What is LLM: Full Form, Course Duration, Admission 2026, Colleges, Salary & Scope

LLM is a full-time course of 2 years spread across four semesters. Students need to complete the required number of credit courses and also submit dissertations at the end of the final semester. LLM is also offered in Executive mode, which is generally offered only to working professionals. The LLM course fees in Government universities or National Law Universities range from INR 6000- 2.5 Lacs per annum whereas in private universities,  it can range from INR 1 Lacs to INR 2.5 Lacs per annum. 

• Moreover, candidates who have completed a Master of Law degree and wish to make a career in the field of litigation can appear for AIBE which is also known as All India Bar Examination. After clearing this examination, candidates will be awarded the "Certificate of Practice" rendering one eligible to practice in any court of law in India.
• To appear for AIBE, candidates must also be registered with their respective State Bar Councils as an Advocate. The pattern of AIBE Exam generally consists of questions based on the various legislations and regulations studied at the undergraduate level.
• Professionals can pursue this course to cater to the market demands of specialised legal consultancy services. 

Candidates who have completed an LLM course may further their studies in which they either complete MPhil or PhD in Law, also known as LLD. However, if candidates want to make a career in the field of law then they can go through the below-mentioned job profiles. LLM is opted by those candidates who wants to join any of the specialised fields like Investment Law, Maritime Law, Corporate Laws etc. and candidates can join these fields for successful career.

LLM course eligibility requires completing an LLB with a minimum 50 percent or equivalent CGPA. Some of the universities have additional requirements for entrance exam scores or work experience.

Source - Multiple external/ official sites, data may vary.

No, you cannot take LLM without pursuing LLB, as the primary requirement for LLM course is Bachelors degree in Law. Apart from that, approximately 50 percent marks are also required in their LLB duration to enroll in LLM. 

Analyze all the specialisations in LLM like - Civil Law, Cyber Law, Corporate Law Criminal Law, etc and think what matches with your interest and also your career goals in long terms. 

Next research for the scope and demand for your choosen Law field, and prior to that you should also evaluate the universities offering your desired course, along with their faculty, curriculum amd placement options as well. 

There are multiple components included in the total course fee such as tuition fee, hostel fee, and more. Tabulated below are the BHU LLM courses fee:

NOTE: The above-mentioned fee is taken from the official website/sanctioning body. It is still subject to changes. Hence, is indicative.

CLAT, AILET, ISAT, and NEST are some common exams for admission to LLM program. The application forms for this course are available in the month of April-May every year. The entrance paper contains around 150 questions which can be both objective and subjective in nature. 
The duration of the exam is 2 hours which includes negative marking for objective type questions. The marks deducted are usually 1/4th of the marks allocated to the question. The marking scheme is not fixed for all the universities, it may vary accordingly.

Yes, University of Delhi conducts LLM Entrance Test to shortlist candidates for LLM programme. Below are the details of LLM Entrance Exam:

The TS LAWCET LLM exam is called the TS PGLCET. The TS PGLCET eligibility criteria are mentioned below:

No, the university do not accept CLAT score for admission to the LLM course. It accepts AIAT score for admission to LLM course. AIAT is conducted by SIU for admission to LLM programme. Aspirants who have passed AIAT have to further qualify the Personal Interaction round for final admission.

Due to global legal developments and changing market demands, there are many specialisations offered, some of them are mentioned below 

• Civil Law
• Tax Law
• Labour5 Law
• Corporate Law
• Commercial Law
• International Trade Law
• Labour Law
• Labour5 Law

Generally, there is no one right LLB subject that prepares you for LLM. If someone wants to study a particular area of LLM then the ideal choice would fall towards that specific area. Here's why:

LLM Specializations: A Master of Laws is more specific in the areas of law that students pursue when in the course.
Alignment with Specialization: While switching from an LLB programme to an LLM programme might be relatively easy, the choice of courses that you took in your LLB that relates with your preferred LLM specialisation can serve as a foundation and thus make the switch easier.
For example if one’s LLM specialisation is in Corporate Law then Company Law, Contract Law and Business Law are relevant courses in the LLB.

