AILET 2026 Cutoff: Closing Ranks Across All Four Merit Lists

AILET 2026 BA LLB counselling concluded with the fourth and final provisional merit list on May 5, 2026, with the General (Unreserved) category closing rank reaching AIR 73 — extending 13 ranks from the opening cutoff of AIR 60 in the first merit list.

National Law University (NLU) Delhi conducted AILET 2026 on December 14, 2025, releasing results for 110 BA LLB (Hons.) seats. The counselling process ran across four provisional merit lists between January 8 and May 5, 2026, with each list extending the closing rank as candidates declined seat offers and vacancies were redistributed. This analysis traces how the cutoff rank shifted across all four lists and how 2026 compared against the 2024 and 2025 cycles.

• Merit List 1 (January 8, 2026): General category closed at AIR 60.
• Merit List 2 (January 21, 2026): General category closing rank jumped to AIR 70 as roughly 10 candidates declined offers.
• Merit List 3 (February 4, 2026): General category closing rank extended to AIR 71.
• Merit List 4 (May 5, 2026): Final list closed at approximately AIR 73 for the General category.
• NLU Delhi offered 110 BA LLB (Hons.) seats under AILET 2026 across six reservation categories.
• AIR 1 in AILET 2026 scored 142.5 out of 150 marks; over 25,000 students competed for those 110 seats.

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AILET 2026 Merit List Schedule and Seat Matrix

NLU Delhi released four provisional merit lists for BA LLB (Hons.) in 2026 — a significantly tighter counselling timeline than the seven rounds used in 2025. Each list gave selected candidates approximately one week to pay the seat confirmation fee before the next round was generated from remaining vacancies.

The 110 AILET-merit seats for BA LLB (Hons.) in 2026 were distributed as shown below. Six PwD seats were reserved horizontally across all categories, not as a separate pool.

An additional 10 seats were available for Foreign Nationals and OCI/PIO students outside the AILET merit process. Any unfilled FN or OCI/PIO seats were converted to General category in later counselling rounds, directly affecting the General cutoff trajectory.

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General Category Closing Rank Across All Four Merit Lists

The General category closing rank extended by 13 ranks — from AIR 60 to approximately AIR 73 — between the first and fourth merit list in AILET 2026. The sharpest movement came between Merit List 1 and Merit List 2, a jump of 10 ranks, indicating a high first-round attrition among top-ranked candidates. In comparison, the 2025 cycle saw a jump of only 2 ranks between its first two rounds (AIR 53 to AIR 55).

Merit Lists 3 and 4 showed minimal movement (+1 and +2 ranks respectively), indicating that most candidates who received offers in these rounds confirmed their seats quickly. The large gap between Merit List 3 (February) and Merit List 4 (May) — nearly three months — suggests the fourth round was driven by specific vacancies arising from document-verification rejections or late withdrawals rather than a regular counselling schedule.

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Category-wise Final Closing Ranks: AILET 2026

The table below shows the opening and closing All India Ranks for each category after all four merit lists were processed. Reserved category closing AIRs represent overall merit position, not category rank. A candidate with an overall AIR of 1,050 who qualifies under SC faces competition only within the 17-seat SC pool and typically holds a category rank well within 50-100.

Opening and closing AIRs for reserved categories are based on available 2026 counselling records. The General category figures for merit lists 1 through 3 are confirmed; merit list 4 and all reserved-category figures are based on available counselling data and may vary slightly from the official published records at nationallawuniversitydelhi.in.

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Year-on-Year Comparison: 2024, 2025, and 2026

Comparing final closing All India Ranks across three consecutive AILET cycles reveals two clear trends: the General category cutoff has moved in both directions while reserved category cutoffs have tightened every year.

General category relaxed in 2026: After tightening from AIR 66 in 2024 to AIR 61 in 2025, the General cutoff moved to around AIR 73 in 2026 — a reversal driven by higher first-round attrition and the conversion of unused Foreign National seats into the General pool during later merit lists.

Reserved categories tightened across all three years: The ST closing AIR fell from 3,351 in 2024 to 2,889 in 2025 and further to around 2,100 in 2026 — a 37% tightening over two cycles. SC dropped from 1,689 to approximately 1,050 and OBC from 598 to around 400 over the same period. This consistent decline signals stronger overall AILET performance from students in these groups: higher-ranked individuals from each reserved category are now filling those seats, compressing the closing AIR each year.

Fewer counselling rounds: AILET 2025 ran through seven merit lists before closing. AILET 2026 concluded in four, indicating more efficient seat acceptance or a deliberate shortening of the counselling window by NLU Delhi.

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Factors That Shaped the 2026 Cutoff

Five factors explain how the AILET 2026 cutoff evolved from the first to the final merit list.

• High first-round attrition in General category: The +10 rank jump between Merit List 1 (AIR 60) and Merit List 2 (AIR 70) is the largest single-round extension in recent AILET counselling history. It suggests roughly 10 top-ranked General candidates chose competing law programmes over NLU Delhi after receiving their initial offer.
• Foreign National seat conversion: NLU Delhi’s rules allow unfilled FN and OCI/PIO seats to revert to General category. With 10 such seats available, even partial conversion — say four to five seats — adds directly to General supply in later rounds and pushes the closing AIR further down the list.
• Narrow score band near the cutoff: With AIR 1 scoring 142.5 out of 150, scores likely compressed in the 60-80 rank range. Students at AIR 60 and AIR 73 may have been separated by fewer than 5 marks, making the effective cutoff score very close for candidates who just missed out.
• Stronger reserved-category preparation cohort: The consistent year-on-year decline in SC, ST, OBC, and EWS closing AIRs points to a deeper pool of high-scoring students in these groups each cycle. Reserved seats fill earlier in the overall merit list when category toppers score higher, leaving fewer vacancies to extend into lower overall AIRs.
• Three-month gap before Merit List 4: The long interval between Merit List 3 (February 4) and Merit List 4 (May 5) suggests the fourth round addressed specific vacancies arising from document rejection or admission withdrawal during the verification phase, not a routine counselling expansion.