AILET 2026: NLU Delhi Law Entrance, Pattern and Guide

AILET is the All India Law Entrance Test, conducted by National Law University Delhi for admission to its own programmes. It is the one national law entrance that sits outside CLAT, and NLU Delhi is the one national law university that does not admit through CLAT.

AILET 2026 was held on 14 December 2025, with applications open from 7 August to 10 November 2025. That admission cycle is complete. If you are reading this to plan an attempt, you are planning for the next cycle.

What AILET is and why it exists separately

Twenty-something national law universities across India admit students through the Common Law Admission Test. NLU Delhi does not. It runs its own examination, on its own timetable, with its own paper.

For a candidate, that means AILET is an additional examination rather than an alternative one. Almost everyone who sits AILET also sits CLAT, because sitting AILET does not substitute for CLAT and NLU Delhi is a single institution.

The examination is held in December, which places it close to CLAT in the calendar. Preparation overlaps substantially, and the difference lies in the paper rather than in the syllabus.

Programmes and intake

NLU Delhi admits through AILET to its five year integrated BA LLB (Hons), its one year LLM, and its PhD programmes.

The undergraduate intake is small relative to the applicant pool, which is the fundamental fact shaping how competitive AILET is. A single institution admitting a limited cohort, against a national applicant field, produces cutoffs that are demanding by any standard.

Reserved category seats and seats under specific provisions follow the university's published reservation policy for the cycle, which is set out in the prospectus rather than being uniform across law schools.

Exam pattern

The AILET paper has been structured around 150 questions in recent cycles, and its character differs from CLAT in ways that matter for preparation.

For the BA LLB (Hons) programme the paper covers English language, current affairs and general knowledge, and logical reasoning. Legal aptitude has been treated differently across cycles, which is one reason the prospectus for the current cycle is the only reliable authority on the structure.

The distinguishing feature relative to CLAT is the treatment of comprehension. CLAT has moved firmly toward long passage-based questions across sections. AILET has retained a more direct question style in parts of the paper, which rewards a slightly different set of habits.

Negative marking applies. Confirm the exact deduction and the question count for the cycle you are sitting from the official prospectus, because NLU Delhi has revised the pattern between cycles and material describing an older AILET may not describe the current one.

That last point is not a formality. AILET has changed more often than most national entrance examinations, and candidates preparing from second-hand summaries have repeatedly prepared for a paper that no longer existed.

How AILET differs from CLAT in practice

The preparation overlap is high enough that no candidate should treat them as separate projects. English, current affairs, general knowledge and reasoning serve both.

What differs is exam-day technique. A candidate trained exclusively on long CLAT-style passages can find the pace of a more direct paper unfamiliar, and the reverse is also true. Practising both formats is the practical answer, and it costs little because the underlying knowledge is shared.

Sit both. There is no strategic reason to choose between them, and declining to sit AILET removes one institution from your options for no gain.

Preparing for the next cycle

Since the 2026 cycle is complete, the useful content here is what to do if you are targeting the next one.

Current affairs and general knowledge reward daily accumulation and punish compression more than any other component. A candidate reading regularly across a year arrives with a base that no amount of late revision replicates. Static general knowledge and legal awareness sit alongside current affairs and need their own attention.

English rewards reading rather than drilling. Comprehension speed and vocabulary build from sustained reading of demanding prose, and candidates who only work through practice sets tend to plateau.

Logical reasoning is the most trainable component in the short term, which makes it worth concentrated work when time is limited.

Practise under timed conditions from early on. Law entrance papers are as much about pace and selection as about knowledge, and the ability to leave a question and move on is a trained habit rather than a natural one.

Work official past papers where available, and treat coaching material as supplementary. Past papers tell you what the examination actually asks; summaries tell you what someone thought it asked.

Track the NLU Delhi website directly for the notification. The university publishes on its own site, and applying to AILET requires watching for it rather than waiting to be told.

The wider question of whether to target law

Candidates preparing for AILET are usually in Class 12 or shortly after, making a decision with long consequences, and it is worth being direct about the position.

A five year integrated law degree is a substantial commitment, and the outcomes vary enormously by institution. Graduates of the top national law universities have access to corporate law firms, litigation chambers, judicial services preparation and policy work on terms that graduates of weaker institutions do not.

That variance is the reason competition for NLU Delhi and comparable institutions is intense, and it is also the reason a candidate should think carefully before accepting a place at an institution whose outcomes they have not investigated.

Judicial services, which many law graduates target, is a separate examination conducted by each state with its own eligibility and its own preparation, and it is open to graduates of any recognised law school. A candidate whose goal is the judiciary is not foreclosed by not attending a top national law university, though the preparation environment differs.

