The top 5 National Law Universities (NLUs) in India include NLSIU Bengaluru, NALSAR Hyderabad, WBNUJS Kolkata, NLU Jodhpur, and GNLU Gandhinagar. There is a high competition to get a seat at one of these NLUs, and are the top choices for law aspirants in India. Candidates are required to take the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2026 exam to get admitted to the NLUs. It was conducted on December 7, 2025. The CLAT scores of candidates will decide which NLU they will get a seat in. It is important to be aware previous year’s cut-off trends to analyse the competition and the expected rank. This article discusses the CLAT 2026 cut-off for the top 5 NLUs in India.
Candidates can calculate their expected rank through the CLAT 2026 marks vs rank analysis. They can refer to the CLAT provisional answer key 2026 and calculate their expected score. Once candidates have their probable scores, they can refer to the CLAT 2026 marks vs rank analysis mentioned in the table below to know their probable ranks.
Score Range | Rank Range |
90+ | 1-585 |
85–90 | 586–1955 |
80–85 | 2003–3506 |
75–80 | 3809–8070 |
70–75 | 6086–9928 |
65–70 | 10057–13294 |
60–65 | 14152–17004 |
55–60 | 18330–23960 |
50–55 | 24970–28986 |
45–50 | 29408–31722 |
40–45 | 34347–36577 |
35–40 | 40104–41034 |
30–35 | 42435–43218 |
25–30 | 45989–47646 |
20–25 | 52000–52275 |
10–15 | 52578–52578 |
NLSIU Bengaluru is considered one of the top NLUs in India. It has been consistently ranked at the 1st position by the NIRF law ranking for 2025, 2024, 2023, and 2022. A score above 98 in CLAT is expected to secure a seat at NLSIU Bengaluru for General category candidates.
Year | General Opening Rank | General Closing Rank | EWS Opening Rank | EWS Closing Rank | OBC Opening Rank | OBC Closing Rank | SC Opening Rank | SC Closing Rank | ST Opening Rank | ST Closing Rank |
CLAT 2025 cut-off | 1 | 112 | 119 | 703 | 209 | 1541 | 182 | 3133 | 678 | 3396 |
CLAT 2024 cut-off | 1 | 102 | 122 | 523 | 151 | 971 | 372 | 3007 | 239 | 7487 |
NALSAR Hyderabad has been consistently ranked at the 3rd position by the NIRF law ranking for 2025, 2024, and 2023. General category candidates will require a CLAT 2026 score of 95+ to get a seat at NALSAR Hyderabad.
Year | General Opening Rank | General Closing Rank | EWS Opening Rank | EWS Closing Rank | OBC Opening Rank | OBC Closing Rank | SC Opening Rank | SC Closing Rank | ST Opening Rank | ST Closing Rank |
CLAT 2025 cut-off | 17 | 159 | 372 | 546 | 333 | 1219 | 1483 | 3273 | 1311 | 3621 |
CLAT 2024 cut-off | 6 | 167 | 175 | 564 | 189 | 1116 | 1604 | 3574 | 263 | 6083 |
WBNUJS Koklata has been consistently ranked at the 4th position by the NIRF law ranking for 2025, 2024, and 2023. To get a seat at this NLU, candidates from the general category will require a score of 93+.
Year | General Opening Rank | General Closing Rank | EWS Opening Rank | EWS Closing Rank | OBC Opening Rank | OBC Closing Rank | SC Opening Rank | SC Closing Rank | ST Opening Rank | ST Closing Rank |
CLAT 2025 cut-off for BA LLB | 57 | 327 | - | - | 1359* | 4168* | 3048 | 4753 | 4823 | 6343 |
CLAT 2025 cut-off for BSc.LLB Hons | 299 | 711 | - | - | 4168* | 4596* | 4244 | 6987 | 8994 | 9739 |
CLAT 2024 cut-off for BA LLB | 140 | 279 | - | - | 2610* | 23192* | 2056 | 4503 | 5215 | 8860 |
CLAT 2024 cut-off for BSc.LLB Hons | 289 | 1010 | - | - | 7619* | 26986* | 4663 | 8958 | 10961 | 11917 |
*state reservation
NLU Jodhpur is amongst the top 5 NLUs in India. It is recognized by the Bar Council of India and the University Grants Commission (UGC). General category students will require a CLAT score of 92+ to get admission at NLU Jodhpur.
