Difference Between CLAT And AILET

CLAT and AILET are two prominent entrance exams for law aspirants in India. Both exams serve as a gateway to several reputed law schools in India. Both exams are significant, but understanding their patterns and scope will help you formulate an effective study plan.

Background Information 

CLAT (Common Law Admission Test)

Common Law Admission Test ( CLAT) is a national-level competitive examination for undergraduate and postgraduate program admissions in 24 National Law Universities in India. Many affiliate universities also use the CLAT examination for admission.

 

AILET (All India Law Entrance Test)

All India Law Entrance Test (AILET) is a national-level competitive examination for undergraduate, postgraduate, and PhD program admissions at National Law University, Delhi.

Who Conducts The Exam

CLAT is conducted by the Consortium of National Law Universities, comprising representative universities. Meanwhile, National Law University, Delhi, conducts AILET.

 

Eligibility Criteria 

CLAT:

Eligibility criteria for undergraduate programs (BA LLB): 

1. Candidates from General / OBC / PWD / NRI / PIO / OCI categories should have passed 12th Grade or an equivalent examination with 45% marks (or 40% for the SC/ST category).

Eligibility criteria for postgraduate programs (LLM): 

1. Candidates belonging to General/OBC/PWD/NRI/PIO/OCI categories should have an LLB or equivalent degree with a minimum of 50% marks (45% in the case of SC/ST categories).
2. Candidates appearing for their final year LLB examination are also eligible to apply.

Age limit

There is no age limit to appear for CLAT. 

AILET:

Eligibility criteria for undergraduate programs (BA LLB): 

1. Candidates should have passed 12th Grade or an equivalent examination with 45% marks (or 40% for SC/ST/Persons with Disabilities).
2. Foreign nationals are exempt from appearing for the AILET but must have scored at least 65% marks in the qualifying examination.

Eligibility criteria for postgraduate programs (LLM): 

1. Candidates should have an LLB or equivalent degree with a minimum of 50% marks (45% in case of SC/ST/persons with disabilities).
2. Candidates appearing for their final year LLB examination are also eligible to apply.

Age limit

There is no age limit to appear for AILET. 

 

Exam Pattern and Syllabus 

CLAT:

Exam Pattern and Syllabus of CLAT UG

The CLAT UG exam has 120 objective-type questions of one mark each. There is a negative marking of 0.25 marks for every wrong answer. The duration of the exam is 120 minutes. The paper has five sections - 

 

• English Language (22-26 marks)

           22-26 MCQ Questions

• Current Affairs, including General Knowledge (28-32 marks)

           28-32 MCQ Questions

• Legal Reasoning (28-32 marks)

           28-32 MCQ Questions

• Logical Reasoning (22-26 marks)

           22-26 MCQ Questions

• Quantitative Techniques (22-26 marks)

           22-26 MCQ Questions

 

Exam Pattern and Syllabus of CLAT PG

The CLAT PG exam has 120 objective-type questions of one mark each. There is a negative 

marking of 0.25 marks for every wrong answer. The duration of the exam is 120 minutes. The examination has two sections - 

• Constitutional Law
• Other areas of law such as Jurisprudence, Administrative Law, Law of Contract, Torts, Family Law, Criminal Law, Property Law, Company Law, Public International Law, Tax Law, Environmental Law, Labour and Industrial Law

 

AILET:

Exam Pattern and Syllabus of AILET UG

The AILET UG exam has 150 MCQ questions of one mark each. There is a negative marking of 0.25 marks for every wrong answer. The duration of the paper is 120 minutes. The paper has three sections - 

Section A - English Language (50 MARKS)

50 Objective type questions 

 

Section B - Current Affairs & General Knowledge (30 MARKS)

30 Objective type questions

Section C - Logical Reasoning (70 MARKS)

70 Objective type questions

 

Exam Pattern and Syllabus of AILET PG

The AILET PG exam has 100 MCQ questions of one mark each. There is a negative marking of 0.25 marks for every wrong answer. The duration of the paper is 120 minutes. The paper has two sections - 

Section A (50 MARKS) - 

Part 1: English language (25 MARKS)

 

Part 2: Legal Reasoning (25 MARKS)

 

Section B - Descriptive Paper (50 MARKS) 

Ten questions will be given based on different branches of law; choose and attempt any 2. 

 

Participating National Law Universities (NLUs) 

List of NLUs that accept CLAT scores for admission.

