A Complete Guide- Law Entrance Exams and Law Colleges

Key Takeaways

• The Article is in reference to law entrance exams and law colleges.
• Almost 80% law aspirants take a drop to reappear for CLAT because a lot of them don’t have any idea about other competitive law colleges and entrance exams.
• One of the leading management institute of India, IIM Rohtak, is starting it’s 5-year integrated programme in law (IPL) this year.
• IIT Kharagpur (Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law) is the first of its kind law school to impart legal education with IP specialization within the IIT System bringing synergy among science, technology, management and law. It offers LL.B. (Hons) Degree in Intellectual Property Rights and LL.M.
• A shocking news for people who consider only NLUs as good law colleges. Many “Non NLU” colleges like IIT Kharagpur, Symbiosis Law School, Aligarh Muslim University, Panjab University, Banaras Hindu University are Ranked as best law colleges in India by NIRF in the year 2020.

Introduction

When considering a career in the field of Law, it's crucial to consider how you want to spend your days. Every aspirant goes through dilemmas while preparing for a law entrance exam. It requires immense dedication and hard work. Preparing for law entrance test is definitely tough, but, with proper knowledge and dedication, you can get into top law colleges of India. An aspirant must be ever ready to invest time in practice, study and revision as these are the keys to having a successful result.

Engineering used to be the big favourite of average Indian parent. In recent years, engineering colleges are shutting down, and some of them even turned into ghost towns due to lack of students. Many MBA colleges have met the same fate, as jobs are hard to come by after doing MBA or engineering. In this context, law is becoming a favourite of many Indian parents. Unlike before, parents have begun to push their kids towards studying law.

There are a lot of new legal career options opening up regularly, while the traditional work for lawyers have also stayed strong and only increased in demand. Everyone is well aware of the trend, but not quite about the details of where those opportunities are arising and how to capitalize on them.

As the Indian economy continue to grow strongly, the demand for skilled lawyers is only going up. However, at the same time, it is a paradox that a large number of law graduates remain unemployed or struggle to find work.

This can happen for two reasons. One is that these law graduates are not adequately trained. Many of them have theoretical knowledge of law, but are not employable and cannot serve real clients as they do not have practical skills.

This is why, choosing the right law school where the administration has a vision and understanding of where the legal market is headed is very important! This Article is going to be a complete guide about law entrance exams and law colleges of India. So that you can choose the right college.

I. Common Law Admission Test (CLAT)

CLAT is the most popular law entrance test in India. It is a national level entrance exam for admissions to undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) law programmes offered by 22 National Law Universities and other private/ government universities around the country. CLAT is organized by the Consortium of National Law Universities consisting of the representative universities.

• CLAT exam pattern (latest)

The new exam pattern for CLAT consists and contains a reduced total number of questions of 150 and, as announced and declared by the consortium, the paper will have a greater number of comprehension type of questions.

The CLAT exam comprises of five sections namely: Verbal Ability, Quantitative Aptitude, Logical Reasoning, General Knowledge, and Legal Aptitude.

Each question carries 1 mark and for every incorrect attempt, 0.25 marks will be deducted.

Marks Distribution (Based on Analysis of clat 2020 paper, consortium website, sample papers)

• CLAT 2021 Syllabus

1. English language- This section will test the candidates' proficiency in English based on comprehension passages. CLAT Aspirants will be expected to read passages of around 450 words each. These passages will be derived from contemporary or historically significant fiction and non-fiction writing, and would be of a standard that a 12th standard student may be able to read in about 5-7 minutes.

Each passage will be followed by a series of questions that will require you to demonstrate your comprehension and language skills.

• Types of Questions

a. Reading Comprehension (Most Important)- Common reading comprehension-based questions like

• Central Idea of the passage
• Statements which can be inferred
• Which of the following is author likely to agree with? Etc.

*** Try to solve 9-10 rc passages daily. Buy a good book for RC (Arun sharma or IELTS or SLAT).

b. Vocabulary- Last year, there were five direct questions from this section. And, rest of the question were quite difficult for the students who didn’t work on their vocabulary while preparing for CLAT.

