DU 5-Year LLB Cutoff 2025 Beats 15+ NLUs — Data Suggests a Major Shake-up

National Law Universities (NLUs) are the most prominent takers of CLAT scores. Affiliated law schools are the ones that follow suit and accept CLAT for LLB and LLM admissions. While Delhi University introduced its 5-year LLB courses in 2023, they quickly became a subject of fascination for many aspirants. Delhi University recently published the first round cutoffs for its 5-year LLB course. The DU 5-year LLB cutoffs 2025 have surpassed top NLUs like NLIU Bhopal, HNLU Raipur, GNLU Silvassa, RLMNLU Lucknow, RGNUL Patiala, CNLU Patna and many others. There have been mixed opinions on the DU 5-year LLB cutoff since its launch, but the university has kept the cutoff on an upward trend since its start. In this article, we discuss the DU 5-year LLB cutoffs, reasons for high cutoffs, comparison with other NLU and a lot more.

DU BA/BBA LLB Cutoff 2025 - Higher than most NLUs

The University of Delhi released the cutoff for its 5-year LLB courses on June 16, 2025. The DU BA LLB 2025 cutoff for the open category closed at 88.50 CLAT marks. Comparing the 88.50 marks with CLAT 2025 merit ranks, the number goes somewhere around an All India Rank of 750. This means candidates below 750 ranks are eligible for admission to the BA LLB course.

Interestingly, most of the CLAT 2025 rankholders below 750 must already have taken admission in top NLUs by this time, which makes the cutoff even tighter. The table given below denotes the DU 5-year LLB cutoff 2025 for both BA LLB and BBA LLB in terms of CLAT marks and ranks.

DU BA LLB Cutoff 2025

DU BBA LLB Cutoff 2025

DU LLB Cutoffs vs NLU Cutoffs - Direct Comparison

The DU 5-year LLB cutoff 2025 is clearly above many tier-2 and tier-3 National Law Universities. In the first round of allotment itself, the DU 5-year LLB cutoff 2025 has surpassed NLUs like NLIU Bhopal’s BSC LLB, CNLU Patna, RGNUL Patiala and many others. Since the inception of the course, the cutoffs have been below 1000 rank for the open category. Interestingly, only NLSIU Bengaluru, NALSAR Hyderabad, WBNUJS Kolkata, NLU Jodhpur, GNLU Gandhinagar and MNLU Mumbai have higher cutoffs than DU 5-year LLB 2025 in the first round. The table given below shows NLUs with lower cutoffs than DU 5-year LLB for each category:

DUs vs NLUs - Category Wise Cutoff Comparison

Is it worth opting for DU 5-year LLB over NLUs?

The opinion of experts varies sharply when it comes to choosing between DU's 5-year LLB and NLUs. Some say DU’s rising cutoffs will have a lot to justify when the actual results start coming in, while others are of the opinion that DU has the legacy tag and its skyrocketing cutoffs are reasonable. In the end, it just depends on the students’ preference as to what they are actually looking to get out of their 5-year LLB course. Below we compare both the options in terms of placement, career prospects, internship opportunities, location preferences and more.

Placements - DU or NLUs, which one’s better?

The DU 5-year LLB is a newly launched course. The DU BA LLB and BBA LLB courses were launched in 2023, and their first batch will pass out in the year 2028. As of now, there are no placement statistics for DU 5-year LLB as there is no batch that has passed out yet. Choosing the Delhi 5-year LLB course for placements will be more like buying a pig in a poke. On the other hand, NLUs boast of a good placement record. According to the NIRF Law report 2024, the median salary of NLIU Bhopal stands at Rs 16 LPA, NUSRL Ranchi at Rs 10 LPA, NLU Odisha at Rs 14.5 LPA, CNLU Patna at Rs 10.40 LPA and NUALS Kochi at Rs 15 LPA. All in all, if a candidate’s preference is purely for placements, NLUs look better option due to the strong placement records.

DU vs NLUs - Which one is better for Corporate Law?

According to experts, the NLUs are definitely better if a candidate is looking for expertise and a career ahead in corporate or even litigation. NLUs are known for a good reputation, rigorous learning environment, and extensive placement opportunities in corporate law firms. When it comes to choosing between DU and NLU in terms of corporate law opportunities, candidates can go for tier 1 and 2 NLUs. As of now, there is not much information about the corporate law opportunities in DU as the first batch has not yet passed out.

DU or LLB - Which is a better option for legal practice?

Getting into a debate about which is the best college for legal practice, there are mostly subjective opinions. While NLUs are great places for corporate law, many students from NLUs end up becoming lawyers in high courts and the Supreme Court. However, many experts suggest that a DU 5-year LLB is also a very good option if you want to go into legal practice in Indian courts and have no second thoughts about it. The location of the DU 5-year LLB course can be advantageous, given that it is the legal hub of the country.

DU vs NLU - Which is the first choice of Judiciary exam aspirants?

When it comes to preparing for the Judiciary exam, students mostly prefer the DU 5-year LLB course. There are many benefits to choosing DU 5-year LLB if your main goal is to appear for the Judiciary exams and become a part of the Indian judiciary. The coaching industry for the judiciary exam is mainly centred in Delhi. Also, the legal environment of Delhi is very beneficial for the preparation of these exams.

All in all, both Delhi University and the National Law Universities are among the top educational institutions of the country. Each of them has its advantages and some disadvantages. Candidates, before choosing between them, should identify their academic goals correctly and weigh all institutions according to their preferred criteria. Consider location, campus culture, cost, your future goals and available resources before finalising the institute.