CLAT Scope in Future - Placements, Salary, Career Opportunities

CLAT Scope in Future - Placements, Salary, Career Opportunities

Sukriti SahooUpdated on 30 Oct 2025, 04:02 PM IST

Rising interest in law as a career among students directly translates to immense CLAT future scope. This is because the Common Law Admission Test is one of the top law entrance exams in India and the gateway to elite law schools such as NLSIU Bengaluru and NALSAR Hyderabad, among others. The CLAT scope in India can be gauged by the number of candidates appearing for the exam, and also the placement figures of top NLUs. While a graduation in law in itself opens many career opportunities, obtaining a law degree from one of the top NLUs makes CLAT a good career option that provides the initial thrust for a great future ahead. With the rise of legal fields such as technology and environmental law, the scope of CLAT in future is expanding.

This Story also Contains

  1. CLAT Exam Scope: Exam Statistics
  2. CLAT NLUs Rankings in India
  3. CLAT Scope in Future: NLUs Placements
  4. CLAT Scope and Career Opportunities
CLAT Scope in Future - Placements, Salary, Career Opportunities
CLAT Scope in Future (Image by KamranAydinov on Freepik)

At present, 24 NLUs are participating in CLAT with over 3200+ and 1350+ CLAT seats on offer in 5-year LLB and LLM programmes, respectively. Read on to gain insights on CLAT scope in the future, CLAT opportunities and whether CLAT is a good career option to go for.

CLAT Exam Scope: Exam Statistics

Given below are some figures on the CLAT seats on offer and the number of candidates appearing for CLAT over the last few years. The statistics show an increasing number of students appearing for the exam, and also an increase in the number of seats. The rising numbers point to a good scope for CLAT in India. Last year, close to 60000 candidates appeared for CLAT UG and over 14000 appeared for CLAT PG. The analysis of success rate in CLAT shows the success rate is around 5% in UG and 9% in CLAT PG when we compare the candidates with the available seats. This makes CLAT one of the most difficult and sought-after law entrance exams in India.

CLAT Exam Statistics

Particulars

2025

2024

2023

20222021

Candidates appeared

60544 (UG)

14817 (PG)

58504 (UG)

10282 (PG)

42766 (UG)

8703 (PG)


56,472

53,532 (UG)


8,574 (PG)

Seats

3200+ (UG)

1350+ (PG)

3200+ (UG)

1300+ (PG)

2860+ (UG)

1160+ (PG)

2801 (UG)

1072 (PG)

2622 (UG)

808 (PG)


CLAT NLUs Rankings in India

As per the data from the HRD ministry, 12 NLUs that accept CLAT find a place in the NIRF law rankings 2025 among the top 40 law schools in the country. The high rankings of NLUs again reflect the importance of CLAT in the legal education landscape in India. The rankings are given in the table below.

CLAT NLUs NIRF Rankings 2025

Amity University-Noida Law Admissions 2026

Among top 100 Universities Globally in the Times Higher Education (THE) Interdisciplinary Science Rankings 2026

UPES Integrated LLB Admissions 2026

Ranked #18 amongst Institutions in India by NIRF | Ranked #1 in India for Academic Reputation by QS Rankings | 16 LPA Highest CTC

CLAT Scope in Future: NLUs Placements

The scope of CLAT in future includes careers in various legal fields. Top NLUs regularly see visits by top companies and legal firms during their placement season. The after CLAT salary per month can vary widely based on the job and location. Given below are median salary figures for the top-ranked NLUs for UG and PG law programmes.

CLAT NLUs Placement Salary Data

NLU Name

Median Salary (UG) (in Rs.)Median Salary (PG) (in Rs.)

NLSIU Bengaluru

Rs. 16 lakhs p.a.

Rs. 7 lakhs p.a

NALSAR Hyderabad

Rs. 17.50 lakh p.a.
Rs. 7.80 lakh p.a.

WBNUJS Kolkata

Rs. 20 lakh p.a.
Rs. 10 lakh p.a.

GNLU Gandhinagar

Rs. 18.00 lakh p.a.
Rs. 6.20 lakh p.a.

RMLNLU Lucknow

Rs. 7.00 lakh p.a.
0
NLIU Bhopal
Rs. 16 lakh p.a.
Rs. 7 lakh p.a.
NUSRL Ranchi
Rs. 9.30 lakh p.a.
Rs. 6.50 lakh p.a.
NLUO Cuttack
Rs. 14 lakh p.a.
Rs. 6 lakh p.a.
NLUJA Assam
Rs. 8.90 lakh p.a.
Rs. 1.8 lakh p.a.
CNLU Patna
Rs. 10.80 lakh p.a.
Rs. 7.20 lakh p.a.
MNLU Nagpur
Rs. 7.64 lakh p.a.
Rs. 6 lakh p.a.

Note: An internship can help boost the after CLAT salary per month by providing valuable experience.