 

• National Law School of India University, Bangalore (NLSIU) 
• NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad (NALSAR) 
• National Law Institute University, Bhopal (NLIU) 
• The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata (WBNUJS)
• National Law University, Jodhpur (NLUJ) 
• Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur (HNLU) 
• Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar (GNLU) 
• Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow (RMLNLU) 
• Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala (RGNUL) 
• Chanakya National Law University, Patna (CNLU) 
• National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi (NUALS) 
• National Law University, Orissa (NLUO) 
• National University of Study & Research in Law, Ranchi (NUSRL) 
• National Law University & Judicial Academy, Assam (NLUJA) 
• Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, Visakhapatnam (DSNLU) 
• The Tamil Nadu National Law School, Tiruchirappalli (TNNLS) 
• Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai 
• Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur 
• Maharashtra National Law University, Aurangabad 
• HP National Law University, Shimla 
• Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur
• DR.B.R.Ambedkar National Law University, Haryana
• Gujarat National Law University Silvassa
• National Law University, Tripura Agartala

 

Process of seat allocation and counselling for CLAT.

 

1. The counselling window opens after the result is released.
2. Register for the counselling process on the portal if you can participate.
3. Pay the counselling fee of Rs. 30000 for the General category. SC/ST category students have to pay Rs. 20000. 
4. The seat allotment will take place based on the students' rank and the choices they fill out. The seat allotment will take place in multiple rounds. 
5. Students need to verify the documents at the allotted college. 
6. After verifying the document, pay the admission fee to secure your seat.

 

NLUs that accept AILET scores for admission.

National Law University, Delhi, accepts AILET score. But some private law colleges also accept AILET scores - 

1. Xavier Law School, Xavier University Bhubaneswar
2. Faculty of Law, SRM University, Sonepat
3. School of Law, The Northcap University, Gurugram
4. Ansal University, Gurugram
5. ISME Law College, Bangalore
6. Faculty of Law, Jagannath University, Bahadurgarh
7. Institute of Law and Legal Studies, SAGE University
8. Army Institute of Law, Mohali
9. BITS Law School, Mumbai
10. Raghunath Pandey Memorial Law College, Muzaffarpur
11. Vishwakarma University, Pune
12. Vinayak Mission's Law School, Chennai
13. Vidyashilp University, Bengaluru
14. Sushant University, Gurugram

 

Process of seat allocation and counselling for AILET.

The counselling for AILET is conducted by National Law University, Delhi, as soon as the merit list is released. 

1. The counselling window opens after the merit list is released. 
2. Register for the counselling process on the portal if you fall in the category-wise list.
3. Pay the registration fee of Rs. 30000 in case of General/J&K migrants/Residents. Reserved category students get a concession of Rs. 10000. 
4. After that, an allotment list containing AIR and the selected candidate scores was released. 
5. Selected candidates have to secure their seats by paying Rs. 50000. 

 

Note: The seat confirmation and counselling registration fee will be adjusted in the admission fee.

 

Competition and Difficulty Level

Level of competition associated with CLAT and AILET.

In terms of seat availability, AILET is more competitive than CLAT. Over 50000 students sit for the CLAT examination yearly, vying for 3243 undergraduate and 1373 postgraduate seats. Over 18000 students sit for the AILET examination, vying for 123 undergraduate and 81 postgraduate seats.

 

Comparison of difficulty level of questions in both exams.

AILET UG has removed sections like elementary mathematics and legal Reasoning, which has made AILET less complicated. CLAT UG has sections like legal Reasoning and quantitative aptitude. At the same time, AILET PG is more complicated than CLAT PG due to the inclusion of complex problems like legal aptitude, which delve into core legal themes. 

 

Location and Availability of Seats

Exam centres for CLAT and AILET.

