CLAT Exam Pattern 2027: Marks & Marking Scheme

120 multiple-choice questions make up the CLAT exam pattern for 2027, in both the UG and the PG paper. Each paper is worth 120 marks. The CLAT exam duration is 2 hours, and each wrong answer costs 0.25 mark. The Consortium of National Law Universities will hold both papers offline on Sunday, 6 December 2026. Only the UG section split is a range, because the Consortium publishes approximate question counts for each subject. The Governing Body resolved on 18 July 2026 that the CLAT 2027 exam pattern stays unchanged from CLAT 2026. CLAT 2026 was the exam held on 7 December 2025.

UG and PG candidates each answer 120 multiple-choice questions in CLAT 2027, and each question carries one mark. The CLAT exam pattern 2027 gives both papers the same length, marks and negative marking. The CLAT exam structure differs in programme and in question grouping.

What is the CLAT exam pattern for 2027?

The CLAT exam pattern for 2027 is a 2-hour offline paper of 120 multiple-choice questions. The CLAT total marks are 120. The CLAT marking scheme is +1 for each right answer and -0.25 for each wrong one. The CLAT question pattern in both papers starts from a passage or a short set of facts. The CLAT exam pattern for UG has five subjects. The CLAT exam pattern for PG has one objective section (source: official CLAT 2027 UG question format and CLAT 2027 PG syllabus).

Candidates choose UG or PG at registration. They cannot change the programme after the application is submitted and paid. The instructions mark the 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm timing as "subject to revision in case of necessity". Registration closes on 31 October 2026 at 11:59 pm. The CLAT 2027 exam dates page tracks every later date.

Is the CLAT 2027 exam online or offline?

The CLAT exam pattern is offline for both UG and PG, and only the application is online. The CLAT 2026 booklet sets came with a separate carbonised OMR sheet, and candidates answered all questions on it. The CLAT 2027 instruction pages state the offline mode but do not describe the OMR sheet.

How much extra time do PwD candidates get in CLAT 2027?

The CLAT exam pattern gives eligible PwD candidates 40 extra minutes in 2027. Their paper ends at 4:40 pm. The standard CLAT exam duration is 2 hours. For eligible PwD candidates, the CLAT exam duration is 2 hours 40 minutes.

Candidates who need this accommodation must say so in the application form. The PwD policy of 7 September 2026 asks for a UDID card or a disability certificate as proof. It also asks candidates to say clearly if they need a scribe.

How is a tie broken in CLAT 2027?

The CLAT exam pattern for 2027 breaks a tie in a fixed order. The order differs for UG and PG. The UG tie-break has three steps. First comes higher marks in the "component/section on Legal Aptitude". Higher age is second, and a computerised draw of lots is third. The PG tie-break uses higher age first and a computerised draw of lots second.

The UG tie-break rule says "Legal Aptitude", but the published UG sections are named Legal Reasoning. The Consortium has not explained the term (source: official CLAT 2027 UG instructions).

Four of the five sections in the CLAT exam pattern for UG are built on passages of about 450 words each, or up to 450 words in Current Affairs. The fifth, Quantitative Techniques, uses short sets of facts or numerical information.

The CLAT question pattern follows one order in every section: a passage first, then questions on it. The Consortium describes the UG paper as a test of comprehension and reasoning skills rather than prior knowledge. Prior knowledge may occasionally help in the Current Affairs including General Knowledge section. This pattern of CLAT exam sections is the same as in the CLAT 2026 paper.

Does CLAT 2027 need prior knowledge of law?

The CLAT exam pattern does not need prior knowledge of law. The Legal Reasoning section says so in plain words. A general awareness of contemporary legal and moral issues helps in applying the principle to the facts.

Legal Reasoning passage-based questions carry the rule inside the passage. Candidates identify the rule, apply it to the fact situations and check how a changed rule alters the result. The same passage-based questions format applies to English Language and Logical Reasoning.

What is the CLAT PG 2027 exam pattern?

The CLAT exam pattern for PG in 2027 has one objective section of 120 passage-based questions, each worth one mark. The CLAT question pattern for PG uses extracts from primary legal materials such as important court decisions, statutes and regulations. Under the CLAT 2027 exam pattern, each PG passage is followed by a series of questions.