Thus, the only strategy that makes sense is to choose the LLM specialisation one is interested in first and then search for the corresponding LLB subjects.

Candidates can also pursue various online courses in undergraduate, postgraduate or certificate levels such as Online LLM or Online certifications. Some of these courses offered by Shiksha Online are given in the table below:

• Online LLM by Golden Gate University
• Post Graduate Certificate in Finance and Taxation Laws by Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning
• Diploma in Taxation by Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning
• PGD in Labour Laws and Employee Relations by Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning
• Intellectual Property by Swayam

The LLM specialisations that will best suit you when you want to work in large corporations are:

• Corporate Law
• Labor Law
• Tax Law
• Intellectual Property Law
• Labor and Employement Law

For startups:

• Cyber Law
• Tax8 Law
• Information Technology Law

Moreover, Big firms always require legal professionals who are experts in regulatory compliance and established legal frameworks, while startups need lawyers who can dynamic and often unpredictable legal challenges of early0stage businesses. 

Some of the top law colleges of India which offer LLM courses are mentioned below -

NLU Visakhapatnam
GITAM School of Law
NLSIU Bangalore - National Law School of India University
BHU - Banaras Hindu University
Symbiosis International, Pune

For LLM admission offered at NLUs in India, candidates have to appear for the CLAT exam and meet the cut-off marks criteria for admission to 22 NLUs in India.

However, for admission to NLU Delhi, candidates have to appear and qualify AILET exam. Therefore, candidates need to score top ranks in CLAT PG in the range of 1-1000 to get admission in the top NLUs. LLM through CLAT PG is highly competitive, keeping in view the increasing number of candidates appearing for the exam and difficulty of the paper. 

Some of the best LLM colleges in India that provide distance learning are mentioned below -

Yes, NLSIU Bangalore offers a one year LLM course. The admission to NLSIU Bangalore LLM programme is based on the CLAT score of candidates. The admmissions are held through CLAT counseling process. The table below presents the eligibility and selection criteria for popular courses offered at NLSIU:

Given below are the best LLM colleges in India that provides the highest placement package to their students in India:

Source - Official website/ media reports/ NIRF website and may vary.

Note -Above statistics are based on the latest available data.

No, one who has to complete an LLB degree either three-year duration after graduation or five-year duration,  after class 12th makes them eligible enough to pursue law as a profession. An LLM degree is pursued by those who want to learn more in a specialisation. However, in both cases, they have to appear for AIBE conducted by BCI to be able to get a 'Certificate of Practice'. 

Some of the top universities abroad for LLM courses are:

Law is required in almost every section of the society including government, corporates, and private practices. So in comparison to other sectors LLM and other Law professions will always be in demand, as the complexities are increasing. 

It is therefore recommended that one selects a specialisation that they want to practice as well as focus on the area they have passion for:

University Reputation: It is therefore advisable to join a programme which has a good law school and teachers that have a good expertise in your chosen area of specialization.
Course Structure & Syllabus: Review the course syllabus, instructional delivery and learning achievement standards in relation to your learning preference and objectives.
Placement Opportunities: One should look at the type of jobs which previous LLM graduates of the university have been secirimg;ing upon their completion of the course.
Fees & Scholarships: Check on the costs of the research programs and look for scholarships to help in funding for LLM programs.

LLM is a two-year self-financed programme spread across four semesters. CCSU offers LLM through Institute of Legal Studies at the PG level. The university also offers LLM through affiliated colleges like:

• Dewan VS Group of Institutions India
• Kamkus College of Law
• Ishan Institute of Law 
• D.A.V. College Muzaffarnagar

No, Delhi University offers a full-time LLM programme of two to three years duration at the PG level. This course is offered by Faculty of Law under DU. University of Delhi LLM admission is conducted in online mode and for final selection, candidates are required to appear for the entrance exam conducted by the university. CUET PG exam is conducted by NTA and considered by DU for admission to LLM course. Candidates after completing graduation can apply for DU LLM programme.

The LLB and LLM full forms are Bachelor of Legislative Laws and Master of Laws respectively. LLB is an undergraduate degree  while LLM is a master's degree course. LLB is a 3-year-long UG degree program and LLM is a 1-2 year-long PG degree program in the field of Law.

