CLAT PG Cutoff 2026: All 5 Rounds Concluded, Category Wise Closing Rank and Score vs Rank

The CLAT PG 2026 cutoff has been officially declared by the Consortium of National Law Universities. All five rounds of counselling concluded by May 2026. The closing rank for NLSIU Bengaluru (General category) stood at AIR 108 in Round 1. That makes it the most competitive NLU for LLM admission in 2026.

CLAT PG 2026 final round (Round 5) allotment was released on May 20, 2026. All 26 NLUs have completed seat allotment for the 2026–27 academic session.

Here are the key facts about the CLAT PG 2026 cutoff you should know:

• NLSIU Bengaluru closed at AIR 108 (General) and AIR 1,459 (SC) in Round 1 of CLAT PG 2026 counselling.
• NALSAR Hyderabad closed at AIR 143 for General and AIR 580 for OBC in Round 1.
• All top five NLUs – NLSIU, NALSAR, RMLNLU, NLIU, and WBNUJS – closed within AIR 415 in the General category.
• A score of 70 marks or above out of 119 places you in the top 600 ranks and opens doors to top NLUs.
• Around 1,599 PG seats were available across 26 NLUs and IIULER Goa for CLAT PG 2026.
• The highest score in CLAT PG 2026 was 104.25 out of 119, secured by the AIR 1 candidate.
• NLUs with a state domicile quota – including MNLU Mumbai and RMLNLU Lucknow – have separate, relaxed closing ranks for home-state candidates.

CLAT PG Cutoff 2026: Important Dates

All events for the CLAT PG 2026 cycle are now complete. The five rounds of counselling ran from January to May 2026. Every date below is marked Over since today is after May 2026.

Factors Affecting CLAT PG 2026 Cutoff

Several factors decide where the closing rank lands for each NLU. Understanding them helps you predict which NLU you can target with your rank.

• Total candidate pool: More candidates mean a tighter rank pool. About 17,335 students appeared for CLAT PG 2026. A larger pool pushes closing ranks higher at every NLU.
• Available seats per NLU: Fewer seats at a popular NLU mean higher competition. NLSIU Bengaluru offers a limited number of LLM seats. That is why its closing rank is the tightest of all NLUs.
• Difficulty of the paper: An easier paper lifts average scores. Higher average scores compress the rank band. Even small score differences matter more when the field is bunched together.
• Category-wise vacancy fill rate: SC, ST, OBC, and EWS seats are reserved. If fewer reserved-category candidates accept seats in early rounds, vacancies shift to later rounds. This can loosen the closing rank in reserved categories.
• Domicile quota fill rate: NLUs with a state domicile quota fill home-state seats separately. Low fill rates in domicile quota leave seats for the All India pool. This can slightly ease competition at those NLUs.
• Candidate withdrawals and upgrades: When students withdraw from one NLU to upgrade to a better one, vacancies open. This is why closing ranks in later rounds sometimes move outward compared to Round 1.
• New seats or new NLUs: Any addition of seats or new participating NLUs expands the total seat pool. This slightly eases competition at mid-tier and lower NLUs.

CLAT PG 2026 Cutoff: NLU-Wise Closing Rank

The table below shows the official Round 1 and Round 5 (final) closing ranks for each NLU in the General (All India) category. Figures come from official Consortium of NLUs allotment PDFs.

Source: Consortium of NLUs – Round 1 and Round 5 Allotment PDFs 2026

The gap between Round 1 and Round 5 tells you how many seats freed up through withdrawals and upgrades. At NLSIU, the gap is just 2 ranks – almost no vacancies opened up. At HNLU, the gap is 23 ranks – more movement happened across rounds.

CLAT PG 2026 Cutoff: Category-Wise

Your closing rank depends on your category. The Consortium of NLUs follows central reservation norms: 27% for OBC-NCL, 15% for SC, 7.5% for ST, and 10% for EWS. Each category has its own seat pool and its own closing rank. The table below shows Round 1 closing ranks for top NLUs across all categories.

N/A: No ST seats were available or no allotment was made in that category at that NLU in Round 1.

OBC-NCL candidates need a rank roughly 5 to 8 times higher (larger AIR number) than General candidates for the same NLU. SC and ST closing ranks are more relaxed still. If you belong to a reserved category, your effective competition pool is smaller. Your odds at a top NLU are better than the General-category numbers suggest.

CLAT PG 2026: AI Quota vs State-Domicile Quota

Some NLUs reserve a share of their LLM seats for students from the home state. This is the state-domicile quota. The All India (AI) quota and the domicile quota have separate closing ranks. Domicile quota ranks are always looser (higher AIR number) because you compete only against other home-state candidates.

NLUs with a domicile quota for CLAT PG 2026 include:

• MNLU Mumbai, MNLU Nagpur, MNLU Aurangabad – Maharashtra domicile
• RMLNLU Lucknow – Uttar Pradesh domicile
• NUALS Kochi – Kerala domicile
• TNNLU Tiruchirappalli – Tamil Nadu domicile
• CNLU Patna – Bihar domicile
• NLUJA Guwahati – Assam domicile
• GNLU Gandhinagar and GNLU Silvassa – Gujarat domicile
• DSNLU Vishakhapatnam – Andhra Pradesh domicile

If you are a Maharashtra-domicile candidate, you compete only against other Maharashtra candidates for the MNLU Mumbai domicile seats. This gives you an edge at that NLU over out-of-state candidates. Always check the Consortium’s seat matrix to know the exact domicile seat count at your target NLU.

Domicile quota closing ranks above are approximate based on Consortium round-wise data. Verify the official PDF at consortiumofnlus.ac.in for exact figures.

CLAT PG 2026 Cutoff: Counselling Process and Allocation Rounds

CLAT PG 2026 counselling ran in five rounds between January and May 2026. The Consortium of NLUs managed the entire process at consortiumofnlus.ac.in. Here is how each round worked.

• Registration and choice filling: You registered at consortiumofnlus.ac.in and ranked your NLU preferences. You could list all 26 participating NLUs.
• Round 1 allotment (January 7, 2026): Seats were provisionally allotted based on merit and preferences. You had to accept your seat and pay the confirmation fee by the deadline.
• Upgrade rounds (Rounds 2–4): If you had accepted a lower-preference NLU, you could indicate willingness to upgrade. Your seat moved up if a better-ranked NLU had a vacancy.
• Round 5 – final freeze (May 20, 2026): All remaining vacancies were filled. Closing ranks from this round are the official final cutoffs. No further changes happen after Round 5.

The Freeze-Float-Exit mechanism applied at each round. Freeze meant you were happy with your current seat. Float meant you wanted to keep your seat but upgrade if a better NLU had a vacancy. Exit meant you left the counselling process entirely. If you chose Float and no upgrade was available, you kept your existing allotment.

CLAT PG 2026: Marks vs Rank

CLAT PG 2026 had 120 questions. One question was withdrawn. The final paper was scored out of 119 marks. The marking scheme gave +1 for correct answers and –0.25 for wrong ones. The highest score was 104.25, secured by the AIR 1 candidate.

The table below gives you an approximate idea of where a given score places you in the merit list.

These rank ranges come from the CLAT PG 2026 result and official counselling data. Use this table as a guide. The exact score-to-rank relationship shifts each year with paper difficulty. Do not treat these as fixed thresholds.

To reach the top three NLUs, you need to score above 72. To be safe for NLSIU Bengaluru, target 82 or above. In the dense top-100 band, even one mark can shift your rank by 15 to 30 positions.