AILET UG vs CLAT: How NLU Delhi's Entrance Test Differs

AILET UG differs from CLAT in three ways that change preparation: it has no separate legal reasoning or quantitative section, it asks 150 questions in the same two hours that CLAT uses for 120, and its logical reasoning section alone carries 70 of the 150 marks. National Law University Delhi conducts AILET for its own B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) seats and selects on that test alone, so a CLAT rank plays no part in Delhi admissions. Most of the groundwork is shared, but AILET needs faster reading, a much larger dose of reasoning practice and a different approach to general knowledge.

Who conducts AILET and which seats does it fill?

AILET is conducted by National Law University Delhi for admission to its own programmes, and the University admits on that test rather than through CLAT. Its AILET 2027 eligibility page says that all candidates other than foreign nationals "should appear for the All India Law Entrance Test (AILET) and selection shall be solely on that basis". Foreign nationals are exempt from the test and are admitted on their qualifying marks; OCI and PIO candidates may apply both in their own category and as Indian candidates, by separate forms.

The academic eligibility is close to CLAT's but not identical:

NLU Delhi adds a condition worth noticing: a candidate placed in compartment in the year of admission is treated as ineligible.

How do the AILET UG and CLAT UG papers compare?

Both are two-hour objective papers with a quarter-mark penalty for each wrong answer, and the similarity ends there. The table sets the 2027 schemes side by side.

Two consequences follow. First, AILET is a faster paper: twelve fewer seconds per question across 150 questions adds up to thirty minutes' less thinking time than the same number of CLAT questions would allow. Second, logical reasoning is close to half of AILET, so a student whose reasoning is average cannot make it up elsewhere. NLU Delhi even uses that section to break ties: where two candidates have equal marks, the one with higher marks in logical reasoning is placed higher, then the older candidate, and then a computerised draw of lots decides.

Where has legal reasoning gone in AILET?

AILET no longer has a legal reasoning section, but legal principles can still appear inside logical reasoning. NLU Delhi's 2027 scheme says so in terms: "Legal principles may be used in the logical reasoning section to test logical aptitude but the examination will not require any kind of legal knowledge or technical understanding."

The 2026 paper shows how small that share was. Law Maker's subject classification of all 150 questions in the AILET 2026 B.A. LL.B. paper classifies 66 questions as logical reasoning, 50 as English, 21 as current affairs, 9 as general knowledge and only 4 as legal reasoning. Those few principle questions were short, each a stated principle with two or three lines of facts, nothing like CLAT's 450-word legal passages.

One of them repays study. Question 133 gave a principle of strict liability for hazardous substances, with exceptions for an act of God, the act of a third party and the victim's consent. On the facts, a lightning strike started a fire in a lawfully run perfume factory and toxic fumes escaped. The keyed answer was that the owner is not liable, because the harm resulted from an act of God. A student who knew Indian law too well might hesitate: in M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (1986), the Supreme Court laid down absolute liability for hazardous industries without those exceptions. The question did not ask about Indian law. It asked you to apply only the principle given, and the principle included the exception.

What does AILET's logical reasoning section ask?

AILET's logical reasoning mixes short standalone puzzles with brief argument questions, whereas CLAT's logical reasoning is built on passages of about 450 words. The first questions of the 2026 section covered most of the types in a few pages: a letter and number series (A1B, D4E, H9I, M16N), syllogisms, a coding question (LIGHT written as NKKFR), analogies such as Doctor : Hospital, and assumption questions on one-paragraph arguments about online grocery sales or a four-day working week.

Syllogisms deserve particular practice, because they recur and reward a fixed method. Take question 88 of the 2026 paper:

All Contracts are Agreements. Some Agreements are Void. No Void is Enforceable.

I. Some Contracts are not Enforceable.

II. No Enforceable is Void.

III. Some Agreements are not Enforceable.

Work it in three steps:

1. Test each conclusion against the premises alone. The legal vocabulary is decoration; read "Void" and "Enforceable" as two sets.
2. Check conversions. "No Void is Enforceable" converts directly to "No Enforceable is Void", so II follows.
3. Chain the particular premise. Some Agreements are Void, and no Void is Enforceable, so those Agreements are not Enforceable: III follows. Nothing tells you that any Contract falls among the void Agreements, so I does not follow.

