The Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) has resumed the CLAT 2026 counselling after the Allahabad High Court judgment. Subsequently, the dates for the fourth and fifth merit lists have been announced. There are no changes to the merit lists following the May 08 judgment. The fourth merit list, which was originally scheduled for May 2, will now be published on May 09.
Once the allotments are announced, students will be required to exercise freeze, float or exit options depending on their preference. While the freeze options effectively lock the seat, the float option, while claiming the allotted seat, keeps the window open for better opportunities.
Candidates who exercise such options will be required to pay a confirmation fee to the Consortium of NLUs and university fees, after adjusting the confirmation fee, to the allotted NLU. The fourth round of counselling will be completed on May 14.
This will be followed by the fifth and final round of central counselling. It starts from May 20, with the announcement of fresh allotments to fill the vacancies arising after the conclusion of the fourth round of admissions. This round does not offer a float option — only freeze and exit options are available. The central counselling under the CLAT Consortium will conclude on May 30.
Particulars | Schedule |
02:00 p.m. on May 09, 2026 | |
Payment of confirmation fee to Consortium for freeze and float options and admission by NLUs for the fourth allotment list | 02:00 p.m. on May 09, 2026 to 02:00 p.m. on May 14, 2026 |
Publication of fifth and final allotment list (Fifth round of counselling starts) | 10:00 a.m. on May 20, 2026 |
Payment of confirmation fee to Consortium for freeze option and admission by NLUs for the fifth and final allotment list | 10:00 a.m. on May 20, 2026 to 02:00 p.m. on May 25, 2026 |
Payment of university fee (after adjusting for confirmation fee and counselling registration fee) to concerned NLU for all candidates who have chosen the freeze option in the counselling process of fourth & fifth allotment lists | May 30, 2026 by 5:00 p.m. |
Even after five rounds of CLAT counselling, several NLUs face unfilled seats, either due to students withdrawing their admissions or rejecting the allotment offer. This initiates the process of spot admissions in NLUs. While top-tier NLUs have higher competition and seats are filled easily, the newer NLUs face rejections, leading to multiple rounds of spot admissions. NLUs such as MNLU Nagpur, NLU Assam, HNLU, RMNLU, GNLU Silvassa, HPNLU Shimla, NLU Tripura and RPNLU Prayagraj are likely to see multiple mop-up admissions based on past admission trends. Admissions in these rounds are more relaxed, offering opportunities to students who missed out on the central allotments.
On Question asked by student community
Hello Student,
To access the CLAT Exam Preparation Guide, please refer to the article link provided below. It covers important preparation tips, study strategies and section-wise guidance to help you prepare effectively for CLAT.
https://law.careers360.com/articles/how-prepare-for-clat
Hope this Helps!
For CLAT, candidates should not prepare only a fixed list of questions because the examination tests conceptual understanding, reading ability and application skills.
Important areas include:
English Language
Reading comprehension
Vocabulary in context
Inference
Main idea
Tone and author's viewpoint
Current Affairs & General Knowledge
National and international events
Government
Dear Student,
CLAT PG stands for Common Law Admission Test Postgraduate. CLAT PG is a national-level entrance examination for admission to LLM programmes offered by participating National Law Universities (NLUs) and other institutions.
Read more at : CLAT Full Form
Hey there,
If you mean CLAT eligibility for admission to 5-year LLB courses, there is no fixed CLAT score/rank that guarantees eligibility. You must first meet the basic Class 12 eligibility criteria, and admission is based on your CLAT rank, category, preferences, and counselling cut-offs.
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