CLAT 2023 Paper Analysis: Answer Key, Expected Cut-off and Difficulty level

Ruchika Mohapatra

19 December 20224 min read

The CLAT 2023 Exam was conducted on December 18, 2022, from 2 PM to 4 PM. CLAT 2023 was pen and paper-based. For the first time, CLAT was held twice in the same year and registered applicants were given the chance to visit campuses.

In this CLAT 2023 Paper Analysis, we will go through the section-wise detailed analysis of the paper. Also, we will take a look at the difficulty level of questions, the pattern of the exam, and the weightage of topics.

Our CLAT 2023 Exam Analysis will include:

Subject wise division of questions
Difficulty level of the questions
CLAT 2023 Question Paper
CLAT 2023 Answer Key
CLAT 2023 Expected Cut off

The CLAT Exam consists of 150 questions that need to be answered in 120 minutes. The paper consisted of 50 pages with many aspirants saying that the paper was lengthy but moderate in nature. Candidates with a decent reading speed and time management skills would have found the paper to be easy to moderate.

Section	Total Questions	Difficulty Level
ENLGISH	30	Easy to Moderate

Section Wise Analysis of CLAT UG 2023

CLAT 2023 English Section Analysis

Total number of questions asked in this section are 30. Overall, with the exception of 1, and for some, 2 passages, this section was easy in nature. All questions asked were straightforward, and simple while the passages were of moderate length. There were a lot of vocabulary based questions, which was not expected, given the trend of past year papers, like CLAT 2022 and CLAT 2021. A good number of attempts overall would be 23-25.

Passage 1- ‘Datedness’ and time distances in small towns This passage was easy. 4 out of 5 questions were entirely passage-based, requiring very little drawing of inferences. 1 question was vocabulary based- however, the word was one which is a common vocabulary term. 4-5 questions would be a good number of attempts.
Passage 2- Keeladi Site’s discovery and shifting theories This passage was moderate in nature. While questions are passage-based, they require deeper comprehension, and more drawing of inferences, and cannot be solved by skimming the passage. 1 vocabulary based question was also asked. 2-4 would be a good number of attempts.
Passage 3- Self-expression, personal identity and Internet This passage was easy. 2 questions out of 5 were passage type and figure of speech based. The other 3 questions could be answered with a good reading and comprehension of the passage. A good number of attempts would be 4-5.
Passage 4- Illegal trade of water This passage was easy in nature. 3 out of 5 questions were vocabulary-based. All of them were relatively easy in nature, and could be attempted. 4-5 is a good number of attempts.

CLAT 2023 Current Affairs Including GK Section Analysis [With inputs from CLATapult]

There were 5 passages and 35 questions thus making the section a bit lengthy. Overall, this section was moderately difficult. Questions were not asked from important topics and developments, as had been expected. For questions from topics not as important, static questions were relatively easier to attempt, and could fetch some marks. Though the passages in the GK section ranged from current affairs topics like FIFA World Cup to supercomputers and AI, the students were troubled with a myriad of Static GK questions. This unprecedented focus on Static GK makes this section harder than what most students might have expected. GK holds its ground as the differentiating factor, and students who had read newspapers throughout the year were sure to find themselves in an advantageous position Current affairs questions were difficult and were asked from diverse and pretty unusual areas. Out of the 5 topics, only the Presidential Elections was an expected topic. Around 19-24 would be a good number of attempts.

Passage 1- Draupadi Murmu, New President of India This was an expected topic, as it was an important development. This was an easy passage, with questions asked from both, static and current GK. 6-7 would be a good number of attempts.
Passage 2- AI, Google and LaMDA This was an unexpected topic, and something which was not a relevant topic of current affairs. This passage was a difficult one. While some of the questions could be attempted through common sense and GK, most were difficult. Out of 7, 2-4 would be a good number of attempts.
Passage 3- FIFA and Germany Again, an unexpected topic, this passage was relatively easier to attempt. Most questions were current affairs, with one or two static questions. However, they could be answered upon applying common GK knowledge. 3-5 questions would be a good number of attempts.
Passage 4- CEO of FTX Not a very relevant topic of current affairs, and hence, was something that students found difficult to answer. However, the static questions under this were relatively easier to answer. Again, 2-5 would be a good number of attempts.
Passage 5- Agricultural Sector and Growth Again, students were not expecting such a technical topic. Questions were a mix of static and current affairs. 2-4 would be a good number of attempts.

