CLAT 2026 Domicile Reservation in NLUs; Impact on cutoffs and admissions
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CLAT 2026 Domicile Reservation in NLUs; Impact on cutoffs and admissions

Ongoing Event

CLAT Application Date:01 Aug' 25 - 31 Oct' 25

Shubham BhakuniUpdated on 01 Sep 2025, 01:58 PM IST

All 24 National Law Universities (NLUs) participating in CLAT 2026 are offering domicile reservation in 5-year LLB and one-year LLM courses. There is no uniformity in domicile reservation. Some NLUs reserve 25% of their total intake for domicile students, while others have 50-73% of their seats for this category. It is also noteworthy that the definition of the “domicile category” varies from university to university. Students applying under this category should make it a point to read and understand the criteria given by the university before filling out the CLAT application form.

CLAT 2026 Domicile Reservation in NLUs; Impact on cutoffs and admissions
CLAT 2026 domicile reservation in NLUs; Impact on cutoffs and admissions

Why do NLUs offer domicile reservation?

The state quota or domicile reservation in NLUs aims to provide benefits to the students of the state where the university is located. National Law Universities (NLUs), despite carrying “national” in their name, are state universities established by Acts passed by various state governments. They often follow state reservation policies, including those related to seat reservation. However, the reservation policies of states are not uniform, which means some NLUs, with over 70% state quota, are highly regional, while others with 25-30% state quota are more accessible to all-India students.

State quota in NLUs: Which NLU has the highest reservation?

There are at least 12 NLUs that reserve 50% or more seats under the state quota. Among NLUs participating in CLAT 2026, National Law Universities in Maharashtra — MNLU Mumbai, MNLU Nagpur and MNLU Aurangabad reserve around 62-72% of seats. However, this reservation is not extended to Maharashtra general category students. These students compete with all-India category students for the remaining seats. Similarly, the newly established RPNLU Prayagraj reserves 60% of total seats for students of Uttar Pradesh. NLU Bhopal, Ranchi and Patna have 50% seats reserved under the state quota.

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Domicile Reservation in NLUs

NLU Name

CLAT UG 2026

CLAT PG 2026

NLSIU Bengaluru

25% + 10 additional seats

25%

NALSAR Hyderabad

25%

25%

NLIU Bhopal

50%

50%

WBNUJS Kolkata

31% (BA LLB Hons.)28% (BSc LLB Hons)

30%

NLU Jodhpur

25%

25%

HNLU Raipur

50%

N/A

GNLU Gandhinagar

25%

25%

GNLU Silvassa

25%

25%

RMLNLU Lucknow

52%

70%

RGNUL Patiala

10%

N/A

CNLU Patna

50%

50%

NUALS Kochi

49%

49%

NLU Odisha

25%

25%

NUSRL Ranchi

50%

50%

NLUJ Assam

48%

50%

DSNLU Visakhapatnam

48%

48%

TNNLU Trichy

50%

50%

MNLU Mumbai

73%

66%

MNLU Nagpur

63%

62%

MNLU Aurangabad

72%

72%

HPNLU Shimla

30%

25%

DNLU Jabalpur

50%

50%

DBRANLU Sonepat

25%

25%

NLU Tripura

48%

25%

RPNLU Prayagraj

60%

60%

Source: consortiumofnlus.ac.in

CLAT 2026 Domicile Eligibility

Unlike admission eligibility in CLAT 2026, which is common across all NLUs, the domicile eligibility has remained uneven. In some states, a formal residency certificate from a government-authorised department will be enough to prove eligibility. However, some NLUs have well-defined domicile eligibility, which makes it more extensive.

NLSIU, for example, defines ‘’Karnataka Student’ as someone who has studied for not less than 10 years in a recognised educational institution in Karnataka. NALSAR Hyderabad defines a domicile candidate as someone who has studied in Telangana for four consecutive years and then appears for the qualifying exam (class 12th) or someone who has resided in the state for at least four years and completed 10+2 from a recognised institute in Telangana.

Impact on NLU Admissions: CLAT cutoffs for domicile category

The state quota seats in NLUs are filled through separate merit lists of students from the respective states. The number of students under this category is less than all the all-India students. It leads to significantly lower competition from the all-India categories.

