If you’re a law aspirant, both the CLAT exam and board exams are crucial determinants of your academic and career trajectory. Board exams are a key factor in gaining admission to undergraduate courses in various disciplines, while the CLAT exam is a gateway to some of the most prestigious law schools in India. Excelling in both CLAT 2025 and board exams is therefore critical to gain admission to top colleges and universities, and laying the foundation for a successful career in law or other related fields.

Preparing for the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) along with the board exams can be quite challenging. However, it is the need of the hour for those aspiring to pursue a career in law as it can give them an added advantage. Therefore, to make a significant difference in their academic and professional journeys, you must put in the extra effort and time required and prepare for both exams simultaneously.

In this article, we’ll discuss how you should Prepare for both CLAT and Board Exams simultaneously to achieve your dreams.

Understand the Examination Pattern 
 

Understanding the examination pattern is the foremost step in preparing for any exam. By doing so, you can tailor a targeted study plan for the exam. CLAT 2025 shall be conducted in offline mode where the paper will have 150 Multiple Choice Questions from five different subjects including English (Comprehension), General Knowledge & Current Affairs, Elementary Mathematics (Numerical Ability), Legal Aptitude, and Logical Reasoning.

The English, Current Affairs, and Legal Reasoning sections will have around 450-word passages, while the Logical Reasoning section will have short passages of about 350 words. Each passage will be followed by a series of questions that must be answered within the stipulated time of 2 hours. The weightage of the Current affairs and general knowledge section will be highest in the CLAT exam.

The following table will help you understand the CLAT 2025 examination pattern in an easier format:
 

Features UG Programme
(5-year integrated Ll.B.)
Mode of Exam Offline
Duration 2 Hours
Question Format Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)
Maximum Questions 150 Questions
Maximum Marks 150 Marks
Subjects English Language, and Current Affairs including General Knowledge, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Techniques.
Frequency of Exam Once a year
Medium of Exam English
Exam date December 2024
Negative Marking Scheme Yes (-0.25 marks for every wrong answer)
 

The weightage of the subjects asked in the CLAT 2025 exam would be as follows:
 

Section Number of Questions
English Language 28-32 Questions
GK & Current Affairs 35-39 Questions
Logical Reasoning 28-32 Questions
Legal Reasoning 35-39 Questions
Quantitative Techniques 13-17 Questions
 

Prepare a Study Plan

In a situation where you have to balance your preparation for two different exams, a well-structured study plan is the only effective tool that can help you achieve your academic goals. A well-crafted study plan can help you manage your time effectively, so you have enough time for revision, practice, and solving sample papers. Without a study plan, you may feel overwhelmed by the amount of syllabus you need to cover for two different exams, leading to procrastination, last-minute cramming, and a lack of motivation.

To crack the CLAT 2025 exam while simultaneously preparing for board exams, you should create a separate study plan for each exam. 
 

  • It is essential to make a weekly and monthly study plan for both exams and divide your time effectively to ensure that neither exam gets neglected.
  • The study sessions should include a good mix of theory, problem-solving, attempting mock tests, and analyzing them as well.
  • Spare at least 1 hour each day to read English newspapers to make sure that you are able to decipher the meaning of the passage-based questions in a very limited amount of time.  
  • As the board exams draw nearer, you can devote more time to them and shift the focus to CLAT exam preparation once the board exams are over.
  • It is important to prioritize the topics and allocate sufficient time for revision, attempting mock tests, and solving CLAT previous year's papers for both exams.

 

Set Specific Goals

Setting realistic goals to achieve any goal is important because it helps to break down the overall process into manageable steps, making it easier to approach the task at hand. Preparing for both board exams and the CLAT exam can be a challenging task, but setting realistic goals can help you achieve success in both. Let us understand how this helps:
 

  • First of all, you can break down your study time into smaller chunks and allocate each session to a specific topic or subject of the board and CLAT exam.
  • You can set specific targets for each session like completing one reading drill & vocabulary drill in a single session. This will help you improve your reading comprehension skills and expand your vocabulary, which is essential for both the board exams and the CLAT exam.
  • In addition to this, you should set realistic goals for each study session. For example, you can aim to complete the “Criminal Law” topic and attempt topic tests for this topic in a single session. Doing so will help you stay focused and motivated, and also give you a sense of accomplishment as you work towards your larger goals.
  • It is also important to prioritize your study time based on your strengths and weaknesses. Identify the subjects or topics that you struggle with the most, and allocate more time to them. At the same time, make sure to review the topics you are confident in to maintain your understanding and knowledge.


Such a targeted approach towards your preparation would be more effective than attempting to cover all the material at once. This will also enable you to make the most of your study time, reduce stress and anxiety and achieve better results.
 

