Law Entrance Exams in India 2026-27: Upcoming LLB Entrance Exams, National, State, University Level Exams
Most of the top law schools in India offer admission to LLB courses based on law entrance exams. It is advisable that law aspirants looking to enrol in a 3-year LLB or 5-year integrated LLB course, appear for four to five law entrance exams to increase the chances of admission. Students should pick the law entrance exam based on their course and college preferences. For example, if you are looking to take admission to any of the National Law Universities (NLU), appearing in the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) and All India Entrance Test (AILET) are the available options. Beyond CLAT and AILET, over 40 law entrance exams are conducted in India at the national, state, and university levels. This article will help the candidates to understand everything about law entrance exams in India, including how one should choose an entrance exam, colleges that accept entrance exams and more.
This Story also Contains
- Why Appear in Law Entrance Exams?
- Top LLB Entrance Exams 2026-27
- List of Popular Law Entrance Exams in India
- Top Law Entrance Exam Dates
- List of Law (3 & 5 Year LLB) Entrance Exam After Graduation
It is also important to note that one of India's popular law entrance exams, namely the LSAT─India exam, has been discontinued from 2025 onwards. Also, one of the top law colleges in India, namely, the Jindal Global Law School, is now accepting LNAT UK 2026 scores to conduct the JGLS LNAT-UK 2026 admissions into its 3-year LLB, 5-year LLB, and LLM programmes.
Why Appear in Law Entrance Exams?
There are over 1700 law schools in India. Some colleges offer admission without law entrance exams or some others through law entrance exams. However, if we look at the top 100 law schools in India, most of them accept law entrance exams. The points below explain the benefits of appearing for law entrance tests.
- There are 40 colleges ranked in the NIRF law school ranking 2025. Most of them accept either CLAT or conduct their own entrance test. Very few of them conduct law admissions without entrance exams based on marks in the qualifying examinations. So, appearing in the law entrance exam 2026-27 will undoubtedly increase the chances of getting admission to top law colleges in India.
- Another benefit of taking law entrance exams 2026-27 is that the candidate goes through competition and eventually finds a very competitive pool in college. This plays an important role in peer-to-peer learning. In contrast, direct LLB admission in colleges may not be very effective in maintaining a competitive pool in the classes.
- The students who appear in law entrance exams have to develop a basic understanding of law, along with developing critical thinking, analytical abilities and general awareness. This law entrance exam preparation phase itself ensures that students have the basics covered before going to law school.
Also, check - Law Admissions Without Entrance Exam
Top LLB Entrance Exams 2026-27
As mentioned above, the law entrance exams in India are offered at both the undergraduate level (after class 12) and the postgraduate level (after graduation). While the UG law entrance exams are suitable for Class 12th students and pave the way for a 5-year integrated LLB, the PG law entrance exams are conducted either for 3-year LLB courses or an LLM programme. Given below are the details of the law entrance exam after 12th and graduation.
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List of Popular Law Entrance Exams in India
| Sl. No | Exam Name | Conducted by |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Common Law Admission Test | Consortium of NLUs |
| 2 | All India Law Entrance Test | NLU Delhi |
| 3 | Symbiosis Law Admission Test | Symbiosis International (Deemed) University |
| 4 | Maharashtra Common Entrance Test Law | CET Cell Maharashtra |
| 5 | Telangana Law Common Entrance Test | Telangana Council of Higher Education |
Common Law Admission Test (CLAT)
CLAT or the Common Law Admission Test, is conducted by the Consortium of National Law Universities. Going by the number of candidates appearing for the exam, it is by far the most popular entrance exam for law after 12th. Through CLAT, candidates can get admission into integrated five-year law courses and LLM programmes of participating NLUs. There are around 4000 seats available for UG courses, plus over 1500+ seats for LLM in the NLUs.
CLAT 2026 is scheduled to be conducted on December 7, 2025, in offline mode. Out of 26 NLUs, 24 are participating in the exam along with more than 60+ private law colleges. One should consider appearing for this exam to get admission to prestigious NLUs. The CLAT 2026 application form has been opened on August 1, 2025. Interested candidates can register by visiting the official website: consortiumofnlus.ac.in. The last date to fill the CLAT application form 2026 is October 31, 2025.
CLAT 2026 Overview
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
Name of Exam | Common Law Admission Test |
Short Form | CLAT |
Conducting Body | Consortium of NLUs |
Level | National Level |
Courses Offered | 5-year LLB, LLM |
Colleges |
CLAT 2026 Exam Pattern
Candidates should carefully study the CLAT 2026 exam pattern as part of their preparations. The exam pattern of CLAT UG has undergone some changes in the recent past, with the number of questions in CLAT UG being reduced to 120 MCQs from 150 to make the exam more student-friendly, while the CLAT PG pattern remained unchanged with 120 MCQs. The time duration for both exams is 120 minutes. There is also a negative marking of 0.25 marks for every wrong answer.
