Upcoming Law Entrance Exams 2027: Dates, Eligibility, Pattern and Complete List

Every counselling season we get some version of the same panic call: "Sir CLAT to pata hai, par baaki exams kab hain?" Parents want a straight answer, students want a checklist, and half the confusion honestly comes from old blog posts that never got updated after a notification changed.

So here's the current picture — not recycled from last year's article, but rebuilt around what's actually been confirmed for the upcoming cycle, including the exam dates NLUs have already locked in. There's no single exam that works for everyone. CLAT, AILET, MH CET Law, SLAT, CUET PG, and a handful of state-level tests all lead to different colleges through different routes. The smart way to approach this isn't "which exam is best" — it's "which exam gets me into the college I actually want," and then working backward from there.

A quick note before you read further: exam dates and eligibility criteria are set by the conducting bodies, not by us or any other website. Where a confirmed date is given below, we've pulled it from the official notification. Where it isn't confirmed yet, we've said so plainly instead of guessing and presenting it as fact.

Quick overview — Law Entrance Exams 2027

• CLAT 2027 UG & PG 5-Year LLB / LLM Confirmed — 6 December
• AILET 2027 UG & PG BA LLB / LLM Confirmed — 13 December
• MH CET Law UG 5-Year LLB Notification awaited
• MH CET Law UG/PG 3-Year LLB Notification awaited
• SLAT UG 5-Year LLB Schedule awaited
• CUET PG PG LLM Schedule awaited
• AP LAWCET UG/PG LLB Check official notification
• TS LAWCET UG/PG LLB Check official notification

Why does this even need explaining — why so many exams?

Most professional courses in India funnel through one dominant entrance test. Law doesn't work that way. A student chasing an NLU seat needs CLAT. Someone set on NLU Delhi specifically needs AILET, because — and this trips a lot of people up — NLU Delhi doesn't accept CLAT scores at all.

Maharashtra-based students look at MH CET Law. Symbiosis aspirants need SLAT. None of these exams substitute for each other. So "preparing for law entrance exams" isn't really one task — it's picking two or three exams that connect to the colleges you're actually targeting, and then building one preparation plan around that shortlist. Miss an application window because you assumed there'd be time later, and an otherwise realistic college goes off the table before your preparation even matters.

Law entrance exams after 12th

If you're finishing Class 12 and eyeing a 5-year integrated law programme — BA LLB, BBA LLB, or similar — this is your list.

CLAT 2027

CLAT is run by the Consortium of National Law Universities and remains India's largest law entrance exam by sheer number of applicants. It gets you into 26 member NLUs.
The Consortium has released the official notification. Here's what's confirmed:

• Exam date: Sunday, 6 December, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
• Mode: Offline (pen and paper)
• Registration window: 3 August to 31 October
• Pattern: 120 MCQs, 2 hours, across English Language, Current Affairs & GK, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Techniques

Students appearing for their Class 12 board exams in March/April can still apply, provided they meet eligibility conditions by the time of admission. Worth flagging — the Consortium has also floated an Expert Committee Report suggesting possible reforms, but those changes (if approved) would apply from CLAT 2028 onward, not this cycle. Prepare with the current pattern.

AILET 2027

AILET is conducted solely by NLU Delhi, and it's genuinely the only door into that university — no CLAT score gets you in. NLU Delhi released its own notification a day after CLAT's, and the two exams have landed a week apart for three years running now, which spares common aspirants from choosing between them

• Exam date: Sunday, 13 December, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
• Applications open: 7 August
• Application deadline: around 10 November (tentative, per the notification schedule)
• Admit card: expected around late November
• Pattern: 150 questions, 120 minutes, covering English, GK & Current Affairs, and Logical Reasoning, with 0.25 marks deducted per wrong answer

NLU Delhi ranks second in the NIRF Law rankings, right behind NLSIU Bangalore — which is exactly why so many students who miss CLAT's top bracket still end up perfectly happy chasing an AILET seat instead.

MH CET Law

If Government Law College Mumbai, ILS Pune, or any other Maharashtra institution is on your list, this is your exam — and it covers both the 5-year LLB route straight out of Class 12 and the 3-year LLB route for graduates, under one test umbrella.

The notification for the upcoming cycle hasn't dropped yet. Going by the previous cycle (notification in November, 3-year exam in early April, 5-year exam in early May), a similar notification-to-exam window is a reasonable bet this time around too — but don't build your calendar around a guess. Watch the Maharashtra CET Cell's website directly once the season starts.

