CLAT PG Counselling 2026: Registration, NLU Wise Allotment and State Domicile Quota

CLAT PG 2026 counselling was conducted centrally by the Consortium of National Law Universities (CNLU) for admission to LLM programmes at 26 NLUs and IIULER Goa. With approximately 1,599 PG seats on offer, the process ran in five allotment rounds from January to May 2026 for the academic year 2026–27. All five central rounds and subsequent NLU institutional rounds have concluded.

• The CLAT PG 2026 exam was held on December 7, 2025; results were declared on December 16, 2025.
• Counselling registration opened on December 17, 2025 and closed on December 27, 2025 at consortiumofnlus.ac.in.
• Eligibility threshold: 55% aggregate in LLB (50% for SC/ST students).
• The counselling registration fee was Rs. 30,000 (General/OBC/EWS/PWD) and Rs. 20,000 (SC/ST), adjusted against NLU tuition fees on taking admission.
• After each of the five allotment rounds, students chose to Freeze, Float (Upgrade), or Exit the process; Float was available only in Rounds 1–4.

Reservation of Quotas for CLAT PG Counselling 2026

Seat allocation across the 26 participating NLUs followed central government reservation norms, with additional NLU-specific quotas for students domiciled in the home state of each NLU. The table below shows the standard reservation framework applied in CLAT PG 2026 counselling.

The state domicile quota can significantly improve your chances even with a lower CLAT PG rank. Many NLUs reserve a substantial share of their LLM seats for students holding a valid domicile certificate of the NLU’s home state — for example, NLSIU Bangalore for Karnataka, NALSAR Hyderabad for Telangana, and GNLU Gandhinagar for Gujarat. Competing within the domicile pool, which is smaller than the open pool, typically means lower cutoff ranks. The home-state quota sits within the overall seat matrix and does not create additional seats; a valid domicile certificate uploaded during registration was essential to benefit from it.

How to Apply for CLAT PG Counselling 2026?

CLAT PG 2026 counselling was entirely online, run through the Consortium portal at consortiumofnlus.ac.in. The five steps below describe the complete sequence — from when registration opened on December 17, 2025, through final university fee payment in May 2026. Missing any window meant losing the allotment for that round with no reinstatement.

Registering for counselling is mandatory — your exam rank alone does not guarantee a seat.

Step 1: Registration on Official Portal

Students visited consortiumofnlus.ac.in and logged in with their CLAT PG 2026 roll number and date of birth. A valid email address and active mobile number were required for all communications and OTP verification. Students completed the registration form with personal and academic details matching the CLAT 2026 application, submitted before December 27, 2025, and saved the confirmation slip — it was required for all subsequent steps and at NLU reporting.

Step 2: Counselling Fee Payment

After registration, students paid the mandatory counselling security deposit online: Rs. 30,000 for General/OBC/EWS/PWD students and Rs. 20,000 for SC/ST students, using net banking, UPI, debit card, or credit card. This amount is adjusted against the NLU’s tuition fee on taking admission, or refunded if no seat is accepted through the first four allotment lists. The payment receipt must be produced at the NLU during final reporting.

Step 3: Choice Filling and Locking

After fee payment, students opened "NLU Preference List / Choice Filling" on the dashboard and ranked all 25 participating NLUs in order of preference — most preferred at the top. The list could be saved and revised multiple times until the lock deadline of December 27, 2025 at 10:00 PM. Fill at least 15–20 choices to maximise your chances across all five rounds. Once locked, the same list drove allotment across all five rounds — no re-filling was permitted.

Step 4: Document Upload and Verification

Students uploaded scanned copies of all required documents within the specified window. The Consortium verified documents before publishing each allotment list. If documents were defective, a short correction window was provided — students had to check their portal dashboard after submission and before each allotment date. Blurry or cropped documents led to rejection at the NLU reporting stage even if the portal accepted the upload.

