In every counselling session, a student or parent asks the same question: "How many law entrance exams are there, and which ones do we actually need?" It is the right question — because coaching institutes will happily sell you eight exam bundles, while the exam calendar quietly teaches you that time is your scarcest resource. This guide gives you the honest, tier-wise map of law entrances for 2027, and the formula we use at Surya Law Academy (Sector 25-D, Chandigarh) to help students pick two or three and win.
💡 Biggest myth to ignore: "More exams = more chances = better odds." False. Every extra exam splits your preparation focus, and the top scores in every entrance come from students who trained one syllabus deeply. The winners write 2–3 exams, not 8.
The Complete Tier-Wise Map (2027)
Here is the whole landscape in one matrix. This is not every single test in India — it is every tier of entrance that matters to a serious aspirant, with what each one actually gets you:
| Tier | Exams | What They Get You |
|---|---|---|
| National | CLAT, AILET, SLAT, CUET-UG | The National Law Universities, NLU Delhi, the four Symbiosis Law Schools, central universities offering law |
| State | PU CET UG Law, MH CET Law, AP LAWCET, TS LAWCET, KLEE (Kerala), MPPAT (MP) | State government law colleges and universities, incl. PU's UILS and regional centres |
| University-specific | DU LLB, BHU UET, AIL LET (Army Institute of Law), AMU, KLE | One institution's law programme via its own test |
| Postgraduate (LLM / 3-year LLB) | CLAT PG, AILET PG, PU LLB (3-year), DU LLB PG | LLM seats at NLUs & NLU Delhi, and 3-year LLB after graduation |
Tier 1 — National Law Entrances
These are the exams every Class 12 student hears about first, and for good reason — they unlock India's most respected law schools.
- CLAT: the Common Law Admission Test run by the Consortium of NLUs — admission to over two dozen National Law Universities across India on one score. The paper has 120 questions in 120 minutes with -0.25 negative marking.
- AILET: the All India Law Entrance Test run exclusively by NLU Delhi — 150 questions, 120 minutes, offline OMR, -0.25 marking. NLU Delhi does not accept CLAT scores; AILET is its only gateway.
- SLAT: the Symbiosis Law Admission Test — an online CBT with 60 questions in 60 minutes and no negative marking, for SLS Pune, Noida, Hyderabad and Nagpur.
- CUET-UG: the central universities' common test, which several central universities accept for their law programmes as part of the undergraduate admission cycle.
Tier 2 — State Law Entrances
Every state that runs government law colleges has its own test, and the pattern repeats nationwide: one common test, seats in the state's law colleges, often with a domicile reservation.
| Exam | State / Region | Where It Leads |
|---|---|---|
| PU CET UG Law | Chandigarh / Punjab | Panjab University's UILS and its regional centres (Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur) — 5-year integrated law |
| MH CET Law | Maharashtra | Government and aided law colleges across Maharashtra |
| AP LAWCET | Andhra Pradesh | Government law colleges in Andhra Pradesh |
| TS LAWCET | Telangana | Government law colleges in Telangana |
| KLEE | Kerala | Government and aided law colleges in Kerala |
| MPPAT (Law) | Madhya Pradesh | Government law colleges in Madhya Pradesh |
ℹ️ Why the state exam matters: for a Chandigarh-area student, PU CET UG Law is the classic "safe + prestigious" combination — a Panjab University law degree, minutes from home, with a state-level merit list rather than a national one. Our topper list includes PU UILS AIR 1, 4 and 7 selections.
Tier 3 — University-Specific Entrances
Some excellent institutions prefer to hold their own test rather than join a national or state pool:
- DU LLB: Delhi University's own entrance for its law faculty — a single institution, a single test.
- BHU UET: Banaras Hindu University's undergraduate entrance test covers its law programme along with other courses.
- AIL LET: the Army Institute of Law's entrance test for its law programme — a government-funded institute in Mohali with a strong placement record. Navneet Kaur, one of our students, secured AIR 2 at the Army Institute of Law through AIL LET 2025.
- AMU: Aligarh Muslim University conducts its own law entrance for its faculty of law.
- KLE: the KLE Society's law entrance serves its institutions, including KLE Law College.
Notice the pattern: these are niche tests for niche targets. They make sense only if the institution itself is your dream — never as a scatter-shot addition.
Tier 4 — Postgraduate (LLM & 3-Year LLB)
Law entrances are not only for Class 12 students. Two separate audiences live in this tier:
- LLM aspirants: CLAT PG (for the NLUs), AILET PG (for NLU Delhi) and DU LLB PG — admission to postgraduate law degrees.
- Graduates moving into law: the 3-year LLB route — PU LLB (3-year) at Panjab University and similar programmes nationwide, for graduates of any stream who decide on law after an undergraduate degree. This is the same degree CLAT-PG-style candidates overlap with, and it is a genuinely common second-career path.
How Many Should You Actually Write? The Honest Answer
Two to three, at most. Here is the formula we give every student at our academy:
- CLAT — always. It covers the largest number of elite institutions (the NLUs) in a single attempt. Even if you don't want an NLU, it keeps your options open.
- Your state exam — almost always. PU CET UG Law for Chandigarh/Punjab students, your home state's CET otherwise. It is the safety net that is actually prestigious.
- AILET — if NLU Delhi is your dream. One extra exam, and since English, GK and Reasoning overlap with CLAT, the marginal preparation cost is low.
Add SLAT only if the Symbiosis campuses genuinely interest you. Add a university-specific test only if that university is your first choice. Anything beyond this dilutes quality — and the entrance season is a marathon, not a sprint.
🎯 Why this works: around 70% of the syllabus overlaps across CLAT, AILET, SLAT and the state CETs. One well-built foundation in English, Current Affairs, Logical and Legal Reasoning carries you through all of them — so 2–3 exams cost you barely more preparation than 1.
How Surya Law Academy Trains Across Exams
This 70% overlap is exactly why our combined batches work. One integrated course covers CLAT + AILET + SLAT + PU CET UG Law, with exam-specific drills layered on top of a shared foundation: 200+ mock tests, sectional timing practice, hardcopy study material, and small batches of 15–25 students with Gold Medalist faculty. The results are verifiable and named — Anish Gupta (CLAT AIR 17, NLSIU 2024), Ananya Sharma (CLAT AIR 32, NLSIU 2025), Navneet Kaur (AIR 2, Army Institute of Law via AIL LET 2025) — alongside PU UILS AIR 1, 4 and 7 selections, from an institute with 1000+ law selections since 2012 and 810 Google reviews at 4.9★.
ℹ️ Counsellor's note: the entrance list you choose should match your budget, your home state and your target institution — in that order of practicality. Bring us your class, board and dream college, and we will hand you a 2-exam (or 3-exam) plan, not an 8-exam bundle.
Get Your Personal 2–3 Exam Plan
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