SLAT and the rest

SLAT gets you into Symbiosis's five law campuses — Pune, Noida, Hyderabad, Nagpur, and Vizag. Its schedule isn't out yet either, so keep checking Symbiosis's own portal rather than relying on last year's dates.

Beyond these four, there's a genuine long tail of options depending on where you live — AP LAWCET and TS LAWCET for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, plus a scatter of university-specific entrance tests. None of these are "extra" exams to collect for the sake of it. They only matter if a college on your actual shortlist requires them.

Law entrance exams after graduation (LLM)

Already hold an LLB and thinking about an LLM? The list gets shorter, but the stakes around getting the details right go up, since a mistake here usually means a wasted year.

CLAT PG — sometimes called CLAT LLM — is the main postgraduate route into the same 24-plus participating NLU network. Before applying, check current eligibility and the specific universities accepting CLAT PG scores this cycle, since not every NLU takes every category of applicant identically.

AILET PG has gone through a real pattern change that a lot of older prep material still hasn't caught up with. It used to include a descriptive/essay component alongside MCQs. That's gone. It's now a fully objective test, and NLU Delhi's negative marking rule (0.25 per wrong answer) applies here too. If a coaching PDF you're using still mentions essay-writing for AILET PG, it's outdated — don't waste time prepping for a section that no longer exists.

CUET PG (Law) is the third major route, accepted across a number of central and state universities for LLM admission. Requirements vary by institution, so check the specific programme's eligibility page rather than assuming CUET PG works identically everywhere.

About LSAT-India — it's gone

If an old article, coaching brochure, or a senior's notes still mention LSAT-India as a live option, that information is stale. It's been discontinued since 2025. This is one of those cases where "law entrance exam" content ages fast — conducting bodies change their processes, and a two-year-old blog post can quietly steer you wrong. Verify anything you read against a current source, this one included.

So which exam should you actually sit for?

Work from your target college outward, not the other way round.

• l Want an NLU? CLAT is close to mandatory.
• l Specifically want NLU Delhi? AILET — there's no alternate path in.
• l Maharashtra colleges on your list? MH CET Law.
• l Symbiosis appeals to you? SLAT.
• l Already have your LLB and want an LLM? Pick between CLAT PG, AILET PG, and CUET PG based on which university you're actually chasing.

Sitting for more than one exam is common and usually sensible — a Class 12 student with NLUs in mind will often do both CLAT and AILET, since the syllabus overlap makes double prep manageable. What doesn't make sense is registering for five exams just because the forms are open. Before you commit to any exam, weigh target colleges, eligibility, syllabus overlap, dates, and total application cost against each other — collecting admit cards isn't a strategy.

A short word on preparation

Getting the syllabus right matters more than people think, because exam patterns genuinely do change — AILET PG is proof of that. Start with the latest official notification, not a hand-me-down PDF. Build reading speed early; most of these exams reward candidates who can process a passage fast and pull out what's actually being asked, not just who's read the most. Timed mock tests matter more than untimed practice — knowing the syllabus and being fast enough to use it under pressure are two different skills. And after every mock, actually go back and figure out where the marks were lost — guessed questions, time sinks, and topics you keep getting wrong repeat themselves if nobody looks at the pattern.

Keep one running calendar for registration dates, correction windows, admit cards, and result dates across every exam you're sitting for. Losing a seat because of a missed correction window is a far more common mistake than students expect.

Final word

The mistake we see most often isn't poor preparation — it's treating every law entrance exam as interchangeable when they're not. CLAT, AILET, MH CET Law, SLAT, and the postgraduate exams each lead somewhere specific, with their own eligibility rules and their own timelines.

Start with the college you want. Find out which exam actually gets you there. Build your prep calendar around that exam's real pattern — not a version of it from three years ago.

Preparing for law entrance exams in Chandigarh?

If CLAT, AILET, or PU's own law entrance process is on your radar, our team at Prakash Law Academy works with students through exactly this kind of exam-selection confusion every season. If you're not sure yet which test actually fits your target colleges, that's usually the first conversation worth having — before the syllabus, not after.

Looking for structured law entrance coaching in Chandigarh? Get in touch with Prakash Law Academy to clat coaching in chandigarh work out your exam shortlist and prep timeline.