CLAT 2023 Analysis of Legal Reasoning Section [With inputs from CLATapult]

There were a total of 8 passages in this section with 40 questions that dealt with important laws and judgements. There was a major deviation from the conventional topics as passages were related to recent developments and current affairs like Surrogacy Regulation Act, 2021, Criminal Procedure Act,2022, electoral bond issuance issue etc. We also saw diversification in the areas questions can range from eg: inclusion of passages based on consumer laws and IT laws.

Majority of the questions were application based and could have been easily answered with th0rough reading of the passage. However, not many questions were asked from static law and that could have been a bit unexpected for the candidates. While the difficulty level of the section can be termed ‘easy to moderate’, the passages were a bit lengthy. With only a few tricky questions, this was indeed the easiest section of the paper. An overall attempt of 33-34 can be good for this section.

Passage 1- “If Wife Is Asked To Do Household Work, Does Not Mean She Is Treated Like Maid: Bombay HC” This passage had slightly difficult questions and was recently in news as well. It required conceptual clarity on part of the candidates about laws from the IPC for them to be able to answer accurately.
Passage 2- Rules for identifying criminals The passage was lengthy and dealt with questions from CrPC. the questions asked here were moderate in nature.
Passage 3- “Electoral Bonds Scheme Amended To Allow Sale for Additional 15 Days in Assembly Election Years” The questions related to this passage were easy. Candidates who wrote mocks and acquired a decent reading speed must have felt the paper to be a bit easier.
Passage 4- “ Government Must Provide Reasons for Blocking User Accounts” This passage was easy and the questions asked were pretty straightforward as well.
Passage 5: “FAQs”, National Legal Services Authority This passage was again easy. While candidates may have found the length of the passages lengthy, the questions in the section must have provided some relief.

CLAT 2023 Analysis of Logical Reasoning Section

This section had 5 passages with a total of 30 questions. This year’s paper tested candidates’ ability to read and comprehend as quickly as possible while managing time and making critical analyses. The questions in this section were primarily straightforward while it was the length of the passages, contextual understanding and critical analyses that the candidates struggled with a bit. This section can be termed to be ‘easy to moderate’ in terms of difficulty, with 22 being a good number of attempts for the section.

Passage 1- “Stiff test: Editorial on depreciation of rupee & challenges before RBI” The passage was based on depreciation of currency and required students to employ basic contextual understanding and inference techniques. While the passage itself was a bit long, the questions asked were easy.
Passage 2- “Good news: Editorial on print media remaining the most trusted source of information” The passage was related to consumption of mass media as source of information. The passage was easy to understand and the questions asked were pretty straightforward.
Passage 3- “New energy conundrum” This passage was related to energy consumption and the cycle of needing more energy to save more energy. This passage required inference techniques to be used. The questions were mostly easy.
Passage 4- “How Stereotypes Affect Middle-Aged Women’s Careers” The passage dealt with stereotypes faced by middle aged women in their careers. The questions required the candidates to have contextual understanding of the passage. Majority of the questions asked from this passage were easy.
Passage 5- “Humankind: A Hopeful History” This passage is related to news and the way it has changed over the years. The passage and the questions were both moderately difficult in nature.

CLAT 2023 Analysis of the Quantitative Techniques Section

This section had 3 sets which required basic understanding of averages, percentages and ratio. Overall, the difficulty level of the section was moderate which was unexpected when compared to CLAT 2022 and CLAT 2021, which had relatively easier questions. An attempt of 6-8 questions can be considered as a good attempt for this section.

Oxfam Passage: Set of questions based on difference between earning of men and women in urban areas The first set was related to percentages. It contained questions related to percentages, simple interest, and ratios. Overall, the question was lengthy and had a lot of numerical values and facts, which students can find confusing. The questions weren’t of the type that was expected, like graph-based.
World Fruit Production The second set was again, percentage-based. While a few questions were easy to attempt, maximum were confusing. 1 question was on profit loss, involving discounts and marked prices. Again, graph-based questions weren’t asked.
Data in the form of weight of players The third set was based on averages. All questions were asked from the same. Again, while a few could be attempted, some were difficult in nature. The type of question asked wasn’t related to the pattern of the Quantitative Techniques section.