CLAT Scope and Career Opportunities

A law degree from a top law school can open up many career opportunities after CLAT, which makes CLAT a good career option. Some students aim for higher salary after CLAT by pursuing additional qualifications. Let’s understand the CLAT exam scope by looking at the job profiles available to students.

  • Legal Associate: Many top law firms recruit students from NLUs to be part of their legal team on attractive salaries. The average after CLAT salary per month increases with experience and specialisation in law. These law firms have some top names as their clients and students get the opportunity to work on their cases.

  • PSU Recruitments through CLAT: Many Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) also hire employees through the CLAT exam. The PSU recruitments through CLAT often see companies such as Power Grid Corporation, and National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) among others recruit law officers through scores obtained in CLAT.

  • Corporate Lawyer: Other than law firms, top corporations and banks also have a legal team that supervises the company’s activities and regulatory compliance. Such lawyers working with companies are often referred to as corporate lawyers. They can work either as in-house corporate lawyers or as consultants.

  • Independent Practice: Many lawyers also choose to do independent practice. They fight cases on behalf of their clients in court. Such lawyers who represent clients in courts are known as advocates. To become an advocate in India, a law graduate has to clear the All India Bar Examination and obtain a Certificate of Practice (CoP)

  • Academics: Law students can also choose to pursue higher education such as PhD and enter the exciting field of academics where they teach budding lawyers and advocates at law school. Often this requires the students to have completed an LLM and possess other relevant qualifications.

  • Social Activism: Lawyers can also take up social activism or become part of an NGO to be associated with a social cause. Lawyers can fight for social rights by filing PIL or RTI queries to maintain accountability among public authorities.

CLAT 2026 College Predictor
Know your admission chances in National Law Universities based on your home state & exam result for All India Category & State Category seats.
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Note: Networking during law school can help secure a higher salary after CLAT.

You may also check:

Lovely Professional University | Law Admissions 2026

India's Largest University | BCI approved | Meritorious Scholarships up to 5 lacs |

Jain University, Bangalore - Law Admissions 2026

NAAC A++ Approved | Curriculum Aligned with BCI & UGC

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Can I get a job after CLAT?
A:

Yes, you can get a job after CLAT as there are PSU recruitments conducted through the CLAT exam for the post of law officers.

Q: What is the salary at top NLUs?
A:

The median salary offered at top NLUs is often in the range of Rs. 6-20 lakhs p.a.

Q: What is the scope of CLAT career?
A:

CLAT offers scope for a good career as students can gain admission into top law schools and later get placed in top law firms.

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Questions related to CLAT

On Question asked by student community

Have a question related to CLAT ?

Hello,

CLAT or Common Law Admission Test, a national level examination, is conducted for admission to the law colleges and universities.

With your rank you can get mid tier NLUs and newer NLUs. Some of the Institutes are RGNUL Patiala, CNLU Patna, NLUT Agartala, etc. Keep a eye on the cut off scores and counseling rounds.

Here is a college predictor via your rank designed by Careers360.

https://law.careers360.com/clat-college-predictor

Check out the official website of Careers360 for more information regarding the colleges.

https://law.careers360.com/articles/clat-2026-rank-wise-college-list

Thank you.

Hello,

No, with a CLAT rank of 9515, it does not offer any admission to the University School of Law and Legal Studies.

As per the stats provided, USLLS BA LLB (Hons) lists the OBC category entries from 4600 to 5600 ranks.

For further clarifications visit

https://www.careers360.com/colleges/university-school-of-law-and-legal-studies-new-delhi/cut-off

Hope it helps with your query. Good luck.

Hello,

For your mentioned rank, the top elite law universities are constrained to be limited, especially when the chance is fairly divided among reserved category people.

But apart from CLAT rank, NRI admissions have some different processes.

Some NLUs handle counselling with required eligibility and quotas. The counselling registration window is open until December 27, 2025. You can apply to know through them. Because even missing application deadlines will lessen your eligibility.

NRI admissions regarding CLAT can be applied directly with the major required document proofs.

Cutoffs to 10,000 are being allotted after regular rounds for counselling, but the course fee for this will be 10-20 lakhs per annum only if the candidate is either of these: NRI, OCI, or PIO.

For further clarifications check the official portal

Consortium of  (https://consortiumofnlus.ac.in/clat-2026/) NLUs.

Hope it helps with your query. Good luck.

Hello,

Here is your CLAT 2026 Rank-Wise College List - Available NLUs in your rank range. I am providing you the link. Kindly open and check it out.

https://law.careers360.com/articles/clat-2026-rank-wise-college-list

I hope it will help you. For any further query please let me know.

Thank you.

Hello,

With an OBC category rank of 2796 and All India Rank (AIR) 15163 in CLAT 2026, your chances of admission into a National Law University (NLU) are moderate too low for the top NLUs, but you may still secure a seat in some of the newer or lower-ranked NLUs depending on the cutoffs and counselling rounds.

For more access mentioned link below:

https://law.careers360.com/articles/nlu-cutoff

Hope it helps.