Changing Pattern Of CLAT And AILET

It is apposite to note here that even in 2020, the CLAT pattern was modified by the Consortium of NLUs six months before the scheduled examination date. Although in that scenario a sample paper had been released in January 2020, providing students four months to grapple with the changes and apprise themselves with the new pattern. This changed pattern focused on the candidate's reading and comprehension skills rather than rote learning, which was being tested in the previous pattern of CLAT. The new pattern tested the candidate on the skills that a law aspirant/ successful lawyer requires like the craft of comprehending the English language in the best possible way.

Analysis Of New Pattern Of CLAT

Previous Pattern For CLAT

Areas Tested

• English - including Comprehension and Grammar
• General Knowledge / Current Affairs,
• Mathematics (Elementary only)
• Logical Reasoning
• Legal Aptitude

The legal Aptitude section will test a candidate's Fundamental Aptitude for the study of law, research aptitude, and problem-solving ability. The questions will be framed on legal propositions and a set of facts satisfying the propositions. The propositions may not be true in the real sense, so a candidate will have to assume the proposition to be true, based on the set of facts given, and then answer the questions accordingly.

Exam Pattern

The paper is of the objective type, with a 2-hour duration, and the following break-up of marks:

• English (including Comprehension)- 40 Marks
• General Knowledge / Current Affairs- 50 Marks
• Elementary Mathematics- 20 Marks
• Legal Aptitude- 50 Marks
• Logical Reasoning- 40 Marks

There were 200 questions, each question carried one mark, and there was a negative marking of 0.25 marks for every incorrect answer.

New Pattern For CLAT

Since 2020, the UG-CLAT has focused on evaluating the comprehension and reasoning skills and abilities of candidates. Overall, it is designed to be a test of aptitude and skills that are necessary for legal education rather than prior knowledge, though prior knowledge occasionally may be useful to respond to questions in the Current Affairs section. Likewise, the UG-CLAT 2022 shall also be a 2-hour test, with 150 multiple-choice questions carrying one mark each. There shall be a negative marking of 0.25 marks for every wrong answer. These questions would be divided across the following five subjects:

• English Language
• Current Affairs, including General Knowledge
• Legal Reasoning
• Logical Reasoning
• Quantitative Techniques

English Language

So, in line with the modified pattern, in UG-CLAT 2022, a candidate will be provided passages of about 450 words each. These passages will be derived from contemporary or historically significant fiction and non-fiction writing and would be of a standard that a 12th standard student may read in about 5-7 minutes. Each passage will be followed by a series of questions that will require you to demonstrate your comprehension and language skills, including your abilities to:

• Read and comprehend the main point discussed in the passage, as well as any arguments and viewpoints discussed or set out in the passage;
• Draw inferences and conclusions based on the passage;
• Summarise the passage;
• Compare and contrast the different arguments or viewpoints set out in the passage; and
• Understand the meaning of various words and phrases used in the passage.

Current Affairs

In this section, a candidate will be provided passages of up to 450 words each. The passages will be derived from news, journalistic sources and other non-fiction writing. The questions may include an examination of legal information or knowledge discussed in or related to the passage, but would not require any additional knowledge of the law beyond the passage. Each passage will be followed by a series of questions that will require a candidate to demonstrate their awareness of various aspects of current affairs and general knowledge, including:

• Contemporary events of significance from India and the world;
• Arts and culture;
• International affairs; and
• Historical events of continuing significance.

Legal Reasoning

In this section, a candidate will be expected to read passages of around 450 words each. The passages may relate to fact situations or scenarios involving legal matters, public policy questions or moral philosophical enquiries. A candidate will not require any prior knowledge of the law. They will benefit from a general awareness of contemporary legal and moral issues to better apply general principles or propositions to the given fact scenarios. Each passage will be followed by a series of questions that will require a candidate to:

• Identify and infer the rules and principles set out in the passage;
• Apply such rules and principles to various fact situations; and
• Understand how changes to the rules or principles may alter their application to various fact situations.

Logical Reasoning

The Logical Reasoning section of the UG-CLAT 2022 will include a series of short passages of about 300 words each. Each passage will be followed by one or more questions that will require a candidate to:

• Recognize an argument, its premises and conclusions;
• Read and identify the arguments set out in the passage;
• Critically analyse patterns of reasoning, and assess how conclusions may depend on particular premises or evidence;
• Infer what follows from the passage and apply these inferences to new situations;
• Draw relationships and analogies, identify contradictions and equivalence and assess the effectiveness of arguments.

Quantitative Techniques

The Quantitative Techniques section of the UG-CLAT 2022 will include short sets of facts or propositions, graphs, or other textual, pictorial or diagrammatic representations of numerical information, followed by a series of questions. A candidate will be required to derive information from such passages, graphs, or other representations, and apply mathematical operations on such information. The questions will require candidates to:

• Derive, infer, and manipulate numerical information set out in such passages, graphs, or other representations; and
• Apply various 10th standard mathematical operations on such information, including from areas such as ratios and proportions, basic algebra, mensuration and statistical estimation.

