How to score 25+ in the Logical Reasoning Section for CLAT? Past Year’s Papers Analysis (5 years)

Past years’ papers analysis assists students by giving more thorough information about the kind, nature, and structure of questions as well as marks allotment to topics of the syllabus that will be asked in the test. This is especially critical when dealing with objective problems. It also describes the questions’ level of difficulty or complexity. Students who are familiar with the pattern and type of questions will take less time to answer during the exam. In all, the following are the benefits of the past year’s papers analysis – 

• Gives you an analysis of your speed and in-depth knowledge of topics.
• Gives you an understanding of the trend followed in previous years, which topics carry, which carry less, etc.
• Helps you build confidence in your preparation. 
• Moreover, sometimes some tricky questions tend to get repeated and solving them beforehand can prove beneficial.

This blog will deliver the tips and tricks to score 25+ in the logical reasoning section for CLAT after a past year’s papers analysis for the last 5 years.

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

Logical Reasoning for CLAT

As per the syllabus listed on Consortium website, the Logical Reasoning section for CLAT 2022 will include a series of short passages of about 300 words each. The Logical Reasoning section for CLAT contains about 28-32 questions out of 150 or roughly 20% of the paper

Each passage will be followed by one or more questions that will require you to:

• 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.

Past year’s Papers Analysis (5 years)

While the Logical Reasoning section for CLAT 2022 might be different from past year’s papers, some questions from the older formats may still be included – such as logic games or syllogisms. It would, therefore, be a good idea to practice with previous years’ papers, so that you can pick up some ‘easy’ marks for such questions.

Year	Number of Questions Asked	Analysis
2021	6 passages (sets) with 5 questions each. A total of 30 questions.	ModerateThis was slightly similar to the English section because of the presence of passage-based questions. The passages were on diverse areas like the impact of COVID, diplomacy and climate change, picked from the leading newspapers like Indian Express and world press etc. COVID 19 remained a dominant theme with the following 3 sets-Covid 19 Death Rates in India,Covid 19 Mental Health Challenges,Covid 19 Mental Health Challenges.However, all the passages were easy to understand. Most of the questions were based on inference, central idea, and primary purpose. A few questions were also based on conventional critical reasoning topics such as strengthen or weaken the argument.
2020	30 questions which included 5 passages (25 questions) and 5 extra questions.	ModerateOut of the 5 questions – 3 questions from ‘Statement and Conclusion and Assumption’,1 question from Matrix (puzzle) and 1 question from Coding-Decoding.This was again a reading-based section with passages. The 5 passage sets were from diverse areas like Social Journalism, Anti Alcohol movement, Class XII CBSE result, Work from home during Corona Pandemic and Online classes.The passages were not time-consuming.
2019	40 questions	ModerateAnalytical reasoning part contained about 12 questions, i.e., a major chunk of the paper.There were also questions on verbal reasoning, syllogism, coding-decoding, series, directions and relations, verbal analogies and odd one out. The questions on verbal reasoning were tricky.1 question on either/ or had no correct option.
2018	40 questions	ModerateThe section had no surprises but students should have selected questions to attempt wisely to avoid time-consuming ones.There were two sets, having 6 and 4 questions respectively – one on the trickier and time-consuming side.The logical Reasoning section had all the usual question types like puzzles, arrangements, blood relations, directions, coding/decoding, series & sequences, syllogisms, course of action etc.A new type of question was introduced. The questions on critical reasoning were more like Decision Making questions.
2017	40 questions	EasyThis section contained questions from a variety of areas of Logical Reasoning with a major focus on Analytical reasoning with about 8 questions.There were two sets of Puzzles. A total of 10 questions were asked based on these sets. There were also questions on Blood relationships (5 Qs), Syllogisms (5 Qs), Analogies (4 Qs), etc.Also, the absence of lengthy statement-based critical reasoning questions can be marked for this year, 2017.

How to score 25+ in the logical reasoning section for CLAT?

Scoring at least 25+ in the logical reasoning section for CLAT is essential to reach a decent score and rank overall. Now, while the Logical Reasoning section of the UG CLAT 2022, as per the prescribed syllabus, might be very different from previous years’ papers, some questions from the older formats may still be included. 

Tips for prep

• It is always a good idea to practice with past years’ papers, especially in the logical reasoning section. Solving them ensures that you’re in tune with the trends of the questions asked, which areas and important, which topics yield the maximum number of questions, etc. Use past years papers to your benefit while preparing for CLAT.
• Moreover, given the fact that the logical reasoning section for CLAT 2022 is going to be closely related to the English Language and Legal Reasoning sections, like the trends followed during CLAT conducted in the years 2020 and 2021, it would be a good idea to modify your preparation strategy so that you prepare for these three sections together. 
• Very often, the same, or similar sources are used by the question setters for questions in this section as in the English Language and Legal Reasoning sections – such as opinion and editorial pieces from newspapers. Hence, Try creating different versions of a principle or facts and ask fellow aspirants to determine how they might affect the main argument or outcome of a passage or a question.
• Remember, the more you debate points with others, the greater the variety of arguments and reasoning styles you will encounter. This can and will greatly assist you with your preparations for the logical reasoning section for CLAT.

Tips for D-Day

• As per past year’s papers analysis, arguments form a major part of the logical reasoning section for CLAT. Arguments are usually sets of facts or pieces of evidence (called ‘premises’) which support a ‘conclusion’. These premises and conclusions together form arguments. Hence, utilise the past year’s papers to carefully identify the various premises and conclusions in the passage.
• Further, you should also learn how to determine whether the piece has an overarching theme, purpose, or conclusion. You should be able to quickly answer questions that require you to identify the passage’s major subject or conclusion, as well as those that ask you to identify arguments in support of or against the author’s arguments, with this knowledge in hand.
• Some questions may require you to assume certain things to be true, even though you know they are wrong or contradict the information in the passage. In such cases, it is critical that you precisely follow the directions in the question; remember, the question setters are testing your ability to read and grasp the material and instructions in this part, not your prior knowledge. This is again an area where practising previous year’s question papers can be extremely beneficial.

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