None of that is a reason to avoid law. It is a reason to research specific institutions and specific career paths before committing five years, rather than treating admission anywhere as the goal.

Building current affairs for a law entrance

Current affairs and general knowledge carry more weight in law entrance examinations than in most competitive papers, and candidates consistently underestimate how long the component takes to build.

The scope is wider than news headlines. It covers national and international events, awards and honours, appointments, sports, books and authors, summits and agreements, and a substantial legal awareness component covering landmark judgments, constitutional developments, important legislation and the structure of the judiciary.

The legal awareness portion is where law entrance diverges from general competitive examinations. A candidate reading a standard general knowledge compilation will cover the events and miss the legal material entirely.

What works is a daily habit maintained across a year rather than an intensive block. Read a serious newspaper properly, keep short notes organised by theme rather than by date, and revise those notes weekly. A month of intensive reading in November produces recall that decays before December.

Landmark judgments deserve separate treatment. Knowing the case name, the year, the core holding and why it mattered is the level generally required, and this is finite material that rewards systematic coverage.

Static general knowledge, covering history, geography, polity and basic science, sits alongside current affairs and is often neglected because it feels less urgent. It is examinable and it is stable, which makes it among the more reliable marks available.

What the five year law course actually involves

Candidates commit to a five year integrated degree with limited information about what it contains, so a brief description is useful.

The integrated BA LLB combines undergraduate arts subjects with law subjects across five years, rather than requiring a separate bachelor's degree before law. That is the attraction: it saves a year against the three year LLB route taken after graduation.

The workload is reading-heavy in a way that surprises students from science backgrounds. Law is studied through cases, statutes and commentary, and the volume of reading is substantial and continuous rather than concentrated before examinations.

Moot courts, internships and research work sit alongside coursework at most serious institutions, and they matter for placement outcomes as much as grades do. Students who treat the degree as coursework alone tend to graduate with weaker options than peers who engaged with the wider programme.

Specialisation typically emerges in later years through electives and internship choices, covering corporate, constitutional, criminal, intellectual property, international and other fields.

The point of describing this is that law suits students who read willingly and argue carefully. A candidate choosing it because it is prestigious, without an appetite for sustained reading, is choosing five demanding years on weak foundations.

Application and documents

Applications for AILET run online through the NLU Delhi portal during the notified window, which for the 2026 cycle was 7 August to 10 November 2025.

Register with a working email address and mobile number, since the university sends the admit card and later communication there and the same login carries through the process.

Prepare uploads before starting the form: a recent photograph, a signature, and any category or supporting certificate in the specified format and dimensions. Specification mismatches cause rejections that surface late.

Enter your name and details exactly as they appear on your certificates. Mismatches are checked at admission and cause genuine problems at a point where they are difficult to resolve.

Pay the fee online and confirm the transaction completed, because an application with a failed payment is not an application.

Do not submit on the closing day. Portals slow under load near deadlines without exception.

A realistic plan for a December attempt

For a candidate targeting the next AILET cycle, the calendar shapes what is worth doing when.

The long run, from early in the year, belongs to the components that compound. Current affairs read daily, English built through sustained reading, and static general knowledge and legal awareness worked through systematically. None of these respond to intensity late on, and all of them separate candidates who started early from those who did not.

The middle stretch is for logical reasoning and for consolidating legal awareness into organised, revisable notes. Reasoning improves measurably with concentrated practice, which makes it the right place for focused effort once the reading habits are established.

The final two to three months are for timed full-length practice, in both AILET and CLAT formats, and for revision of your own notes rather than fresh material. This is where pace, question selection and the discipline of leaving a hard question are trained.

The last fortnight is revision only. Learning new material at that point displaces consolidation of what you already know, and it reliably costs more than it adds.

Through all of it, sit both AILET and CLAT practice papers rather than specialising in one format. The knowledge is shared and only the exam-day habits differ, so covering both costs little.

One caution on coaching. It can provide structure, material and a peer group, all of which help. It cannot substitute for the daily reading habit, and candidates who outsource their preparation to a class while not reading independently tend to plateau in exactly the components that matter most here.

After the result

AILET results lead to counselling and admission conducted by NLU Delhi according to its published process for the cycle, which is set out in the prospectus rather than following the CLAT consortium's arrangements.

Candidates holding both an AILET result and a CLAT result face a genuine choice, and it should be made on the specifics rather than on general reputation. Compare the actual institutions available to you under each, their placement records, their faculty and their location, rather than treating one examination as inherently superior.

Keep documents assembled through this period: Class 10 and Class 12 certificates and mark sheets, identity proof, photographs matching the application, category certificate in the prescribed format where applicable, and the scorecard. Admission windows are short and a candidate assembling paperwork after an offer is at risk.

