The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) are two of the most popular entrance exams in India serving different domains. While CLAT is the premier law entrance exam, JEE is the premier entrance exam for engineering courses. Read on to find out if CLAT is tougher than JEE. Also, get to know the differences between CLAT and JEE through the CLAT vs JEE comparison.
CLAT 2025 was conducted on December 1, 2024. JEE Mains is scheduled to be held on January 22 to 31, 2025 for session 1, and on April 1-8 for session 2. JEE Advanced is scheduled to be held on May 18, 2025.
Particulars | CLAT | JEE |
Conducting body | Consortium of National Law Universities | National Testing Agency |
Frequency | Once a year | Twice a year (JEE Mains) Once a year (JEE Advanced) |
Number of attempts | No limit | 6 times over three consecutive years. (JEE Mains) 2 times in two consecutive years (JEE Advanced) |
Mode | Offline | Online |
Domain | Law | Engineering, Architecture, Planning |
Courses Offered | BA LLB, BBA LLB, BCom LLB, BSc LLB, BSW LLB | B.E., B.Tech, B.Arch, B. Plan |
CLAT and JEE relate to different domains. While CLAT is open to candidates from all streams, JEE is open to candidates from the Science stream. In the past, It has been observed through interviews with CLAT toppers that candidates who are preparing for JEE, sometimes, shift to the law domain and start preparing for CLAT and get good results as well. The paragraphs below explain the differences between CLAT and JEE on various parameters that will help understand whether CLAT is tougher than JEE.
CLAT is conducted as a single exam. However, in the case of JEE, there are two exams - JEE Mains and JEE Advanced. The JEE exams consist of Paper 1 and Paper 2. While Paper 1 is for admissions into engineering programs, Paper 2 is for admission into architecture and planning. In this section, we will compare CLAT eligibility criteria, JEE mains eligibility criteria, and JEE Advanced eligibility criteria through the tables below.
Particulars | Details |
Educational qualification | 10+2 or equivalent |
Minimum passing marks | 45% for General/OBC/PWD/NRI/PIO/OCI 40% for SC/ST |
Age limit | No age limit |
Particulars | Admission into Engineering Programmes (Paper 1) |
Educational qualification | 10+2 |
Subject combinations | Physics and Maths as mandatory subjects along with one among Chemistry/Biology/Biotechnology/Technical Vocational subjects |
Minimum passing marks | 75% (General, OBC) 65% ( SC/ST) |
Age limit | No age limit (Should have passed 10+2 in 2023, 2024, 2025) |
Particulars | Admission into Engineering at IITS/NIT/GFTI (Paper 1) |
Educational qualification | 10+2 |
Minimum qualification required in JEE Mains | Among the top 250000 rank |
Subject combinations | Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry as compulsory subjects |
Minimum passing marks | 75% (General/OBC) 65% (SC/ST) |
Age limit | Must have been born after October 1, 2000 Relaxation of 5 years for SC/ST candidates. |
In this section, let’s look at the syllabus of CLAT and JEE to understand if CLAT is tougher than JEE. The CLAT syllabus tests the candidates on different sections that test the critical and logical reasoning skills of the candidates. The JEE syllabus, on the other hand, tests the candidates on their proficiency in subjects such as Maths, Physics, and Chemistry.
Sections | No. of questions | Marks |
22-26 | 22-26 | |
28-32 | 28-32 | |
28-32 | 28-32 | |
22-26 | 22-26 | |
10-14 | 22-26 | |
Total | 120 | 120 |
Subjects | Section A (No. of questions) | Section B (No. of questions) | Marks |
Maths | 20 | 5 | 100 |
Physics | 20 | 5 | 100 |
Chemistry | 20 | 5 | 100 |
Total | 75 | 300 | |
Subjects | Paper 1 | Paper 2 |
Maths | 18 | 18 |
Physics | 18 | 18 |
Chemistry | 18 | 18 |
Total marks | 60 | 60 |
Sections | Type of questions | Marking scheme of JEE Advanced | Maximum marks |
1 | 08 questions of Numerical Based Decimal Type with answers correct to 2 decimal digits. | 3 marks for the correct answer 0 in all other cases | 24 |
2 | 6 questions with four options in which one or more than one option(s) were correct. | Full marks: +4 If only (all) the correct options are chosen Partial Marks: +3 If all four options are correct but ONLY three correct options are chosen Partial Marks: +2 If three or more options are correct but only two correct options are chosen Partial Marks: +1 If two or more options are correct but only one correct option is chosen Zero Marks: 0 If none of the options are chosen Negative Marks: -2 In all other cases | 24 |
3 | 04 questions of Match List type i.e. Match List-I to List-II. List-I had 4 questions to be matched to List-II which had 5 options. One or more than one options were correct. | Full marks: +3 in case all options are correct, Zero Marks: 0 if none of the options are chosen Negative Marks: -1 In all other cases | 12 |
The tables given below provide the exam statistics for CLAT and jEE.The exam statistics provide data about the number of candidates registered and appearing for the exam. This data reveals the level of competition in the exam and determines whether CLAT is tougher than JEE or not.
Particulars | Details (UG) |
No of the candidates registered | 60925 |
No. of candidates appeared | 58,504 |
Attendance% | 97.03% |
Number of common candidates Registered in both sessions (January/April) of the JEE Main 2024 | 9,24,636 |
Number of common candidates Appeared in both sessions (January/April) of the JEE Main 2024 exam | 8,22,899 |
Number of candidates registered in January 2024 Session 1 exam | 12,21,624 |
Number of candidates who appeared in the January 2024 Session 1 exam | 11,70,048 |
Number of candidates registered in April 2024 exam | 11,79,569 |
Number of candidates who appeared in the April Session exam | 10,67,959 |
Total number of Unique Candidates Registered in both Sessions (January/April) of the JEE (Main) - 2024 Examination | 14,76,557 |
Total Number of Unique Candidates Appeared in both Sessions (January/April) of the JEE (Main) - 2024 Examination | 14,15,110 |
Category | Total number of students |
Total number of students that applied | 186584 |
Total number of students that appeared | 180200 |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Candidates can gain admission to B.Tech, B.E, B.Arch, and B.Planning programmes through JEE.
Candidates can gain admission into 5-year LLB and LLM programmes through CLAT
JEE is conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA)/
CLAT is conducted by the Consortium of National Law Universities.
The full form of JEE is Joint Entrance Exam.
The full form of CLAT is Common Law Admission Test.
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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