Year | General Opening Rank | General Closing Rank | EWS Opening Rank | EWS Closing Rank | OBC Opening Rank | OBC Closing Rank | SC Opening Rank | SC Closing Rank | ST Opening Rank | ST Closing Rank |
CLAT 2025 cut-off | 159 | 367 | 542 | 986 | 1333 | 1776 | 3343 | 5445 | 4343 | 5955 |
CLAT 2024 cut-off | 170 | 379 | - | 1079 | 1424 | 3574 | 5178 | 6666 | 8960 |
GNLU Gandhinagar has ranked at the 5th position by the NIRF law ranking for 2025. It has a competitive admission requirement for the General category. Candies require a 90+ CLAT score to get into this NLU.
Year | General Opening Rank | General Closing Rank | EWS Opening Rank | EWS Closing Rank | OBC Opening Rank | OBC Closing Rank | SC Opening Rank | SC Closing Rank | ST Opening Rank | ST Closing Rank |
CLAT 2025 cut-off | 236 | 444 | 819 | 1118 | 1396 | 2303 | 974 | 5934 | 4457 | 8568 |
CLAT 2024 cut-off | 210 | 464 | 603 | 1248 | 1284 | 1858 | 4584 | 6175 | 7712 | 11580 |
On Question asked by student community
Hello aspirant,
The Gujarat domicile rank is useful only for seats reserved under the domicile quota at GNLU Gandhinagar. However, even for domicile candidates, GNLU cutoffs usually close at much better All India Ranks. With an AIR of 19000, the chances are quite low, but since counselling invitation is received, it is still worth participating as some movement can happen in later rounds. Do not rely only on domicile rank final allotment depends on AIR, category and seat availability.
FOR REFERENCE : https://law.careers360.com/articles/gnlu-gandhinagar-admission
Hope the details will help you.
THANK YOU
Hello,
Based on previous year CLAT cutoff trends , your chances for NLSIU Bangalore are very low .
NLSIU Bangalore has the highest cutoff among all NLUs . In recent years, the final closing rank for General category has been around AIR 100–120 only.
You have:
General category AIR: 658
Women category rank: 313
No Karnataka domicile
Women reservation in NLUs is horizontal , not a separate quota. This means it does not add extra seats . It only helps when candidates are very close to the general cutoff. At a rank of 313 , the gap is too large.
Even in spot or final rounds, NLSIU does not go beyond ~120 rank for General category candidates without domicile.
However, with these ranks, you have good chances in other top NLUs like NALSAR Hyderabad, WBNUJS Kolkata, NLU Jodhpur, GNLU Gandhinagar, and NLIU Bhopal, depending on counselling rounds.
You can also use our CLAT College Predictor Tool to predict which colleges you can get based on your score and rank.
Hope it helps !
Good afternoon,
With 86.7 marks and 1906 rank in CLAT 2026, you have a chance to get admission in mid-tier and the newest NLUs. The list of probable NLUs where you can get admission is mentioned below.
1. RMLNLU Lucknow
2. MNLU Mumbai
3. DSNLU Visakhapatnam
4. NLU Odisha
5. CNLU Patna
Thank you.
Hello,
Yes, a student with CLAT 2026 rank around 12,000 can register for counselling.
However, chances of getting a seat in the top NLUs (like NLSIU Bangalore, NALSAR Hyderabad, WBNUJS Kolkata, NLIU Bhopal) are very low, as their closing ranks are usually below 4,000 for the general category.
For mid-tier NLUs (like NLU Jodhpur, HNLU Raipur, GNLU Gandhinagar, RMLNLU Lucknow), closing ranks generally go up to 5,000–8,000, so it will still be difficult.
Lower-tier NLUs (like NLU Odisha, NUALS Kochi, NUSRL Ranchi, NLUJA Assam, DSNLU Vizag, TNNLU, HPNLU Shimla) sometimes admit candidates with ranks in the 10,000–30,000 range , especially in later counselling rounds or if there are vacancies. State quota reservations can also improve chances.
You can also use our CLAT College Predictor Tool to predict which colleges you can get based on your score and rank.
Hope it helps !
Hello,
A CLAT score of 81.25 places you in the moderate range, where admission to top NLUs becomes difficult, but opportunities may still remain in newer and mid-tier NLUs, depending on your category, seat movement, and round wise cutoffs.
https://law.careers360.com/articles/clat-2026-college-predictor
Hope you understand.
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