CLAT 2027 has separate undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) papers, but the Consortium’s published formats give both 120 one-mark multiple-choice questions, two hours and a deduction of 0.25 marks for each wrong answer. The main difference is what candidates read and reason through: UG tests five aptitude areas, while PG uses extracts from primary legal materials and covers a broad set of law subjects. The UG section weights are published as approximate ranges, not fixed question-by-question quotas. CLAT 2027 UG format · CLAT 2027 PG format
CLAT 2027 UG paper pattern
The Consortium describes these ranges as approximate. A candidate should not expect every paper to contain exactly the midpoint of each range, nor add the upper or lower ends and treat them as a guaranteed distribution. Prepare all five areas. The UG syllabus gives the reader-task behind each: English and current-affairs questions use passages; Legal Reasoning asks candidates to identify and apply principles in a passage; Logical Reasoning tests arguments and inference; Quantitative Techniques asks candidates to interpret numerical information and use school-level mathematics. The emphasis is on reading and reasoning, not memorising a fixed bank of law questions. CLAT 2027 UG syllabus
For English, Legal Reasoning and Logical Reasoning, the official syllabus describes passages of about 450 words. Current-affairs passages may be up to 450 words. Quantitative Techniques is organised around short data sets, propositions or other numerical representations, followed by related questions. These descriptions help candidates choose practice material: a topic-only quiz may test recall, while the official task descriptions call for reading a passage, identifying what it supports and answering questions tied to that material. The 2027 instructions and syllabus control if coaching materials use a different section map or passage length.
CLAT 2027 PG paper pattern
The PG paper also has 120 multiple-choice questions carrying one mark each, runs for two hours and deducts 0.25 for every wrong response. Its syllabus includes Constitutional Law and other areas such as Jurisprudence, Administrative Law, Contract, Torts, Family Law, Criminal Law, Property, Company Law, Public International Law, Tax, Environmental Law and Labour and Industrial Law. The syllabus describes extracts from primary legal materials, including court decisions, statutes and regulations. Candidates need to understand the issues and arguments in an extract, identify related legal facts, summarise and apply relevant knowledge.
That makes PG preparation different from treating the test as a bare memory check of legal provisions. The paper’s format rewards reading a legal extract in context and linking a question to the relevant principle or issue. Use the official PG syllabus to map the listed subjects against your prior study, then practise with source-based questions. The Consortium does not publish a fixed number of questions for each PG legal area on the question-format page, so a page or mock claiming an exact Constitutional Law or Torts quota goes beyond the official distribution available here. CLAT 2027 PG syllabus · CLAT 2027 PG format
Marking and time management
At one mark per correct response and a 0.25-mark deduction per wrong response, four incorrect answers cancel one correct answer before any other evaluation rules. Leaving a question blank does not create a wrong-answer penalty, but the precise treatment of blank answers should be confirmed in the current official instructions. A quick mathematical comparison can help frame a guess: if your estimated probability of a response being correct is p, its expected raw score is p − 0.25(1 − p). This is positive when p is above 20 per cent. It is a calculation from the published scoring rule, not a recommendation to guess; uncertainty in your estimate and the time cost of a guess still matter.
Two hours for 120 questions gives an average of one minute per question. Use that as an overall pacing check rather than a strict timer for every passage or item. A long passage may take more than a minute to read, while several questions tied to it can share that reading time. A useful mock review separates reading time, question-solving time and avoidable rereading. For UG, compare performance across all five areas, since the Consortium publishes a weight range for each. For PG, track whether errors came from misunderstanding the extract, missing a legal issue or applying a principle incorrectly. These are practical ways to use the format; they do not change the official scoring rule.
The 120 maximum marks follow arithmetically from 120 questions worth one mark each. Actual ranks and admissions depend on the paper, answer key and counselling process; the pattern page alone cannot predict a cutoff or admission outcome. If the Consortium updates its format, use its current notices and question-format pages rather than carrying a 2027 pattern forward automatically.
What UG and PG candidates should verify
Before planning, confirm that you are looking at the correct CLAT paper. The Consortium publishes separate UG and PG pages; the UG subject ranges do not apply to PG. Check the current official question-format page, syllabus and candidate instructions for the cycle you will take. For UG, treat subject weights as ranges and practise passage comprehension alongside the skill each section names. For PG, cover the legal areas listed by the Consortium and practise reading primary-source extracts rather than assuming one fixed sectional split.
This article reflects the Consortium’s CLAT 2027 pages for the 2027-28 admission cycle. Its section weights, test length and marking rules are tied to that published edition. A later cycle may change them. When a new format is released, compare the whole paper structure, not just the total number of questions: check UG section ranges, PG subject coverage, duration, marks per question and the penalty for incorrect answers.