CLAT 2026 Answer Key: When will the CLAT exam answer key be released? Note the marking scheme and objection fee..

CLAT 2026 Answer Key: The CLAT exam was successfully conducted by the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLU) on December 7. The Common Law Admission Test is conducted for undergraduate (LLB) and postgraduate (LLM) admissions. Candidates who appeared for the exam are now awaiting the answer key, which is expected to be released very soon.

According to the official schedule, the provisional answer key will be released on December 10 at 5 PM, after which candidates will be allowed to raise objections until December 12 at 5 PM.

Note the Marking Scheme, it will be needed for score calculation
The question paper consisted of 120 multiple-choice questions, each carrying one mark. As per the marking scheme, 0.25 marks will be deducted for each incorrect answer. Candidates were given two hours (2 PM to 4 PM) to complete the exam, while candidates with disabilities were given an additional 40 minutes as per the exam guidelines.

This year, the exam was conducted at 156 test centers spread across 25 states, 93 cities, and 4 Union Territories, where 92,344 candidates (75,009 for undergraduate and 17,335 for postgraduate) registered. All 25 National Law Universities (NLUs) will use the CLAT scores for admissions to their BA LLB and LLM programs through a centralized counseling process.

What will be the objection fee?
Last year, several candidates raised concerns about the "unreasonable" objection fee of Rs 1,000 per question and urged the Consortium to reconsider this structure. This year, student representatives reiterated this request and demanded a reduction in the current application fee of Rs 4,000 for the general category and Rs 3,500 for the reserved category. However, the Consortium has not released any update regarding changes to the fee structure. Understand the further process:
After the results are declared, eligible candidates will have to register again for counseling, during which they will be allowed to submit a maximum of 15 preferences in each counseling round.

The counseling fee will remain unchanged at ₹30,000 for general category students and ₹20,000 for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Classes, and PwD (Persons with Disabilities) candidates.

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