How To Prepare for CLAT 2025 (Notification Expected): CLAT Preparation Tips & Strategy

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is the leading entrance test for India’s 26 National Law Universities (NLUs). Every aspiring lawyer in India aims to make it to one of the top 26 NLUs, a launchpad for an illustrious law career. As of 2025, approximately 70,000 students compete annually for around 2,500–3,000 seats, making the competition fierce. Getting there can be a challenging route. You need to have the aptitude for law, along with the hours of dedicated hard work. Keep reading this blog to know about the CLAT exam pattern and a strategy on how to prepare for CLAT.

Latest Update: The Consortium of Law is will release the CLAT Notification 2026 in a few days with the exam date and registration. The CLAT 2026 exam will be tentatively held any day between 10th December to 20th December, but a final announcement is yet to come.

 

 

What is the CLAT 2025 exam pattern?

You can prepare for CLAT better when you’re familiar with the exam pattern. This enables you to focus on sections that matter more. You can allocate time and energy to the right sections, questions, and answers.

Key pattern updates for CLAT 2025:

• Total Questions: 120 (reduced from 150 in CLAT 2024)
• Duration: 2 hours, pen-and-paper mode
• 5 Sections: English, Current Affairs & General Knowledge, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, Quantitative Techniques
• Exam Date (Tentative): December 14, 2025
• Registration (Tentative): July 2025.
• Marking Scheme: +1 for each correct answer, -0.25 for each incorrect answer.

 

Subject	Number of questions	Percentage weightage
English Language	22-26 questions	20%
Current Affairs, including General Knowledge	28-32 questions	25%
Legal Reasoning	28-32 questions	25%
Logical Reasoning	22-26 questions	20%
Quantitative Techniques	10-14 questions	10%

This shift focuses on accuracy, depth, legal reasoning, and analytical skills, making strategic preparation essential.

 

What is the CLAT exam 2025 syllabus?

The CLAT test is essentially a general aptitude test designed to assess how well your critical and analytical faculties operate. It doesn’t require you to have any prior knowledge of law concepts. The CLAT exam aims to check if you’ve the ideal problem-solving attitude and can sustain a high-level law career.

Here are the topics that you should cover during your CLAT preparation strategy.

 

Sections	Topics Covered
English	Comprehension passages, Grammar, word meanings, incorrect/correct sentences
Mathematics	Algebra, profit and loss, time and work, average, speed and distance, permutation-combination, and Venn diagrams, statistical estimation, and Mensuration
General Knowledge & Current Affairs	Static general knowledge, including history, politics, geography, and the environment. Current affairs of national and international importance, sports, new appointments, awards, honors, etc.
Logical Reasoning	Logical and Analytical reasoning skills
Legal Aptitude	Study of law, Research aptitude, Problem-solving ability, Questions based on hypothetical situations, and Important court decisions

 

Know more: HOW TO READ A NEWSPAPER FOR CLAT PREPARATION?

How to prepare for CLAT 2025: Section-by-Section Strategy

Let’s focus on some tips and strategies to crack the CLAT 2025/26. First, understand the sections and study plan:

1. CLAT English Language Preparation (22–26 Questions): 

The English section aims to test candidates’ comprehension, analytical, grammar, and vocabulary skills. You should prepare for some important topics English section of the CLAT exam, like Grammar, Vocabulary, Antonyms/Synonyms, and Idioms and Phrases.

Tips to remember:

• Focus on reading comprehension using 400 – 500 word passages with inference-based questions
• Regularly read editorials from The Hindu, Indian Express, and The Guardian to build speed and vocabulary. Start reading more. Books, essays, editorials, and articles will help you improve your speed reading, skimming, and comprehension skills.
• Start reading passages with a purpose. Instead of just reading and then moving on, make it a point to write down their synopsis. This way, you can judge your understanding of the passage.
• Daily practice for English grammar as a religious habit and review your vocabulary drills (15–20 new words every day). You can take help from any approved grammar books for Class 9th and 10th.

2. CLAT GK and Current Affairs preparation (28-32 Questions):

Your proficiency in current affairs and awareness about various aspects of General Knowledge is tested. The important topics for GK are arts & culture, history, national, and international events of the last year.

Tips to remember:

• GK and Current Affairs remains the heaviest scoring section. Reading newspapers, monthly magazines, and periodicals should give you enough knowledge about current affairs. 
• Brush up on your static GK from NCERT social science books.
• Focus on: major national/international events, newspapers, recent journals, landmark court judgments, scientific discoveries, sports milestones, government schemes, and other non-fiction sources.
• Sign up online for GK resources such as the one provided by GKToday. They have free quizzes across hundreds of topics to assess your knowledge level.
• Revise the information from both the current year (last 12 months) and the past year (2023‑24) topics.

