CLAT Exam Analysis 2026 – The NLU Consortium conducted the CLAT 2026 exam on December 7, 2025 (2 pm – 4 pm).
With the exam now over, we bring you the detailed CLAT exam analysis covering insights like – sectional and overall difficulty, the expected cut-off, specific questions asked, section-wise weightage, good attempts, length of the paper, etc.
The exam analysis provides a Peer + Expert review of the CLAT 2026 question paper.
We also bring you the CLAT 2026 question booklet (QB) and unofficial answer key (released by coaching institutes).
So, keep reading!
Latest Updates:
- CLAT 2026 Exam Day Checklist – Reporting, Gate Closing Time, How to Handle OMR Sheet, Barred Items
- CLAT Answer Key 2026 – Date, Download Link, Mark Revision if Questions Dropped
Table of Contents
What insights will CLAT 2026 Exam Analysis Cover?
The exam analysis of CLAT 2026 is OUT. The analysis provides the following aspects:
- Section-wise difficulty (easy, moderate, difficult)
- Overall Difficulty Level
- Specific Questions Asked
- Topic-wise Weightage
- Expected Cut-off marks for all categories
- Did the CLAT 2026 question paper contain any incorrect questions
- Paper Length
Additionally, also brings you updates whether there were any technical or other issues faced by candidates during the CLAT 2026 exam.
Note that in case of technical issues/ or if the candidate is not able to complete the exam due to exam administration-related issues, exam officials may re-conduct the exam (say in affected exam centers).
CLAT Exam Analysis 2026 – Summary & Quick Highlights
- Difficulty Level: Overall moderate and more balanced compared to the CLAT 2025 exam. In other words, the difficulty was evenly spread across sections, and no part of the paper felt unfair, unpredictable, or unusually tough – unlike CLAT 2025.
- The exam followed the usual pattern of 120 questions in 120 minutes with a +1/–0.25 marking scheme.
- The English section was easy to moderate, with slightly lengthy passages and questions based on inference and contextual vocabulary.
- Current Affairs & GK was one of the easiest sections, with questions mainly from recent events and almost no static GK.
- Legal Reasoning was easy to moderate, using familiar principles–fact passages that were straightforward for prepared students.
- Logical Reasoning was the toughest section, featuring puzzle-heavy and analytical reasoning sets that made it time-consuming.
- Quantitative Techniques was moderate, containing calculative DI and basic arithmetic-based problems.
- The paper felt manageable overall but slightly time-pressed because Logical Reasoning required multiple steps per question.
- Students widely reported that the exam was fair and predictable, with no major technical or administrative issues.
- Expected cut-offs for the General category are estimated around 87–98, with 95+ considered strong for top NLUs.
- The overall structure, question styles, and difficulty distribution indicate that Logical Reasoning was the rank-deciding section for most candidates.
- OUT of syllabus questions – There were no questions in the question paper that were asked outside of CLAT 2026 exam syllabus.
- Paper Length – English: easy but lengthy; LR & QT: time-consuming. In fact, the number of questions and time were the same as previous years, but the reading and puzzles made it feel long.
CLAT 2026 Exam Analysis – Section-wise Topics, Questions Asked
| Section | No. of Qs / % | Main topic clusters / examples (memory-based) |
| English | 24 Q (20%) | RC passages on social change, environment, public policy, human behaviour; literature-inspired RCs (Sapiens, Animal Farm); inference and tone questions; contextual vocabulary, para-based inference. |
| GK & CA | 28 Q (23.3%) | Hardcore current affairs: American taxation, SCO, Air India, Pahalgam; national & international events; policies and bills like Waqf Amendment Bill, Article 200/201 (Governor’s powers), India–Nepal protests, G20 & SCO summits, Operation Sindoor, etc. Minimal static GK. |
| Legal Reasoning | 30 Q (25%) | Principle–fact passages on constitutional themes, fundamental rights, basic tort concepts, governance and same-sex marriage; classic CLAT-style legal reasoning with direct application of stated principles. |
| Logical Reasoning | 26 Q (21.7%) | Heavily AR-flavoured: blood relations, sequences, caselets, coding–decoding, arrangements; puzzle sets like ECG, Sunburst theft, family symbols, Olympiad teams; multi-step argumentative/inference questions; time-consuming. |
| Quantitative Techniques | 12 Q (10%) | DI sets on health insurance, state electricity reports; arithmetic word problems on percentage, ratio, proportion, basic calculations; 2–3 step questions needing careful calculation more than advanced concepts. |
Specific Questions / Themes Students Reported
English RC sources/themes
- Passages inspired by “Sapiens” and “Animal Farm”.
- Social issues, public policy, behaviour, environment.
GK / Current Affairs examples
- American taxation policy.
- SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation).
- Air India disinvestment/ownership questions.
- Pahalgam-related CA.
- G20 & SCO summits.
- Operation Sindoor, India–Nepal protests.