CLAT UG Exam Pattern 2026
Sections | Number of Questions | Marks | Weightage |
|---|---|---|---|
English Language | 22-26 | 22-26 | 20% |
Current Affairs including General Knowledge | 28-32 | 28-32 | 25% |
Legal Reasoning | 28-32 | 28-32 | 25% |
Logical Reasoning | 22-26 | 22-26 | 20% |
Quantitative Techniques | 10-14 | 22-26 | 10% |
Total | 120 | 120 | 100% |
CLAT PG Exam Pattern 2026
The questions in the exam pattern of CLAT PG test the candidate’s knowledge in different areas of law.
| Sections | Number of Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|
Constitutional law | 120 | 120 |
Other areas of law such as jurisprudence, administrative law, law of contract, torts, family law, criminal law, property law, company law, public international law, tax law, environmental law, labour and industrial law. | ||
Total | 120 | 120 |
To know more about CLAT 2026, check out the links given below
All India Law Entrance Test (AILET)
Another top law entrance exam 2026-27 is the AILET or the All India Law Entrance Test, which is conducted by NLU Delhi for admissions into its BA LLB and LLM courses. NLU Delhi is ranked in the second position in the NIRF law rankings 2025. It is one of the two NLUs not participating in CLAT 2026, the other being NLU Meghalaya.
AILET 2026 will be conducted on December 14, 2025, in offline mode. It is expected that around 20,000 candidates will appear for the exam. NLU Delhi has opened the AILET 2026 application form on August 7, 2025. Candidates who want to apply for AILET 2026 can submit their application form on the official website: nationallawuniversitydelhi.in. The deadline to fill out the AILET 2026 application form is November 10, 2025.
AILET 2026 Overview
Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
Name of Exam | All India Law Entrance Test |
Short form | AILET |
Conducting Body | NLU Delhi |
Level | National level |
Courses Offered | BA LLB, LLM |
Seats | BA LLB - 110 seats LLM - 70 seats |
AILET 2026 Exam Pattern
Just like CLAT, AILET has also undergone changes in its exam pattern. As per the revised AILET exam pattern, the duration of the BA LLB entrance exam was increased to 120 minutes instead of 90 minutes. Also, for AILET LLM, the descriptive section was removed, and only the objective section was retained. The duration of the exam is also 120 minutes. Both papers have a negative marking of 0.25 per question for incorrect responses.
AILET BA LLB Exam Pattern
| Sections | No. of Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|
English | 50 | 50 |
Current Affairs and General Knowledge | 30 | 30 |
Reasoning | 70 | 70 |
Total | 150 | 150 |
AILET LLM Exam Pattern
| Total Questions | Marks |
|---|---|
100 MCQs on different areas of law | 100 |
Get more details about AILET 2026 by checking out the links given below
Maharashtra State Common Entrance Test Law (MH CET Law)
The MH CET Law is a state-level entrance exam conducted by the Common Entrance Test Cell, Maharashtra for admission into five-year LLB and 3-year LLB courses of participating colleges in Maharashtra. MH CET Law will be conducted in online mode at test centres across India. The exam is conducted separately for 3-year LLB and 5-year LLB. MH CET Law is a good option for a law entrance exam after graduation, especially in a crowded market where many top-level exams, such as CLAT and AILET admit students for UG integrated courses. MH CET 3-year LLB 2026 is scheduled to be held tentatively in the first week of May 2026.
After conducting the exam, the CET Cell Maharashtra will conduct the MH CET law CAP rounds for 3-year LLB and 5-year LLB admissions. Candidates who have a valid non-zero score can register for the counselling process and obtain MH CET law seat allotment at law colleges in Maharashtra.
MH CET Law Exam Overview
Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
Name of Exam | Maharashtra Common Entrance Test Law |
Short form | MH CET Law / MAH-CET-LLB |
Conducting Body | State CET Cell, Maharashtra |
Level | National level |
Courses Offered | 3-year LLB, 5-year LLB |
Seats | 3-year LLB: 16,395 (Approx) 5-year LLB: 11520 (Approx) |
Colleges | 3-year LLB: 162 5-year LLB: 142 |
MH CET Law 2026 Exam Pattern
The MH CET Law exam pattern consists of 150 questions. Each question carries one mark and there is no negative marking for wrong answers. The exam duration is 2 hours. The sections in the exam include legal aptitude and reasoning, general knowledge with current affairs, logical and analytical reasoning, English and basic mathematics. However, it must be noted that the MH CET Law for a 3-year LLB does not have a basic mathematics section.