Take the example of NLSIU Bangalore, where admissions are highly competitive, and the all-India general category seats are filled by an all-India rank of 100-112. The domicile category cutoff can drop by 4x from the all-India cut-off. CLAT 2025 general category cutoff for NLS Bangalore was 112. However, the domicile category admission with 85 seats (25% reservation + 10 additional seats under the Karnataka students category), closed at CLAT AIR 460.

Similarly, GNLU Gandhinagar, where male General category admission at the all-India level closed at AIR 444, the state quota closed at AIR 2549. NLU Ranchi closed all India general category admissions at AIR 1667 during CLAT counselling, but state quota admissions were accepted till AIR 5514.

The data above shows that domicile category admissions can be heavily relaxed in NLUs. There is no general trend in this category which would have made the cutoffs more predictable for next year, similar to what we see in the all-India categories. The state quota seats are reserved irrespective of students’ rank. Even if the student gets a 30,000 CLAT rank and meets the CLAT domicile criteria, he/she still have a chance to secure admission, provided there are not too many students under this category with a CLAT rank of 30,000 or less. GNLU Silvassa is one such example where general male category admission at the all-India level closed at AIR 1461, and the state quota admission was accepted at AIR 33059.

The domicile reservation does offer a regional character to the national law universities, which are often misunderstood as national/central universities due to the word “national” in their name. However, varying degrees of domicile reservation with differences in eligibility only bring confusion among students. It also limits uniform all-India access to NLUs. A balanced and uniform reservation policy in the state quota will not only bring clarity in the admission process but will also provide a level playing field to all students competing at the all-India level.

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Questions related to CLAT

On Question asked by student community

Have a question related to CLAT ?

It is always better to take the CLAT exam right after Class 12 if your goal is to build a career in law, because CLAT UG is specifically designed for admission into integrated five-year law programs like BA LLB, BCom LLB, or BBA LLB. Appearing after Class 12 saves you time, as you complete both graduation and law together in a single course. On the other hand, if you first complete graduation and then plan for law, you will not be eligible for CLAT UG but instead for CLAT PG, which is meant for admission into LLM programs. This path takes longer, because you first spend three or four years on graduation and then add another three years in an LLB program if you choose not to go for an integrated course. So, if you are already sure about pursuing law as your career, writing CLAT right after Class 12 is the smarter and time-saving option, while writing it after graduation makes sense only if you are considering higher studies in law or a shift in career later.

For CLAT, the most important topics are from  Legal Reasoning, Current Affairs & GK, the Indian Constitution, English Language, Quantitative Techniques and Logical Reasoning. For a brief detail you can go through the following link: https://law.careers360.com/articles/clat-important-topics

Thank You.

Hi dear candidate,

Both the colleges Maharaja Agrasen (MAIMS) or Gitarattan (GIBS) are affiliated to IP University and allows admission either by CLAT or IPU CET Law. Without either of these exams, your admission is NOT accepted there. You can try looking for management quota seats in these colleges if you have got good marks in 12th class.

BEST REGARDS

Hi dear candidate,

You can easily register yourself for CLAT exam by visiting the Consortium of NLUs official website and follow these steps:

  • Register yourself with your EMail ID, phone number and password.
  • Log in using OTP
  • Complete application form by entering details, selecting program (UG/PG) and uploading required documents mentioned there.
  • Then at last, review the application and pay the registration fees.
  • Download your confirmation slip.

Know the complete process at:

CLAT Registration 2026 (Started): Documents Required, Application Fee, Link, Steps to Apply

BEST REGARDS

Right now there is no official e-guide for CLAT 2026 released by the Consortium of NLUs. They usually provide sample questions and model papers closer to the exam, but not a complete guide at this stage.

You can still prepare using free study material available online. Many websites provide free downloadable PDFs, mock tests, and previous year papers that will help you understand the pattern and practice important topics.

If you want a structured book, there are two good options. The Oswaal CLAT & AILET guide has past year solved papers, topic-wise questions, and mock tests. The Arihant CLAT Conqueror book has more than 3000 practice questions with solutions. Both are helpful depending on whether you prefer solved papers or more practice questions.