How to complete the CLAT 2023 syllabus through self-study?

CLAT is the single window gateway to admissions to top Law Schools in India. Until this year, it was held once a year. Therefore, the candidates must at least give in 5-6 months for CLAT preparations. The CLAT Exam demands determination and dedication to get a good score and secure a seat in a top law school through CLAT. When there are hundreds of coaching centres offering courses for the CLAT exam, there are candidates who are willing to prepare at home. They are more inclined towards self-study and self-paced learning. But the questions arise: How to complete the CLAT Syllabus through self-study? How to prepare for CLAT at home? Through this article, we will explore the tips and tricks to help candidates look forward to self-studying for the CLAT exam.

Subject-wise Study Tips

Completing the CLAT syllabus is important. Incomplete preparation or weak conceptual clarity will hinder the possibility of getting a good CLAT score. Therefore, below are some subject-wise tips to help candidates maximise their CLAT scores.

English Language

Since the passages in the section demand candidate to exhibit their command over the languages and their comprehension skills, the candidates must focus on:

1. Read more and more passages. Try to cull out as many inferences and conclusions from the passage as possible. It will help you enhance your skill of identifying new ideas and making novel interpretations.
2. Try to write an abstract of all the passages you read.
3. Make use of various resources to build up vocabulary. New phrases and words must be noted down separately and revised regularly.

Current Affairs, including General Knowledge

The vastness of the syllabus under this section makes the candidates a little anxious about their performance. A lot is happening each day. Therefore, along with static GK, the candidates must be well versed in current affairs. To feel confident in this section, you can employ the following techniques:

1. Subscribe to a monthly current affairs magazine. It will keep you updated with recent events. In addition, newspapers, bulletins and publications related to the field can help.
2. Getting a good publisher’s book on static GK will help to work your way through.
3. The candidate must study GK every day. Candidates can take up GK during break time or while travelling. 

Legal Reasoning

However, the candidates are not expected to have prior knowledge about Law, but knowing the contemporary legal and moral issues will be helpful. Therefore, 

1. Keep yourself updated with news related to legal issues and concerns. 
2. Candidates must be aware of the legal scenario of other nations too.
3. Practise questions of Legal studies as much as possible. It will help the candidate to feel more confident and take less time to attempt the question. 

Feeling confident in this section is important as the time boundation can potentially hamper the thinking process of the candidates.

Logical Reasoning & Quantitative Techniques

These two sections demand a lot of practice. The candidates cannot predict the question; they can only be aware of how to approach a certain type of question through practice.

1. Keep a separate notebook to write mathematical formulas and specific short tricks and tips. They can be kept handy for revision. 
2. Practise more and more questions to cover the maximum variety of questions under these sections.
3. Focus on your speed because questions in these sections can be very time-consuming.

These tips and exercises will help the candidate provide much focus and time to the various sections of the exam. However, certain tips will help enhance the candidate’s overall performance.

Tips to ace CLAT Exam

1. The candidates must make a proper study plan. It helps to set goals and thereby work towards them. Efforts without a goal decrease the chances of getting favourable outcomes.
2. The major focus should be on enhancing reading and comprehension skills. All the sections of the CLAT exam include passages which are followed by a set of questions. Therefore, the candidates must be able to increase their reading speed. Accuracy and speed must be given equal focus because negative marking is involved.
3. Making notes through hands will help. Jotting down important themes and making concepts will help smooth navigation through the questions in each section. This way, you won’t have to review all the material and resources during revision. Your hand-made short notes will help to revisit the concepts in less time.
4. Focus on time management. Competitive exams are about accuracy and time management. Therefore, practise more sample papers, previous years’ papers and mock tests.
5. Get study material from reliable sources. Whatever efforts you might be ready to put in but the resources at hand are not at par with the syllabus and the exam pattern of the CLAT exam, all your efforts will go in vain. To increase the chances of getting a higher CLAT score, be wise while choosing the study material. How to choose study material for CLAT?

Keep all these things in mind. You will not only be able to complete your CLAT syllabus but also build confidence in the process. However, these tips and tricks will help you get a good CLAT score. Keep the spirits high and do your best. All the very best to you!