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
Hi, you can apply for admissions in Nirma University, NFSU Ahemdabad, Alliance, IPU University and affiliated instiutes (in case you are reserved category candidates), UPES Dehradun, BITS Law School etc.
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.
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