[CLAT 2022] Paper neither too easy nor too difficult: First Reactions

The question paper for 2022 edition of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) was neither too easy nor too difficult, students who took the test told Bar & Bench.

All students unanimously agreed that the paper was of moderate difficulty.

"Paper was moderate. All questions could be attempted. English reading comprehension was lengthy with passages of 1 page each," said Ishita who gave the exam from Subodh Centre in Jaipur.

She further said that the critical reasoning section was a little confusing. As for legal reasoning, the section was very easy with questions mostly in the static legal category. Same was the case with quantitative technique though the general knowledge (GK) section had many unexpected questions.

"Two to three passages in GK that were expected did come, but the rest were mostly unexpected," she added.

Another student Dhruv, who gave CLAT at the same centre, echoed similar sentiments.

"The paper was of moderate difficulty. It was not too lengthy or difficult to understand. Apart from the pressure that is generally prevalent while attempting the exam, there was no other difficulty," he said.

He also agreed to the fact that the questions in the GK section were unexpected. For example, one question was to select the correct spelling of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Another student Masha who attempted CLAT for the second time, at JECRC in Sitapura, Jaipur said,

"Paper was good. Usually, OMR sheet is given 5 minutes before the commencement of the exam to fill up the candidate's details. However, this time around, it was given only after the clock began to run. In a time based exam, every minute matters a lot, and being denied 5 minutes is a lot. One could attempt an entire passage question in that duration."

Paridhi who attempted the exam from the same centre had the same opinion about GK.

"Usually CLAT aspirant puts a lot of time in preparing for GK. But this section was very unexpected. According to me, that was a big disappointment. Apart from that legal and critical reasoning was not too difficult or easy. The reading comprehension had passages were lengthy with some passages exceeding the word limit."

Paridhi also said that the examination hall did not have a clock.

"There were issues at my Centre with respect to the timing. There was neither a clock in the exam hall nor did they intimate us at regular intervals about the time. It was only when 15 minutes were left for the exam that there was any mention about the time. The invigilators were casual about the time and did not properly tell us even when to start since they themselves were confused on when the bell would ring at 2 pm. This issue was not there last year," she added.

Bar & Bench also caught up with Anupama Joshi, the Director of Law Prep Tutorial.

"Speaking section-wise - English questions were easy, but the passages were lengthy. In current affairs section, the questions were unexpected. Even though all students knew the name of the President of Ukraine, expecting them to know the exact spelling, with similar options given, was difficult. With respect to legal reasoning, it was lengthier than last year but the questions were straight forward and not tough.

The logical reasoning section was relatively tough in comparison to previous years. If students were hoping that logical reasoning would be like last year, it was not so. Even with respect to quantitative technique, it was standard as expected for CLAT. Overall there is a mixed reaction from students," Joshi concluded.

CLAT mentor Rajneesh Singh said that the paper was a moderate one.

"Lengthy paper but a balanced one. For GK, most of the topics selected were known but not all. English was moderately difficult and included some inferential questions. Logical reasoning was relatively on tougher side. Legal reasoning had some non-familiar and non-traditional topics. It was time consuming. Quantitative technique was not as easy as in 2021 but almost had the same trend. Winners will be those whose reading speed is good," he added.