The CLAT 2026 fifth and final allotment list was released on May 20, 2026 — NLSIU Bengaluru sealed at General rank 120 and NALSAR Hyderabad at rank 168, marking the close of all five counselling rounds.
The Consortium of National Law Universities conducted CLAT 2026 UG seat allotment in five successive rounds from January through May 2026. General category closing ranks at most NLUs shifted by 20 to 100 positions between Round 1 and Round 5, driven by students upgrading to higher-ranked NLUs and releasing seats back into the pool for waitlisted students.
- NLSIU Bengaluru closed at General rank 120 in Round 5, up from rank 101 in Round 1.
- NALSAR Hyderabad sealed at rank 168 (General) — its OBC closing rank held at 915 across rounds.
- NLU Jodhpur closed at rank 364 and GNLU Gandhinagar at rank 398 in the final round.
- HNLU Raipur saw the largest absolute movement — from rank 736 in Round 1 to rank 806 in Round 5.
- SC category closing ranks at top NLUs were roughly 3x to 5x higher than their General closing ranks in the same round.
| Direct Link — CLAT 2026 Official Consortium Portal (Counselling Closed) |
CLAT 2026 Counselling Round Schedule
Seat allotment for CLAT 2026 UG ran across five rounds between January and May 2026. Rounds 4 and 5 were assigned confirmed dates by the Consortium; the earlier rounds were notified progressively after the December 2025 result.
| Round | Allotment List Released | Options Available |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | January 2026 | Freeze / Float / Slide |
| Round 2 | February 2026 | Freeze / Float / Slide |
| Round 3 | March–April 2026 | Freeze / Float / Slide |
| Round 4 | May 9, 2026 | Freeze / Withdraw |
| Round 5 (Final) | May 20, 2026 | Compulsory Freeze |
Confirmation fee payment for Round 5 was open from May 20 to May 25, 2026 (2:00 PM). University fee was due by May 30, 2026. Students who missed the deadline forfeited their allotted seat.
Round-wise Closing Ranks — General Category
The table below tracks how General category closing ranks evolved across all five rounds at key NLUs. A higher closing rank in a later round reflects seats opening up as students upgraded to better-preferred colleges.
| NLU | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 (Final) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NLSIU Bengaluru | 101 | 108 | 108 | — | 120 |
| NALSAR Hyderabad | 148 | 161 | 162 | — | 168 |
| WBNUJS Kolkata (BA LLB) | 284 | — | — | — | — |
| NLU Jodhpur (BA LLB) | 310 | 340 | — | — | 364 |
| GNLU Gandhinagar | 376 | 392 | — | — | 398 |
| NLIU Bhopal (BA LLB) | 432 | — | — | — | 459 |
| MNLU Mumbai | 481 | 495 | 495 | — | 501 |
| HNLU Raipur | 736 | — | 770 | — | 806 |
"—" indicates data not published in the reviewed allotment PDFs for that specific round. Rounds 4 and 5 allotted very few additional seats at top NLUs. Download official round-wise PDFs from consortiumofnlus.ac.in for complete NLU-by-NLU coverage.
CLAT 2026 Final Round Category-wise Closing Ranks
The table below lists category-wise closing ranks after Round 5 (the final allotment) for the most competitive NLUs. OBC, SC, and ST closing ranks appear significantly higher than General ranks because each category has a smaller reserved seat pool at every NLU.
| NLU | General | OBC | EWS | SC | ST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NLSIU Bengaluru | 120 | 1,177 | 702* | 3,142 | 5,227 |
| NALSAR Hyderabad | 168 | 915 | 630* | 3,251 | 5,716 |
| WBNUJS Kolkata (BA LLB) | — | — | — | 3,833* | 6,010* |
| NLU Jodhpur (BA LLB) | 364 | 1,273 | 868* | 4,042 | 5,907 |
| GNLU Gandhinagar | 398 | 1,834 | 1,167* | 5,324 | 7,913 |
| NLIU Bhopal (BA LLB) | 459 | 1,562 | 1,315* | 4,955 | 10,159 |
| MNLU Mumbai | 501 | State domicile reservation applies | |||
| HNLU Raipur | 806 | 8,847 | — | 6,464 | 11,239 |
*EWS and some category figures marked with * are from Round 1 allotment data; later-round category-specific PDFs for select NLUs were not separately published. "—" denotes data not publicly disclosed by the Consortium. HNLU Raipur’s high OBC closing rank reflects a large Chhattisgarh domicile-reserved pool that narrows the non-domicile OBC seat count.
