CLAT Cut-off Trends in the Last 4 Years: Which are the top preferred NLUs?
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CLAT Cut-off Trends in the Last 4 Years: Which are the top preferred NLUs?

Ongoing Event

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

Sukriti SahooUpdated on 29 Jul 2025, 04:06 PM IST

The best tool to know the most preferred NLUs is the past years’ CLAT cut-off trends. The available CLAT cut-off data shows that candidates with the highest scores often opt for top-ranked NLUs such as NLSIU Bengaluru and NALSAR Hyderabad. Candidates were required to provide their NLU preference list after the declaration of the CLAT 2025 result. Aspirants can gain admission into only those NLUs that are part of their preferences irrespective of whether they have a good score in CLAT or not. The CLAT 2025 merit list for all three rounds has been published, which contains the CLAT 2025 cut-off. Read on to find out which NLUs are the top preference among candidates, past CLAT cut-off trends, steps to provide NLU preference, and more.

This Story also Contains

  1. Indicator of Top Preferred NLUs
  2. Last 4-year’s CLAT Cut-Off Trends
  3. Which are the Top Preferred NLUs?
  4. Top Ranked NLUs in NIRF 2024 Law Rankings
CLAT Cut-off Trends in the Last 4 Years: Which are the top preferred NLUs?
CLAT cut-off trends (Image by wayhomestudio on freepik)

The Consortium of NLUs conducted CLAT 2025 on December 1, 2024, in offline mode. Through the Common Law Admission Test, candidates will be admitted into the 5-year LLB programme of participating CLAT colleges 2025.

Indicator of Top Preferred NLUs

The most reliable indicator of the extent to which an NLU is preferred by the candidates is the NLU’s CLAT cut-off rank available in the CLAT merit list. Top-ranked NLUs have very high cut-offs. They often come first in the candidate’s preference list.

However, it is also important to look at the category-wise cut-offs for a nuanced understanding of the NLU preferences. The CLAT cut-off trends point towards dissimilarities within categories in the same NLU. For instance, the data for CLAT 2024 shows that a general candidate may need around 100 marks (out of 120) for admission into NLSIU Bengaluru, while an ST candidate may only need around 80 marks to gain admission.

The cut-off for a general category candidate at a lower-ranked NLU may turn out to be higher than the cut-off for an ST candidate at NLSIU Bengaluru.

Last 4-year’s CLAT Cut-Off Trends

The CLAT cut-off for general category is often the highest cut-off for any NLUs, so it is the best indicator to understand which NLUs are the top preference among candidates. The cut-off progressively decreases as one moves to other categories such as EWS, OBC, SC and ST. Given below are the opening and closing ranks for general candidates for various NLUs for the last four years.

The opening ranks indicate which NLUs are most preferred by top-ranked candidates. The closing ranks can help candidates estimate their admission chances in the top NLUs.

CLAT General Cut-Off Trends

NLU

2025

2024

2023

2022

Opening rank


Closing rank


Opening rank

Closing rank

Opening rank

Closing rank

Opening rank

Closing rank

NLSIU Bengaluru

1112

1

102

1

114

1

85

NALSAR Hyderabad

17159

6

167

25

177

8

162

NLIU Bhopal (BA LLB)

257480

311

450

186

463

241

451

NLIU Bhopal (BSc LLB)

486915

187

1047

WBNUJS Kolkata ( BA LLB)

57327

140

279

136

260

117

257

WBNUJS Kolkata (BSc.LLB Hons)

299711

289

1010

NLU Jodhpur

159367

170

379

70

383

155

378

HNLU Raipur

480807

434

791

481

805

430

756

GNLU Gandhinagar

236444

210

464

147

462

175

430

GNLU Silvassa Campus

7551461

593

1060

810

1820

-

-

RMLNLU Lucknow

461780

410

764

432

749

377

756

RGNUL Patiala

5651279

502

1250

563

1307

437

1184

CNLU Patna (BA LLB)

8821398

790

1358

628

1541

932

1498

CNLU Patna (BBA LLB)

12151555

1051

1552

NUALS Kochi

3501346

231

1136

638

1461

413

1315

NLU Odisha

4691013

591

1205

504

1207

470

1191

NUSRL Ranchi

8641667

637

1594

939

1895

933

1603

NLUJA Assam

11632141

1344

1704

1375

2569

1131

1979

DSNLU Visakhapatnam

9571682

656

1390

538

2080

1002

1589

TNNLU Tiruchirappalli (BA LLB)

