CLAT cut-offs are All-India Ranks, not marks, and they differ sharply by NLU and category. For General category, NLSIU Bengaluru closes inside roughly AIR 100, NALSAR Hyderabad around AIR 100–200, and the top five NLUs are largely settled within AIR 500. Beyond that, the newer NLUs extend well into the thousands, and state-domicile quotas can admit candidates at ranks far below the general cut-off.
Two things confuse this topic: cut-offs are ranks rather than scores, and the domicile quota means "the CLAT cut-off" is never one number.
Indicative General-category closing ranks #
| NLU | Approx. closing AIR (General) |
|---|---|
| NLSIU Bengaluru | ~100 |
| NALSAR Hyderabad | ~100–200 |
| WBNUJS Kolkata | ~250–350 |
| NLU Jodhpur | ~350–500 |
| GNLU Gandhinagar | ~450–650 |
| NLIU Bhopal | ~600–900 |
| NUALS Kochi / RMLNLU Lucknow | ~900–1,600 |
| HNLU Raipur / RGNUL Patiala | ~1,300–2,200 |
| Newer NLUs | ~2,500–6,000+ |
Why the same NLU has several cut-offs #
| Category | Effect on the rank needed |
|---|---|
| General All-India | The published benchmark |
| OBC / EWS | Typically a somewhat higher (weaker) rank suffices |
| SC / ST | Substantially higher ranks admitted |
| State domicile | Often the single largest advantage — many NLUs reserve a large share for home-state candidates |
| PwD | Separate, much wider band |
- If you have domicile in a state with an NLU, check that quota's closing rank specifically. It frequently sits thousands of ranks below the All-India general cut-off for the same institute.
- Cut-offs move between counselling rounds. The round-one closing rank is not the final one — candidates withdraw and ranks slide.
- Fill your NLU preference order honestly. Counselling allocates against your stated order, and a careless list can hand you a seat you do not want while forfeiting one you do.
What score gives what rank #
Roughly, a strong General-category candidate targeting the top five NLUs needs to be comfortably above the mid-90s in score terms out of roughly 120, though the exact score-to-rank mapping shifts every year with paper difficulty. Work to a rank target and treat score as the instrument.
CLAT cutoff — frequently asked questions
What rank is needed for NLSIU Bengaluru?
What is the CLAT cutoff for the top 5 NLUs?
Is there a separate CLAT cutoff for OBC and SC/ST?
Does state domicile lower the CLAT cutoff?
Do CLAT cutoffs change between counselling rounds?
Institutes with verified NLU selection records.
Disclaimer: Closing ranks are indicative, compiled from publicly reported counselling data, and are not official. Verify against Consortium and individual NLU counselling documents.