- Waqf Amendment Bill, Articles 200/201 (Governor’s powers).
Legal Reasoning
- Same-sex marriage and governance issues.
- Basic legal principles (contract, constitutional rights, etc.).
- Principle–fact based; very CLAT-standard.
Logical Reasoning
- Puzzles on ECG, sunburst theft, family symbols, Olympiad teams etc.
- Analytical sets with ordering, arrangements, relations, coding-decoding.
Quantitative Techniques
- DI sets on health insurance and electricity data.
- Arithmetic: percentage, ratio, proportion, simple calculation-based questions.
CLAT 2026 Exam Analysis – Difficulty, Good Attempts, Section-wise Weightage
| Section | No. of Qs | Typical Difficulty | Good Attempts (approx.) | Comments |
| English Language | 24 | Easy–Moderate | ~16–21 | Lengthy but straightforward; vocab tilt, lit-style RCs. |
| Current Affairs & GK | 28 | Easy / Easy–Moderate | ~22–25+ | Direct CA-based; biggest score booster. |
| Legal Reasoning | 30 | Moderate / Easy–Moderate | ~20–26 | Very CLAT-typical, predictable, high scoring. |
| Logical Reasoning | 26 | Moderate to Difficult | ~16–19 | Dominated by AR-style questions & puzzles; time trap. |
| Quantitative Techniques | 12 | Moderate (calculative) | ~7–11 | DI + arithmetic; 2–3 step calcs. |
| Total | 120 | Moderate overall | ~110+ attempts | 85–90+ seen as a high score band. |
CLAT 2026 Exam Analysis – Section-wise weightage
- Legal Reasoning – 30 Q (~25%) → Heaviest section
- Current Affairs & GK – 28 Q (~23.3%)
- Logical Reasoning – 26 Q (~21.7%)
- English – 24 Q (~20%)
- Quantitative Techniques – 12 Q (~10%)
CLAT 2026 Expected Cut-off Marks (Category-wise)
| Category | Expected CLAT 2026 Cut-off (Marks) – Top NLUs (UG) |
| General (UR) | 87 – 98 |
| OBC | 83 – 95 |
| SC | 74 – 90 |
| ST | 70 – 86 |
| EWS | 85 – 96 |
| PwD | 65 – 80 |
CLAT 2025 – Exam Analysis
The CLAT 2025 exam was on December 1, 2024 (2 pm – 4 pm) in a single slot across the country. Here we bring you a quick analysis of the exam.
- The CLAT 2025 exam followed the same exam pattern as before: 120 questions in 2 hours across five sections.
- Difficulty level: Paper overall was easy to moderate, with most sections being “easy to doable”.
- Passages in most sections were the usual length or shorter
- However, Quantitative Techniques (Quants) was considered time-consuming and lengthy, making quant potentially the bottleneck.
- There was a noteworthy inclusion/change: a passage in the Logical Reasoning section was based on Analytical Reasoning (AR) – something that many test-takers flagged as a novel or surprising inclusion.
- No major syllabus overhaul or pattern change was reported between 2024 and 2025; the structure remained largely consistent.
- There were no major reported technical snags during the exam (i.e. smooth nationwide conduct) as per available analyses.
- As per the analysis, it was predicted that the cut-off for top-tier NLUs would be high, given paper ease — general-category aspirants aiming for top NLUs may need around 92–100+ marks.
CLAT 2025 Exam: Difficulty Level, Good Attempts, Expected
| Section | No. of Questions | Difficulty Level | Good Attempt | Key Observations / Notes |
| English Language | 24 | Easy | ~ 22–24 | Passages short/readable; direct questions. |
| Current Affairs / GK | 28 | Easy | ~ 25 | Balanced mix of static + current events. Predictable topics. |
| Legal Reasoning | 32 | Easy | ~ 27–30 | Mostly straightforward reasoning; combination of static and current law. |
| Logical Reasoning (incl. AR) | 24 | Easy to Moderate | ~ 18–20 | One AR-type passage added; some tricky inference questions. |
| Quantitative Techniques | 12 | Moderate (time-consuming) | ~ 8–9 | Calculation-heavy, time-pressure — quant remained a challenge for many. |
| Overall | 120 | Easy to Moderate overall | ≈ 105–115+ (good) / 110+ (safe) | Given the overall ease, 110+ attempts are likely to secure a seat in top NLUs. |
CLAT Answer Key 2026
The Consortium of NLUs will release the CLAT 2026 answer key (provisional) likely on December 8, 2026. It will contain the keys (or answers) to questions asked in the entrance exam.
Using the keys, you can calculate the number of correct attempts and then expected score.
To calculate probable score, use this formula:
Probable Score = No. of Correct Attempts X 1 – No. of Incorrect Attempts X (0.25)
Note that the candidate is allowed to take away the carbonised OMR Response Sheet along with the QB at the end of the test.