Top NLUs Ranked by CLAT Cutoffs, Not NIRF – The Real Tier List You Need

Top NLUS Based on CLAT cutoffs for last five years

After analysing the last five years' cutoffs of CLAT, it is very evident that NLSIU Bengaluru is the number one-ranked college among NLUs. NLSIU Bengaluru has had an average closing rank of 99 for general category students in the last five years. After NLSIU Bengaluru comes NALSAR Hyderabad, which has an average closing rank of 167 in the last five years. Similarly, WBNUJS Kolkata has an average closing rank of 273. Talking of NLIU Bhopal, it has an average closing rank of 444 and is ranked 6th in terms of cutoffs in the last five years. The table given below shows the list of NLUs ranked based on their cutoffs in the last five years.

NLUs ranked based on CLAT cutoffs (2021-2025)

*The data given above comprise only general category cutoffs for the last five years.

Top NLUs based on CLAT 2025 Cutoffs

Apart from the last five years, candidates can also judge NLUs based on the last year’s cutoff. It might not be the case that things are necessarily the same as they were five years ago. To get an idea about the latest developments and emerging NLUs, candidates can also check the list of top NLUs based on CLAT 2025 cutoffs. Talking of top NLUs in 2025, the list of the top 5 is the same as the table given above. There are slight changes as we go lower in the list. Check out the list of top NLUs in 2025 based on CLAT cutoffs.

NLU Rank List 2025 based on CLAT Cutoffs

CLAT 2026 Expected Cutoffs for NLUs

After studying the last five years' cutoffs of the CLAT exam, there are some predictions that can be made for the upcoming session. The CLAT 2026 cutoff for the top 5 NLUs is expected to show stability. Some changes in CLAT cutoffs 2026 can be expected in mid and low-tier NLUs. The following denotes the expected cutoffs for CLAT 2026 based on the previous year's cutoffs.

CLAT 2026 Expected Cutoff

What does the CLAT Cutoff for last 5 years say?

• The CLAT cutoffs for top NLUs have mostly been stable over the past few years. NLSIU Bengaluru, NALSAR Hyderabad, and WBNUJS Kolkata have been the definite top 3 in terms of cutoffs.

• Many low and mid-tier NLUs have been jumping the ladder when it comes to ranking colleges based on CLAT cutoff. For instance, GNLU Silvassa, which had a closing rank of 1820 in 2023, jumped to 1461 in 2025.

• Similarly, MNLU Aurangabad, DBRANLU Sonepat and TNNLU Tiruchirapalli have tightened their closing cutoffs, which are directly proportional to the number of students wanting admission in these colleges.

• Newer entrants in the NLUs list, like RPNLU Prayagraj and NLU Assam, have been seeing the lowest closing ranks when compared with all other NLUs. These NLUs are more like a safety net for general category candidates under rank 2000.

• NLUs like MNLU Mumbai, MNLU Nagpur, HPNLU Shimla, and NLUJ Assam have shown fluctuations in cutoff, making them unpredictable over the years.

• All colleges that offer other integrated law courses like BBA LLB, BSc LLM, etc, along with BA LLB have lower closing cutoffs for the latter one. BA LLB is the top priority of candidates in a particular college.