The first round of NLU allotment data released by the consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) shows top 100 rank holders concentrating in NLSIU and NALSAR Hyderabad. This has been a trend in CLAT — NLSIU, drawing out around 85-90% students every year. Remaining students pick NALSAR Hyderabad.
Last year 85 students from the top 100 opted for NLSIU in the first round. By the time of the final round, the top 83 students were admitted to the university. The all-India general category cut off, which closed at all India rank 100 in round 1, was dropped marginally to 112. Even in the CLAT rank range 100 to 112, 8 students got NLSIU under different categories.
University | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 |
NLSIU Bangalore | 91 | 83 | 87 |
NALSAR | 09 | 07 | 04 |
WBNUJS | 0 | 02 | |
NLU Jodhpur | 0 | 00 | |
MNLU Mumbai | 00 | 00 | 01 (Later opted out in the final allotment) |
NLSIU offers 121 seats in all India general category, which includes a few seats under vertical and horizontal reservation. All 121 seats have been filled with very low chances of second round admissions under this category. Historically, NLSIU general category cutoff in the second or third round drops only if some students exit the admission process.
Vertical Reservation | |||
Reservation | Seats | AIR Cut-Off | Category Rank Cut-Off |
General (General) | 121 | 101 | 101 |
Scheduled Caste (SC) | 45 | 3072 | 57 |
Scheduled Tribe (ST) | 23 | 5000 | 26 |
Other Backward Class (OBC) | 81 | 1018 | 100 |
Economically Weaker Section (EWS) | 30 | 702 | 38 |
Seats for Karnataka Students in addition to Clause (c) (KA- Students) | 10 | 427 | 43 |
Horizontal Reservation (spread across different categories) | |||
Person With Disability (PWD) | 15 | 8756 | 32 |
General Category of Karnataka (GC-KA) | 30 | 336 | 33 |
Scheduled Caste of Karnataka (SC-KA) | 11 | 9719 | 12 |
Scheduled Tribe of Karnataka (ST-KA) | 6 | 16879 | 7 |
OBC of Karnataka (OBC-KA) | 20 | 3536 | 20 |
EWS of Karnataka (EWS-KA) | 8 | 10063 | 8 |
Women (W) | 90 | ** | ** |
NALSAR also falls in the top tier with strong student preference. Cut offs are competitive similar to NLSIU. Majority of those students who missed the NLSIU are allotted seats in NALSAR. The all-India general category cutoff in the first round has closed at AIR 148. All seats are filled. However, some shifting is expected and by final round we may see admissions closing at AIR 160 in this category.
Reservation | Seats | AIR Cut-Off | Category Rank Cut-Off |
Vertical Reservation | |||
General (General) | 54 | 148 | 148 |
Scheduled Caste (SC) | 14 | 3259 | 60 |
Scheduled Tribe (ST) | 7 | 5200 | 29 |
General Category of Telangana (GC-TL) | 15 | 565 | 24 |
Scheduled Tribe of Telangana (ST-TL) | 1 | 6913 | 1 |
OBC(A) of Telangana (OBC-A-TL) | 2 | 3160 | 2 |
OBC(B) of Telangana (OBC-B-TL) | 3 | 1965 | 4 |
OBC(C) of Telangana (OBC-C-TL) | 1 | 5572 | 1 |
OBC(D) of Telangana (OBC-D-TL) | 2 | 648 | 1 |
OBC(E) of Telangana (OBC-E-TL) | 1 | 2918 | 2 |
Other Backward Class (OBC) | 17 | 915 | 88 |
Economically Weaker Section (EWS) | 10 | 630 | 33 |
EWS of Telangana (EWS-TL) | 3 | 1393 | 4 |
SC (Gr. II) of Telangana (SC-TL-G2) | 3 | 7044 | 4 |
SC (Gr. III) of Telangana (SC-TL-G3) | 2 | 10375 | 3 |
Horizontals Reservation | |||
Women (W) | 39 | ** | ** |
Person With Disability (PWD) | 6 | 6691 | 24 |
There are 24 other law universities in CLAT 2026. However, these two stands out in every aspect. Universities like WBNUJS Kolkata, GNLU Gandhinagar, NLIU Bhopal (BA LLB) are other prominent options where students can explore admission opportunities. These universities will close the all-India general category admission within AIR 500.
On Question asked by student community
Yes, you can switch from one college to another to a CLAT college through the entrance test. However, it is important to note that you will have to start from year 1 rather than transferring directly into the second or third year. Some of the top
CLAT participating colleges
here.
Here you can check out the top
NLUs offering admission into 3-year LLB
with and without CLAT exam:
1. NLSIU Bengaluru for LLB programme through NLSAT.
2. NLU Odisha and NLU Visakhapatnam offer admission into the 3-year LLB course through their own admission process.
3. CNLU Patna
Yes, for CLAT preparation, building a reading habit daily is a good approach. You can read the daily newspapers like The Hindu and The Indian Express. While going for Animal Farm by George Orwell, Word power Made Easy by Norma Lewis for novel comprehension.
Yes, you can elevate your law entrance journey with Careers360’s CLAT mock test PDF free download link given below:
https://law.careers360.com/articles/clat-mock-test
The CLAT 2027 application form will open in the first week of August 2026. While the exam will be held on the first or second Sunday of December 2026.
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