With 12 and a half years of experience of teaching CLAT aspirants and witnessing 13 editions of CLAT personally, including the exam with the new pattern, I sternly believe that the new pattern tests the candidate based on skills which are needed to become a good lawyer and those skills are that of reading and comprehension. Therefore, the candidate needs to focus on immense practice to improve their reading and comprehension skills by reading newspapers and solving as many Mocks as possible.

Analysis Of New Pattern Of AILET

Old Pattern For AILET

The AILET has 150 Multiple Choice Questions for 150 marks that must be attempted within 90 minutes. In addition, the AILET has sections on English, General Knowledge, Basic Mathematics, Logical Reasoning, and Legal Aptitude.

Total Marks- 150

Total number of questions- 150

Duration of the Examination- 90 minutes

Subject areas and marks distribution

• English- 35 Marks

• General Knowledge (Current Affairs, General Science, History, Geography, Economics, Civics)- 35 Marks

• Legal Aptitude- 35 Marks

• Reasoning- 35 Marks

• Elementary Mathematics (Numerical Ability)- 10 Marks

New Pattern For AILET

• The AILET 2022 for B.A.LL.B (Hons.) program will have three (3) sections of 150 multiple choice questions for 150 marks in total. The duration of the examination is 90 minutes.
• The three sections will be:

Section A: English Language (50 questions; 50 marks).

Section B: Current Affairs & General Knowledge (30 questions; 30 marks).

Section C: Logical Reasoning (70 questions; 70 marks).

Legal principles may be used in the logical reasoning section to test logical aptitude, but the examination will not require legal knowledge or technical understanding.

Negative marking: There will be Negative Marking in AILET 2022, as has existed since the year 2018. The criteria for negative marking will be based on the formula 0.25*4=1, that 0.25 marks will be deducted per the wrong answer. Therefore, four wrong answers will lead to a deduction of 1 Mark.

• If two or more candidates get the same marks at the All India Law Entrance Test (AILET), their merit will be determined based on higher marks in the section on LOGICAL REASONING in the AILET 2022.
• If the merit is still the same, then the candidate senior in age shall get preference. If still there is no change in merit, then computerized draw of lots shall be taken into consideration.

Various Changes In the New Pattern:

1. The number of questions in the section of English has been increased from 30 to 50. Also, it is pertinent to note herein that the name of the section head is changed from "English" to "English Language." This, I feel, is a positive change as English language skills are essential for a law aspirant or a good lawyer practicing in High Courts or Supreme Court or even for legal associates working in Law firms. Thereby, testing the same at the entry-level and increasing its quantum, thereby making it one-third (50 out of 150), makes a lot of sense. Also, the name change implies that the examiner might test more on the English Language rather than general English. Rest remains a mystery. A few sample questions for the section or a sample paper would be pretty appreciable and bring in a lot of clarity to more than 20000 test takes for the said exam.

2. The number of questions in the section of General Knowledge has been reduced from 35 to 30. Although the section's content still seems to be the same, the candidate will be tested both on Static general knowledge and Current General Knowledge. The fact that five marks reduce the quantum of the section shows the exam-taking authorities are focusing less on rote learning this time as they are asking five fewer questions in this particular section.

3. Another significant change in the paper is the complete removal of the "Elementary Mathematics" section from the paper. I feel this is the best change that could have been done for the law entrance examination. The section of Mathematics used to give undue advantage to a certain of a section of students who has/had Maths in as one of the optional subjects in class 12^th and the testing of candidates on Elementary Mathematics does not bear any reasonable nexus to the object sought to be achieved from the exam.

4. Last change in the pattern is slightly uncanny and unique simultaneously. The examination authorities have merged the sections of "Reasoning" and "Legal Aptitude" into one and have named it "Logical Reasoning." The quantum of the section is 70 marks, whereas the individual quantum of "Reasoning" and "Legal Aptitude" was earlier 35 marks. The explanation for this section is quite interesting. It mentions herein, "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." It may mean two things-

• Only Legal Reasoning will be asked in the Logical Reasoning section, and there will be no standard questions of Logical Reasoning that might be asked in this section. If we go by this interpretation, it would be a perfect scenario as a law aspirant's legal aptitude would be tested now. Also, rote learning (i.e., legal knowledge), which was tested earlier, has been taken out of the picture.
• The second interpretation might add to the confusion if standard questions of Logical Reasoning (Syllogism, Critical Reasoning, Puzzles, Coding-Decoding, Blood Relations, etc.) would be tested as the candidates would be confused if they should prepare for the same or not or only legal reasoning would be asked in the exam.

Now, as per the new pattern, there are three sections, in which there is no confusion as far as the second section of General Knowledge is concerned, but still, there is some amount of confusion in the first section of "English Language" as well as in the third section of "Legal Reasoning." Therefore, it would be pretty appreciable of the examination authorities if they could release a sample paper or some sample questions on the new pattern as the new pattern is quite different from past year papers for the abovementioned reasons, and they could not be considered an ideal sample for AILET 2022.

The author is an Advocate practicing at Allahabad High Court and views are personal.