CLAT 2025 Eligibility Criteria – Age, Qualification, Attempts & Reservation

For CLAT 2026, candidates for the Undergraduate (UG) program must have passed the 10+2 or an equivalent examination from a recognized board or university. A minimum of 45% aggregate marks is required for candidates belonging to General, OBC, PwD, NRI, PIO, and OCI categories. For SC and ST categories, a minimum of 40% aggregate marks is required. Candidates appearing for their 12th-grade examination in March/April 2026 are also eligible to apply, provided they submit proof of passing the qualifying examination at the time of admission, typically by September 30, 2026. There are no specific subject-stream requirements; candidates from any academic stream can apply for CLAT UG.

The Consortium of National Law Universities has specified that there is no upper age limit for candidates appearing in the CLAT UG program. While no strict minimum age is officially prescribed, candidates typically complete their 10+2 examination around 17 or 18 years of age. Since there is no upper age limit, age relaxation benefits for various categories are not applicable in terms of extending the maximum age. However, percentage relaxation in qualifying marks is provided for reserved categories.

CLAT 2026 provides relaxations primarily in the minimum qualifying marks for certain reserved categories as per the Consortium of National Law Universities guidelines. Candidates belonging to SC, ST, and PwD categories are required to secure a minimum of 40% aggregate marks in their 10+2 or equivalent examination, as opposed to 45% for General, OBC, NRI, PIO, and OCI categories. To avail these benefits, candidates must possess and upload valid, up-to-date category certificates during the online registration process. The verification of these documents will follow the official protocol established by the conducting authority, and benefits like seat reservations will be applied during the centralized counseling process based on merit and the reservation policies of participating National Law Universities.

CLAT 2026 is open to Indian citizens, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs), and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) as per the Consortium of National Law Universities rules. For this national-level examination, there are no specific domicile requirements for appearing in the test itself. However, domicile status may be relevant for seat reservations at individual National Law Universities, which have state-specific domicile policies. NRI and Foreign applicants are eligible to apply, but they should verify the specific admission guidelines and quotas directly with the individual National Law Universities, as foreign nationals may have a different admission process, sometimes requiring them to apply through an NRI quota or in some cases not requiring them to appear for CLAT.

Before preparing for CLAT 2026, it is essential to know that there is no cap on the number of times a candidate can attempt the examination. Unlike some other competitive exams, the Common Law Admission Test for both undergraduate and postgraduate programs allows unlimited attempts. This means candidates can appear for the CLAT UG examination as many times as they wish, provided they meet the other stipulated eligibility criteria for each attempt. Consequently, there are no category-based relaxations on the number of attempts since no such limit exists.

No specific restrictions are imposed on the number of attempts for CLAT, provided candidates meet the eligibility criteria each time they apply.