CLAT Data Shows General Category Dominating at 62% Persisting Inequities
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CLAT Data Shows General Category Dominating at 62% Persisting Inequities

Shubham BhakuniUpdated on 08 Dec 2025, 12:58 PM IST

According to a Right to Information data, a total of 62,832 candidates registered for UG-CLAT 2025. The registrations were highest in the last six years. Year-on-year, the registration improved by around 18%. The general category participation was highest with 37,892 participants appearing in the exam, followed by 14,444 from the OBC and 6,331 from the SC categories.

CLAT Data Shows General Category Dominating at 62% Persisting Inequities
CLAT 2025 Data Shows General Category Dominating at 62% Amid Persisting Inequities

General Category Dominates With 62% Share

The category-wise breakup of student data shows that the general category remains the most competitive among all. General category candidates, including EWS, make up 62.60% — from roughly 30% of the total population.

In contrast;

  • OBC students were 23.86%. Their population share is roughly 40-50%
  • SC participation in CLAT was close to 10.46%; they constitute around 16.8% of the total population as per 2011 census data
  • ST representation is around 3%, which is similar to JEE and NEET exams. They make up around 8.6% of the total population
  • The EWS category has no official survey data, but it is roughly around 18% as per NITI Aayog estimates. Against this, around 8.9% students participate in CLAT from this category.

CLAT 2025 and 2024 Registration Trends: Category-Wise Breakup

Category

2025

2024

Applied

Appeared

Applied

Appeared

General*

39,285

37,892

32,904

31,870

OBC

14,896

14,444

13,995

13,702

SC

6,676

6,331

6,257

6,037

ST

1,975

1,859

1,644

1,571

Total

62,832

60,526

54,800

53,180

PwD

324

300

634

613

General-EWS

5,489

5,391

4,618

4,523

PwD and EWS categories are included in other relevant categories above
Source- RTI

Year on year, the general category saw the highest jump in registrations. The numbers rose by over 5,000 in a single year, indicating an increased level of competition in this category.

CLAT UG and PG: Historical Data

Year

Appeared

(UG + PG)

CLAT UG

CLAT PG

Appeared

Appeared

2025

75,361

60,544

14,817

2024

65,185

53,180

12,005

2023

51,469

42,766

8,703

2022

59,443

53,226

6,217

2021

62,106

53,532

8,574

Success Rate in CLAT

Overall, CLAT success rate ranges from 5-6% and it varies for each NLU, with four top-ranked universities recording less than 1% success rate for the general category. The success rate drops due to the NLU preference order submitted by students just before the counselling.

Big 4 NLUs: less than 1% success rate for 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

Tier 2 universities follow the top-4 NLUs mentioned above. These include GNLU Gandhinagar, NLIU Bhopal, RMLNLU Lucknow, HNLU Raipur, NLU Odisha, RGNLU Patiala, NLU Kochi and CNLU Patna.

OBC Participation in CLAT Vs JEE & NEET

The 2025 and 2024 CLATs had 23.86% and 25.77% representation from the Other Backward Classes (OBC). This is significantly lower participation compared to two other major national entrance exams conducted in India - JEE and NEET, where they form the majority.

JEE-Main paper 1 held in 2025 had 38.7% OBC participation, the highest among all categories. NEET UG 2025 also had a similar participation at 41.67%, outnumbering general category students. The OBC share in the total population in the country was 52% according to the 1980 Mandal Commission report. The 2006 National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) claims OBC forms 41% of the total population in the country. Both the Mandal Commission and the NSSO data, if taken as reference points, align with OBC participation in JEE and NEET.

Looking ahead: 2026 CLAT expected to continue this trend

The exorbitant CLAT application fee, with an English-heavy question paper, is seen by the students as prohibitive, discouraging lower-income groups from participating in the examination. The NLU's fee structure is also at par with most of the private law schools, making affordability an important factor in choosing law schools.

As there have been no attempts in CLAT 2026 to improve student participation in different categories, the current trend is expected to continue.

CLAT 2026 is set to reveal its own participation insights once the consortium releases the data. Based on current trends, another uptick in registrations is likely, driven by:

  • Increasing competition in the general category

  • Saturation in engineering/medical career options

  • Acceptance of law as a mainstream career and increasing opportunities in the private sector

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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