*** It is advised to learn at least 10 new words daily. (If you have started preparing for clat 5 months prior to the exam date (approx.)) [sources- YouTube, Daily newspaper such as The Hindu]

c. Figure of speech- Three to Four questions were asked last year. Irony, personification etc.

d. Idioms- **Pro Tip- Read newspaper and practice RC daily.

e. Grammar (Basic Grammar) –

• Tenses
• Articles
• Prepositions
• Active & Passive voice
• Modals
• Concord (Subject-verb agreement)
• Verbs
• Spotting grammatical errors in sentences

**Although, there weren’t much questions related to grammar in the year 2020, But it is there in the sample papers. I would suggest everyone to focus on basic rules of grammar. Preferable book- SP Bakshhi

2. Current Affairs including General Knowledge- In this portion, you will be given passages of up to 450 words each. The passages will be taken from news articles, journalistic sources, and other nonfiction writing. The questions may include a review of legal facts or knowledge covered in or relevant to the passage, but they wouldn't include any additional legal knowledge beyond the passage.
Such a question can cover static portion as well, candidates are therefore advised not to forgo the static portion entirely. Reading Newspapers daily, specifically, articles containing any Bill or Judgments or legal information should help in preparing for this section.

• Read editorials
• Follow informative pages on Social Media
• Read newspaper daily (The Hindu)
• First page of editorials should be your best friend from now onwards
• National and international current affairs (from April 2020 to the month prior to clat examination)
• Contemporary events of significance from India and the world
• General knowledge about world leaders, industrialists, lawyers
• Arts and culture of India and world
• Historical events of continuing significance
• Ancient, Medieval History & World History - Buddhism & Jainism, Delhi Sultanate & Medieval India, French and American Revolution etc)
• Modern History - 1760AD - 2017AD (Pre and Post-Independence, Important Events, Persons, Movements and Missions)
• Geography - Indian Political and Physical Geography, World Geography, Indian Economic Geography, Universe and Earth.
• Economics - Discussion of Indian Economics, Union Budget, RBI, SEBI, World Economy and recent events
• Science (includes Physics, Chemistry & Biology) - Atomic Structures, Nuclear Reactions, Acids and Bases, Inorganic & Organic Chemistry, Newton Laws, Motion, Work, Energy & Power, Gravitation, Sound, Optics, Environment, Green House Effect, Human Physiology, Plant Physiology, Cytology and Genetics etc

3. Quantitative Aptitude/ Techniques- The Quantitative Technique or Maths section will include short sets of facts or propositions, graphs, or other textual, pictorial or diagrammatic representations of numerical information, followed by a series of questions. The questions will be in the form of Data Interpretation i.e. candidates would be required to infer information from the given passage and answer accordingly.

Quantitative aptitude comprises of two section i.e., Math and Data Interpretation

A. Data Interpretation-

• Pie Chart
• Bar Diagram
• Bar Graph
• Tabular Diagram
• Line Graph

B. Mathematics (Most important topics)

• Ratios and Proportions
• Basic Algebra
• Mensuration and Statistical Estimation
• Percentage
• Profit and Loss
• Volume and surface area
• Time speed and Distance
• Average

4. Legal Aptitude- You will be required to read passages of approximately 450 words each in this section. The passages may be about real-life circumstances or scenarios surrounding legal issues, public policy issues, or abstract normative concerns. You would not need any previous legal experience. The passage would contain certain rules and principles which should be identified and accordingly applied to the questions.
Analysis (On the basis of 2020 paper)

• Gk/ CA Based (Recent Bills/ Acts/ Amendments, recent judgments, Committees/ Commissions, any other important legal issues)
• Legal Maxims and Legal terms
• Indian Constitution
• Basic law of torts
• Basic Law of contracts
• Landmark Judgements

5. Critical Reasoning- IT WAS THE MAIN HIGHLIGHT OF CLAT 2020

• Basic logical questions
• Assumptions
• Forcefulness of Arguments
• Inferences
• Premises and Conclusion
• Strengthening and weakening arguments
• Syllogisms
• Cause and effect
• Course of action

** Recommended book- M.K. Panday
6. Logical Reasoning-

• Series Completion
• Analogy
• Blood Relation
• Puzzle Tests

NLUS Accepting CLAT 2021 Scores-

i. NLSIU, Bengaluru
ii. NALSAR, Hyderabad
iii. NLIU, Bhopal
iv. WBNUJS, Kolkata
v. NLU, Jodhpur
vi. HNLU, Raipur
vii. GNLU, Gandhinagar
viii. RMLNLU, Lucknow
ix. RGNLU, Punjab
x. CNLU, Patna
xi. NUALS, Kochi
xii. NLUO, Odisha
xiii. NUSRL, Ranchi
xiv. NLUJA, Assam
xv. DSNLU, Visakhapatnam
xvi. TNNLU, Tiruchirappalli
xvii. MNLU, Mumbai
xviii. MNLU, Nagpur
xix. MNLU, Aurangabad
xx. HPNLU, Shimla
xxi. DNLU, Jabalpur
xxii. DBRANLU