The exam centres for CLAT are situated in the following places across India - 

1. Andhra Pradesh - Anantapur, Chirala, Eluru, Guntur, Kadapa, Kakinada, Kurnool, Nellore, Ongole, Rajahmundary, Srikakulam, Tekkali, Tirupathi, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram
2. Arunachal Pradesh - Itanagar / Naharlagun
3. Assam - Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Silchar, Tezpur
4. Bihar - Muzaffarpur, Patna, Arrah, Bhagalpur, Darbhanga, Purnea
5. Chhattisgarh - Bilaspur, Raipur, Chandigarh, Bhilai Nagar, Durg
6. Delhi - New Delhi
7. Goa - Panaji/Madgoan
8. Gujrat - Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Anand, Bhavnagar, Himatnagar, Jamnagar, Mehsana, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara
9. Haryana - Faridabad, Gurugram, Ambala, Hisar, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Rohtak, Sonipat, Yamuna Nagar
10. Himachal Pradesh - Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Una
11. J&K - Jammu, Srinagar, Samba
12. Jharkhand - Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Bokaro Steel City, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh
13. Karnataka - Ballari(Bellary), Belagavi(Belgaum), Bengaluru, Bidar, Davanagere, Dharwad / Hubli, Kalaburagi (Gulbarga), Hassan, Mangaluru(Mangalore), Mysuru(Mysore), Shivamogga(Shimoga), Tumakuru(Tumkur), Udupi, Vijayapura(Bijapur)
14. Kerala - Alapuzzha, ErnakulamIdukki, Kannur, Kasaragod, Kollam, Kottayam, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur
15. Madhya Pradesh - Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Sagar, Satna, Ujjain
16. Maharashtra - Akola, Amravati, Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Chandrapur, Dhule, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Latur, Mumbai/Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Nanded, Nashik, Pune, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Satara, Solapur, Thane, Wardha
17. Manipur - Imphal
18. Meghalaya - Shillong
19. Mizoram - Aizawl
20. Nagaland - Kohima
21. Odisha - Balasore, Berhampur-ganjam, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack , Dhenkanal , Rourkela , Sambalpur
22. Punjab - Amritsar, Bhatinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mohali, Patiala, Sangrur
23. Rajasthan - Alwar, Bikaner, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Sikar, Sriganganagar, Udaipur
24. Sikkim - Gangtok 
25. Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Erode, Thanjavur, Nagercoil, Tirunelveli, Tiruchirappalli, Vellore, Namakkal
26. Telangana - Khammam, Karimnagar, Warangal, Nizamabad, Mahabubnagar
27. Tripura - Agartala
28. Uttar Pradesh - Greater Noida, Meerut, Noida, Agra, Aligarh, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Mathura, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Allahabad, Ghaziabad
29. Uttarakhand - Dehradun, Haldwani, Haridwar, Roorkee
30. West Bengal - Asansol, Burdwan(Bardhaman), Siliguri, Hooghly, Barasat, Howrah, Barrackpore, Kalyani, Kolkata

 

The exam centres for AILET are situated in the following places across India - 

 

1. Gandhinagar
2. Ghaziabad
3. Greater Noida
4. Gurugram
5. Guwahati
6. Hyderabad
7. Imphal
8. Jabalpur
9. Jaipur
10. Ranchi
11. Bengaluru
12. Bilaspur
13. Bhopal
14. Chandigarh
15. Chennai
16. Cochin
17. Cuttack
18. Dehradun
19. Delhi
20. Pune
21. Thiruvananthapuram
22.  Raipur
23. Tirupati
24. Rajkot
25. Visakhapatnam
26. Varanasi
27. Jodhpur
28. Kanpur
29. Kolkata
30. Kota
31. Lucknow
32. Mangalore
33. Mumbai
34. Nagpur
35. Patna
36. Shimla
37. Siliguri
38. Silchar
39. Jammu 

 

Number of seats available in NLUs through each exam.

Number of seats available for UG - 

NLUs	Courses	UG Intake	Domicile %
NLSIU Bengaluru	BA LLB (Hons)	300	25%
NALSAR Hyderabad	BA LLB (Hons)	132	25%
WBNUJS Kolkata	BA LLB (Hons)	132	33%
NLIU Bhopal	BA LLB (Hons), B.Sc LLB, LLM	202 (BA LLB 134, B.Sc LLB 68)	50%
NLU Jodhpur	BA LLB (Hons)	120	25%
HNLU Raipur	BA LLB (Hons)	180	50%
GNLU Gandhinagar	BA LLB(Hons.),BCom LLB(Hons.),BSc LLB (Hons.), BBA LLB(Hons), BSW LLB(Hons)	172 (total seats for all the courses)	25%
GNLU Silvassa Campus	BA LLB (Hons)	66	25%
RMLNLU Lucknow	BA LLB (Hons)	169	45%
RGNUL Patiala	BA LLB (Hons)	180	10%
CNLU Patna	BA LLB (Hons), BBA LLB (Hons)	138( 69 seats each for BA LLB and BBA LLB	50%
NUALS Kochi	BA LLB (Hons)	60	49%
NLUO, Odisha, Cuttack	BA LLB (Hons), BBA LLB (Hons)	180 (BA LLB 120, BBA LLB 60)	25%
NUSRL Ranchi	BA LLB (Hons)	134	50%
NLUJA Assam, Guwahati	BA LLB (Hons)	60	50%
DSNLU Visakhapatnam	BA LLB (Hons)	138	48%
TNNLU Tiruchirappalli	BA LLB (Hons), B.Com LLB (Hons)	120 (BA LLB 60 , B.Com LLB 60)	48%
MNLU Mumbai	BA LLB (Hons) , BBA LLB (Hons)	100	62%
MNLU Nagpur	BA LLB (Hons) , BBA LLB (Hons)	120 (BA LLB 60, BBA LLB 60)	62%
MNLU Aurangabad	BA LLB (Hons) , BBA LLB (Hons)	120 (BA LLB 60, BBA LLB 60)	62%
HPNLU Shimla	BA LLB (Hons) , BBA LLB (Hons)	120 (BA LLB 60, BBA LLB 60)	25%
DNLU Jabalpur	BA LLB (Hons)	120+14 superannuary seats	50%
DBRANLU, Sonipat, Haryana	BA LLB (Hons)	120	25%
NLUT Agartala	BA LLB (Hons)	60	30%
NLU Delhi	BA LLB (Hons)	123
Total		3366

