Review of CLAT 2024 Question Paper

If there is one word that summarises CLAT 2024 exam then it is – easy. No doubt and no two ways on that.

The exam which concluded today i.e. December 3^rd 2023 has surprised and one many CLAT mentors by its sea change. Less in the pattern and more on the toughness and intensity of questions. All the sections were relatively simpler as compared to CLAT 2023 (May & December) and even CLAT 2022. Slightly easier than the three sample papers released by CLAT consortium.

Let us evaluate the entire paper section by section.

English language comprehension – The CLAT 2024 English section consisted of 24 questions. There were four passages and each passage had six questions. This was a minor difference as compared to previous years wherein each passage had five questions. The length of the passages was more or less similar as last year- 400 to 450 words and lesser also.  The major difference was that most of the questions were rather direct and not implied or indirect. For example, the passage on English literature had a question – Who is often regarded as the greatest playwright in the History of English language? The answer was rather direct.  Similarly, in the passage related to Justice, the question on central thesis of the passage was rather straightforward. Namely – The imagination of justice for the rich and the poor.  Another major difference is that questions on figure of speech, type and tone of passage were not asked. This is in stark contrast to last year and before that. Overall English can be termed as easy.

Logical reasoning - The CLAT  2024 logical section consisted of 24 questions. Similar to English section, there were four passages and each passage and six questions. Here again the difference was increase in the number of questions per passage and reduction in the number of passages. This was obviously due to the reduction in number of questions to 120 from 150. The logical section deviated from the intensity of deep thinking required earlier to an easier level in CLAT 2024. But certainly not as much easy as the English section. In some passages assumptions were probed deeply. In the “Imagine you have just been appointed as a consultant ……” passage, the candidate has been asked to think what he or she would do if in a similar position. This marks a major departure from previous CLAT papers and perhaps the first time that such type questions have come. Two passages have been rather short and two passages have the same length as of last year.  Another deviation is in the – which of the following strengthens and weakens if true or false. These questions were very few as compared to previous years. Some of the Logical reasoning questions had a tinge of English Comprehension questions. Overall - easy to moderate.

Legal Reasoning – This is most important section in the CLAT exam. The CLAT 2024 legal section can be overall termed as moderate to easy. There were 35 questions in this section. Almost three fourths of this section had simple and straight questions and balance can be categorized as moderate at the most. There were only few questions that an aspirant actually needed to go outside the passage and find answers to. Current legal knowledge is something that CLAT has given high importance in its previous papers. This year also the same trend continued. Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, Press regulations Bill 2023, Online defamation were some of the current legal knowledge areas on which questions were asked. The consortium had mentioned in its syllabus pattern that prior legal knowledge is not necessary.   However, a student preparing with adequate legal knowledge would have found the legal section of this year easier to answer. The passages were not very lengthy. The factual element in the questions were lengthy here and there but towards the end it was very short and easy to answer. There were at least three passages from Hindu Editorials. Overall – easy.

Current Affairs – This section has turned out to be the biggest surprise this year. The CLAT 2024 Current affairs section was one on which almost all students pan-India would have gone over the top. It will not be exaggeration to say that current affairs section has shown a 360 degree change in its question pattern. Till now in the new CLAT syllabus, the passage just introduced the topic and the questions were totally unrelated to the passage. CLAT 2024 had five passages of five questions each. In total, thereby 25 questions. Two of the passages were not related to current issues however the answers were asked from the content given in the passage itself. The remaining three passages had current issues related to – G-20, Israel – Hamas conflict, Chandrayaan launch. Since they were relevant topics, the questions were relatively easy to answer. There were some surprises of course like the full name of the General responsible for Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. This was reminiscent of the question related to correct spelling of Ukrainian president in CLAT 2023. But otherwise, such twisters were hardly predominant. Overall – easy.

Quantitative techniques – As mentioned by CLAT consortium, ten percent of the questions came from this section. There were 12 questions in all related to – Ratio and proportion, Percentage, average. Here there was no change as compared to CLAT 2023 as all questions were asked from the same topic. The CLAT 2024 QT section questions can be ranked as easy  in most of the questions and moderately difficult in one or two.  The level also adheres to last year pattern. A wee bit irritating for the humanities students but certainly not challenging.