 

3.   CLAT Legal Reasoning Preparation (28-32 Questions)

You’re required to have the proficiency on general awareness of legal and moral issues. The question paper involves questions on legal matters, public policy and moral philosophy. A reading passage of 450 words was  provided in the previous year exams. The passage was based on legal matters and public policy.

Tips to remember:

• This section now carries the most weightage.
• While you don’t need in-depth legal knowledge, reading about core concepts and terminologies will make the passages easier to crack.
• Start reading essays and articles on blogs like LiveLaw, BarandBench, and Politico. Even newspapers carry many legal cases, which can further your knowledge in this field.
• Practice with passage-based law problems, focusing on Constitutional law, Criminal law fundamentals, Key Supreme Court judgments, Amendments, and Bills from the last 5 years
• Read case studies illustrating rights, duties, contracts, torts.

 

4. CLAT Logical Reasoning Preparation (22-26 Questions)

You can prepare for the logical reasoning section in CLAT exam with the help of Logic Games, Relationships, and Analogies. As a prerequisites, you should be able to identify the premises and conclusions in the passage given in the exam.

Tips to remember:

• The section Contains puzzles, syllogisms, pattern recognition, analogies, deducing conclusions
• Use convergent methods: Try to eliminate options quickly to manage the time wisely
• Underline the different parts of the sentence and relate them to one another. Which one modifies the other? Who is the subject? What is the tense? What is happening in the sentence?
• A similar strategy can also be applied to critical passages. Underline essential phrases and sentences. Find out what the author wants to say. What are their primary arguments? What is the central premise?
• Learn to read sentences like you do math equations. In an equation, each variable and constant are defined by a fixed relationship. Moreover, this relationship doesn’t necessarily move in the order it is represented in. However, once you understand the relationship between the parts, you will realize that there can only be one subjective answer.

5. CLAT Quantitative Aptitude Preparation (10-14 Questions)

You must learn the basic fundamentals of mathematics from the Class 9th and 10th. Focus on practicing the mock papers which will boost your confidence. This section includes negative marking for incorrect answers.

Tips to remember:

• Begin with the basics. Pick up your NCERT and revise all the major concepts taught till the 10th standard. Focus on the elementary arithmetic and data interpretation of Class 10th.
  
• Practice the basic questions to reinforce these concepts before picking up books like RS Aggarwal and AP Bhardwaj. Make it a point to practice a fixed number of quant questions daily to become faster and more accurate.
• Attempt mock papers regularly. Talk to your mentors to create a list of shortcuts—tips and tricks for solving problems faster.

 

Also Read: CLAT Toppers Strategy – 9 Tips from CLAT Toppers to Ace CLAT 2025

How to Prepare for CLAT?

Here is a basic yet the best preparation plan for CLAT 2026 for you:

1. Identify Your Current Stand and the Syllabus: 

Most aspirants begin their CLAT preparation in the 11th or 12th standard. So should you. But before you start, it will be prudent to understand your current aptitude level. Identify where you stand right now by analyzing your interest in the law and the available time in hand. You should also know the CLAT syllabus, exam pattern, and marking scheme properly.

 

2. Identify and Gather All Resources

List down the needed resources for the CLAT preparation, such as previous year’s papers, books, and mock tests. Analyze your strong and weak areas and make a plan to practice the papers. Books, videos, previous years’ papers, practice questions, and notes from toppers should be part of your list. 

While your coaching institute will provide a lot of content and cover most topics, you should also invest in self-study books. 

3. Make a timetable for yourself and stick to it.

Once you’ve understood your syllabus and the material you must finish, it’s time to allocate time. Make a customizable time table as per your preference and the time which you can manage easily every day.

Focus more on the subject and the tasks instead of the number of study hours. Don’t overburden yourself, and include ample breaks in between. Keep your weekends free for extracurricular activities and hobbies to rejuvenate yourself. Fix a specific period for daily study and revision. Studying during the same period every day is advised to condition your mind correctly. 

4. Join a renowned coaching institute. 

While many aspirants prefer self-study, most choose to attend leading coaching institutes. Coaching programs provide curated content, access to the best teachers, practice sessions, and mock tests, ensuring that you are best prepared to face the rigours of CLAT. 

With coaching, you can instil a sense of discipline in yourself and give your CLAT preparation strategy the required edge. It will also bring a structured approach, curated learning pathways, and comprehensive material. 

5. Make the most of your prep.

To make the most of your CLAT prep, follow these steps:

• Skim through that day’s content 10 minutes before class begins. 
• Pay extra attention during concept classes. Ask doubts and discuss issues with your mentors to thoroughly clarify your concepts. 
• Solve all the in-class exercises and revise them again after a week. 
• Solve all the at-home practice questions and revise them again after a week. 
• Once a topic is covered, attempt a topic-wise test and analyze your score. 
• Find your mistakes, discuss them with your mentors, and repeat steps 3 to 5 again. 

