CLAT 2020: New guidelines and Examination Date

CLAT(2020): The common law admission test, is an all India common entrance examination which is conducted on a rotation basis by 22 National Law Universities (NLUs) in India. It is designed for the purpose of offering admission into Undergraduate and Postgraduate degree programs in law. This exam is conducted for giving admissions to various universities across the country. This exam was actually planned for May 10 then it was postponed for May 24. But due to extension of lockdown, it was again scheduled to be held on June 21. The Executive Committee of Consortium, after reviewing the impact of the pandemic and the lockdown, scheduled CLAT for August 22, 2020, to be held through a computer-based online centre-based test.

A law graduate filed a plea in Delhi High Court challenging the requirement of physically appearing at the exam centre for CLAT 2020 amid COVID-19 pandemic. To which the Delhi High Court asked the centre and the NLUs to reply to the graduate’s plea.

After all the changes and hearings, now we have the new date for the exam and that is 7th September 2020.

CLAT 2020 Guidelines and exam pattern

The revised exam pattern for CLAT 2020 is as follows:

Mode: According to the CLAT 2020 the revised exam pattern the exam will be held online and new exam centres will be issued to the candidates.
Duration: The duration of the exam is 2 hours.
Number: There will be a total of 120 questions to be answered in 120 minutes.
Type of questions: The exam will have multiple-choice questions from comprehension-based passages.
Question: The questions will be asked from Quantitative Techniques, English, Current Affairs, Deductive Reasoning and Logical Reasoning sections.
Marking Scheme: Each question will contain one mark each.
Negative Marking: There will be negative marking, 0.25 marks will be deducted for each wrong answer.
Language: The language will be English.

NOTE: Candidates appearing in CLAT PG must note that the conducting body has removed the descriptive section from the test pattern.

Details

The number of questions has been reduced from an earlier figure of 200. From a paragraph of 450-500 words each. Each passage will be followed by 4 to 5 multiple-choice questions. When asked about the change Prof. Faizan Mustafa, Vice-Chancellor, NALSAR," asking students to answer 200 questions in 120 minutes is not right as it puts students under a lot of mental stress".
The level of entrance test for CLAT- UG will be of 12th standard.
The standard of quantitative aptitude particularly will be of class 10th.
In CLAT 2020 LLM, there will be 120 objective type questions and the descriptive question section and cut off bar has been omitted.
The changes in exam patterns have been made keeping the current situation into view.

CLAT Syllabus 2020

There is no designated syllabus for CLAT. For UG courses, the questions will be given from English from Comprehension, General Knowledge, Mathematics (Up to 10th class), Legal Aptitude and Legal Reasoning sections. For PG courses, the questions will be asked from Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence and other law subjects such as Contract, Torts, Criminal Law, International Law, Environment Law and Human Rights topics. The best way to understand any exam in the best form can only be done via practicing or giving mock paper.

Subject wise marks distribution

English Language- 28-30 questions and 20% weightage.

Current affairs (including general knowledge)- 35-39 questions 25% weightage.

Legal Reasoning- 35-39 questions 25% weightage.

Quantitative Techniques- 15-17 questions 10% weightage.

Logical Reasoning- 28-32% questions 20% weightage.

For PG (MCQ)

Constitutional Law- 60 questions for 60 marks.

Other law subjects like criminal law, international law etc- 60 questions for 60 marks.

Exam Day Guidelines

CLAT 2020 will be conducted by the Consortium of NLUs on September 7, via computer-based test mode in a social distanced environment. New guidelines have been released for 7 September, the new date of CLAT keeping COVID-19 in mind. These guidelines are of two kinds. The first ones are guidelines that are related to the code of conduct while the other is related to the COVID specific. The new guidelines of CLAT 2020 are designed in a way to implement the social distancing norms and maintain safety amid the prevailing situations. There are 2538 seats in the undergraduate programmes and 742 seats in the postgraduate programmes that will be filled by CLAT based on NLUs.

COVID Specific guidelines- Type -1

The exam centres for CLAT 2020 will be thoroughly provided with all safety standards. The staff will be prepared for handling the thermal screening, cleaning and maintaining the system at the exam centres.

The staff will be extended for Crowd Management and orderly movement.
Staff with Thermo Guns for checking the temperature ( before the candidates or other staff members take entry )will be present at the entry gate.
The adequate staff as centre administrators and invigilators with face masks and hand gloves will be stationed.
Spray machines with disinfectant liquid will be used to sanitize examination centres.
Hand sanitizers and hand soap will be available across the test centres and washrooms.
Candidates with any COVID symptoms like fever or cold etc will not be permitted inside the exam hall. Rather they will be giving the exam in a separate isolation lab.
The staff will be given PPE kits to ensure their safety in isolation labs.
3 layered masks and gloves will be provided to isolated candidates.

COVID Specific guidelines- Type -2

The candidates with temperature more than 99.14 will be asked to give the exam in an isolation lab.
In case if the candidate comes with the scribe, both the candidate and the scribe should bring their own N95 masks.
Candidates will have to switch off their mobile phone while entering the exam hall after switching it off, the phones can be collected back after the exams from the same location.

Guidelines- Code of conduct

Candidates will have to bring their admit card and a valid ID card, for example, voter id card, Aadhar card, passport or any other as directed in the CLAT admit card.
Other than the items given in the admit card, the candidates cannot bring anything else.
Thermal screening is compulsory for all
Candidates will have to avoid making groups at the exam centre for safety purposes and social distancing will have to be maintained.
Calculators or any paper or study material are not allowed inside the hall.
The test will be computer-based. Mock test paper for CLAT will be published before the exam. And candidates are required to have familiarity with the use of computers to avoid any problem related to the same.

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