The keyed answer was that II and III follow. Notice how the legal words tempt a law aspirant towards I, which is true in law (some contracts are unenforceable) but not established by the premises. That is the same discipline the principle questions test. The logical reasoning sets let you drill each type separately before mixing them.

How different are the English and general knowledge sections?

English is a larger, reading-heavy section in AILET, and general knowledge is asked directly rather than through passages. In the 2026 paper, all 50 English questions sat under six reading sets: five prose passages and a set of book descriptions, with assertion-and-reason items among the comprehension questions. CLAT's English section is also passage-based, but at 22 to 26 questions it is half the size.

General knowledge is where the two tests part most clearly. CLAT's current affairs section gives you passages from news and non-fiction writing and asks questions arising from them. AILET's 2026 section asked one-line questions with four options: who lost the 2025 Wimbledon women's final, which state Madhubani painting belongs to, what the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for. There is no passage to reason from, so you either know the fact or you do not. That calls for a different habit: a daily current affairs note and a steady revision of static general knowledge, which the general knowledge sets help you test. For the legal strand of current affairs, the Legal Firms monthly round-up of key legal developments is a compact source.

How should you prepare for AILET and CLAT together?

Share the foundation and split the final months. Reading speed, vocabulary, argument analysis and current affairs serve both tests. The differences are in proportion and format.

1. Build reading speed first. Both papers punish slow reading, AILET more so. Read one long editorial or essay daily and time yourself.
2. Give logical reasoning far more time than CLAT alone would need. For AILET it is 70 questions; practise series, coding, analogies and syllogisms until each type takes under 40 seconds.
3. Keep two current affairs habits. Read news analytically for CLAT's passages, and keep a fact file for AILET's direct questions.
4. Practise principle questions in both lengths. CLAT's long legal passages and AILET's short principle-plus-facts items test the same discipline at different scales; the legal reasoning sets cover both.
5. Drop quantitative practice for AILET. It has no separate quantitative section, though numerical series appear in logical reasoning.
6. In the last month, alternate full papers. Sit AILET-pattern papers at 48 seconds a question and CLAT-pattern papers at a minute, so the pace of each becomes familiar.

A time budget for AILET's 120 minutes

Plan the order and the minutes before the test, because 150 questions leave no room to decide on the day. One workable budget, built on the 2026 section sizes, takes general knowledge first since its questions are answered from memory or not at all:

Treat the figures as a starting point and adjust them after your first three full papers. If reasoning is your strength, move time from it to English; if reading is slow, start with the reasoning section while you are fresh. What matters is that you finish all three sections, because an unseen question cannot earn marks.

Common mistakes students make in AILET

• Treating AILET as a shorter CLAT. It is longer, at 150 questions, and faster per question.
• Neglecting reasoning puzzles. Students trained only on CLAT's passage-based logical reasoning meet series and coding questions unprepared.
• Bringing in outside law. In principle questions, the principle on the page governs, even where real law differs.
• Relying on passage skills for GK. AILET's general knowledge questions are direct and need memory.
• Guessing without elimination. A quarter mark is lost for every wrong answer, so eliminate first and guess only between the remaining options.

Key points to remember

• NLU Delhi admits to its B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) only through AILET; CLAT scores are not used.
• AILET UG 2027 has 150 questions in 120 minutes: English 50, current affairs and GK 30, logical reasoning 70.
• There is no separate legal reasoning or quantitative section; legal principles may appear inside logical reasoning.
• Each wrong answer costs 0.25 marks, as in CLAT.
• Ties are broken by logical reasoning marks, then age, then a computerised draw of lots.
• Apply only the principle given; question 133 of the 2026 paper rewarded the stated act-of-God exception.

Where to go next

Read the full official AILET question papers and keys on Law Maker before you start timed practice, then use the CLAT UG mock tests for the passage-based side of your preparation. The English language sets and current affairs sets cover the two sections the tests share, and the Legal Firms latest articles are a steady source of readable legal news.