Other private/ Govt colleges accepting CLAT score

i. GGSIPU, Delhi
ii. Jindal Global Law School
iii. UPES
iv. Amity University
v. Aligarh Muslim University
vi. Asian Law college
vii. Alliance School of Law, Bangalore
viii. LLOYD Law College
ix. Nirma University
x. VIT, Chennai
xi. LPU
xii. Xavier law School, And many more….

tier-I NLUs which are- NLSIU (Bangalore), NALSAR (Hyderabad), WBNUJS (Kolkata), NLIU (Bhopal), NLUJ (Jodhpur) are considered to be best law colleges in India. The reasoning is that these colleges on average offer the best placement (refer to their respective websites), 'expert' faculty in the true sense, exposure regarding the moot courts and competitions with universities which includes Harvard University and Yale University. Other NLUs besides the ones mentioned are in my opinion not worth it.

Note-

One of the leading management institute of India, IIM Rohtak, is starting it’s 5-year integrated programme in law (IPL) this year.

• The final Merit List for IIMR’s 5-year integrated programme in law (IPL) will be generated based on the composite score as mentioned below:

II. AILET (All India Law Entrance Test)

All India Law Entrance Test is a law entrance exam conducted exclusively by National Law University (NLU) Delhi for admission to its BA-LLB, LLM, PhD programmes.

NLU Delhi is one of the best law college in India. While a candidate who graduates out of NLU, Delhi, does not only have quality training in law to boast of but also carries with himself/herself the tag of having done the almost impossible!

Exam Pattern-

Ailet 2021 seat Intake-

It is very important to know AILET’s seat intake as AILET is considered to be one of the toughest law entrance tests but, it doesn’t have much seats. So, you have to work really hard to get into NLU Delhi.

B.A. LL.B Seats: 110+10

(110 seats on AILET merit)

(5 seats each for Foreign Nationals and OCI/PIO for direct admission on merit).

Supernumerary Seats: One seat for Kashmiri Migrants and Two seats for Residents of Jammu & Kashmir.

L.L.M Seats: 70+10

(70 Seats on AILET merit)

(5 seats each for Foreign Nationals and OCI/PIO for direct admission on merit)

Supernumerary Seats: One additional supernumerary seat for Kashmiri Migrants

AILET Latest Syllabus

Although, Syllabus of AILET is same as CLAT but, there is a bit difference between the both-

• To start with, CLAT is a 2-hour long exam, whereas AILET is 90 minutes long. Also, the AILET question paper for both the BA LLB and LLM programme will include 150 multiple-choice questions. However, in the case of CLAT UG question paper, while there are 150 multiple-choice questions, the CLAT PG paper will include 120 objective type questions and two essay-type questions.
• Level of math is a bit lower in AILET as compared to CLAT

III. SLAT (Symbiosis Law Admission Test)

SLAT is a common written entrance test for Under Graduate law admissions into the best private law school in India i.e., Symbiosis Law School situated in Pune, Noida, Hyderabad and Nagpur.

• Exam Pattern-

The SLAT 2021 will be totally online (no offline option) of 75 marks (without negative marking).

The question pattern will be Multiple Choice Questions(MCQs) of 75 marks to be completed in 75 minutes followed by a Writing Ability Test(WAT) of another 30 minutes.

A point to note here carefully is, WAT will be evaluated by the respective college where you have paid registration fees for the admission test. Finally, WAT scores will NOT be declared along with the SLAT score-card.

The syllabus for SLAT is same as CLAT, the only difference is that SLAT has comprehension-based questions only in English section. Rest all questions are objective type questions.

SLS Pune and Noida are considered the best private college In India. Pune campus is even ranked in the NIRF rankings of law schools. Whereas, SLS Hyderabad and Nagpur aren’t considered that good.

IV. Delhi University Law Entrance Exam

Delhi University Law Entrance Test is conducted by Delhi University for admissions to various law programmes run by the Faculty of Law Department of Delhi University for PG admissions to LLB and LLM.

• Exam Syllabus

Though, The University of Delhi hasn’t provided any information for DU LLB entrance exam, On the basis of the previous years, I have compiled some topics which aspirants can consider.

i. General Knowledge & Current Affairs-

Reading Newspapers daily, specifically, articles containing any Bill or Judgments or legal information should help in preparing for this section.

