Top NLUs and Their CLAT 2025 Cut-Off Trends: What to Expect This Year
The Common Law Admission Test is one of the most important entrance exams at the national level in India. The Consortium of National Law Universities conducts this examination. Admission for undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) law programs takes place at 22 participating NLUs through this entrance examination. The CLAT 2025 examination is planned for December 1, 2024, between 2 PM to 4 PM. 120 MCQs are planned over five key areas: the English Language, Current Affairs (including General Knowledge), Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Techniques. Each question carries one mark, while there is a penalty of 0.25 marks for incorrect answers.
While exams approach, understanding the trend regarding the cut-off also assumes significance for candidates aspiring for admission to top NLUs.
CLAT Cut-Off 2025 (Category-wise) Expected
The cut-off marks of CLAT are determined depending upon various factors like applicant's number, exam toughness level, and number of available seats in the NLUs. For CLAT 2025, cut off is expected to be following this:
- General Category: 90-95
- OBC: 70-75
- Scheduled Caste (SC): 60-65
- Scheduled Tribe (ST): 60-65
- Economically Weaker Sections (EWS): 70-75
- Persons with Disabilities (PWD): 50-55.
These figures mark a small rise in competitiveness, considering the number of applicants will likely be increasing this year.
CLAT 2025 Cut-Off Marks for Top 10 NLUs
The expected cut-off marks for the top National Law Universities according to previous trends are as follows:
| NLU Name |
Expected Cut-Off Marks |
| NLSIU Bangalore |
95+ |
| NALSAR Hyderabad |
95+ |
|
WBNUJS Kolkata
|
90+ |
| NLU Jodhpur |
85+ |
| NLU Bhopal |
85+ |
| GNLU Gandhinagar |
85+ |
| MNLU Mumbai |
82+ |
| RMLNLU Lucknow |
78+ |
| NLU Odisha |
75+ |
| MNLU Nagpur |
75+ |
These cut-offs reflect the competitive landscape and highlight the institutions that continue to attract top talent.
The cut-off marks for individual NLUs are very important for candidates to estimate their chances of admission. The expected cut-off marks for different categories at leading NLUs are as follows:
| NLU Name |
General |
EWS |
OBC |
SC |
ST |
| NLSIU Bengaluru |
100+ |
95+ |
90+ |
83+ |
78+ |
| NALSAR Hyderabad |
100+ |
95+ |
90+ |
82+ |
78+ |
| WBNUJS Kolkata |
98+ |
|
56+ |
80+ |
74+ |
| NLU Jodhpur |
95+ |
|
88+ |
79+ |
72+ |
| GNLU Gandhinagar |
95+ |
|
85+ |
76+ |
70+ |
These figures depict what a candidate must aim for in preparation.
CLAT Cut-Off Rank 2025 (for Seat Allotment)
Rank always plays a very important role when it comes to the allotment of seats in counseling processes. According to the pattern of the previous years, here are some expected ranks that will hit due to the projected cutoff ranges:
- General Category: 1 to 250
- OBC Category: 950 to 1100
- SC Category: 3000 to 5000
- ST Category: 6000 to 8000
These ranks will determine candidates' eligibility for admission into their preferred NLUs based on their CLAT scores.
Factors That Affect CLAT Cut-off Marks 2025
CLAT is an entrance exam in India for law aspirants. And, various factors influence cut-off marks each year. It makes the candidate better strategize his or her preparation. Some of the factors that have an effect on CLAT cut-off marks for the year 2025 are as follows:
1. Difficulty Level of the Exam
The cut-off scores are heavily dependent on the level of difficulty of the CLAT paper. Normally, if the exam is perceived as a tough one, then cut-offs go down because not too many students score high marks. A moderate or easy paper normally has high cut-offs because the performance of students is good on the whole.
2. Number of Candidates Appearing
This in turn is directly proportionate to the competition level with a higher number of appearing candidates usually increasing the cut-off marks since more students try for fewer seats and subsequently better scores are required to be selected235. For example, it is estimated that nearly 60,000 aspirants will appear in CLAT 2025.
3. Number of Available Seats
The number of available seats in NLUs also determines cut-off marks. The lesser the number of available seats, the higher the cut-offs as more students will be vying for those seats. In 2025, about 3,700 seats are expected to be available in different NLUs.
4. Candidates' Performance
The cut-off is determined on the basis of the overall performance of candidates in the exam. If a large number of students perform well, then the cut-off increases. Conversely, if many students perform poorly, then the cut-off decreases.
5. Reservation Policies
Each class, such as General and OBC, SC/ST categories, etc has different cutoffs because the NLUs reserve certain percent seats which alter the nature of overall competition and in turn shift all cut-offs about such classes.
6 Marking Scheme alterations
Any changes in the marking scheme can also affect the overall score and subsequently the cut-off marks. For instance, if penalties for wrong answers change or if the scoring system changes, it may result in different scores for candidates.
7. Historical Trends and Previous Year Performance
Historical trends from previous years have given insight into what expected cut-offs are. Recent years with higher performance or lower difficulty exams may set precedence for future expectations.
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FAQs
1) What is the CLAT cut-off? How is it calculated?
CLAT cut-off means the minimum marks or marks required to get admitted to NLUs. The minimum score is calculated by various parameters that include the difficulty level of the exam and also candidate's performance.
2) Are CLAT cut-offs for both UG and PG?
No, there are cut-offs for undergraduate and postgraduate programs.
3) How do cut-offs change with an increase in the difficulty level of the exam?
A tougher exam generally leads to lower scores in total, which may lead to lower cut-offs.
4) Do domicile reservations impact the cut-off?
Yes, domicile reservations generally reduce cut-offs for domicile candidates compared to non-domicile candidates.
5) What is the difference between the CLAT merit list and the cut-off?
The merit list is a list that ranks candidates based on their scores, while the cut-off is the minimum score required for admission.
6) Where can I find the category-wise official CLAT cut-offs?
Official category-wise cut-offs will be published on NLU websites and through announcements from the Consortium of NLUs after results are declared.
