CLAT Score vs Rank: How Marks Actually Convert
Your rank depends on how everyone else did, not on your marks alone. Why the conversion shifts every year — and why we will not predict your rank.
Part of the CLAT 2027 guide
Your CLAT rank is your position in the ranked candidate list, determined by scores and applicable tie-breaks. Your score alone cannot predict that position independently of other candidates; the same mark can yield different ranks in different years.
How the score is arrived at
Simple arithmetic, and worth being clear about because it is often over-complicated:
- Correct answer: +1
- Wrong answer: −0.25
- Unattempted: 0
The published format has a maximum of 120 marks. Use the final key and any official instructions about withdrawn questions when calculating the result. The published format lists one overall test duration and no separate qualifying score for each section.
Why the same score gives different ranks
Rank depends on the distribution of everyone else’s marks, which shifts with:
- Paper difficulty. A harder paper compresses scores; the same 95 may rank higher.
- Number of candidates. A different candidate pool can change how many people score above a given mark.
- The final answer key. A withdrawn or re-keyed question can affect candidates differently, according to their answers and the announced scoring treatment.
This is why treating a past year’s score-to-rank table as a prediction is unsound. It describes what happened once.
Tie-breaking
The CLAT 2027 UG instructions specify this order for tied totals: higher marks in the Legal Aptitude section, then higher age, then a computerised draw. Read the current official instructions linked below.
This gives Legal Reasoning a role in resolving ties, in addition to its contribution to the total.
What we will not do
This page does not predict a rank from a future score. Historical tables describe a particular paper and candidate pool. They cannot guarantee your counselling outcome.
Our cutoff guide explains how to interpret verified closing ranks; it does not publish a historical rank table.
What actually matters for admission
Admission depends on rank, eligibility, category, preferences, available seats and completing the required steps. A closing rank describes the result of allocation; it is not a guaranteed threshold fixed in advance. A rank that is disappointing in the general category may be comfortable in a reserved one, and vice versa — and state-domicile quotas at some universities change the picture again.
That is the number to think in, and it only becomes real at counselling.
Where to go next
- CLAT previous year cutoffs
- CLAT counselling process
- When will the CLAT result be declared?
- CLAT marking scheme
Sources and scope
Official references checked on 18 September 2026. Study routines and teaching examples are editorial suggestions, not official requirements.