MH CET 5-year LLB Exam Pattern
Subject | Total Questions | Total Marks |
|---|---|---|
Legal Aptitude and Legal Reasoning | 32 | 32 |
General Knowledge with Current Affairs | 24 | 24 |
Logical and Analytical Reasoning | 32 | 32 |
English Language | 24 | 24 |
Basic Mathematics | 8 | 8 |
Total | 120 | 120 |
MH CET 3-year LLB Exam Pattern
| Subject | Total Questions | TotalMarks |
|---|---|---|
Legal Aptitude and Legal Reasoning | 24 | 24 |
General Knowledge with Current Affairs | 32 | 32 |
Logical and Analytical Reasoning | 24 | 24 |
English Language | 40 | 40 |
Total | 120 | 120 |
You can go through the following links to know more about MH CET Law 2026
SLAT 2026
SLAT or Symbiosis Law Admissions Test is conducted by Symbiosis International (Deemed University) for admissions into the 5-year integrated law courses of Symbiosis Law Schools (SLS). There are four SLSs namely - SLS Pune, SLS Noida, SLS Hyderabad, and SLS Nagpur. These institutes offer BA LLB and BBA LLB programmes. Among them, SLS Pune is ranked at the 7th position in the NIRF law rankings 2025. SLAT 2026 will be held in two phases on December 20 and December 28, 2025, in online mode at designated test centres across India.
Candidates have to apply online for the exam. At the time of online registration, candidates must also individually apply to their preferred SLS and programme and pay additional registration fees for every SLS and course. Candidates can appear for both phases of the exam and their best score in the two attempts will be considered for admission.
SLAT 2026 Exam Overview
Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
Name of Exam | Symbiosis Law Admission Test |
Short form | SLAT |
Conducting Body | Symbiosis International (Deemed University) |
Level | University Level |
Courses Offered | BA LLB, BBA LLB |
Colleges | SLS Pune, SLS Noida, SLS Hyderabad, SLS Nagpur |
SLAT 2026 Exam Pattern
As per the SLAT 2026 exam pattern, there are 60 multiple-choice questions divided into five sections namely legal reasoning, logical reasoning, analytical reasoning, reading comprehension and general knowledge. Each section will have 12 multiple choice type questions. Each question carries one mark and there is no negative marking for incorrect answers.
SLAT Exam Pattern 2026 Overview
| Sections | No. of questions | Total marks |
|---|---|---|
Legal Reasoning | 12 | 12 |
Logical Reasoning | 12 | 12 |
Analytical Reasoning | 12 | 12 |
Reading Comprehension | 12 | 12 |
General Knowledge | 12 | 12 |
Total | 60 | 60 |
Find out more about SLAT 2026 by clicking on the links below
Video - Top 5 Law Entrance Exams after Class 12th
Top Law Entrance Exam Dates
Given below in the table is the schedule of various LLB entrance exams 2026-27 for UG and PG law programmes. One can get complete details about the top law entrance exam dates, including the application window, exam date, result, and counselling schedule, by clicking on the links below. While CLAT and AILET have already been conducted, aspirants can look forward to upcoming law entrance exams such as SLAT and MH CET Law.
Top LLB Entrance Exam 2026-27 Dates
| Exam Name | Schedule |
|---|---|
| CLAT | CLAT exam dates |
| AILET | AILET exam dates |
| MHCET Law | MH CET Law exam dates |
| SLAT | SLAT exam dates |
| AP LAWCET | AP LAWCET exam dates |
| TS LAWCET | TS LAWCET exam dates |
| KLEE | KLEE exam dates |
| AU LAT | AU LAT exam dates |
List of Law (3 & 5 Year LLB) Entrance Exam After Graduation
The table given below lists some more popular law entrance exams in the country. This list includes law entrance exams after 12th as well as entrance exams for LLB after graduation. Click on the links given in the table to check out all the details of the exam.
Other Top Law Entrance Exams 2026
| Sl. No | Exam Name | Courses Offered |
|---|---|---|
1 | 5-year LLB, 3-year LLB | |
2 | 5-year LLB, 3-year LLB | |
3 | 5-year LLB | |
4 | 3-year LLB | |
5 | 5-year LLB, 3-year LLB, LLM | |
6 | 3-year LLB | |
7 | 5-year LLB | |
8 | 3-year LLB | |
9 | 5-year LLB | |
10 | 3-year LLB | |
11 | 5-year LLB, 3-year LLB | |
12 | 5-year LLB |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Going by the number of participating students and the reputation of participating colleges, CLAT is the best law entrance exam. 13 participating NLUs find a place among the top 40 colleges in the NIRF law rankings 2025.
Due to stiff competition, getting the preferred college may not be easy in popular exams such as CLAT or AILET. However, with proper preparation, one can definitely clear the exams.
You can prepare a study timetable and refer to the updated study material according to the latest syllabus and prepare accordingly. Alternatively, you can also take the help of CLAT coaching centres.
CLAT and AILET are two of the best entrance exams for law. Through CLAT, one can gain admission into NLSIU Bengaluru, the number one ranked law school in the country. Through AILET, candidates can gain admission into NLU Bengaluru which is the second ranked law university in India.
The law entrance exams after 12th include CLAT, SLAT, AILET, TS LAWCET, MH CET Law.
Yes, one can study law without appearing for CLAT exam.
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