The paper is based on the mandatory subjects of the undergraduate programme. These are Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence, Administrative Law, Law of Contract, Torts and Family Law. The list continues with Criminal Law, Property Law, Company Law, Public International Law, Tax Law, Environmental Law, and Labour & Industrial Law.

The PG question format page lists Constitutional Law separately from the other law areas. PG subject-wise weightage: Not officially announced as of 13 October 2026 (source: official CLAT 2027 PG question format).

Does CLAT PG 2027 have a descriptive section?

The CLAT exam structure for PG 2027 has no descriptive section. The format lists 120 objective questions and CLAT negative marking of 0.25 mark per wrong answer. It lists no essay or descriptive marks. Older PG papers had a descriptive part, but the CLAT exam pattern for 2027 does not include it. The Expert Committee report of 2026 also describes the PG test as not divided into sections.

Every question in the CLAT exam pattern carries one mark, so a section's question range is also its marks range. The CLAT total marks therefore match the 120 questions. The Consortium publishes the UG split under the heading "Subject Areas with weightage: (approximate number of questions)".

How many questions does each CLAT 2027 section have?

Each CLAT 2027 UG section has an approximate range of questions, not a fixed count. The CLAT exam pattern 2027 uses the same ranges as CLAT 2026.

The five ranges add up to anything between 110 and 130 questions, and the paper has exactly 120. The CLAT 2027 exam pattern publishes ranges, and the exact counts will be known only after the exam. The CLAT exam structure for UG is therefore a range and not a fixed split.

Which CLAT 2027 sections carry the most marks?

Current Affairs including General Knowledge and Legal Reasoning carry the most marks, at 28 to 32 questions each. In the pattern of CLAT exam papers, these two sections together carry 56 to 64 questions. That is about half of the paper. English Language and Logical Reasoning follow with 22 to 26 questions each. Quantitative Techniques is the smallest at 10 to 14.

What are the CLAT total marks for 2027?

The CLAT total marks for 2027 are 120 in both the UG and the PG paper. The maximum in the CLAT exam pattern can fall below 120 when the Consortium withdraws a question. The CLAT 2026 UG paper was evaluated out of 119 marks after one question was withdrawn. The CLAT total marks therefore depend on the final answer key as well. Candidates with equal marks go to the tie-break.

The 2 hours of CLAT 2027 run across the whole paper, not section by section. The CLAT exam structure has one time limit for all five UG sections. The Consortium has not divided the CLAT exam duration among them. The CLAT exam pattern 2027 therefore has no sectional time limit in its published rules.

Is there a sectional time limit in CLAT 2027?

There is no sectional time limit in the CLAT exam pattern for 2027. The official FAQ says the Current Affairs Including General Knowledge section has "no specific time frame". The Consortium has published no time frame for any other section either (source: official CLAT 2027 FAQs).

How much time does each CLAT 2027 question get?

In the pattern of CLAT exam papers, 120 questions share 120 minutes, so the average is 1 minute per question. Eligible PwD candidates have 160 minutes for the same 120 questions, which is about 1.33 minutes per question. With no sectional time limit, the CLAT exam duration is the only clock a candidate has to watch.

The CLAT exam pattern 2027 gives 1 mark for each right answer and deducts 0.25 mark for each wrong answer. Both the UG and the PG paper follow this CLAT marking scheme.

What is the negative marking in CLAT 2027?

CLAT negative marking in 2027 is 0.25 mark for each wrong answer in both UG and PG. Four wrong answers therefore cancel one right answer. The pattern of CLAT exam marking is the same in every section. The CLAT exam structure gives every question equal weight.

The 2027 pages state the CLAT negative marking of 0.25. The CLAT 2026 UG booklet adds that unanswered questions carry no deduction. The Expert Committee report says the same for the current UG test. Under that 2026 rule, CLAT negative marking did not touch a question left blank on the OMR sheet.

How is the CLAT score calculated?

The CLAT score is the number of right answers minus 0.25 for each wrong answer. Unanswered questions add nothing and subtract nothing. Under the CLAT exam pattern, candidates with equal scores go to the tie-break.

