Dates & Timeline
CLAT (UG) runs on an annual cycle: you sit the exam in one year for admission to the session that follows. Exact dates move year to year — treat everything here as the shape of the cycle, not a fixed calendar, and confirm live dates on the official site before planning around them.
The cycle, in shape
Application window opens — usually mid-year (broadly July–August), giving several months to register.
Application window closes — typically a few weeks before exam day, often with a late-fee grace period.
Exam day — traditionally a Sunday in early-to-mid December, for admission to the following year's batch.
What this means for your prep plan
Work backward from exam day. Most serious aspirants build reading speed and section fundamentals well before the window even opens — don't wait for the notification. A December sitting means your final 4–6 weeks land in autumn: plan your mock-test taper to peak in late November, not burn out in September. And the gap from exam to result/counselling is real (a provisional key + objection window precede the final result), so the full cycle extends well past December.
For exact, current-year dates
Application open/close, the precise exam date, admit-card release, answer-key and objection windows, result and counselling schedule all change by year. For the current cycle's confirmed dates, check the official CLAT Consortium website (consortiumofnlus.ac.in) — the only source to treat as authoritative for booking travel or leave.