CLAT 2021: Exam to be Conducted in July for Admissions to Law Programmes

CLAT 2021: Exam to be conducted in July for Admissions to Law Programmes

Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is a national level test that opens the gate for admission in law colleges. After getting postponed several times due to the second wave of Covid, CLAT 2021 is now being scheduled for July 23rd. Last year, when the cases of coronavirus were started declining during the month of November and December, people started hoping that now the worst is over.  At the beginning of the New Year, the government started one of the biggest vaccination drives in the world. People started living normally and put down their guards towards the virus. But the unexpected arrival of the second wave acted as a wrecking ball and once again disrupted the activities of people. After this, many educational institutions postponed several entrance exams including CLAT amid the outbreak of the second wave of the pandemic. But now as the situation is becoming better, the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) released the final examination date of CLAT 2021.

What is CLAT?

Common Law Admission Test, generally known as CLAT is a national-level entrance test for admission into 22 National Law Universities (NLUs). This test offers admission to undergraduate courses after Higher Secondary Examination or the 12th grade and to postgraduate courses after L.LB or any other equivalent degree. Apart from admissions to NLUs, CLAT scores are also considered as the benchmark by many different private as well as self-financed law colleges in India. There are twenty-two National Law Universities in India. National Law School of India University is the first NLU to be established in the country which admitted its first batch of students in 1987.

However, Delhi conducts its own separate entrance test known as the All India Law Entrance Test. Earlier the CLAT exam was scheduled on June 13 for one shift from 2 to 4 pm. Further, the last date for submission of the online application has been extended to June 15 and the Consortium of NLU released a new date of exam i.e. July 23 and the exam will be conducted in pen and paper format.

All You Need to Know About CLAT 2021:

Eligibility Criterion:

The eligibility criterion for CLAT 2021 is primarily based on the educational qualification of a candidate. In educational qualification, any candidate who has completed 10+2 or equivalent examination with the requisite score is eligible for the CLAT (UG) course. Requisite score in intermediate or equivalent examination from a recognized board is 45% marks for General/ Other Backward Class (OBC)/ Specially-abled person categories while 40% marks for Scheduled Class (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe (ST) categories to appear for CLAT for an undergraduate course.

Moreover, candidates who had appeared in the qualifying examination in March/April 2021 are also eligible to appear in CLAT 2021. Minimum marks required to appear for postgraduate program is 50% (45% in case of SC/ST categories). There will be no upper age limit for UG Programme in CLAT 2021. Candidates who want to appear in CLAT LLM should have completed graduation in LLB (3-year LLB or 5-year LLB).

Registration process:

For applying to any course, one has to go through the registration process. Similarly, to apply for the CLAT exam, candidates have to register themselves on the official portal of consortiumofnlus.ac.in. The application portal is now closed as the last date for registration was 15 June.

Admit card:

After the completion of the registration process, the authority which conducts the CLAT exam releases the admit card. The admit card is issued tentatively within a week before the exam so that candidates can identify their centre of the respective examination. The Consortium of NLUs has released the admit cards for the upcoming CLAT 2021 exam. Candidates can download their admit cards from 14 July by visiting the official website of the Consortium of NLUs. For downloading the admit cards candidates have to open the link- download admit card on the home page of Consortium and have to fill their application no or registration no and password. Without admit cards, candidates would not be permitted in the exam centre. Candidates are also advised to carry valid ID proof with their admit cards while appearing in the exam.

Exam pattern:

The CLAT exam is a test that checks the aptitude and reasoning abilities of a person. So, it comprises of five sections -Verbal Ability, Quantitative Aptitude, Logical Reasoning, General Knowledge, and Legal Aptitude. The paper is a total of 150 marks and each question carries 1 mark and for every incorrect attempt, 0.25 marks will be deducted. All these 150 questions will be given in the MCQ form for UG level and to solve those, 120 minutes will be given to the candidates. On the other hand, the PG paper will have the same pattern but the questions will be in MCQ as well as subjective format.

Application Correction:

After declaring the deadline for submission of application form, now the Consortium of National Law Universities has released the final list of test centres. Candidates are allowed to make correction in their application form by changing their preference of test centers in the recent update. They have to visit official website of Consortium of NLUs – consortiumofnlus.ac.in. to change the test centres preferences. In an official notice, it is stated that after changing the exam centres, candidates must submit the updated application form latest by July 4. After this date, no alteration will be possible in the application form.

The Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) has taken the decision of increasing the number of CLAT Test Centers in the view of the present Covid-19 situation in the country. Candidates can update their centres by following these steps:

  1. Go to the official website of the Consortium of NLUs.
  2. Candidates have to log in to their CLAT accounts.
  3. Select the ‘Edit Application’ button.
  4. Then go to the preference tab.
  5. Update the three test centre preferences.
  6. Click the Next (>) button. Scroll down, agree to the declaration and click on ‘Save Form’ button.

Delay in fixing CLAT Exam Date:

Firstly, the CLAT exam was scheduled to be conducted on May 15 but as the country witnessed a sudden surge in Covid cases, the CLAT exam got postponed up till June 13. The Consortium of NLUs stated in an official notification that it would review the COVID-19 situation and then decide the CLAT exam date. Later, the Consortium extended the CLAT application deadline till June 15.

It may be noted that the CLAT exam date has already been postponed twice this year. CLAT Consortium had also rescheduled the CLAT 2021 exam from May to June, in order to avoid a clash with the CBSE board exams. Now, the Consortium of NLUs has announced that the CLAT exam 2021 will be held on the 23rd of July.

Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs):

NLU Consortium announces changes in pattern of CLAT 2020 | SCC Blog

The Consortium of National Law Universities is an official body that conducts the national level law examination. It was established on 19th August 2017 with the aim of improving the standard of legal education and the justice system in the country. It aspires to facilitate better coordination amongst National Law Schools to achieve the highest standards of legal education in the country.

So far, twenty-two National Law Universities have joined the Consortium as founder members. The serving President of the Consortium is Professor Faizan Mustafa, Vice-Chancellor, NALSAR, and Vice-President is Professor Poonam Saxena.

Precautions Need to be Taken While Conducting CLAT Exam Amid Pandemic:

After the outbreak of the second wave, India is now recording comparatively fewer cases of Covid. Despite the fall in the infected cases the exam centres and candidates have to follow precautionary measures. The arrival of third-wave has also been predicted. So keeping the Covid-19 pandemic situation in mind, the consortium has said the CLAT 2021 exam will be held following strict COVID 19 safety protocols.

Last year, CLAT was conducted in a center-based online mode. But this year the exam will be conducted in an offline mode. So, Consortium is planning to arrange Covid safety kits for candidates, sealed examination material, and a separate room for candidates with mild Covid infections. Other than this, wearing double masks, use of sanitizers is mandatory for everyone. The consortium has also asked candidates to get vaccinated before appearing in the CLAT 2021 exam. So if you aren’t vaccinated yet, book your slot to get yourself vaccinated as soon as possible so that you can completely focus on your preparation.

To qualify any exam, proper preparation is required, and for this, a well-made book is needed that will provide a complete scope of practice. So click on the link to get the book that will assist you in the preparation of CLAT-https://schoolmegamart.com/?s=clat&post_type=product.

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