The total number of seats available for LLM in BHU is 92. For details around seat reservation policy, candidates can check the university official website or reach out to the admission office. Candidates can check below the seat count bifurcation for the programme:

• BHU: 20
• Faculty of Law, BHU: 72

Graduation is the minimum qualification required for DU LLM programme. Below is detailed eligibility for LLM:

• Aspirants need to complete a three or five-year LLB degree from the University of Delhi or any other Indian or Foreign University recognised as equivalent by DU with at least 50% aggregate (45% aggregate for OBC-NCL/ PwD/ CW and 40% aggregate for SC/ ST) or equivalent can apply for LLM course.
• Candidates securing the marks prescribed above or appearing in the qualifying degree examination or awaiting the results of any such examination are eligible to appear in the LLM Entrance Test but the admission will depend on their securing the minimum eligibility marks prescribed above.

No, if you belong to the General AI quota, it is not possible to secure a seat at NLU Bangalore in the first round for the LLM course. The cutoffs are generally higher in the inital rounds, so candidates are advised to wait untill the last round to see if their ranks are eligible for admission. As per the NLSIU Bangalore LLM cutoff 2026, the first round closing rank was 87 for the General AI category students. 

Yes, Mumbai University offers LLM course at the Postgraduate - PG level. The University offers an LLM programme for a duration of 2 years. Admission to LLM is given on the entrance examination basis. Interested students can appear for the MU LLM CET Examination, which is an online examination conducted by the university. However, candidates are required to be eligible for the programme.

Eligibility Criteria: LL.B. degree of this University or a degree recognised as equivalent thereto.

Selection Criteria: MU LLM CET Exam, Interview. 

No, an LLM degree cannot be pursued in distance mode or online mode. However, listed below are some law courses offered by NLSIU Bangalore that candidates can study in distance education mode: 

• Master of Business Law (MBL)
• Post-Graduate Diploma in Human Rights Law (PGDHRL)
• Post-Graduate Diploma in Medical Law & Ethics (PGDMLE)
• Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Law (PGDEL)
• Post-Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights Law (PGDIPRL)
• Post Graduate Diploma in Child Rights Law (PGDCRL)
• Post-Graduate Diploma in Consumer Law & Practice (PGDCLP)
• Post-Graduate Diploma in Cyber Law & Cyber Forensics (PGDCLCF)

LSAT India has been discontinued by LSAC.

LSAC Global will no longer conduct Law School Admission Test India for admissions to its different LLB and LLM courses. Students must go for other entrance exams such as CLAT for admissions to different law colleges and universities of India.

Hope this helped your query! All the best!

The NLSIU Bangalore offers LLM course for the duration one year. When it comes to placements, NLU Bangalore offers decent placements annually. The placement details of LLM batch 2025 are yet to be released on the official website. Once it is released, it will be updated here. However, the placement details of PG 1-year (LLM, PG Diploma) batch 2024 is disclosed in the NIRF report 2025. Let’s take a look at the key highlights of NLU Bangalore placements for the PG 1-year batch 2022 to 2024 in the table below:

Yes, CLAT is required for LLM. The candidates seeking admission to a one-year LLM course at ILI need to fulfill the eligibility criteria:

• The candidate should have cleared graduation with 50% marks in aggregate from any recognized university.
• As per the relaxation granted for these reserved categories, applicants who fall under the SC, ST, or Physically Handicapped categories must receive at least 45 percent of the total possible points.
• Individuals who fall under the category of Kashmiri migrants are required to have obtained a minimum of 40% of the possible points in the qualifying degree exam.

Admission to the first year of five-year and three-year law programmes is based on the Maharashtra Law Common Entrance Test (CET) score. Please keep in mind that CET is required for admission to the programs listed above at ILS Law College. The College does not have a separate entrance examination. There is no additional registration form to complete for admission to ILS Law College.  There are no management quota seats available at ILS Law College. The Centralized Admission Process (CAP) is used by the CET Cell, Mumbai, to determine the eligibility for all programs at ILS Law College based on the results of the CET.