How to Prepare for Boards and CLAT together? | Oliveboard

Hi there! Are you studying for XIIth boards currently while planning to appear for CLAT? Are you a student of XIth standard wondering how to balance your studies along with CLAT preparation? Are you an early bird, a class Xth student, figuring out your career path and the best way to balance your studies? You’ve landed at the right place! This blog is the lead casket which shall lead you to Portia, or rather, gets you tips on how to prepare for Boards and CLAT together so that you can form a study plan of your own.

But let’s first see what the CLAT exam entails.

CLAT Overview : How to Prepare for Boards and CLAT together?

Common Law Admission Test, or CLAT, is a centralized national level entrance test for admissions to an integrated (5 years) undergraduate degree in Law (BA LLB, BBA LLB, BSc LLB, etc) in twenty-two National Law Universities (NLU) in India. CLAT scores are also utilised by most private, like Nirma and NMIMS, and self-financed law schools in India. The test is taken after the Higher Secondary Examination or the 12th grade and is conducted by the Consortium of NLUs nationally, every year. 

Before we skip to the Study Plan, let’s understand the basics of the exam you’re planning and dreaming about or considering as an option.

(Note – For those who have a prior understanding of the nature, pattern and syllabus of CLAT, skip to the third part, “Preparing for Boards and CLAT simultaneously” of this blog.)

Eligibility

As per the Consortium website and notification issued for CLAT 2022 – 

• There is no upper age limit for UG Programme via CLAT.
• There is a requirement for a minimum percentage of marks in the qualifying examination (i.e., 10+2 or an equivalent examination). The notification mandates that the candidates must have secured:
  • Forty-five per cent (45%) marks or its equivalent grade in case of candidates belonging to General / OBC / PWD / NRI / PIO / OCI categories; and
  • Forty Percent (40%) marks or equivalent in the case of candidates belonging to SC/ST categories.

Pattern

As per the notification of CLAT 2022, the exam would be a test of aptitude and skills that are necessary for legal education. The shift would be from testing just the prior knowledge or rote learning & retention/recall capacity. Overall, the focus of the entrance test would be on evaluating the comprehension and reasoning skills and abilities of candidates. 

The UG-CLAT 2022 is to be a 2-hour (120 minutes) test, with 150 multiple-choice questions. Each MCQ will be carrying 1 mark each, thereby making the full total to be 150 marks. There shall be a (1/4th) negative marking, i.e. of 0.25 marks, for every wrong answer. These questions would be divided into the following 5 subjects:

Subject Areas	Approx. number of questions (Weightage)
English Language	28-32 questions, or roughly 20% of the paper
Current Affairs, including General Knowledge	35-39 questions, or roughly 25% of the paper
Legal Reasoning	35-39 questions, or roughly 25% of the paper
Logical Reasoning	28-32 questions, or roughly 20% of the paper
Quantitative Technique	13-17 questions, or roughly 10% of the paper

Syllabus

Section	Nature of the Passage	Type of Questions
English Language	450 words long Passages derived from contemporary or historically significant fiction and non-fiction writing.	Read and comprehend the main point discussed in the passage, as well as any arguments and viewpoints discussed or set out in the passage;Draw inferences and conclusions based on the passage;Summarise the passage;Compare and contrast the different arguments or viewpoints set out in the passage, and,Understand the meaning of various words and phrases used in the passage.
Current Affairs (including GK)	450 words long passages derived from news, journalistic sources and other non-fiction writing.	Contemporary events of significance from India and the world;Arts and culture;International affairs; andHistorical events of continuing significance.
Legal Reasoning	450 word long passages related to fact situations or scenarios involving legal matters, public policy questions or moral philosophical enquiries.	Identify and infer the rules and principles set out in the passage;Apply such rules and principles to various fact situations; andUnderstand how changes to the rules or principles may alter their application to various fact situations.
Logical Reasoning	300 word long “short” passages to assess your mental ability.	Recognize an argument, its premises and conclusions;Read and identify the arguments set out in the passage;Critically analyse patterns of reasoning, and assess how conclusions may depend on particular premises or evidence;Infer what follows from the passage and apply these inferences to new situations;Draw relationships and analogies, identify contradictions and equivalence, and assess the effectiveness of arguments.
Quantitative Techniques	“Short” sets of facts or propositions, graphs, or other textual, pictorial or diagrammatic numerical information representations.	Derive, infer, and manipulate numerical information set out in such passages, graphs, or other representations; andApply various 10th standard mathematical operations on such information, including from areas such as ratios and proportions, basic algebra, mensuration and statistical estimation

