Consortium of National Law Universities

The Consortium of National Law Universities is a coordinating body established by National Law Universities to improve coordination and standards in legal education. It was established on 19 August 2017 and is a registered society.

The Consortium is best known for organizing the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), the national-level admission test used by participating National Law Universities for undergraduate and postgraduate law admissions. CLAT is conducted through a common examination and counselling framework, allowing candidates to apply for participating NLUs through a centralized process.

For the CLAT 2027 cycle, the Consortium states that the examination is scheduled for 6 December 2026. CLAT 2027 covers admissions to undergraduate and postgraduate law programmes, and the official participating-universities list includes 26 National Law Universities.

The Consortium also maintains the CLAT application and counselling systems, publishes examination instructions, syllabi, question-paper formats, participating-university information, seat-allocation notices and other candidate communications. Some affiliate universities and organizations may also use CLAT scores under their own admission or recruitment arrangements.

Candidates should distinguish the Consortium from an individual National Law University. The Consortium manages the common CLAT framework, while individual NLUs remain responsible for their own academic programmes, institutional rules and detailed admission requirements.

The Consortium of National Law Universities was established on 19 August 2017 with the stated aim of improving standards of legal education and serving the justice system through legal education. It was created to improve coordination among National Law Universities and subsequently became the principal body coordinating the Common Law Admission Test and associated admission processes.

The Consortium is governed through representatives of member National Law Universities. Its official structure includes a governing body, executive committee, office-bearers and administrative staff supporting the CLAT examination and admission process. The Consortium also maintains examination, counselling, technical, communication and university-coordination functions.