 

Number of seats available for PG - 

 

NLSIU Bengaluru	120	25%
NALSAR Hyderabad	66	25%
WBNUJS Kolkata	100	33%
NLIU Bhopal	60	50%
NLU Jodhpur	50	25%
HNLU Raipur	90	-
GNLU Gandhinagar	57	25%
GNLU Silvassa Campus	33	25%
RMLNLU Lucknow	48	50%
RGNUL Patiala	60	-
NUALS Kochi	60	49%
NLUO, Odisha, Cuttack	50	25%
NUSRL Ranchi	60	50%
NLUJA Assam, Guwahati	40	50%
DSNLU Visakhapatnam	69	-
TNNLU Tiruchirappalli	60+3 superannuary seats	50%
MNLU Mumbai	50	66%
MNLU Nagpur	60	62%
MNLU Aurangabad	60	62%
HPNLU Shimla	80	25%
DNLU Jabalpur	50+7 superannuary seats	50%
DBRANLU, Sonipat, Haryana	-	-
NLUT Agartala	50	30%
NLU Delhi	81
Total	1454

 

Application Process and Fees

 

Application process for AILET

Step 1: Online Registration

Students have to register online on the official website of NLU Delhi - https://nludelhi.ac.in and complete the necessary details in the form. Further, they must upload all the documents and pay the application fee. 

Step 2: AILET Admit Card

NLU Delhi issues admit cards to students who successfully register for the examination. Candidates have to carry the admit card on examination day. Any student not carrying the admit card cannot appear for the examination.

Application process for CLAT

Step 1: Online Registration

Students must register online on the official website  https://consortiumofnlus.ac.in and complete the necessary details in the form. Further, they must upload all the documents and pay the application fee. 

Step 2: CLAT Admit Card

A consortium of NLUs issues admit cards to students who successfully register for the examination. Candidates have to carry the admit card on examination day. Any student not carrying the admit card cannot appear for the examination.

Application fees and any additional charges.

Application Fee for CLAT - 

General/ Other Backward Class (OBC)/ Persons with Disability (PwD)/ Non-Resident Indians (NRI)/ Persons of Indian Origin (PIO)/ Overseas citizens

(OCI)/ Kashmiri Migrant - Rs. 4000

Scheduled Class (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe (ST) - Rs. 3500

BPL candidates from SC and ST categories - Rs. 3500

 

Application Fee for AILET - 

General/ Other Backward Class (OBC)/ Persons with Disability (PwD)/ Non-Resident Indians (NRI)/ Persons of Indian Origin (PIO)/ Overseas citizens

(OCI)/ Kashmiri Migrant - Rs. 3050

Scheduled Class (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe (ST) - Rs. 1050

BPL candidates from SC and ST categories - Exempted

 

Conclusion

 

Both CLAT and AILET give an excellent opportunity to secure admissions to reputable law colleges in India. Through AILET, students get admission to only NLU, Delhi, whereas, through CLAT, students get admission to 22 NLUs across India. You can prepare a common strategy for preparation as the syllabus and pattern is similar. The key to success is clear concepts, regular practice, time management, and confidence.  

 

FAQs

 

How can I prepare for CLAT and AILET effectively?

To study effectively, you must first understand the syllabus and exam pattern. After that, prepare a study plan for each section or join law coaching.

How do the eligibility criteria differ for CLAT and AILET?

The eligibility criteria for CLAT and AILET are the same for the general category but slightly differ for the reserved category. 

Is one exam more competitive than the other?

Yes, AILET is more competitive than CLAT as there are limited seats, and the number of students appearing for the exam is more significant. If a student clears CLAT, he will get admission to one of the NLUs, but this is not the case with AILET. 

Can I apply for both CLAT and AILET simultaneously?

Yes, you can simultaneously apply for CLAT and AILET.

What are the career opportunities after clearing CLAT or AILET?

After clearing AILET or CLAT, you can pursue a Bachelor of Law (LLB) and Master of Laws (LLM).