Best Law Entrance Exams Complete Guide for Students

Law Entrance Exams in India After 12th (2026-27): The Complete List, Compared

To study law after Class 12 in India, you take a 5-year integrated LLB entrance exam. The main entrance exams for law are CLAT (Common Law Admission Test), AILET (All India Law Entrance Test), LSAT—India, CUET (UG) for central universities, university tests like SLAT, and state Common Entrance Tests such as MH CET Law, TS/AP LAWCET and KLEE. CLAT is the most widely accepted and is treated as the country’s number-one law entrance exam. At Law Prep Tutorial, we’ve coached law aspirants for over a decade — this guide lays out every exam you can sit after 12th, who conducts it, what it costs, who’s eligible, and how to choose between them.

If you want to become a lawyer, clearing a law entrance exam is the very first step. These exams are the admission gateway to National Law Universities (NLUs) and other top law colleges for the 5-year integrated LLB — courses like BA LLB, BBA LLB, B.Com LLB and B.Sc LLB. The good news: you can take almost all of them from any stream — Arts, Commerce or Science.

This is the most common question every Class-12 law aspirant asks — which entrance exam for law after 12th should I actually take? There isn’t just one. There’s a national tier, a state tier, and a university tier, and smart applicants sit more than one to maximise their chances. Below is the full picture.

Every law entrance exam after 12th at a glance

Here is the master comparison of the major undergraduate (5-year integrated) law entrance exams in India for the 2026-27 cycle. Always confirm the latest dates and fees on each exam’s official notification before applying.

How to read this table: the national exams open the most doors (and the most prestigious colleges); the state CETs are your route into strong, affordable government law colleges in that state; the university/OLET tests are individual-campus backups worth adding to widen your options.

What is a law entrance exam — and what do they actually test?

A law entrance exam — also searched as a law entrance examination, lawyer entrance exam, law entry exam, an entrance test for law, or simply law exam or legal exams — is a standardised test that assesses your aptitude for legal study — not your knowledge of the law itself. You are not expected to have memorised any statutes. Instead, these exams measure five core abilities:

• English & reading comprehension — processing dense passages quickly and accurately.

• Current affairs & general knowledge — the socio-legal news of roughly the last 8-10 months, not static GK.

• Legal reasoning — applying a legal principle given inside the question to a fact situation.

• Logical reasoning — puzzles, patterns, arguments and deductions.

• Quantitative aptitude — basic Class-10-level maths and data interpretation.

That’s the shared DNA of every law entrance exam syllabus in India. What changes between exams is the weightage, the number of questions, and whether there’s negative marking.

The national law entrance exams

CLAT — Common Law Admission Test

What is the Common Law Admission Test? CLAT is India’s most important law entrance exam, conducted by the Consortium of National Law Universities. A single CLAT score is accepted by 24+ NLUs and 60+ other affiliated colleges, which is why it’s treated as the country’s number-one law exam.

• Conducted by: Consortium of NLUs

• Accepted at: 24+ National Law Universities + many private colleges

• Pattern (UG): 120 MCQs, 120 minutes, passage-based across all sections

• Negative marking: Yes (0.25 per wrong answer)

• Mode & timing: Offline, held once a year in December

• Fee: ~₹4,000 (General), lower for reserved categories

CLAT rewards reading speed above almost everything else — every section is comprehension-led. If you can read 500-600 words in about three minutes and still answer accurately, you’re built for CLAT. For a full breakdown, see our dedicated CLAT guide.

AILET — All India Law Entrance Test

The All India Law Entrance Test (AILET) is conducted by National Law University, Delhi, and is used only for admission to NLU Delhi — one of India’s most sought-after law schools. Because it’s a single-campus gateway with limited seats, it’s one of the most competitive law exams in the country.

• Conducted by: NLU Delhi

• Accepted at: NLU Delhi only

• Pattern: ~150 MCQs, 120 minutes

• Negative marking: Yes (0.25 per wrong answer)

• Mode & timing: Offline, December

• Key differentiator: AILET is unusually heavy on logical reasoning — close to double the reasoning load of CLAT. If puzzles and deduction are your strength, AILET plays to it.

LSAT—India

LSAT—India is the Indian version of the globally recognised Law School Admission Test, administered by LSAC through Pearson VUE. It’s accepted by a large group of private law schools across the country and is distinctive for having no static GK or current-affairs section — it’s a pure reasoning-and-reading test.

• Accepted at: Many private law colleges (multi-campus)

• Pattern: Reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, logical reasoning

• Negative marking: No

• Mode: Online, proctored — often held in multiple windows

LSAT—India is the exam of choice if current affairs is your weak spot, since it doesn’t test GK at all.

CUET (UG) for law

For law programmes at central universities (and several others that accept it), admission runs through CUET (UG), conducted by the NTA. It’s a computer-based test and is worth adding if you’re targeting central-university law departments alongside the NLU route.

