How Many Students Appeared for CLAT 2026 (UG)?

Understanding how many candidates appeared for CLAT 2026 (UG) is not a surface-level statistic. It is the foundation on which expectations about ranks, seats, counselling outcomes, and admission probabilities must be built. In an exam where success depends entirely on relative performance, the size and seriousness of the competing pool define everything that follows.

For CLAT 2026 undergraduate aspirants, participation data tells a clear story: competition was not diluted, casual, or theoretical. It was intense, committed, and near-universal.

Official CLAT 2026 UG Participation Data: The Starting Point

According to the official press release issued by the Consortium of National Law Universities (CNLUs), CLAT 2026 recorded one of the highest undergraduate participation rates in recent admission cycles.

Total Number of UG Candidates Who Appeared

The officially reported figures reveal the true scale of the examination:

• Total UG applicants: 75,009
• Attendance percentage: 96.83%

This attendance rate means that almost every student who registered for CLAT 2026 (UG) actually wrote the examination. In numerical terms, well over 72,500 undergraduate candidates sat for the paper.

This detail is critical because CLAT outcomes are not influenced by registration hype, but by actual exam-day participation.

Why Attendance Percentage Is More Important Than Registration Count

Merely knowing how many students registered does not explain competitiveness. What matters is how many candidates actually appeared, because rankings are formed only among those who sit for the exam.

What a 96.83% Attendance Rate Signifies

A near-total attendance figure has multiple implications:

• Minimal absentee advantage: In some entrance exams, a sizable number of registered candidates skip the test, which artificially improves ranks for those who appear. CLAT 2026 UG offered almost no such advantage.
  
• High seriousness among aspirants: Students appearing after long-term preparation, often investing two or more years, indicates a committed applicant pool.
  
• True national ranking: Ranks in CLAT 2026 represent performance against a nearly complete national cohort, not a diluted subset.

In practical terms, every mark gained or lost mattered more than usual.

CLAT UG Candidate Pool: Why These Numbers Are Structurally Different

CLAT UG is not comparable to general aptitude or multi-stream entrance tests. It serves a highly specialised academic pathway, which explains the unusually high attendance.

Several structural factors explain this trend:

• Exclusive gateway to NLUs: CLAT is the primary admission route to National Law Universities, which are publicly funded and academically prestigious.
  
• Limited alternative exams: Unlike engineering or science aspirants, law aspirants do not have multiple national-level alternatives of equal value.
  
• Overlap with non-NLU admissions: Many private and deemed universities also consider CLAT scores, further increasing the exam’s importance.

Because of this, students rarely skip CLAT once registered. The exam is too central to their admission prospects.

Number of UG Candidates vs Total CLAT 2026 UG Seats Across NLUs

Understanding how many appeared is incomplete without placing that figure alongside actual seat availability.

The approximate undergraduate seat capacity across all NLUs is:

Total UG seats: ~4,092

• Core CLAT UG seats: 3,705
• Supernumerary seats: 247
• Other special category seats: 140

When these numbers are compared:

• UG candidates appeared: ~75,000
• UG seats available: ~4,092

This results in a student-to-seat ratio of roughly 18:1. In simple terms, only one out of every eighteen candidates who appeared can secure an NLU seat.

How High UG Attendance Affects Rank Behaviour

Attendance rates directly shape rank distribution patterns.

When most candidates appear:

• Score clusters become denser
• Small mark differences create large rank movements
• The middle rank ranges become especially volatile

In CLAT 2026 UG, many candidates scored within narrow mark bands, particularly in Legal Reasoning and Reading Comprehension sections. This resulted in situations where differences as small as 0.25–0.50 marks caused rank shifts of several hundred places.

Why “How Many Appeared” Is the First Question That Matters

Before interpreting cut-offs, ranks, or college lists, every CLAT UG candidate must first understand the scale of competition.

The number of candidates who appeared for CLAT 2026 UG establishes:

• The intensity of competition
• The meaning of rank positions
• The importance of strategic decisions after results

Without this context, even a strong score can lead to misjudged expectations.

Conclusion: Participation Defines the Battlefield

CLAT 2026 (UG) was conducted with near-total attendance among more than 75,000 aspirants. This transforms the exam into a fully populated national ranking exercise, where every position was earned against active competition.

For undergraduate candidates, understanding how many appeared is not a background fact—it is the lens through which every admission outcome must be viewed.

Only after acknowledging this scale can ranks, seats, and counselling choices be assessed realistically.