Step 5: Seat Allotment, Confirmation, and Reporting

After each allotment round, students logged in to check the allotted NLU and paid the Rs. 20,000 non-refundable confirmation fee within the deadline — then declared Freeze or Float. After the final round, students reported physically to the allotted NLU with original documents and paid the university fee directly to the NLU by May 30, 2026. Admission was confirmed only after successful document verification at the allotted NLU.

How to Lock Choices for CLAT PG 2026 Counselling

The locked preference list was the sole input driving seat allotment across all five rounds. The allotment algorithm tried the top-ranked NLU first; if a seat was unavailable in the student’s category, it moved down the list. One locked list served all rounds — never re-fill before each allotment.

Step 1: Visit the Official Portal

• Open consortiumofnlus.ac.in in a desktop browser.
• Navigate to "Counselling 2026" from the main menu.

Step 2: Log In to Your Account

• Enter your CLAT PG 2026 roll number and password.
• Complete CAPTCHA verification and click Login.

Step 3: Open Choice Filling

• Click "NLU Preference List" or "Choice Filling and Locking" on the dashboard.
• The full list of 25 participating NLUs with available LLM specializations and category-wise seat counts appears.

Step 4: Add and Arrange Preferences

• Use the drag-and-drop interface or up/down arrows to rank NLUs in preferred order.
• Place the most preferred NLU at the top; include all NLUs you would genuinely attend.
• Fill at least 15–20 combinations — backup NLUs below your top choices significantly reduce the risk of going unallotted across five rounds.

Step 5: Save, Review, and Lock

• Click "Save" to store without permanently locking — return and revise as needed before the deadline.
• When finalized, click "Lock Choices" before December 27, 2025 (10:00 PM).
• Confirm in the pop-up and download the locked list as proof.

Locked choices are final and cannot be edited after confirmation — the same list runs through all five rounds.

CLAT PG Counselling Documents Required 2026

Documents were required at two stages: online upload during the registration window for portal verification, and in original at the NLU during physical reporting. Carry originals and two sets of self-attested photocopies when reporting to the allotted NLU.

• CLAT PG 2026 Admit Card
• CLAT PG 2026 Score Card / Rank Letter (downloaded from consortiumofnlus.ac.in)
• LLB / BL / LLB (Hons.) Degree Certificate or Provisional Certificate from the university
• LLB Marksheets for all semesters or years showing aggregate percentage
• 10th Certificate for date-of-birth proof
• 12th Marksheet and Certificate
• Graduation Degree and Marksheets (if LLB was a 3-year programme entered after a prior graduation)
• Category Certificate — SC/ST/OBC-NCL/EWS/PwD as applicable, issued by the competent authority and valid as of the counselling date
• Domicile / Residence Certificate (required if applying under the home-state quota of the allotted NLU)
• Transfer Certificate (TC) from the last institution attended
• Migration Certificate (if from a university other than the allotted NLU’s affiliating body)
• Character Certificate from the last institution, issued within six months of the reporting date
• Photo ID Proof — Aadhaar Card / Passport / Voter ID / Driving Licence
• Passport-size Photographs (8–10 recent colour copies, white background, matching CLAT 2026 application)
• Medical Fitness Certificate in the format prescribed by the allotted NLU
• Disability Certificate — from a recognized medical authority, if applicable
• NRI / OCI / Foreign National documents (for students applying under the NRI quota)
• Gap Certificate / Affidavit on stamp paper, if there is a gap year between LLB completion and the 2026 counselling year

Students who appeared provisionally (final-year LLB students at the time of CLAT PG 2026) must produce their final LLB marksheet and degree certificate at NLU reporting. Failure to meet the 55%/50% threshold at the verification stage results in cancellation of the allotted seat.

Note: Certain NLUs require additional documents specific to their LLM specialization. Always check the admission notice published by your allotted NLU before travelling for reporting.

How Much Money is Needed for CLAT PG Counselling 2026?

