The CLAT 2026 exam is less than a month away, and candidates must score well enough to secure their dream NLUs. When it comes to NLUs, NLSIU Bengaluru is the best NLU and the number one-ranked law college in the country. Normally, general category candidates require more than 95 marks for admission in this college. However, the CLAT 2026 cutoff for NLSIU Bengaluru might slightly come down or go up depending on the difficulty level of the exam. After NLSIU Bengaluru comes NALSAR Hyderabad. The CLAT 2026 cutoff for NALSAR Hyderabad will be slightly less than NLSIU Bengaluru. Closely following NALSAR Hyderabad is WBNUJS Kolkata. In this article, we will discuss in detail the expected CLAT 2026 cutoff for the top six NLUs
As mentioned above, NLSIU Bengaluru is the top-ranked law school and NLU in the country. In the list of best NLUs in India through CLAT 2026, the second place is taken by NALSAR Hyderabad, followed by WBNUJS Kolkata. The table given below denotes the list of top NLUs that accept admissions through CLAT 2026.
NIRF 2025 Rank | Name of the NLU |
1 | NLSIU Bengaluru |
3 | NALSAR Hyderabad |
4 | WBNUJS Kolkata |
5 | GNLU Gandhinagar |
15 | NLU Odisha |
17 | CNLU Patna |
The NIRF 2025 law rankings have been mentioned by many experts, given that some of the top colleges do not make it to the list. Just for instance, NLIU Bhopal is ranked behind NLU Odisha and CNLU Patna. One good way of ranking colleges is based on how hard it is to get into these NLUs. The list below ranks NLUs based on which ones have the highest cutoffs:
Rank | NLU |
1 | NLSIU Bengaluru |
2 | NALSAR Hyderabad |
3 | WBNUJS Kolkata( BA LLB) |
4 | NLU Jodhpur |
5 | GNLU Gandhinagar |
6 | NLIU Bhopal (BA LLB) |
The CLAT 2026 cutoff will be released in the form of opening and closing ranks. However, candidates can also get a good idea of the CLAT marks vs rank data through our analysis. The top NLUs have cutoff ranks under 500 for the general category. In this section, we will discuss the expected CLAT 2026 cutoffs for the top 6 NLUs for all categories.
Opening Rank | Closing Rank | |
NLSIU Bengaluru | 1 | 112 |
NALSAR Hyderabad | 17 | 159 |
WBNUJS Kolkata( BA LLB) | 57 | 327 |
NLU Jodhpur | 159 | 367 |
GNLU Gandhinagar | 236 | 444 |
NLIU Bhopal (BA LLB) | 257 | 480 |
NLU | EWS | OBC | SC | ST | ||||
Opening Rank | Closing Rank | Opening Rank | Closing Rank | Opening Rank | Closing Rank | Opening Rank | Closing Rank | |
NLSIU Bengaluru | 119 | 703 | 209 | 1541 | 182 | 3133 | 678 | 3396 |
NALSAR Hyderabad | 372 | 546 | 333 | 1219 | 1483 | 3273 | 1311 | 3621 |
WBNUJS Kolkata( BA LLB) | - | - | 1359* | 4168* | 3048 | 4753 | 4823 | 6343 |
NLU Jodhpur | 542 | 986 | 1333 | 1776 | 3343 | 5445 | 4343 | 5955 |
GNLU Gandhinagar | 819 | 1118 | 1396 | 2303 | 974 | 5934 | 4457 | 8568 |
NLIU Bhopal (BA LLB) | 787 | 1377 | 1658 | 1757 | 5077 | 5763 | 6166 | 8243 |
The CLAT admission process will begin soon after the announcement of the results of the exam. In the CLAT 2026 counselling, the consortium will invite 3–5 times the number of candidates as available seats. Candidates who will be invited for CLAT counselling 2026 will first have to complete counselling registration. During this process, candidates must also select their NLU preferences. During the CLAT 2026 seat allotment process, candidates will be allotted seats based on their preferences and ranks.
On Question asked by student community
With an AIR of 34724 and OBC category rank of 7153, chances of getting a seat in DSNLU Visakhapatnam are low in early rounds. However, since you are already invited for counselling, there may be some chance in later rounds depending on seat vacancy and cut-off movement. You should participate
With a CLAT LLM rank of 13656, getting a top NLU is difficult. You may have chances in lower-ranked NLUs or private law universities, depending on seat availability and category.
You can check CLAT LLM counselling details here:
https://law.careers360.com/articles/clat-llm-cut-off
Hello there,
Having a 15000 general rank and 1740 as your SC category rank, your chances of securing a seat are very low. As per the previous trends, it is a direct no for you to get into the top-tier NLUs since the closing general rank is around 1500-3000. If
With a CLAT PG rank of 1257 in the SC category and being a woman candidate with Rajasthan domicile, you do have a realistic chance of securing admission to several National Law Universities, though the top NLUs may be difficult at this rank. Admission chances depend heavily on category-wise cut-offs,
With a CLAT PG rank of around 11,000, getting admission into the top National Law Universities (NLUs) is not likely, as their general category cut-offs usually close much earlier. However, you still have realistic chances in lower-ranked and newer NLUs, especially in the later rounds of CLAT counselling or through
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