Common Law Admission Test: The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is one of the most desirable law entrance examinations in India, taken to procure admission into the National Law Universities (NLUs). In order to pass this exam, it is important that students familiarize themselves with the pattern of the CLAT syllabus first. The syllabus of CLAT UG 2026 aims to test a candidate in terms of understanding, ability to reason, and legal abilities. It has five main areas: English Language, Current Affairs including General Knowledge, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Techniques. Every section is meant to assess a certain set of skills required by a future legal practitioner. However, in contrast to the common school examinations, CLAT is aimed at working with ideas and reasoning in real-life situations. Hence, it is not memorizing but analytical skills and reading ability that a student requires.

Legal Preparation:

English Language: Evaluating the knowledge of comprehension and interpretation skills
The English Language section of the syllabus in CLAT mainly questions a student's reading and comprehension skills. Here, candidates will be expected to read passages (usually 450 words) and answer questions using the content. These questions aim at finding the main idea, understanding the contextual meaning of words and phrases, inferring, and summarizing the passage. The passages tend to be borrowed from fiction and non-fiction literature, editorials, or journalistic works.

Current Affairs with General Knowledge:
GK and general knowledge are also essential parts of the CLAT, as they determine how much a candidate is aware of national and world events. This section contains comprehension questions, which involve some paragraphs on current events. The questions can focus on politics, world affairs, sports, awards, government schemes, developments in the legal field, and other significant events. Rather than single-line responses, this part tests the ability of a candidate to contextualize the events considering their wider significance. Candidates should rely on authentic news sources such as The Hindu, Indian Express, and magazines like Pratiyogita Darpan. It's important to stay updated on events from the past six to eight months before the exam. Unlike traditional GK sections, the general knowledge in CLAT exam is more context-specific. Editorials and the study of contemporary changes in the legal field can offer an advantage. It also helps to keep notes daily or at the end of the month for last-minute revision.

Legal Reasoning: Acquiring the legal mind, legal skills, and legal ethics
One of the most unique features of the CLAT syllabus is the Legal Reasoning section. It contains philosophical passages related to law, public policy, or even moral philosophy. These passages are followed by questions that assess whether a student can define rules and principles, apply them to hypothetical situations, and make logical conclusions. Importantly, no specific legal knowledge is required in this section, though it can be helpful to be familiar with some basic legal principles, landmark judgments, and constitutional rights.

Logical Reasoning: Modifying Critical and Analytical Thinking
The Logical Reasoning section in CLAT evaluates a student based on their critical thinking and skills in argument interpretation. It contains middle-length passages, followed by questions to assess the candidate's understanding of arguments, assumptions, conclusions, and reasoning weaknesses. Areas covered can include cause-and-effect, analogy, and detecting inconsistencies in arguments. This section requires critical thinking and attention to detail. Candidates should not only read and comprehend the text but also grasp hidden messages, logical links, and the general flow of thought. Practice in solving puzzles, syllogisms, and critical reasoning will help. Reading editorials in newspapers where arguments are clearly laid out can also be beneficial. Since CLAT does not necessarily have fixed types of reasoning questions, it is better to train reasoning skills over time, rather than relying on shortcuts or tricks.

Quantitative Techniques: Simple Math in Logic
The foundation of the Quantitative Techniques section of CLAT is basic math in logical form. The CLAT syllabus is based on mathematics concepts up to Class 10. However, this section does not ask direct formula-based questions. Instead, it contains graphical representations, such as bar charts, line charts, pie charts, and tables, with questions based on comprehension. The goal is to evaluate a candidate's ability to read data and carry out simple calculations. Typical topics covered include percentages, profit and loss, ratios, averages, and time-speed-distance.