University-level law entrance tests

SLAT — Symbiosis Law Admission Test

SLAT is conducted by Symbiosis International University for admission to its Symbiosis Law School campuses (Pune, Noida, Hyderabad, Nagpur). It’s a shorter test (typically 60 MCQs in 60 minutes) with no negative marking, and Symbiosis uses a holistic process — a strong communicator can offset a slightly lower score. See our full SLAT guide for details.

The OLET cluster (NMIMS LAT, CULEE, RULET, PUCET and more)

Beyond the big names, dozens of private and state universities run their own law entrance tests — NMIMS LAT, CULEE, RULET, PUCET and others. Because their patterns overlap heavily, aspirants often prepare for them together as a single “Other Law Entrance Tests” (OLET) block after the December exams are done, which is exactly how Law Prep Tutorial’s OLET course is structured.

State-level law entrance exams (Common Entrance Tests)

If you want a strong, affordable government law college in your home state, the state CETs are your route in — and they’re often less crowded than the national exams.

• MH CET Law (Maharashtra): A state-level CBT of 150 MCQs conducted by the Maharashtra State CET Cell, feeding thousands of 5-year and 3-year LLB seats across the state.

• TS LAWCET / AP LAWCET (Telangana & Andhra Pradesh): State law common entrance tests for the 3-year and 5-year LLB programmes at colleges in those states.

• KLEE (Kerala): The Kerala Law Entrance Examination for the state’s 5-year integrated law courses.

• Others: Most states with public law colleges run an equivalent CET — check your own state’s admission body.

Law entrance exams after graduation (the 3-year LLB route)

Not everyone enters law straight after 12th. If you already have (or are finishing) a bachelor’s degree, you take the 3-year LLB route instead of the 5-year integrated one. The entrance exams there are different — DU LLB, MH CET Law (3-year), CUET-PG for central universities, and state LAWCETs. This is a separate journey with its own eligibility. If that’s you, read our dedicated guide on law entrance exams after graduation / the 3-year LLB rather than the 5-year exams above.

Which law entrance exam should you take? (Decision guide)

Most aspirants shouldn’t pick just one. Here’s a simple way to decide where to focus:

The winning strategy is almost always CLAT + AILET + one or two backups. Sitting multiple exams costs a little more in fees but dramatically increases your odds of a good seat.

Eligibility: who can take a law entrance exam after 12th?

The eligibility for the 5-year integrated LLB is refreshingly open:

• Qualification: Pass in Class 12 (10+2) from a recognised board.

• Percentage required for LLB after 12th: Generally 45% aggregate for General/OBC candidates and 40% for SC/ST candidates (exact cut-offs vary slightly by exam and college).

• Stream: Arts, Commerce and Science are all eligible — there’s no stream restriction.

• Age limit: Most exams have removed the upper age limit; a few institution-specific tests may set one, so check the notification.

Students often ask which stream is best for law? The honest answer: none is required. Arts (especially with Political Science) gives a gentle head start on legal reasoning and current affairs, but Commerce and Science students clear these exams every single year.

Law entrance exam syllabus (2026-27)

Across CLAT, AILET and most others, prepare these five areas:

1. English / Reading Comprehension — passage-based questions on inference, tone and vocabulary.

2. Current Affairs & General Knowledge — legal and general news from the last ~10 months.

3. Legal Reasoning — principle-application questions (no prior law knowledge needed).

4. Logical Reasoning — syllogisms, arguments, puzzles, sequences.

5. Quantitative Techniques — Class-10-level arithmetic and data interpretation.

LSAT—India is the exception — it drops GK/current affairs and focuses purely on reading and reasoning.

How to prepare for a law entrance exam

Here’s the preparation approach we drill into Law Prep Tutorial students:

• Read a quality newspaper daily from the start of your prep year, focusing on the legal angle of the news — not just the headline.

• Build reading speed and stamina. Comprehension is the biggest scoring lever in CLAT; train to read fast without losing accuracy.

• Take timed, full-length mock tests weekly. Exam-day success is as much about managing 120 minutes as it is about knowledge.

• Practise legal and logical reasoning by application, not memorisation — these sections give you the principle; your job is to apply it.

• Sequence your exams: peak for CLAT and AILET in December, then switch to OLET/state-exam mocks for the January-February round.

Best law entrance exams in India (ranked by reach)

If you’re wondering which are the best law entrance exams to target, rank them by how many doors they open:

1. CLAT — widest acceptance, the NLU gateway, India’s most important law exam.

2. AILET — the key to NLU Delhi.

3. LSAT—India — broad private-college acceptance, reasoning-focused.

4. SLAT — the Symbiosis Law School route.

5. State CETs & OLET tests — strong regional and backup options.

Ready to crack your law entrance exam?

Law Prep Tutorial has been coaching CLAT and law-entrance aspirants for over a decade, producing consistent toppers and high-rankers. Whether you’re targeting CLAT, AILET, or the full OLET cluster, our online courses, mock-test series and mentor support are built around exactly the strategy in this guide. Book a free counselling session or explore our CLAT online coaching to start your preparation the right way.