Candidates who are not admitted in a cycle have the option of attempting again, and many do. That decision deserves the same scrutiny as any repeat year: a clear diagnosis of what went wrong, a plan that addresses it, and an honest assessment of whether another year is the best use of the time.

Frequently asked questions

When was AILET 2026 held?

On 14 December 2025, with applications open from 7 August to 10 November 2025. That admission cycle is complete, so candidates reading now are planning for the next one.

What is the difference between AILET and CLAT?

AILET is conducted by NLU Delhi for admission to its own programmes. CLAT is conducted by the Consortium of NLUs for admission to most other national law universities. NLU Delhi does not admit through CLAT, so AILET is an additional examination rather than an alternative, and almost all candidates sit both.

Should I sit both AILET and CLAT?

Yes. The preparation overlaps heavily, so sitting AILET costs little beyond the fee and the day, and declining it removes NLU Delhi from your options for no gain. There is no strategic reason to choose between them.

What programmes does AILET admit to?

The five year integrated BA LLB (Hons), the one year LLM, and PhD programmes at National Law University Delhi.

What is the AILET exam pattern?

The paper has been structured around 150 questions in recent cycles, covering English language, current affairs and general knowledge, and logical reasoning for the undergraduate programme, with negative marking. NLU Delhi has revised the pattern between cycles more often than most national entrance examinations, so confirm the structure from the prospectus for the cycle you are sitting rather than from a summary.

Is AILET harder than CLAT?

They test overlapping material with different paper styles rather than at clearly different difficulty levels. CLAT has moved firmly toward long passage-based questions while AILET has retained more direct questions in parts of the paper. The intake at NLU Delhi is small relative to the applicant pool, which makes AILET cutoffs demanding regardless of paper difficulty.

How many seats does NLU Delhi offer?

The undergraduate intake is small relative to the national applicant pool, which is the fundamental driver of how competitive AILET is. Exact intake and the reservation breakdown are published in the prospectus for each cycle.

Is there negative marking in AILET?

Yes. Confirm the exact deduction for your cycle from the official prospectus, since NLU Delhi has revised the marking scheme along with the pattern between cycles.

How should I prepare for AILET?

Read demanding prose regularly for English rather than only drilling practice sets. Accumulate current affairs and general knowledge daily across the year, since this component punishes compression more than any other. Work logical reasoning concentratedly, as it is the most trainable component in the short term. Practise under timed conditions from early, and use official past papers over coaching summaries.

Where do I find the AILET notification?

On the National Law University Delhi website. The university publishes its own notification and does not route it through the CLAT consortium, so candidates must watch the NLU Delhi site directly rather than assuming they will hear about it alongside CLAT announcements.

Can I appear for AILET more than once?

There is no cap on attempts. Eligibility is governed by the qualifying conditions in the prospectus rather than by an attempt limit, and candidates who are not admitted in one cycle commonly attempt again. That decision deserves a clear diagnosis of what went wrong and a plan that addresses it, rather than being taken as the default response to a disappointing result.

Does AILET have a legal aptitude section?

Legal aptitude has been treated differently across cycles, which is why the prospectus for the cycle you are sitting is the only reliable authority. What has been consistent is a legal awareness component within general knowledge, covering landmark judgments, constitutional developments and important legislation, and that material is distinct from what a general competitive-exam compilation covers.

Is coaching necessary for AILET?

Coaching can provide structure, material and a peer group, and those help. It cannot substitute for the daily reading habit that builds English and current affairs, which are the components that most separate candidates. Students who outsource preparation to a class while not reading independently tend to plateau in exactly those areas.

What happens if I clear both AILET and CLAT?

You choose, and the choice should be made on specifics rather than general reputation. Compare the actual institutions available to you under each result, their placement records, faculty and location. Neither examination is inherently superior: they admit to different institutions.

Where can I find official AILET past papers?

National Law University Delhi publishes past papers and related material on its own website. Use those in preference to coaching reconstructions, because past papers show what the examination actually asked while summaries show what someone believed it asked, and AILET's pattern has shifted enough between cycles that the difference is material rather than academic. Work them under timed conditions rather than reading through them, since pace and question selection are a large part of what the paper tests.

Official sources

• National Law University Delhi: https://nludelhi.ac.in
• The AILET prospectus for the relevant cycle, which is the authority on the exam pattern, question count, marking scheme, intake and reservation policy

Where anything on this page conflicts with the prospectus, the prospectus is correct. AILET has revised its pattern between cycles more often than most national entrance examinations, so treat any pattern description not drawn from the current prospectus, including this one, as indicative rather than definitive.