The Consortium of National Law Universities (CNLUs) has released the counselling schedule for CLAT 2026. This announcement comes after the CLAT 2026 exam results were declared on December 16, 2025 . Students who passed the exam can now check the detailed plan for admissions to various National Law Universities (NLUs) across India. The counselling process starts immediately, from December 16, 2025 , and will take place in five rounds.
Candidates can download their official CLAT 2026 scorecards from the official website: result1.consortiumofnlus.ac.in . Admission to NLUs will depend on a student's CLAT 2026 rank and the number of seats available in their preferred colleges.
CLAT 2026 Counselling: Full Schedule
Here is the complete schedule for CLAT 2026 counselling rounds:
| Event | Dates |
| CLAT 2026 Counselling Round 1 Registration Begins | December 16, 2025 |
| Last Date for Round 1 Registration and Fee Payment | December 27, 2025 (till 10 PM) |
| CLAT Round 1 Seat Allotment 2026 | January 7, 2026 |
| First Round Admission and Fee Payment | January 7 to 15, 2026 |
| CLAT Round 2 Seat Allotment 2026 | January 22, 2026 |
| Second Round Admission and Fee Payment | January 22 to 29, 2026 |
| CLAT Round 3 Seat Allotment 2026 | February 5, 2026 |
| Third Round Admission and Fee Payment | February 5 to 12, 2026 |
| Last Date to Pay University Fee (Rounds 1 to 3) | April 24, 2026 |
| CLAT Round 4 Seat Allotment 2026 | May 2, 2026 |
| Fourth Round Admission & Fee Payment | May 2 to 8, 2026 |
| CLAT Round 5 Seat Allotment 2026 | May 15, 2026 |
| Final Round Admission and Fee Payment | May 15 to 20, 2026 |
| Last Date to Pay University Fee (Rounds 4 and 5) | May 30, 2026 |
Understanding the CLAT Counselling Process
CLAT counselling is a central process where seats in different National Law Universities are offered to eligible students. This process is fully online. Here is how it generally works:
- Invitation for Counselling: Students who are eligible will receive an invite for counselling. This invitation is usually sent via email or SMS. Roughly five times the number of available seats are invited for counselling to ensure all seats are filled.
- Registration and Preference List: Invited students must register for counselling and pay a fee. They also need to provide a list of their preferred National Law Universities. This list should be in the order they wish to join.
- Seat Allotment: In each round, seats are allotted to students based on their CLAT 2026 rank and the preferences they have chosen. If a student gets a seat in a college they listed, it is called a seat allotment.
- Action After Allotment: After a seat is allotted, students usually have a few options:
- Accept and Lock: If a student is happy with the allotted college, they can accept the seat. They must then pay the admission fees within the given dates.
- Apply for Upgrade: If a student wants a better college from their preference list, they can choose to apply for an upgrade. This means they accept the current seat but hope to get a better one in the next round if available.
- Exit Counselling: If a student does not want to take any of the offered seats, they can choose to exit the counselling process.
- Multiple Rounds: The counselling process has five rounds. If a student does not get a seat in Round 1, they might get one in Round 2, Round 3, and so on, depending on seat availability and their rank.
- Final Fee Payment: After accepting a seat, students must pay the full university admission fee by the final deadlines mentioned in the schedule. This includes dates for students admitted in earlier rounds ( April 24, 2026 ) and later rounds ( May 30, 2026 ).
Students must keep checking the official CLAT website for any further updates and detailed instructions for each counselling round. It is important to meet all deadlines to secure admission.
