikely. However, you still have chances in newer or lower ranked NLUs like NLU Assam, NUSRL Ranchi, MNLU Nagpur/Mumbai, especially in later or vacancy rounds. Also consider good private law colleges as backup options.

Since you scored 8000 AIR in CLAT, getting into top NLUs may not be possible, so it is a good idea to look for affordable and good law colleges.


State government law colleges are usually low in fees, and have decent reputation. Some options include Government Law College, Mumbai, Faculty