Preparing for Boards & CLAT simultaneously

We started the blog by telling you about the CLAT examination in detail for those who are looking to kickstart their prep. Without much ado let’s delve into the juicier part. 

But first know, that even when the eligibility criteria for CLAT are set at 45% for General and 40% for SC/ST, it is never wise to put all your money on a single horse. 12th is a gateway for entrances and admission to many colleges and you should treat it thusly.

Starter tip – How to Prepare for Boards and CLAT together?

Know both the syllabi like the back of your hand.

START EARLY! 

• Starting early will give you an edge in any examination. However, when you’re a student seeking entrance to an undergraduate course, the chances are high that you’ll have to appear for Boards simultaneously. In such cases it is essential that you start early. Starting at least 1-year in advance will help you become comfortable with handling both syllabuses efficiently. 
• Even if you are starting today – Fret Not! Remember that the key lies in consistency, hard work, perseverance and determination.

Curate a study plan

• You should start with a study plan. 
• According to the weightage of each section in the CLAT paper, rank the subjects from most essential to least significant. See if there are some sections in CLAT and your boards (for example, Comprehension for English) which you can club together.
• Make sure you cover all selected sections for both examinations in your daily schedule. 
• Divide your weekdays (Monday to Friday) into three parts (the following points are indicatory, customise according to your needs) – 
  • First ⅓ can go to your boards, where you take care of the school attendance, assignments, school work, exam-oriented preparation, etc.
  • Second ⅓ can go to CLAT prep, where you read the newspaper, build vocabulary, work on quantitative and reasoning abilities, 
  • Third ⅓ should ideally be devoted to strengthening your mind. Revise the school work, boards and CLAT material you read throughout the day. Attempt sectional mocks.
• Weekends are the most fun part of the preparation schedule.
  • First, have fun. Remember that “all work and no play”, makes you a dull person.
  • Attempt full-length mock tests for CLAT.
  • Revise the entire week’s work.
• ALWAYS make sure you leave enough time at the end of the day for revision.
• When preparing legal issues, be sure to spend additional time mapping out pertinent case laws.
• Don’t start with a difficult or time-consuming subject. Take up your favourite subject or topic first, and then go on to other things.

Remain on the charted path!

• Some aspirants fail to maintain the rigour of preparing for Boards and CLAT simultaneously. They plan but fail to stick to it. Remember that focus is the key!
• Don’t worry if you start slow. Just don’t get exhausted in the process. Maintain consistency one day at a time for the entire time period that you planned for, be it 1 yr, 6 months, 4 months or even 3 months!

The Month After Boards and Before CLAT – How to Prepare for Boards and CLAT together?

This one month gap between the Boards examination and CLAT entrance day is the most crucial of all the stages in the preparation cycle. Your primary focus in this time should not be on touching on any new topics or covering the leftover areas, but on strengthening and consolidating what you’ve studied already.

• Forget what your boards were like! What is done is done and believe that you’ll get results according to what your performance was like. It does not matter anymore. What matters now is how to perform in CLAT. It’s a “DO or DIE”.
• Analyse all the mock tests you’ve appeared for so far. Analyze the sectional scores, lag in solving within time, weaknesses and strengths. Write all your observations on a sheet of paper. This can serve as your guide for the rest of the month.
• Revise the entire syllabus at least once within the first 25 days.
• The last 5 days should go to relaxing your mind now. Remember that the human mind is only capable to bear so much. The preparatory cycle has been taxing. Now your mind needs to perform at the optimum on the d-day!

Stay tuned to Oliveboard for more tips on law entrance examinations. Ciao!