Solve Previous Year's Question Papers
 

To excel in the CLAT 2025 exam while preparing for boards, it is crucial to have a good understanding of the CLAT exam pattern and the types of questions asked in this exam. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by solving the CLAT previous year's question papers. This will not only help you understand the format and difficulty level of the exam but also give you an idea about the important topics to focus on.

By attempting CLAT previous year's papers at Smartkeeda, you can get an idea of the weightage of different varieties of questions such as passage-based questions, miscellaneous, score boosters, and touch-me-not. Additionally, it will help you understand the difficulty level of the questions asked in the CLAT exam & you prepare for surprises that may arise in the exam.

Click here to attempt CLAT previous year papers now!
 

Prioritize Challenging Subjects
 

Prioritizing challenging subjects can be an extremely effective approach as this can make you confident and save you time in preparing for other subjects. By tackling difficult subjects first, you can avoid wasting time on easier subjects that you already understand well. This approach also helps prevent procrastination and ensures that you have enough time to master the most challenging material before moving on to other topics. This approach will also help you avoid the common pitfall of procrastination, which often leads to last-minute cramming without understanding the concepts.
 

Attempt CLAT Mock Tests
 

By integrating CLAT mock tests into your study schedule, you can effectively manage your CLAT 2025 preparation with boards. Smartkeeda CLAT Mock tests simulate the actual exam experience, allowing you to improve your time management skills which are extremely important for competitive exams like CLAT. By setting aside specific times to attempt mock tests, you can ensure that you are dedicating sufficient time to your CLAT preparation, while still managing your board exam studies.
 
To get the most out of mock tests in minimum time, you should attempt them regularly, ideally twice a week, and analyze your performance on the same day. By doing so, you can adjust your study plan and focus your efforts on the areas that need the highest attention. This will help you build a strategy and track your progress over time. After each mock test, you should analyze your performance and identify areas where you need improvement.

Click here to attempt a free full-length CLAT 2025 Mock Test now!
 

Subject-Wise Tips to Prepare for CLAT 2025

Preparing for the CLAT exam can be challenging, given the vast syllabus and the level of competition. However, with the right strategy and focused preparation, you can easily crack the exam with flying colors. Here we will provide subject-wise tips to help you prepare for the CLAT exam and improve your chances of securing a seat in your dream law college.
 

  • English including comprehension: The English section will test the candidates' proficiency in English based on comprehension passages and grammar. In the comprehension section, candidates will be questioned on their understanding of the passage and its central theme, meanings of words used therein, etc. The grammar section requires correction of incorrect grammatical sentences, filling of blanks in sentences with appropriate words, etc. Therefore, you can attempt quizzes to cover this section.
  • General Knowledge and Current Affairs Section: The General knowledge will be tested on the general awareness including static general knowledge. Questions on current affairs will test candidates on their knowledge of national and international current affairs. You should download “CLAT LawEx Magazine” by Smartkeeda and read it thoroughly to score well in the section.
  • Mathematics Section: This section will test your knowledge of elementary mathematics, i.e., maths taught up to 10th Class/standard. You can easily cover this section from the free videos available on our Youtube channel “LawEx by Smartkeeda”. On this channel, you can find free video lectures on other subjects as well.
  • Legal Aptitude Section: This section will test your interest in the study of law, research aptitude, and problem-solving ability. Questions may include legal propositions (described in the paper), and a set of facts to which the said proposition has to be applied. Some propositions may not be "true" in the real sense, you will have to assume the "truth" of these propositions and answer the questions accordingly. You can practice and prepare each Legal Aptitude asked in CLAT with CLAT Topic Tests by Smartkeeda
  • Logical Reasoning Section: The purpose of the logical reasoning section is to test your ability to identify patterns, and logical links and rectify illogical arguments. It may include a variety of logical reasoning questions such as syllogisms, logical sequences, analogies, etc. The section does not include the questions from Visual reasoning. You can attempt logical reasoning quizzes to prepare for this section.

 
Whether you are preparing for the English Language, Current Affairs, General Knowledge, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, or Quantitative Technique section of the CLAT exam, these tips will help you stay on track and achieve your goals.
 

Conclusion

 
Common Law Admission Test or CLAT is a highly competitive exam, and preparing for it alongside the boards can give you an edge over your fellow competitors, increasing your chances of securing a seat in a top law school. While the board exams will test your academic knowledge and understanding, CLAT 2025 shall assess your analytical, reasoning, and comprehension abilities. By preparing for both simultaneously, you can develop a well-rounded skill set that will not only lead to your dream law school but also a shining career.



Author : Rohit Sharma

Hi, I am Rohit Sharma, the head of the Law exams vertical at Smartkeeda and an alumnus of NLU Punjab. Having successfully cleared the CLAT exam twice, I am currently engaged in teaching Legal Reasoning on the LawEx YouTube channel. Moreover, I contribute by writing blogs that are specifically tailored to the CLAT exams.