CLAT Eligibility After 12th – Age Limit, Qualification & Criteria

The CLAT 2025 registration process opened on 1st August 2025. Interested students have until 31st October 2025 to register for the exam. The CLAT exam helps students pursue law from some of the best law schools in India. This article highlights key details about the eligibility criteria for most law programs students can pursue after their class 12th through the CLAT exam. This article also highlights key benefits of pursuing law and giving the CLAT examination after completing class 12th.

CLAT 2026 UG Eligibility Criteria

After completing their class 12th, students will be eligible to take the CLAT examination to get admission into some of the best law schools in the country. There are several 5-year courses students can pursue within the field of law after giving the CLAT exam. Students must meet several eligibility criteria to be able to pursue these courses and give the CLAT examination. The course-wise criteria that students must meet for the CLAT 2026 exam are as follows:

Students Can Also Read: What if I Fill Wrong Details in the CLAT Application Form?

Why Give the CLAT Exam After Class 12th?

All students who are interested within the field of law should aim to give the CLAT 2025 examination. The CLAT UG exam opens up several top opportunities for students to pursue law in top NLUs. NLUs have some of the best placements for students within the field of law.

Besides just pursuing the program in top NLUs, pursuing law after 12th has a lot more benefits. 5-year LLB programs such as BA LLB, BBA LLB or BSc LLB allow students to gain in-depth knowledge in different fields as well as law. This allows a lot more flexibility with their career options once they finish their programs.

Pursuing the field of law and giving CLAT after 12th has some advantages in contrast to doing so after a separate undergraduate course. Some of the benefits are as follows:

• Shorter Duration: Most students who do two separate degrees end up studying for 6 to 7 years depending on their program. Giving the CLAT exam after 12th ensures students have to spend 5 years to get their law degree in comparison to pursuing an UG course and then pursuing a 3 year LLB.
• Dual Degree: Students pursuing 5-year law programs after 12th have the advantage of having more flexibility with their options. If students are not happy with pursuing law by the end of their program, they may pursue other fields as professions instead. This is significantly easier due to the flexibility in careers offered by 5-year law programs after 12th.
• Better Opportunities: Most students who pursue 5-year law programs from NLUs tend to have better job opportunities and placements in comparison to students who pursue 3-year law programs after their undergraduation. A general preference is given, even from the best of institutions, to students from 5-year law programs by most employers in the field of law.

Along with these factors, students get enough time for CLAT Preparation after qualifying class 12th as there is a healthy gap between class 12 result declaration and CLAT exam date.

CLAT 2026 Important Dates

Provided below is an overview of the important dates for the CLAT 2026 examination. Keeping these dates in mind is very important for students as being updated with these key dates ensure students are in the loop on all key events and deadlines about the CLAT UG 2026 examination.

The important dates for the CLAT exam are as follows:

Get CLAT 2026 comprehensive information including application process, syllabus, and important dates.