Students' Speak: Preparation strategy for CLAT 2020

By: Sadyanta Rawal

There is no hard and fast rule for the preparation of CLAT. It is advised to start preparation as early as possible so that you are able to get sufficient time for revision as well. As the syllabus is very vast, you should study smartly. For current affairs, the knowledge of the past 6 months is sufficient.

CLAT or Common Law Admission Test is conducted by the Consortium of NLUs. It is a National-level Entrance Examination for admission in Under-Graduate (UG) and Post-Graduate (PG) courses in 22 National Law Universities (NLUs) across the Country. Each year, an NLU from the Consortium is responsible to conduct this test.

 Examination Structure

Subject Areas	Number of Questions	Percentage in Total Questions
English Language	28-32	20
Current Affairs including General Knowledge	35-39	25
Legal Reasoning	35-39	25
Logical Reasoning	28-32	20
Quantitative Techniques	13-17	10

Marking Scheme

The total marks is 150. There is a duration of 2 hours. The total number of questions is also 150.

The marking scheme is as follows:  

                       01 mark for every right answer

                    -  0.25  mark for every wrong answer

                       00 mark for no answer

Study Material

CURRENT AFFAIRS 

1. Manorama Year Book
2. Pratiyogita Darpan
3. Know-large by Saraw Publications (E-Book)
4. General Knowledge by Arihant Publications
5. Newspapers like The Hindu, The Indian Express and The Tribune

ELEMENTARY  MATHEMATICS AND LOGICAL REASONING

1. Quantitative Aptitude by RS Aggarwal
2. NCERT Maths book from Class 6 to 10
3. Analytical Reasoning by MK Pandey

LEGAL APTITUDE

1. Our Parliament by Dr Subhash C. Kashyap
2. Legal Awareness by AP Bhardwaj
3. NCERT Political Science Books for Class 11 and 12

ENGLISH LANGUAGE

• Objective General English by RS Aggarwal

• Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis

• English Grammar & Composition by Wren and Martin

Important Topics

 These important topics are derived from research. This list is not conclusive.

1. LOGICAL REASONING

• Verbal Reasoning
• Puzzle
• Seating Arrangements
• Series
• Blood Relations
• Distance and Directions
• Arithmetic Reasoning
• Analogies

2. ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS

• Partnership

• Percentage
• Time and Work
• Permutation and Combination
• HCF and LCM
• Calendar
• Boats and Stream
• Clock
• Divisibility and Remainders
• Simple Interest and Compound Interest
• Missing Number Series
• Quadratic Equations
• Mixture
• Probability
• Problems on Ages
• Average
• Profit and Loss, Discount
• Ratio and Proportions

3. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE AND CURRENT AFFAIRS

• Appointment at National and International level

• Countries and its currencies

• Books and its Authors

• International Affairs

• National Affairs
• Indian Economy
• Recent Development in Science and Technology
• Defence
• International Organisations
• Awards and Honours
• Indian Constitution along with Recent Amendments
• Other Topics of Public Interests

4. ENGLISH

• Rearrangement of Sentences

• Legal Maxims

• Idioms and Phrases

• Foreign Words

• Synonyms and Antonyms

• Cloze Test

• One Word Substitution

• Comprehensions

5. LEGAL APTITUDE

• Law of Torts
• Law of Contract
• Recent Legislations passed by Parliament
• Recent Important Judgments of Supreme Court and High Courts
• Law of Crimes i.e. Penal Code and Criminal Procedure
• The Constitution of India      

Preparation Strategy

There is no hard and fast rule for the preparation of CLAT. It is advised to start preparation as early as possible so that you are able to get sufficient time for revision as well. As the syllabus is very vast, you should study smartly. For current affairs, the knowledge of the past 6 months is sufficient. 

General Tips for CLAT

1. Make charts for revising important concepts.
2. Must devote sufficient time for revision.
3. Make a routine plan for covering the syllabus and stick to it. 
4. Make all the basic concepts clear from one book. 
5. Check the recent syllabus before preparation.
6. Adopt certain habits to reduce stress level i.e. Yoga, Exercise, etc.
7. For self-evaluation, solve at least 10-15 previous years’ papers to find out loopholes in your preparation.
8. Develop a habit of reading newspaper regularly so that it helps you to update for recent changes or happening in the World.

Last, but not the least, Rome was not built in a day. Accept failure as the training session in the path of success. Never lose hope.

About the Author:

Sadyanta Rawal, a student of B.A.LLB from Maharishi Markandeshwar Mullana University, has a keen interest in career counselling and helps a lot of students choose their respective career. He is always engaged in researching new topics which extract "Think out of Box" approach. He wrote 2 books namely Child Psychology and the Parents and Baba Bulleh Shah: The perspective of love and presented Research Papers at International Conferences.