The Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) has published the CLAT 2026 notification. The CLAT 2026 exam will be held on December 07, from 2 pm to 4 pm. Meanwhile, the registration for CLAT will remain open from August 1 to October 31. CLAT is held annually for admission to 24 national law universities, and several affiliated law schools. With a pass rate of just 5-6%, CLAT is one of the most competitive law entrance exams in India. The top 5-6 NLUs see notoriously infamous competition with less than 1% in the general category finding seats in these.
So if the candidates are preparing for CLAT 2026, with 4 months left, it is time to gauge the level of competition and plan accordingly. One aiming for top NLUs has to be extremely calculated and organised not just in study, but also in targeting scores in the CLAT mock tests. A score of 95+ marks can be termed as a really good score in CLAT 2026 and candidates will become contenders for a seat in the top 5 NLUs with this score.
Event | Dates |
Release of CLAT 2026 application form | August 1, 2025 |
Last date of filling application form | October 31, 2025 |
CLAT 2026 Exam Date | December 7, 2025 |
When it comes to the best law schools of India, NLSIU Bengaluru definitely tops the chart. NLSIU Bengaluru is the number one ranked law school in India. NLU Delhi is the ranked two law college in India, but admissions to NLU Delhi is not done through CLAT exam. NALSAR Hyderabad is the third ranked law school in India. The below-given table lists down the NLUs based on the NIRF rankings:
NLU Name | NIRF Ranking 2024 |
NLSIU Bangalore | 1 |
NLU Delhi | 2 |
NALSAR Hyderabad | 3 |
WBNUJS Kolkata | 4 |
GNLU Gandhinagar | 8 |
RMNLU Lucknow | 20 |
NLIU Bhopal | 21 |
NUSRL Ranchi | 22 |
RGNUL Patiala | 24 |
NLU Odisha, Cuttack | 26 |
NLUJA Kamrup | 27 |
CNLU Patna | 31 |
MNLU Mumbai | 31 |
MNLU Nagpur | 34 |
NUALS Kochi | 38 |
DSNLU Visakhapatnam | 39 |
NLU Jodhpur | - |
NLU Trichy | - |
MNLU Aurangabad | - |
NLU Shimla | - |
NLU Jabalpur | - |
HNLU Raipur | - |
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Law University | - |
GNLU Silvassa | - |
NLU Tripura | - |
NLU Meghalaya | - |
RPNLU Prayagraj | - |
Generally candidates must score somewhere between 90-100 marks to get admissions in the top 5 NLUs. The CLAT 2025 cutoff is released in terms of opening and closing ranks. However, candidates can collate the ranks with the marks through our analysis. The below-given table gives candidates an idea about the marks and ranks required for admission to top NLUs of India:
NLU Name | General Category Closing Ranks | Closing marks |
NLSIU Bengaluru | 100 | 95+ |
NALSAR Hyderabad | 150 | 93+ |
WBNUJS Kolkata BA LLB | 285 | 92+ |
WBNUJS BSc LLB | 652 | 90+ |
NLIU Bhopal BA LLB | 458 | 92+ |
NLIU Bhopa; BSc. LLB | 821 | 89+ |
NLU Jodhpur | 357 | 93+ |
HNLU Raipur | 765 | 89+ |
GNLU Gandhinagar | 402 | 92+ |
GNLU Silvassa | 1252 | 86+ |
RLMNLU Lucknow | 721 | 89+ |
RGNUL Patiala | 1146 | 87+ |
CNLU Patna BA LLB | 1278 | 86+ |
CNLU Patna BA LLB | 1424 | 85+ |
NUALS Kochi | 1175 | 87+ |
NLU Odissa BA LLB | 943 | 88+ |
NLU Odissa BBA LLB | 1034 | 88+ |
NUSRL Ranchi BA LLB | 1476 | 85+ |
NUSRL Ranchi BBA LLB | 1504 | 85+ |
NLUJ Assam | 1643 | 84+ |
DSNLU Visakhapatnam | 1489 | 85+ |
TNNLU Tiruchirappalli BA LLB | 1516 | 85+ |
TNNLU Tiruchirappalli BA LLB | 1642 | 84+ |
MNLU Mumbai | 536 | 90+ |
MNLU Nagpur BA LLB | 1353 | 86+ |
MNLU Nagpur BBA LLB | 1375 | 86+ |
MNLU Aurangabad BA LLB | 1580 | 85+ |
MNLU Aurangabad BBA LLB | 1850 | 84+ |
HPNLU Shimla BA LLB | 1951 | 83+ |
HPNLU Shimla BBA LLB | 1994 | 83+ |
MPDNLU Jabalpur | 1762 | 84+ |
DBRANLU Sonepat | 1621 | 84+ |
NLUT Agartala | 2098 | 83+ |
RPNLU Prayagraj | 1987 | 83+ |
IIURL Goa BA LLB | 2096 | 83+ |
IIURL Goa BBA LLB | 2150 | 83+ |
On Question asked by student community
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.
Since you scored 8000 AIR in CLAT, getting into top NLUs may not be possible, so it is a good idea to look for affordable and good law colleges.
State government law colleges are usually low in fees, and have decent reputation. Some options include Government Law College, Mumbai, Faculty
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