12311763

806

1628

704

2045

807

1816

TNNLU Tiruchirappalli (BCom LLB)

12591947

821

1711

MNLU Mumbai

4431473

99

590

325

590

64

548

MNLU Nagpur (BA LLB)

7221529

491

1587

878

2102

999

1657

MNLU Nagpur (BBA LLB)

12141623

611

1685

MNLU Aurangabad- (BA LLB)

10231949

945

1832

1824

2655

1390

2323

MNLU Aurangabad (BBA LLB)

13612393

681

2115

HPNLU Shimla - BA LLB

9492555

885

2102

822

2816

1056

2302

HPNLU Shimla - BBA LLB

12982634

284

2150

MPDNLU Jabalpur

13712243

1060

1824

1696

2698

1314

2262

DBRANLU Sonepat

6261930

503

2050

767

2713

1094

2333

NLUT Agartala

19642855

1716

2243

-

-

-

-

Infographics - CLAT General Cut-Off Trends

Which are the Top Preferred NLUs?

Analysing the general cut-off ranks for CLAT for the last four years, gives the following list of top preferred NLUs.

Top 10 Preferred NLUs

Sl. no

NLU Name

1

NLSIU Bengaluru

2

NALSAR Hyderabad

3

MNLU Mumbai

4

WBNUJS Kolkata

5

NLU Jodhpur

6

NLIU Bhopal

7

GNLU Gandhinagar

8

NUALS Kochi

9

RMLNLU Lucknow

10

HNLU Raipur

Top Ranked NLUs in NIRF 2024 Law Rankings

In the NIRF law rankings 2024 released by the Ministry of Education, 15 NLUs find a place in the rank list. Candidates can take the NIRF rankings as reference to provide their NLU preferences for law admission. The NLU rankings as per NIRF law 2024 are given in the table below.

NIRF 2024 NLU Rankings

Sl. noNameCityStateNIRF ScoreRank

1

National Law School of India University

Bengaluru

Karnataka

83.83

1

2

Nalsar University of Law

Hyderabad

Telangana

77.05

3

3

The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences

Kolkata

West Bengal

76.39

4

4

Gujarat National Law University

Gandhinagar

Gujarat

69.56

8

5

Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University

Lucknow

Uttar Pradesh

55.92

20

6

National Law Institute University, Bhopal

Bhopal

Madhya Pradesh

55.64

21

7

National University of Study and Research in Law

Ranchi

Jharkhand

55.52

22

8

The Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law

Patiala

Punjab

54.7

24

9

National Law University, Cuttack

Cuttack

Odisha

54.49

26

10

National Law University and Judicial Academy

Kamrup

Assam

53.39

27

11

Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai

Mumbai

Maharashtra

51.7

31

12

Chanakya National Law University

Patna

Bihar

51.7

31

13

Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur

Nagpur

Maharashtra

51.43

34

14

National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS)

Kochi

Kerala

47.96

38

15

Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University

Visakhapatnam

Andhra Pradesh

47.94

39

How to Provide NLU Preferences?

The CLAT 2025 counselling registrations closed on May 21, 2025. Candidates were required to provide their NLU preferences after the declaration of the CLAT 2025 result. The NLU admissions 2025 will be done as per the candidate’s rank and preferences given by them. At the time of CLAT 2025 counselling, candidates will be considered for admission into only those NLUs which are part of their preferences. A minimum 15 NLU preferences must be provided. There is no maximum limit.

Steps to Provide NLU Preferences 2025

  • Login to the CLAT account

  • Click on update NLU preferences

  • Provide the NLU choices in the order of preference

  • Click on submit

ICFAI-LAW School BA-LLB / BBA-LLB Admissions 2025

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CLAT Cut-offs

Understand previous year cut-off trends as well as expected cut-offs for current year. Get the Ebook

You may also check:

CLAT Sample Paper 2026 with Answer Key- Careers360
Download the CLAT Sample Paper 2026 PDF featuring the latest exam pattern with descriptive-type questions for effective preparation.
Download EBook

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: How to provide NLU preferences?
A:

Candidates can provide NLU preferences through their login after the declaration of the CLAT 2025 result.

Q: What is a good score in CLAT?
A:

A good score in CLAT is around 100+ marks for the general category, 90-100 for the EWS and OBC category, and 80+ for SC/ST category.

Q: Is 70 a good score in CLAT?
A:

As per the latest available cut-off trends, 70 is not a good score in CLAT for admission into top NLUs. 

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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.