CLAT Update 2020 – CLAT Latest Notification

CLAT 2020 to be held on the 10th of May 2020 will undergo some changes as per the official press release. Quoting from the release:

asking students to answer 200 questions in 120 minutes is not right as it puts students under lot of mental stress. The exam will remain off line and the duration will be two hours.  He told that the idea is to get better students to National Law Universities who have competence in reading texts and demonstrate skills in inferential reasoning. Similarly, the PG admission test will also have comprehension based questions.

Now this should be taken in the right spirit or NOT! Let me attempt to decode this statement and provide you with a lowdown of what to expect for CLAT 2020.

Given the statement, the exam will still be of 2 hours but with fewer questions to answer. The statement reveals that the number of questions could range from 120 to 150. The revered President of the NLU Consortium quotes “mental stress” for this path breaking decision to make this exam a conduit to cater to the masses (well prepared or not).Students should be competent at reading texts and demonstrate skills in inferential reasoning. Whoa! What was CLAT testing all this while!!!?!!! He further states that the brightest and the sharpest minds (“Good students”) will make it through to the NLU’s with the new pattern. I disagree! We’ll come to that in a bit. For now, let’s still stick to decoding the statement =)

So 2 hours, 120 – 150 questions! All good. Now comes the shocker!

there will be a change in the pattern of questions with a focus on comprehension-based questions from quantitative techniques, English, current affairs, and logical reasoning.

If one goes by the dictionary, the word “comprehension” is defined as “the ability to understand something”. Now don’t freak out over this bizarre statement. This will only mean that the question format will be the same as before. Don’t indulge in rumours where some creative good-for-nothings will start flailing there arma and insinuate that there may be “inferential” GK questions or math based questions.. that’s just ridiculous. You can’t derive GK from a passage.. you either know a fact or you don’t!

So PLEASE DON’T FREAK OUT. THERE WILL BE NO MAJOR CHANGE IN THE QUESTION FORMAT!

Now let’s read into the above statement. You will be tested on

English: The regular Reading Comprehension, Grammar, Vocabulary based questions and probably a Cloze Test will be the focus areas (AILET has experimented with this umpteen number of times). I feel, as I’ve reiterated over and over again, the paper may be RC heavy! Your reading skills will hold the key to scoring high in the CLAT. So please get going.. READ READ READ!!!

Further Vocab usage questions such as the following can be tested:

Choose the correct usage of the words labelled A and B in the following sentences.

1. Khap panchayats are extra-constitutional bodies in Haryana that decry (A) /decree(B)institutionalised atrocities. The Khap leaders are universally criticised for imposing regressive diktats that fetter (A)/curb(B) women. Patriarchal and misogynist, Khaps have played a key role in reducing Haryana’s sex ratio to an immeasurable (A)/abysmal (B) low. The recent apex court directive against Khap panchayats holds the district administration including the police accountable for the prevention of the barbaric acts carried out at the behest(A)/recommendation(B)of the Khaps.
2. BABA
3. AABB
4. BBAB
5. ABBA

(A is the right answer)

These kind of questions have been extensively covered in your OPUS material and practice tests.

So in a nutshell, English will consist of the same structure with a minor alteration in the number of questions and I predict a higher focus on Reading Comprehension and less focus on Grammar.

Sentence Correction questions (an offshoot of grammar, but more reasoning based) such as the following question can also be tested:

Identify the correct version of the underlined sentence.

Q.Denouncing it as anti-democratic, the Lobbying Act was slammed by critics, imposing draconian limits on the activities of trade unions.

1. the Lobbying Act, which imposes draconian limits on the activities of trade unions, was slammed by critics.
2. critics slammed the Lobbying Act, imposing draconian limits on the activities of trade unions.
3. critics slammed the Lobbying Act, which imposes draconian limits on the activities of trade unions.
4. No correction required

Again, these kind of questions have been repeatedly tested at OPUS.

Quantitative Aptitude: Now, usually the CLAT specifies that Math will be tested only till the Xth standard, however question formulations could be of a higher level. Again the shortcuts that you constantly learn at OPUS will be the key for you to ace this section. The topics are unlikely to change, but the standard of questions may differ. I predict the standard to be of medium difficulty with the focus areas being primarily Arithmetic and Number System. Other areas such as Permutation and Combination, Probability, Set theory and basic Algebra and Geometry can be tested, albeit at a basic level. We have you covered!

A new area that could feature in the new pattern (given our reading of the “statement”) will be Data interpretation (DI) questions. Now, DI is just a short extension of basic arithmetic, even more so mostly restricted to Percentages and Averages.

Sample DI question:

Five Companies A, B, C, D and E saw growth rates ranging from 10% to 50% in the year 2015. The company A with the least revenues of Rs. 600 crores in 2015 saw the maximum growth rate of 50% and the Company D with the highest revenue saw the least growth rate of 10%. Company B’s revenues in 2016 was equal to that of Company D in 2015, while Company C’s 2016 revenue was equal to that of Company B’s in 2015, Company A’s 2016 revenue was equal to that of Company E in 2015. John, an accountant observes that one of the companies has twice the growth rate of another. Mathew, his colleague corrects him and says that this is the case in two different instances. Company E has a revenue equal to the average seen in Company A and D, and growth rate equal to the average growth rate of A and D. Ram, known for his cryptic-speak mentioned that if company C had grown at the rate seen by company A in 2015 would have reached the revenues seen by Company B in 2016

1. What is the overall average growth rate seen by all 5 companies put together?
2. 27%
3. 2%
4. 5%
5. 5%

1. Which company had the median revenue in 2016?
2. A
3. B
4. C
5. E

(Bold indicates the correct solution)