• Read editorials
• Follow informative pages on Social Media
• Read newspaper daily (The Hindu)
• First page of editorials should be your best friend from now onwards
• National and international current affairs (from April 2020 to the month prior to clat examination)
• Contemporary events of significance from India and the world
• General knowledge about world leaders, industrialists, lawyers
• Arts and culture of India and world
• Historical events of continuing significance
• Ancient, Medieval History & World History - Buddhism & Jainism, Delhi Sultanate & Medieval India, French and American Revolution etc)
• Modern History - 1760AD - 2017AD (Pre and Post-Independence, Important Events, Persons, Movements and Missions)
• Geography - Indian Political and Physical Geography, World Geography, Indian Economic Geography, Universe and Earth.
• Economics - Discussion of Indian Economics, Union Budget, RBI, SEBI, World Economy and recent events
• Science (includes Physics, Chemistry & Biology) - Atomic Structures, Nuclear Reactions, Acids and Bases, Inorganic & Organic Chemistry, Newton Laws, Motion, Work, Energy & Power, Gravitation, Sound, Optics, Environment, Green House Effect, Human Physiology, Plant Physiology, Cytology and Genetics etc

ii. English Language & Comprehension

• Jumbled words/sentences
• Fill in the blanks
• Incorrect sentences
• Unseen passages
• Essay-writing
• Reading Comprehension

iii. Legal Awareness & Aptitude

• Indian Constitution, its structure, sections, and schedules
• IPC and the CrPC
• Torts
• Vicarious Liability
• Strict Liability
• Law of Crimes
• Contracts and Constitutional Law
• International Law
• Intellectual Property Rights
• Legal Awareness covering Constitutional Law and Polity

iv. Logical and Critical Reasoning-

• Series Completion
• Analogy
• Blood Relation
• Puzzle Tests
• Basic logical questions
• Assumptions
• Forcefulness of Arguments
• Inferences
• Premises and Conclusion
• Strengthening and weakening arguments
• Syllogisms
• Cause and effect
• Course of Action

v. Arithmetic

• Pie Chart
• Bar Diagram
• Bar Graph
• Tabular Diagram
• Line Graph
• Ratios and Proportions
• Basic Algebra
• Mensuration and Statistical Estimation
• Percentage
• Profit and Loss
• Volume and surface area
• Time speed and Distance
• Average

V. BLAT

BLAT conducted by Banaras Hindu University is the law entrance exam for students who are seeking to pursue Law.

Banaras Hindu University is considered to be one of the top most university in India for 3-year LLB. It was also ranked in NIRF rankings in 2020.

• Exam Pattern-

• Syllabus

The syllabus for BHU Law Entrance includes objective question based on diverse topics. The subjects that the syllabus comprises are English Comprehension, General Awareness and Current Affairs, Aptitude and Mental Ability and Common Legal Knowledge.

• The exam paper will include two sets of multiple-choice questions based on Language Comprehension in Hindi and English.
• For candidates who have opted English as the medium of answering will have to attempt English Comprehension questions given in the paper.
• For candidates who have opted for Hindi as the medium of answering will have to attempt Hindi Comprehension questions provided in the question paper.

i. GA and CA-

• Politics
• Banking and Finance
• Business
• Institutions of India
• Defence & Space
• Indian Judiciary
• Awards & Honours
• Literature
• Economics
• Indian Constitution
• Personalities
• International Relations
• Indian Industries
• Current Affairs
• Science and Technology
• History
• Geography
• Movies
• Sports
• Indian Agriculture

ii. English/ Hindi Comprehension

The English Comprehension section of BLAT 2021 syllabus is set to judge the Language and grammar capability of candidates.

• The section will include two sets of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) on the basis of Language Comprehension in English and Hindi.
• Candidates who have selected English as their medium of answering must opt for English Comprehension questions presented in the paper.
• Candidates who have selected Hindi as their medium of answering must answer Hindi Comprehension questions presented in the question paper.
• The Comprehension section covers all the topics of Hindi or English grammar only.

iii. Aptitude and Mental Ability

BLAT 2021 syllabus for Aptitude and Mental Ability is designed to judge a student’s rationale and decision-making ability.

• In this section candidates can expect questions where they have to use their logic and knowledge to solve the questions.
• This section wraps up topics such as Analogy, Blood Relations, Assertion and Reason, Coding and decoding, SeriesData, Data Sufficiency.

iv. Legal Aptitude-

• Gk/ CA Based (Recent Bills/ Acts/ Amendments, recent judgments, Committees/ Commissions, any other important legal issues)
• Legal Maxims and Legal terms
• Indian Constitution
• Basic law of torts
• Basic Law of contracts
• Landmark Judgements

VI. IIT Kharagpur Law entrance Test

Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law (RGSOIPL) is the first of its kind law school to impart legal education with IP specialization within the IIT System bringing synergy among science, technology, management and law. The School offers a Six-Semester, Three-Year Full-Time residential programme leading to the Degree of Bachelor of Laws (Hons) in Intellectual Property Law approved by the Bar Council of India. Moreover, it is ranked in top 5 law universities in India by NIRF.