These attempts are worked examples from the official +1 and -0.25 CLAT marking scheme, not past results. Scores can end in .25, .5 or .75 because of CLAT negative marking. The CLAT 2026 UG highest mark shows this.

Is it safe to guess in CLAT 2027?

In the CLAT exam pattern, a guess pays only when the chance of being right is above 1 in 5. A wrong answer costs one quarter of the mark that a right answer earns. That break-even point comes straight from the CLAT marking scheme. Take a question with four options. A blind guess has a 1 in 4 chance and gains only 0.0625 mark on average.

Removing one wrong option lifts the chance to 1 in 3. The average gain then becomes about 0.17 mark. The arithmetic favours answering a question once you can rule out even one option.

CLAT Marking Scheme: Frequently Asked Questions

The official CLAT 2027 syllabus names topics for each UG section. For the PG paper, it names 13 law subjects. The CLAT 2027 syllabus page explains each section in detail. The CLAT exam pattern decides how many questions each section gets. The syllabus decides what those questions can ask.

• English Language: the main point and arguments of a passage, inferences, summaries, compared viewpoints, and word meaning in context.
• Current Affairs, including General Knowledge: events of significance, arts and culture, international affairs, and historical events of continuing significance.
• Legal Reasoning: rules and principles in a passage, their application to fact situations, and the effect of a changed rule.
• Logical Reasoning: arguments, premises and conclusions, patterns of reasoning, strengthening and weakening of conclusions, inferences, analogies and contradictions.
• Quantitative Techniques: facts or numbers given in text, from which candidates derive information and calculate.

Which mathematics level does CLAT 2027 test?

The CLAT exam pattern tests 10th standard mathematics in its Quantitative Techniques section. The official syllabus names ratios and proportions, basic algebra, mensuration and statistical estimation. It introduces them with "areas such as", so the list is not closed. The CLAT question pattern for this section starts from a short set of facts or numbers.

Is there a CLAT 2027 syllabus PDF?

The Consortium has published no separate CLAT 2027 syllabus PDF. The UG and PG syllabus appear on two web pages of the official CLAT website. The CLAT exam pattern appears on separate question format pages. The CLAT 2026 syllabus page had promised guides, sample questions and model papers. That part is absent from the CLAT 2027 pages. A sample paper or mock test for CLAT 2027: Not officially announced as of 13 October 2026.

As per third-party media sources, the CLAT UG paper had 200 questions before CLAT 2020 and has had 120 questions from CLAT 2024. The mode also changed twice, from offline to online in 2015 and back to offline in 2018. As per third-party media sources, the pattern of CLAT exam papers changed twice in question count, for CLAT 2020 and again for CLAT 2024. The CLAT exam pattern changed in steps over these years.

Is there any pattern change in CLAT 2027?

The Governing Body resolved on 18 July 2026 that the CLAT exam pattern for 2027 will have no changes. The syllabus and the pattern or sections of the UG and PG papers stay the same. The Convenor and paper setters will consider the Expert Committee's suggestions on question format and quality. They will adopt them "in a feasible manner". The style of individual questions can therefore change (source: official press release of 21 July 2026).

Did the CLAT UG paper have 150 questions earlier?

As per third-party media sources, the CLAT UG paper had 150 questions in the years before CLAT 2024. As per the same sources, the Consortium cut it to 120 for CLAT 2024, kept the five sections and notified the change on 15 June 2023. The official CLAT 2026 booklet and the CLAT 2027 pages show a 120-question UG paper. The CLAT 2027 exam pattern keeps the 120-question format.

What has the Expert Committee recommended for later CLAT papers?

The Expert Committee submitted its final report on 2 February 2026. It recommends a three-section UG paper in place of the five-section CLAT exam pattern. These are recommendations and not the CLAT 2027 exam pattern. The three sections are Logical Reasoning and Legal Aptitude, Language and Comprehension, and Quantitative Techniques.

The Committee also endorses removing General Knowledge and Current Affairs. It recommends no more than 10 to 15 questions for each section. The full paper should take 2 hours (source: official Expert Committee Report 2026). The Governing Body will engage with the report and public feedback in preparation for CLAT 2028.