Mid and Lower Tier NLU Closing Ranks
The table below covers NLUs outside the top eight in CLAT 2026 preference. General category closing rank ranges are based on CLAT 2025 final-round trends; official 2026 figures are available in the Consortium’s allotment PDFs at consortiumofnlus.ac.in.
| NLU | Approx. General Closing Rank (based on 2025 trends) |
|---|---|
| RMLNLU Lucknow | 800 – 1,000 |
| MNLU Pune | 800 – 1,000 |
| RGNUL Patiala | 950 – 1,200 |
| MNLU Nagpur | 1,000 – 1,200 |
| TNNLU Tiruchirappalli | 1,100 – 1,400 |
| CNLU Patna | 1,200 – 1,500 |
| NLU Odisha | 1,200 – 1,600 |
| HPNLU Shimla | 1,300 – 1,700 |
| MNLU Aurangabad | 1,300 – 1,600 |
| NUSRL Ranchi | 1,500 – 1,800 |
| DSNLU Visakhapatnam | 1,500 – 1,900 |
| NLUJA Guwahati | 1,800 – 2,200 |
| DBRANLU Sonepat | 2,000 – 2,500 |
Factors Affecting CLAT 2026 Cutoffs
Several variables determined where closing ranks settled at each NLU and how they shifted across the five rounds:
- Seat intake size: NLSIU Bengaluru has roughly 80 General seats. Each student who upgrades away from NLSIU in a later round creates a visible rank shift at that NLU and cascades downward.
- Float and upgrade behaviour: Students who selected Float in Round 1 and received a better NLU in Round 2 released their earlier seat back into the pool — pushing that NLU’s Round 2 closing rank slightly outward.
- Category seat availability: Where OBC or EWS seats remained unfilled in early rounds, later-round closing ranks for those categories extended further to accommodate waitlisted students.
- State domicile reservations: MNLU Mumbai, MNLU Nagpur, MNLU Pune, and MNLU Aurangabad reserve a significant share of seats for Maharashtra students. All-India General ranks are less predictive for non-domicile applicants at these colleges.
- Programme-specific seat pools: NLUs offering BA LLB, BSc LLB, BBA LLB, and BCom LLB programmes maintain separate seat matrices and separate closing ranks — even within the same NLU.
CLAT 2026 Cutoff FAQs
Ques. What was the CLAT 2026 final closing rank for NLSIU Bengaluru?
Ans. NLSIU Bengaluru closed at General rank 120 after the fifth and final allotment released on May 20, 2026. In Round 1 the closing rank was 101 — a 19-position outward shift across all five rounds.
Ques. How many counselling rounds were held for CLAT 2026?
Ans. Five rounds of seat allotment were conducted. Round 4 allotment was released on May 9, 2026, and the fifth and final allotment on May 20, 2026. No further rounds were held after Round 5.
Ques. Is CLAT 2026 cutoff expressed in marks or rank?
Ans. CLAT 2026 seat allotment is based entirely on All India Rank (AIR). The exam is scored out of 120 marks with 0.25 negative marking per wrong answer, and those scores are converted into a merit rank. NLU closing cutoffs are published as closing ranks, not raw scores.
Ques. Why do SC and ST closing ranks appear much higher than General closing ranks?
Ans. Each NLU allocates a fixed, smaller number of seats to SC and ST categories. When that last seat fills with a student who holds a very high All India Rank number, the published closing rank appears much larger than in the General pool. Competition within each reserved category is assessed separately.
Ques. How much did CLAT 2026 cutoffs move between Round 1 and Round 5?
Ans. Movement varied by NLU. NLSIU shifted from rank 101 to 120 (19 positions). NLU Jodhpur moved from 310 to 364 (54 positions). HNLU Raipur moved from 736 to 806 (70 positions). Mid-tier NLUs typically see a 50–150 rank outward movement across five rounds as waitlisted students fill vacated seats.
Ques. Where can students access the official CLAT 2026 allotment PDFs?
Ans. NLU-wise allotment PDFs for all five rounds are published at consortiumofnlus.ac.in under the CLAT 2026 section. Each PDF lists the roll number, All India Rank, and reservation category of every allotted student.
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