Or a question like this:

Five students, P, Q, R, S and T stand in a line in some order and receive cookies and biscuits to eat. No student gets the same number of cookies or biscuits. The person first in the queue gets the least number of cookies. Number of cookies or biscuits received by each student is a natural number from 1 to 9 with each number appearing at least once. The total number of cookies is two more than the total number of biscuits distributed. R who was in the middle of the line received more goodies (cookies and biscuits put together) than everyone else. T receives 8 more cookies than biscuits. The person who is last in the queue received 10 items in all, while P receives only half as many totally. Q is after P but before S in the queue. Number of cookies Q receives is equal to the number of biscuits P receives. Q receives one more good than S and one less than R. Person second in the queue receives an odd number of biscuits and an odd number of cookies

1. Who was 4th in the queue? (4th)
2. How many cookies did Q get? (3)

Now the above question strangely resembles a logical reasoning question, but these can appear in your math section since it is more number based. Just re align some of the question types and you’re ready to claim your prize =)

(PS: The above questions are slightly on the higher side, however, I don’t expect the questions to be of this standard. Basic pie chart questions or table based question may be featured in your real exam. OPUS will ensure that you are exposed to these question types.

Just focus on concepts that were taught to you in the OPUS classroom and you’re good to go.

Logical / Inferential Reasoning: Now I feel that this section will include LEGAL reasoning along with your Lethal Reasoning 😛 Kidding. Logical Reasoning and Inferential reasoning questions are nothing but your regular verbal and Analytical reasoning that you’ve been moulded in thoroughly! The topics:

Critical Reasoning, Syllogisms, Logical Connectives, Conclusions, Assumptions, Courses of Action, Degree of truth and falsity, Arguments, Parajumbles etc. under verbal Reasoning

Logic Games, Letter and Number series, Coding Decoding, Clocks and Calendars, Directions, Relations etc. under Analytical reasoning.

Further topics such as Cause and Effect, Rank Test, Sequential Output Tracing, Binary Logic and Fact Inference and Judgement based questions can be tested – under miscellaneous – PLEASE CHECK YOUR UPDATED MATERIAL FOR AN ENTIRE CHAPTER ON THESE AREAS. We had predicted these changes a while back and your material was upgraded 6 months back!

Current Affairs: The statement categorically states that current affairs will be tested. All the hullabaloo around GK being inferred is hog wash. Please focus on your current affairs fro April to April with the focus months being Jan to April of 2020. Legal Current affairs should not be underestimated. Static GK is likely not to be tested, and even if it is, it will be fewer in number. But again, please don’t completely ignore it.. case in point CLAT 2013

Having analyzed the sections, let’s get rid of your anxiety! I am listing down some pointers that will hopefully allay your fears..

1. Don’t Panic. CLAT comes up with these SHOCKERS every year. One year it can be age related issues, on another it could be testing of Static GK extensively when they clearly stated in their official release that Static GK WILL NOT BE TESTED (CLAT 2013) and in another instance the testing of Visual Reasoning (CLAT 2015) when they clearly mentioned that these won’t be tested. So please stay calm. You’re prep has NOT gone to waste.. in fact you will be served well if you keep practicing the stuff that you have all this while.
2. Legal Reasoning is STILL IMPORTANT: The CLAT Consortium press release doesn’t specify that legal reasoning will NOT be tested. These questions can very well appear under the Logical Reasoning section. Legal reasoning isn’t anything but an extension of Critical reasoning and it is likely that questions will appear from here. Also, don’t forget that Legal Reasoning will be tested in AILET, SLAT, BHU, DU LLB and MHCET (the other main exams). Further, legal reasoning gets you to reason better which will definitely help you in other areas in the CLAT
3. Do NOT IGNORE THE REGULAR OPUS MOCKS: if you practice under harsher conditions, i.e. the 200 question format, it will definitely give you a leg up over the competition where most of the kids will get complacent and start practicing under the new pattern. OPUS will release tests under the new pattern, but it is still recommended that you test yourself under the old pattern.
4. Do NOT GET COMPLACENT: The competition will still be 50000 odd kids and if you assume that you’re well prepared given an “easier” format, you should reconsider your thoughts. Motivated kids are still practicing under harsher conditions.. simply because they aren’t going to accede their seat in NLSIU that easily.
5. Given an easier paper, accuracy will be the key. There can be loads of kids scoring full marks in the test. you HAVE TO BE ONE OF THEM. Work on as many questions as you can get your hands on and familiarize yourself with all the different kind of questions that can be tested. PRACTICE IS STILL THEY KEY. Review mocks to ensure you build your accuracy and maximize your score on D-DAY
6. Always remember that unfamiliar questions may appear but they won’t be something that you can’t easily tackle after having read the instructions on how to handle these questions. OPUS will try its best to expose you to some really unfamiliar stuff.. but then again, the minds of the echeleons who sit at the helm of affairs in the hallowed halls of the figurative CLAT consortium are highly unpredictable> I DO NOT TRUST THEM ONE BIT!

I hope you keep these in mind. Some of you have boards exams to tackle and I know it is a pain to bear with this additional headache of a changed CLAT. Rest Assured OPUS is with you all the way and we will ensure that you’re well exposed to the new format well in time. Let’s just wait for the official release in December along with the sample papers. Just stay Calm and trust us!

PS: Do NOT IGNORE CLAT DURING YOUR BOARDS>> THAT is sure toSPELL DOOM FOR YOU IN THE LONG RUN..

On that “happy” note..

Happy prepping kids..

See you soon