Good news for students who appeared for the CLAT 2026 exam and belong to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. The Consortium of National Law Universities has officially released the Round 1 cutoff ranks for admission to 26 National Law Universities (NLUs) across India. This information helps OBC students understand their chances of getting into a law school based on their CLAT All India Rank (AIR).
The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is a national-level entrance exam for students wanting to study law after Class 12. It opens doors to prestigious NLUs, which are considered top law colleges in the country. After the exam, students submit their choices for different NLUs. The Consortium then uses a system to allot seats based on CLAT ranks and seat availability.
A 'cutoff rank' is the last rank at which a student in a specific category was offered admission to a particular NLU in that round. If your CLAT All India Rank (AIR) in the OBC category was equal to or better than this cutoff, you received a seat offer. These cutoffs show the demand and competition for each NLU.
For CLAT 2026 Round 1 , the cutoff ranks for the OBC category vary greatly between different NLUs. For instance, NALSAR Hyderabad , which is a highly sought-after law university, had an OBC closing rank of 915 . This means that only OBC candidates with an AIR of 915 or lower secured a seat there in this round. On the other hand, a college like NLUJA Assam had a much higher cutoff rank of 23884 , suggesting it was accessible to a wider range of OBC students in Round 1.
To help OBC students easily find their admission chances, here is the official CLAT 2026 Round 1 cutoff rank for each participating National Law University:
| NLU Name | CLAT OBC Cutoff Rank (Round 1) |
| NLU Bengaluru | 1018 |
| NALSAR Hyderabad | 915 |
| NLIU Bhopal | 1714 |
| WBNUJS Kolkata | 6076 |
| NLU Jodhpur | 1273 |
| HNLU Raipur | 1994 |
| GNLU Gandhinagar | 1834 |
| GNLU Silvassa | 2541 |
| RMLNLU Lucknow | 3077 |
| RGNUL Punjab | 2970 |
| CNLU Patna | 2517 |
| NUALS Kochi | 9251 |
| NLU Odisha | 12629 |
| NUSRL Ranchi | 2585 |
| NLUJA Assam | 23884 |
| DSNLU Visakhapatnam | 7781 |
| TNNLU Tiruchirappalli | 4301 |
| MNLU Mumbai | 5835 |
| MNLU Nagpur | 12425 |
| MNLU Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | 14588 |
| HPNLU Shimla | —---- |
| MPDNLU Jabalpur | 3056 |
| NLU Sonepat | 3409 |
| NLU Agartala | —--- |
| RPNLUP Prayagraj | 4002 |
| IIULER Goa | 4093 |
Important Next Steps for Admitted Students
If you are an OBC candidate and have been offered a seat in Round 1, there are crucial steps you must take to confirm your admission. Your seat offer is based on:
- Your CLAT 2026 All India Rank .
- The availability of seats in your chosen NLU and category.
- The preferences you listed for NLUs during the application process.
- The reservation policies for OBC candidates.
Candidates who have been allotted a seat in this round must pay the necessary admission fee to the NLU. They also need to complete all other admission formalities. This entire process must be finished between January 7 and January 15, 2026 . Failing to meet this deadline may result in losing the offered seat.
The release of these Round 1 cutoffs is a key moment for thousands of OBC students aspiring to join India's top law schools. It provides a clear picture of the admission landscape. Students who did not get a seat in Round 1 should wait for further announcements, as more rounds of seat allotment might take place if seats remain vacant.
