Last minute tips for CLAT 2023

December 4, 2022 / 01:57 AM IST

In the last article, we have gone through the tips to improve reading skills and how to score well in English Language and Logical Reasoning sections. Let us now focus on the remaining sections in order to ace the CLAT 2023 exam.
How to score 30+ in CLAT 2023 Legal Reasoning Section?
The Legal Reasoning section has around 8 passages (of 450 words) with 5 questions each. The number of questions in this section can be in the range of 35-40. Students may give a maximum of 40 minutes to solve this section. This section forms the tie-breaker in order to decide the ranks when total scores are tied. Use any additional time you have, effectively to maximize your score in this section. You do not need any prior legal knowledge in order to answer these questions. The passages can range from a variety of areas: Constitutional/Policy matters or issues of public interest; High Court or Supreme Court judgements, the rationale, impact or the analysis across similar judgements; Business issues in the news or Banking/ Economy based articles; Regul ations stipulated in any field; moral/philosophical aspects in relation to law; Legal concepts in the form of legal maxims, terminology, law of torts, contracts or criminal law. Passages would normally be taken from news articles or legal websites. It is important to remember that the passage would be such that it would contain some form of rules or principles which form the basis for the questions. This means a good and quick understanding of the passage and the rules therein form the key to solving the questions.
Based on the information given and inferred from the passage, the ques tions can be answered. The ques tions could be on the following lines:
Direct interpretation of rule in the passage
Inference based on one or more rules in the passage
One or more rules from the passage applied to a given situation
How would the response change in case of a changed/tweaked rule
Identify which rule applies to the given situation
Do note that rules are not specified directly in the passage. They need to be identified from the information given in the passage. It is important to identify not just the basic rule, but also the exceptions or situations where the rule does not apply. It is also important to understand whether two or more conditions in a rule need to be satisfied (AND condition) or either condition is sufficient for the rule to apply (OR condition). Always re-read the rule before marking the answer. Use elimination technique to weed out wrong answers. When you narrow down the options to two and are trying to decide which one is correct, always choose the option that relies on information/ rule in the passage rather than generic explanation.
Three critical success factors to score 30+ in the Legal Reasoning Section
Reading speed and comprehension ability
Reasoning skills to identify the correct rationale
Agility and Focus quick decision making without getting distracted
Practice solving passages from all areas. Analyse your answers and under -stand where you are going wrong. Develop a basic under standing of torts, contracts, criminal law concepts along with popular legal maxims. Also read a variety of articles on the above-mentioned areas to gain familiarity on multiple topics. Though not mandatory, these steps will aid you in easily interpreting the passages and enhance your scores.
In the last CLAT paper, at least 34 questions were of easy or moderate difficulty level, and students who had prepared, could have scored 25-27 comfortably.

How to score 25 + in the Current Affairs section?
The Current Affairs section also includes General Knowledge. It has around 7-8 passages (450 words) with 5 questions each. The number of questions in this section can be in the range of 35 40. Since there is no solving involved, students may give a maximum of 10-12 minutes. The passages in this section can range from a variety of areas like polity and government, international affairs, business & economy, sports, arts and culture, events of historical importance. The focus will be on the events that have occurred over the last one year. Though the passages will be related to current events, the questions could relate to information not directly available in the passage, including background informa tion and similar events. This section involves a test of knowledge of the happenings in the country and world, with a proper understanding of the background. A thorough preparation is required in order to ace this section.
Preparation for Current Affairs including General Knowledge involves a regular reading of a good quality newspaper with national and international news. Additionally, reading news web sites and a compendium of news also helps. One needs to diligently make notes of important events along with the background information related to the events. Do note that it is always easier to remember facts when you read a story than simply trying to memorize trivia. Spend time to understand the background by reading the entire story. Since information is not available in the passage, it is not required to read the passage in detail. Do not spend much time answering the questions. If you know the answer, you can mark it right away.
Three critical success factors to score 25+ in the Current Affairs Section
Knowledge of all major events of the year
Knowing your strengths and ability to leave out fuzzy answers
Ability to gain maximum scores for the time spent
In the last CLAT paper, at least 20 questions were easy, and students could comfortably get a score of 25-27.
How to score 10 + in the Quantitative Techniques section?
The Quantitative Techniques section is relatively smaller with only 13-17 questions. Students may give a maximum of 10-12 minutes. This section will include short sets of facts or propositions (case lets), graphs trend charts, bar charts, or other textual, tabular or diagrammatic representations (eg pie charts) of numerical inform ation, followed by a series of questions. You will be required to derive information from such passages, graphs, or other represe ntations, and apply mathematical operations on such information.
The questions could ask you to
Interpret, derive, infer, and manipulate numerical inform ation given
Apply standard school level arithm etical operations like percentages, ratios and proportions, profit & loss, time-speed & distance, time & work
Basic algebraic operations, mensu ration and statistical estimation.
You will be expected to apply the mathematical concepts that are known by a 10th class student only. Brush up all the concepts and practice a variety of questions so that you are familiar with different question types. Interpreting data given in the form of a paragraph needs practice. You will need to make notes of relevant information. Similarly interpreting charts needs practice. This is one area of the CLAT paper that is dependent on your conceptual knowledge. So you need to prepare well for it. Moreover, know your strong areas and improve in your weak areas. If you attempt a set of questions, you should be able to answer all of them correctly. Similarly, you should be able to identify time-consuming sets and avoid them.
Three critical success factors to score 10+ in the Quantitative Techniques Section
Overcome fear of Math and be confident
Develop conceptual knowledge and leverage your strengths
Maximum attempts in minimum time.
In the last CLAT paper, at least 11 questions were easy, and students could have scored 10-12 marks comfortably.
CLAT consortium has provided sample papers, which you can access through your registered login. Apart from that, the given QR code has a practice mock paper.