How to score 11+ in Quant Section for CLAT? Past Year’s Papers Analysis (5 years)

You cannot win a war if you do not possess either the first-hand experience of warfare or adequate knowledge of the battlefield. Similarly, you must understand the syllabus and pattern of questions asked in a competitive examination like CLAT (Common Law Admission Test) in order to crack it. Hence, both – a strong plan and its execution – are key. Solving past year’s question paper gives you an advantage on both fronts. When you solve these papers, you get the idea about what kind of questions are asked from different topics, which areas are more important, whether questions are more from the static part or dynamic part, etc. If you observe the pattern of question papers, you will realize that the level of difficulty varies from year to year in the exam. You get the overall idea about the difficulty level and you can prepare accordingly.

In this blog, we’ll deliver the tips and tricks to score 11+ in Quant Section for CLAT after an analysis of the past year’s papers.

Understanding CLAT

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 (except NLU Delhi which conducts a separate entrance, AILET). The test can be taken after the Higher Secondary Examination or the 12th grade and is conducted by the Consortium of NLUs nationally, every year. 

Generally, the battle of CLAT is a 120-minute field wherein the candidate has to solve 150 questions spread across five areas – English Language, Current Affairs (including General Knowledge), Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Techniques. Each question is a one-marker objective type. A negative marking of 0.25 mark per wrong answer has also been kept. 

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

Quant Section for CLAT

Quant Section for CLAT constitutes roughly 10% of the paper, i.e., 13-17 questions out of 150 questions. To give you a fair idea of the quant section, let’s take the case of the syllabus for 2022. As per the Consortium website, the Quant section for CLAT will include short sets of facts or propositions, graphs, or other textual, pictorial or diagrammatic representations of numerical information, followed by a series of questions. You will be required to –

Step 1 – derive information from such passages, graphs, or other representations, and 

Step 2 – apply mathematical operations to such information.

The questions will require you to:

• Derive, infer, and manipulate numerical information set out in such passages, graphs, or other representations; and
• Apply various 10th standard mathematical operations on such information, including from areas such as ratios and proportions, basic algebra, mensuration and statistical estimation.

Past year’s papers Analysis (5 years)

Before we begin with the analysis of the papers bear in mind that the Quantitative Techniques section of the UG CLAT 2022 follows the general trend of changes in the CLAT towards a more comprehension-based format. The Quant section of CLAT 2022 differs from previous years’ papers in that it requires you to read a passage or analyse a set of graphical information before attempting a question. Also, an approach toward more logic-based questions has been adopted to ensure that the quant section for CLAT focuses on evaluating the comprehension and reasoning skills and abilities of candidates.

Year	No. of Questions Asked	Trends
2021	three passages and 15 MCQs	EasyAmong all the sections, Quantitative Techniques was the easiest to attempt.Though all the passages were along the predictable lines, they were lengthy too. Time management was a major issue. There were only passage-based questions, there were no graphs in the paper.Topics like Percentage and Ratio dominated the section in 2021. In fact, all the sets required a basic understanding of percentages. Among all the three (03) paragraph based sets, the set based on COVID was the easiest as the questions were direct.However, in this section, there could have been some ambiguities. For example, some assumptions had to be made in order to solve the problems, which should have been clearly stated otherwise.
2020	three passages and 15 MCQs	ModerateThe section contained tricky questionsThis section had 3 sets – one bar graph, one table and one set on an area of a semicircle.Some questions based on dimensions and geometry were complicated to answer.There were many calculative questions.
2019	20 questions	EasyXth Standard basic mathematics and calculations. Not many calculations were involved or needed.Most of the questions asked were from Arithmetic. Conventional topics like SI/CI, pipes and cistern, percentage, profit loss, mensuration, BODMAS, clocks and calendars brought 1-2 questions each.There were 5 questions from the number system alone.There were some erroneous questions as well.
2018	20 questions	DifficultTime-consuming section because of the variety of questions.Also, the questions were calculation intensive and hence on the trickier side.Many questions could have been solved by using the approximation technique.The questions touched upon the following topics like – BODMAS, Percentages, Ratio & Proportion, Averages, Time & Work, Time & Distance, Algebra, Numbers, Geometry, Pure Maths etc.The surprise element of this section was the two questions on simplification.
2017	20 questions	Easy to ModerateThis section carried a mixed bag of questions from all areas of elementary mathematics. Arithmetic was the star of this section with the maximum number of questions, around 13 questions, from it. 4 questions were from the Number system.However, the numerical ability section can be said to have been quite lengthy and time-consuming.

How to score 11+ in Quant Section for CLAT?

Scoring 11+ in Quant Section for CLAT is essential to reach a respectable score in light of the fact that this is the section where you undergo a minimum risk. Either you’re able to solve a question or you’re not. 

Tips for Prep

• Practice – For the quant section for CLAT you can depend on a few key practice materials such as Class Xth NCERT “Mathematics” textbook, Past year question paper, sectional tests, etc. While the previous years’ question papers may not include the additional element of requiring you to analyse a passage or graphical information and derive usable information from them, they will still help you develop the ability to perform common mathematical calculations quickly and accurately.
• Precision and Accuracy – Develop a habit of being able to derive accurate answers while focusing on speed. It comes with what? Yes, practice! Also, Whenever you attempt a set of practice questions or a sample test, don’t just look at the answers to find out if you were right or wrong – always make sure you go through the solution as well, to see if the manner in which you solved the question can be improved upon. While you may have found the right answer to a question, it is quite possible that someone else has figured out a quicker or easier way to do so, and it would benefit you to understand that method of solving the question as well.
• Mock test – Add solving mock tests to the mix and you’re golden. Check this out! 

Tips for D-day

• Since the CLAT 2022 is marking a significant change syllabus wise for the quant section for CLAT from formulae-based questions to more logic-based questions, it is critical that you carefully read the passages and questions to ensure that you understand the information provided and what the question is asking of you. Quant section for CLAT is looking for your ability to analyse textual and graphical material in addition to your ability to execute simple mathematical calculations.
• Because the Quantitative Techniques section of the UG CLAT 2022 differs from previous years’ papers in that it requires you to read a passage or analyse a set of graphical data before attempting a question, it is critical that you read the passage or graphical data and list out (or underline) the information that is provided to you, as well as the information that you may need to answer the questions.
• A later question in any question set in the UG CLAT 2022’s Quantitative Techniques section will almost always demand you to use information that you computed or obtained when answering a prior question. Given this, it’s critical that you keep your preliminary notes and computations organised and accessible so that you may immediately refer to them when needed.

For more help with your CLAT preparation, tune in to Oliveboard. For tips and tricks on preparing for other law entrances, check this. Ciao!