CLAT Application Date:01 Aug' 25 - 31 Oct' 25
The CBSE board students have six times better chances of qualifying the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) than non-CBSE students. A recent Right to Information (RTI) response from the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) revealed shocking data on the success rate of CBSE board students. While the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has just 18% of Higher Secondary schools in India, over 58% of students qualifying the CLAT examination come from these schools, the RTI data revealed.
The CLAT 2024 exam held on December 03, 2023, had 53,180 applicants. Of these, 22,217 students qualified for CLAT counselling. As per the RTI response, 12,827 who qualified in the CLAT counselling were from CBSE board schools. The remaining 9,390 students were from other school boards. This shows the huge advantage CBSE board students have over the students studying in the remaining 60+ school education boards in India. This data is an eye-opener for students aspiring to crack competitive national entrance exams.
According to the UDSIE report, India currently has 14.71 lakh schools. Of these, 12.22 lakh schools are government-aided and the remaining 3.31 lakh are private.
Of all these government and private schools, approximately 1.50 lakh schools offer senior secondary education. A further breakdown of this data and the 2023 CBSE annual report shows, that only 28,135, or 18% of these schools are affiliated to the CBSE. The remaining 81% of schools are affiliated to non-CBSE boards, which include state boards, Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), International Baccalaureate (IB) boards and others.
In 2018, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur conducted the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). The institute later released a detailed report on how students from different school boards performed in the examination. Of the 10.43 Lakh students who appeared in JEE, 1.14 Lakh or 11% were from CBSE board schools, while 9.28 Lakh constituting 89% of the total candidates appeared from other boards.
Of these 1.14 Lakh CBSE students, over 62.24% qualified in the JEE examination. Whereas, only 10% of the candidates from non-CBSE board schools could clear the exam.
This huge disparity in the success rate of CBSE and non-CBSE school students doesn’t stop here. The report further revealed that 6,600 seats in IITs were eventually acquired by students who studied in CBSE board schools. Whereas, 9.82 Lakh students from all other non-CBSE school boards could claim just 5,371 seats. This effectively meant the chances of a CBSE student succeeding in JEE stood at 10 times higher than any other student in India.
The CBSE is one of the national boards of school education in India and has a nationwide presence. Most of the schools approved by the central government in India are affiliated to CBSE. These include Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs), government/aided schools, private schools, Jawahar Novodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) and Central Tibetan Schools. All schools affiliated to the CBSE follow the curriculum developed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
Here are four major reasons why students studying in CBSE schools have a huge advantage over others in the competitive exams.
1. Curriculum Alignment with Entrance Exams
CBSE's curriculum is designed with a focus on conceptual clarity and, aligning closely with the syllabi of national-level entrance exams like JEE, CLAT and NEET.
2. Focus on NCERT Textbooks
CBSE extensively uses NCERT textbooks, which are also the primary source for questions in exams like JEE, NEET, and CUET.
3. Assessment Pattern
CBSE assessments emphasise multiple-choice questions, reasoning, and problem-solving skills, which mimic the pattern of competitive exams.
4. Access to Better Resources and Guidance
CBSE students typically have access to better study materials, coaching centres, and guidance specifically targeted at entrance exams. These resources are often tailored to CBSE's curriculum
The latest RTI responses on CLAT accessed by Careers360 along with the 2018 IIT Kanpur report on JEE establish that the CBSE offers a huge advantage to students wanting to crack the competitive exams. These exams are the gateways to top universities in India such as IITs, NITs, NLUs, NIDs and medical colleges.
But how accessible are the CBSE board schools? Of the 14.71 lakh schools in India, only 28,135 schools are CBSE schools. Among the schools offering Senior Secondary education, CBSE schools constitute just around 18%. Compare this with the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UPMSP) which alone has around 25 lakh students appearing in Class 12th in a year. This is much higher than the 16.21 lakh students who appeared in the Class 12the exam from all CBSE board schools in the country.
As per the CBSE annual report, of 28,135 affiliated schools, over 75% of schools are private owned. The cost of education in these private schools in India is much higher than in government schools, making many of them unaffordable for lower and middle-class families.
Education is listed as the concurrent subject in the seventh schedule of the Indian Constitution. All states have separate school education boards and they will continue to exist in the spirit of federalism. However, Unlike CBSE board schools, state board syllabi are less uniform and often lack the focus required for national-level competitive exams. The syllabi in many of these boards are designed around theory and rote learning rather than aptitude and problem-solving skills.
The students in the state board schools also face limited access to high-quality study materials and specialised coaching. This resource disparity eventually puts them at a relative disadvantage especially when they have to compete at national-level competitions and leave behind the schooling boards.
A major reform and curriculum overhaul is the need of the hour to keep state board schools relevant and prevent students from migrating to CBSE board schools. At least the subjects that lead students to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) courses should be kept uniform across the schools, while the assessment methods need to be changed for improved focus on reasoning, aptitude and problem-solving skills.
For students, if their objective is to crack any of the national-level entrance exams and if the state board schools are not offering the quality required to compete at the national level, it is time to move to the CBSE board schools. The success rate of students from these schools in entrance examinations is six to ten times higher than all other school boards in India.
On Question asked by student community
Hi dear candidate,
On our official website, you can find various study material EBooks and Sample Papers that can help you prepare better that you can download for free.
Kindly refer to the link attached below:
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CLAT Study Material 2026 PDF - Books, Mock Test, Question Papers
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Hello,
While NLUs are costly, you can still pursue government-funded law education through state-funded universities and their affiliated colleges that accept CLAT scores, such as institutes like Banaras Hindu University and Aligarh Muslim University.
I hope it will clear your query!!
It is always better to take the CLAT exam right after Class 12 if your goal is to build a career in law, because CLAT UG is specifically designed for admission into integrated five-year law programs like BA LLB, BCom LLB, or BBA LLB. Appearing after Class 12 saves you time, as you complete both graduation and law together in a single course. On the other hand, if you first complete graduation and then plan for law, you will not be eligible for CLAT UG but instead for CLAT PG, which is meant for admission into LLM programs. This path takes longer, because you first spend three or four years on graduation and then add another three years in an LLB program if you choose not to go for an integrated course. So, if you are already sure about pursuing law as your career, writing CLAT right after Class 12 is the smarter and time-saving option, while writing it after graduation makes sense only if you are considering higher studies in law or a shift in career later.
For CLAT, the most important topics are from Legal Reasoning, Current Affairs & GK, the Indian Constitution, English Language, Quantitative Techniques and Logical Reasoning. For a brief detail you can go through the following link: https://law.careers360.com/articles/clat-important-topics
Thank You.
Hi dear candidate,
Both the colleges Maharaja Agrasen (MAIMS) or Gitarattan (GIBS) are affiliated to IP University and allows admission either by CLAT or IPU CET Law. Without either of these exams, your admission is NOT accepted there. You can try looking for management quota seats in these colleges if you have got good marks in 12th class.
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