Abstract:
Every year, thousands of law aspirants attempt the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) which is the gateway to India’s National Law Universities (NLUs).
While the exam result displays a score, percentile, and All India Rank (AIR), aspirants often find themselves uncertain about which parameter truly determines their position and admission prospects.
Understanding this distinction is essential not only for interpreting one’s result correctly but also for adopting a data-driven preparation strategy during mock tests and institutional test series.
Basic concepts:
The CLAT Score
The score represents the raw marks obtained by a candidate in the examination.
The CLAT (UG) currently consists of 120 objective-type questions, carrying one mark each, with a penalty of 0.25 marks for every incorrect response.
It is the absolute indicator of a candidate’s performance in the test. However, it does not reveal how one has performed relative to others, which is where the percentile and rank come into play.
The Percentile
A percentile measures a candidate’s relative standing among all test-takers.
It answers the question: “What percentage of candidates scored below me?”
Percentiles are typically used in multi-shift or normalization-based exams (like JEE or CUET). Since CLAT is a single-shift, uniform test, percentiles are secondary to scores and ranks in determining admission outcomes. Usually, the CLAT scorecard doesn’t display a candidate’s percentile, it only shows score and rank.
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The All India Rank (AIR)
All India Rank is the determinative factor for admission to NLUs.
Ranks are assigned in descending order of scores. Tie-breaking follows these criteria (for CLAT-UG):
- Higher marks in the Legal Reasoning section;
- Higher age;
- Computerised random selection (if necessary).
Hence, two candidates with the same score can still have different ranks — illustrating that rank incorporates both merit and tie-resolution.
Which Parameter Matters More?
In the CLAT ecosystem, rank is the only parameter of admission relevance.
The Consortium of NLUs prepares a consolidated merit list based solely on AIRs. Percentiles and raw scores serve merely as informational indicators.
Rank determines your seat allotment in the counselling rounds.
Score can just help you evaluate your performance. They can never be the real reflection of your performance as scores vary with the level of the examination.
Thus, while scores fluctuate, ranks translate those fluctuations into competitive standing. A one-mark variation can alter ranks by hundreds, showcasing how much important role rank plays.
How to calculate rank in mock test?
While it’s impossible to calculate your exact rank in mock test, since over 70000 aspirants write actual CLAT examination, however, candidates can attempt the All India Open Mock that is organized by various coaching institutes to get a rough idea about the rank and place they stand at all over India. It also gives them analysis of their mistakes and a mock sample of the actual examination. By getting a rough idea of rank, students can plan their preparation better and brace themselves for the final day. LegalEdge by Toprankers and Law Prep Tutorial are the best institutions conducting open mock tests that have massive participation from all over India and test centres in over 35 cities, making it convenient for students to attend at their nearest centre.
The safe rank that should be aimed in CLAT
While cut off varies year by year, a candidate can aim a rank:
- Under 100 for top 2 NLUs,
- Under 400 for tier 1 NLUs,
- Under 1500 for tier 2 NLUs including Delhi University
- Under 5000 for tier 3 NLUs.
- Under 8000 for other good private institutions taking CLAT rank
In the open mocks a candidate should always aim rank under 100, because these mocks are taken by relatively less people(around 9000) compared to the actual number (around 75000).
Conclusion:
In CLAT examination, rank matters more than scores as it describes how well a student performed compared to others. The admission process is based solely on rank and not scores. To get a rough idea of rank, students can attend the open mocks organised by coaching institutes all over India. Since, scores fluctuate with LOD of the mocks, students should focus on rank more than scores.
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