6. Read newspapers regularly 

The new pattern of CLAT is heavily focused on comprehension and reading. You must acquaint yourself with the language and the hours of concentrated reading required during CLAT. 

Newspapers give you a two-pronged advantage:

• First, you brush up on your current affairs by reading the national, international, and judicial news. 
• Second, you improve your reading speed and comprehension by reading the editorial sections. 

Our mentors suggest reading The Hindu for its editorial, The Telegraph and Indian Express for their news coverage, and Times of India for varied perspectives. 

Clearing the CLAT with good marks and getting into a top NLU opens the doors for a rewarding legal career in corporate offices, judicial systems, and PSUs. These pointers should help you answer the question ‘how to prepare for CLAT’.

Know more: How to Attempt Lengthy Passage-Based Questions For CLAT 2025 

 

When Should I Begin the CLAT Preparation? Timeline & Daily Plan:

Here are some preparation strategies for you based on the timeline you have before the CLAT exam. Identify your available time and important sections to be covered and follow these plans to cover the syllabus well in time.

A. Long-term Planning: 8–12 months

• Focus on building the fundamental skills, like reading, vocabulary, legal awareness, and mathematics. This will strengthen your concepts and help to understand the advanced problems.
  
• Start interdisciplinary learning—combine legal reasoning with current affairs and logic drills.
• Use psychology to your advantage. Set micro-deadlines to counter procrastination.
  

B. Mid-term: 6–8 months

• Begin full-length section-wise practice. Maintain a daily / weekly revision cycle focusing on fundamentals and weak areas
  
• Have discussions with your peers about the syllabus and current affairs. You can have debates and understand the various arguments on different topics. This will assist you in figuring the main theme and conclusions out in a topic together.

C. Short-term: 3 months (90-days)

Based on your recent study plans, segment your prep into:

• Days 1–30: Build your foundation with daily practice of grammar, at least 4 RC passages, 20 logic questions, basics of legal reasoning, GK notes, and math.
  
• Days 31–60: Practice everyday drill with puzzles, case laws, monthly current affairs, and data interpretation.
  
• Days 61–90: Focus on attempting as many mock tests as you can. Consume at least 2-3 full mocks weekly, and afterwards, review your answers, analyze the errors, and make adaptive strategies to reduce the mistakes. Focus on accuracy—refine, don’t expand content
  

 

Read More: How to prepare for CLAT in 3 months: Tips & Study Plan for CLAT 2026

4. Mock Tests & Analysis

Mocks are vital for your CLAT exam preparation.

• Start with 1 mock test per week, moving to 2–3 weekly in the final phase.
  
• Track your performance with the help of time taken in each section, your accuracy, types of question and your error patterns. This will help you identify the problem areas and change your strategies.
  
• Maintain an Error Log: Identify your error pattern and categorize the recurring mistakes. Let’s say you make mistakes due to the misinterpretation, grammar, and calculation errors.
• Practice self-care—short breaks, moderate exercise, and sleep keep performance sharp

5. Time Management & D‑Day Strategy

• Dedicate your time to each section, for e.g. you can devote 25-30 min to English, 10-15 min to CA including GK, 30-35 min to Legal, 25-30 min to Logical Reasoning, and 15-20 min to Quantitative Aptitude.
  
• First try to solve the “low-hanging fruits” only and spare the tough questions for a return pass.
  
• For tricky questions, eliminate 2 least possible options and guess only if risk is minimal.
  
• Follow your mock-test progress and accuracy. This will ensure you more calm and familiarity with the subject.
• Revise GK for the last minute and avoid any new material. Practice reading passages silently without marking anything on it.
• Maintain your calm and breath. Stay quiet and focus one question at a time.
• Carry all the essentials, like admit card, valid ID, water, light snack. Reach early to avoid pre-exam stress.

 

CLAT 2025 FAQs

Can I prepare for CLAT in one month?

Proper guidance and strategy make it possible to prepare for CLAT in one month.

 

Is quantitative aptitude easy if I needed to have maths in my +2?

 Yes, the maths level required to do well on the quant section of CLAT 2025 is that of the 10th class.

 

Does CLAT have a negative marking?

 Yes, CLAT has a negative mark of 0.25 for every wrong answer.

 

When should I start preparing for CLAT 2025?

 Depending on your current aptitude, you should begin CLAT 2025 preparation 6-12 months in advance.

 

How many hours per day should I study for CLAT?

 You must put in at least 3 hours daily to ensure 100+ marks in CLAT 2025 and admission to the top NLUs. 

 

What are some last-minute tips to do well in CLAT 2025?

In your last days, revise the topics and take as many mock exams as possible. Sleep and eat well to avoid falling ill and missing crucial study hours.