CLAT PG 2026 counselling involved two distinct fee payments through the Consortium portal, plus the NLU’s own tuition and other charges paid directly to the NLU at reporting. Understanding which amounts are refundable is critical — the seat acceptance confirmation fee is not returned once paid.

Non-Refundable Fees

Refundable / Adjustable Fees

The counselling registration security deposit had a conditional refund and adjustment policy:

If you withdraw after accepting a seat (choosing Freeze and paying the confirmation fee), the Rs. 20,000 confirmation fee is not refunded.

Note: All fee amounts are based on the official CLAT PG 2026 counselling instructions published at consortiumofnlus.ac.in. Individual NLU tuition, hostel, and other charges vary — confirm them directly with the allotted NLU before reporting.

CLAT PG 2026 Round-Wise Seat Allotment

CLAT PG 2026 seat allotment ran across five rounds. In each round, the allotment algorithm matched every student’s locked preference list against available seats in their category, starting from the highest preference. Rounds 1–3 ran in January–February 2026. Rounds 4 and 5 were held in May 2026 — the gap allowed the Consortium to consolidate vacancies confirmed after withdrawals and no-shows in the earlier three rounds.

Approximately 1,599 LLM seats were distributed across 26 NLUs and IIULER Goa in CLAT PG 2026 counselling. The table below shows the NLU-wise indicative LLM seat distribution for CLAT PG 2026:

Note: Seat counts above are indicative and based on information available from official sources. The exact NLU-wise seat matrix for CLAT PG 2026 was published on consortiumofnlus.ac.in at the start of counselling. Not all NLUs offer LLM in every specialization — verify the available specializations at your target NLU from the official portal.

Freeze, Float, or Exit — What to Choose?

After each allotment round in CLAT PG 2026 counselling, every allotted student had to act within the confirmation window. The three choices — Freeze, Float, and Exit — carried different consequences for the seat, fees, and participation in future rounds. Float was available only in Rounds 1–4; Round 5 offered Freeze or Exit only.

Key decision rules that applied:

• Float is an upgrade attempt, not a guarantee. If a higher-preference NLU opens a seat for the student’s rank in the next round, the upgrade happens automatically. If no better seat opens, the current allotment is retained. Floating in Round 4 carries the risk that Round 5 yields no better NLU — in that case, the Round 4 allotment is carried forward to Round 5 for a Freeze/Exit decision.
• Freeze locks the seat permanently. Once Frozen, re-entry to seek a better NLU is not possible.
• Exit forfeits the allotted seat. Students who did not respond within a round’s deadline were automatically treated as having chosen Float in Rounds 1–4, and Exit in Round 5.

Once you choose Exit after having previously frozen a seat, both the Rs. 20,000 confirmation fee and your place in the CLAT PG 2026 cycle are permanently forfeited — there is no re-entry option.

Reporting to the Allotted NLU

After confirming a seat in the final round of CLAT PG 2026 counselling, students had to report physically to the allotted NLU and pay the university fee by May 30, 2026. Failure to report within the NLU’s specified reporting window caused automatic cancellation of the seat — there was no grace period.

• Download the provisional allotment letter from the Consortium portal and print it before visiting the NLU.
• Carry all original documents along with two sets of self-attested photocopies as listed in the Documents Required section above.
• Pay the first-year tuition and other charges directly to the NLU. Accepted payment modes vary by NLU — confirm with the admissions office before travelling.
• Submit documents at the admissions office. The NLU verifies originals and retains one set of photocopies.
• Collect your admission confirmation receipt and student enrollment form after document verification.
• Check whether the NLU requires an anti-ragging undertaking, medical certificate, or other forms on arrival — requirements vary by institution.

Final-semester LLB students who received conditional admission had a separate NLU-specific deadline to produce the final degree certificate. Missing this deadline — even after paying fees and completing physical reporting — resulted in cancellation of admission with no exceptions.