• Eligibility for LLB (Hons.)

First Class Bachelors Degree in Engineering / Technology / Medicine or equivalent.
OR
First Class Masters Degree in Science or Pharmacy or equivalent.
OR
First Class MBA Degree with any of the above

• Exam Pattern-

• The evaluation method is divided into two parts – Computer based test and interview (Online).
• Both the examinations will have a weightage of 70%. Interviews will be given a weightage of 30%.
• LL.B. written paper will be comprised of English, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Logical Reasoning and Legal Aptitude.
• LL.M. written paper will only contain questions on law based on BCI approved LL.B. syllabus.
• Negative marking: In both the examinations, there will be no negative marking.

VII. LSAT India - Law School Admission Test

• Pattern-

5 Sections of 35 minutes each, So, total time= 175 minutes

Out of these four sections are for scoring purpose and one is for testing purpose in which LSAT makers experiment kind of questions they can use from next year in their examination.

• These Sections include-

i. Reading Comprehension
ii. Analytical Reasoning
iii. Two logical reasoning sections
And the unscored sections
There is no negative marking

• Colleges Accepting LSAT score-

• Jindal Global Law School
• NMIMS
• UPES
• VIT
• LPU and many more

VIII. AIL LET

AIL LET is the Law Entrance Test (LET) conducted by Army Institute of Law (AIL) for admissions to BA LLB course. The exam is conducted in online mode for a duration of 2 hours. Through AIL LET, as many as 80 BA LLB seats are offered including a quota for wards of Army Personnel. This is an institute level exam conducted in 32 test cities across India.

• Syllabus-

a. General English

• English Grammar
• Reading Comprehension
• Antonyms
• Synonyms
• Sentence Completion
• One Word Substitution
• Spotting Errors
• Sentence Completion
• Phrases
• Idioms

b. Legal Aptitude

• Legal Terms
• Current and Important Legal Facts
• The Constitution of India
• Law and Judiciary

c. Gk and Current affairs

• Current Affairs (World Sports, Economy, Science, Politics and Entertainment)
• General Awareness
• Economics
• Arts and Literature
• History

d. Mental Ability

• Completion of Series
• Logical Venn Diagrams
• Direction Sense Test
• Blood Relations
• Coding and Decoding
• Series Completion

IX. NMIMS-LAT

Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies Law Aptitude Test (NMIMS LAT) is a law entrance exam conducted by SVKM’s NMIMS Deemed-to-be-University for admissions to the following institutes:

i. NMIMS Kirit P Mehta School of Law, Mumbai
ii. School of Law, NMIMS University, Navi Mumbai
iii. School of Law, NMIMS University, Bengaluru (Bannerghatta)
iv. School of Law, NMIMS University, Indore
v. School of Law, NMIMS University, Hyderabad (Jadcherla)
vi. School of Law, NMIMS University, Chandigarh
vii. School of Law, NMIMS University, Dhule

• NMIMS LAT 2021 Syllabus

A. English Language

Synonyms and Antonyms, Idioms and Phrases, One Word Substitution, A sentence or Phrase Improvement, Active and Passive Voice, Direct & Indirect Speech, Fill in Blanks- Conjunction, Preposition, Tenses, etc., Sentence Correction, Jumbled Sentence, Paragraph Completion, Reading Comprehension

B. Current Affairs including GK

• Finance Minister Presented Union Budget 2021
• Military Coup in Myanmar
• Nagaland Celebrated its 58th Statehood Day
• Border Security Force (BSF) celebrated its 56th Raising Day
• Event Dates
• Geography
• Politics
• History
• Sports & Games
• India: An Overview
• Famous Personalities
• Books and Authors
• Economy Business
• Legal Reasoning
• Contracts.
• Criminal Law.
• Constitutional law.
• Torts
• General Legal Principles

• Logical Reasoning

• Series Completion
• Analogy
• Blood Relation
• Puzzle Tests

• Quantitative Techniques

• Basic Algebra,
• Mensuration,
• Statistical Estimation,
• Graphs,
• Numerical Information,
• Ratio and Proportion etc.

CONCLUSION

College plays a crucial part in the life of a lawyer. Law isn’t just about theoretical knowledge. It is a practical subject which requires a lot of practical knowledge. A right college could provide you with proper theoretical and practical knowledge. One of the biggest mistake of law aspirants is that they chase the name of NLU and ignore other good law colleges, this article will guide you in choosing the right college and prepare for its entrance exam.

BEST OF LUCK