CLAT 2023 Expected Cut-off Score- 95-100

The highest mark secured in CLAT 2023 UG is 116.75

*We’ll be updating the score as we get more information from different students.

Important Links

Find the provisional answer key here
File objections against the questions or provisional answers before 9 A.M. on 20 December, 2022 here
Find the Final Answer Key here.
Find live updates about CLAT 2023 here.

Subscribe for updates

Join 10,000+ subscribers.

Ruchika Mohapatra

Contributing author

Have a doubt about this?Ask Doubts

CLAT 2023 Paper Analysis: Answer Key, Expected Cut-off and Difficulty level

Ruchika Mohapatra

19 December 20224 min read

Our CLAT 2023 Exam Analysis will include:

Subject wise division of questions
Difficulty level of the questions
CLAT 2023 Question Paper
CLAT 2023 Answer Key
CLAT 2023 Expected Cut off

Section	Total Questions	Difficulty Level
ENLGISH	30	Easy to Moderate

Section Wise Analysis of CLAT UG 2023

CLAT 2023 English Section Analysis

Passage 1- ‘Datedness’ and time distances in small towns This passage was easy. 4 out of 5 questions were entirely passage-based, requiring very little drawing of inferences. 1 question was vocabulary based- however, the word was one which is a common vocabulary term. 4-5 questions would be a good number of attempts.
Passage 2- Keeladi Site’s discovery and shifting theories This passage was moderate in nature. While questions are passage-based, they require deeper comprehension, and more drawing of inferences, and cannot be solved by skimming the passage. 1 vocabulary based question was also asked. 2-4 would be a good number of attempts.
Passage 3- Self-expression, personal identity and Internet This passage was easy. 2 questions out of 5 were passage type and figure of speech based. The other 3 questions could be answered with a good reading and comprehension of the passage. A good number of attempts would be 4-5.
Passage 4- Illegal trade of water This passage was easy in nature. 3 out of 5 questions were vocabulary-based. All of them were relatively easy in nature, and could be attempted. 4-5 is a good number of attempts.

CLAT 2023 Current Affairs Including GK Section Analysis [With inputs from CLATapult]

Passage 1- Draupadi Murmu, New President of India This was an expected topic, as it was an important development. This was an easy passage, with questions asked from both, static and current GK. 6-7 would be a good number of attempts.
Passage 2- AI, Google and LaMDA This was an unexpected topic, and something which was not a relevant topic of current affairs. This passage was a difficult one. While some of the questions could be attempted through common sense and GK, most were difficult. Out of 7, 2-4 would be a good number of attempts.
Passage 3- FIFA and Germany Again, an unexpected topic, this passage was relatively easier to attempt. Most questions were current affairs, with one or two static questions. However, they could be answered upon applying common GK knowledge. 3-5 questions would be a good number of attempts.
Passage 4- CEO of FTX Not a very relevant topic of current affairs, and hence, was something that students found difficult to answer. However, the static questions under this were relatively easier to answer. Again, 2-5 would be a good number of attempts.
Passage 5- Agricultural Sector and Growth Again, students were not expecting such a technical topic. Questions were a mix of static and current affairs. 2-4 would be a good number of attempts.

CLAT 2023 Analysis of Legal Reasoning Section [With inputs from CLATapult]

Passage 1- “If Wife Is Asked To Do Household Work, Does Not Mean She Is Treated Like Maid: Bombay HC” This passage had slightly difficult questions and was recently in news as well. It required conceptual clarity on part of the candidates about laws from the IPC for them to be able to answer accurately.
Passage 2- Rules for identifying criminals The passage was lengthy and dealt with questions from CrPC. the questions asked here were moderate in nature.
Passage 3- “Electoral Bonds Scheme Amended To Allow Sale for Additional 15 Days in Assembly Election Years” The questions related to this passage were easy. Candidates who wrote mocks and acquired a decent reading speed must have felt the paper to be a bit easier.
Passage 4- “ Government Must Provide Reasons for Blocking User Accounts” This passage was easy and the questions asked were pretty straightforward as well.
Passage 5: “FAQs”, National Legal Services Authority This passage was again easy. While candidates may have found the length of the passages lengthy, the questions in the section must have provided some relief.

CLAT 2023 Analysis of Logical Reasoning Section

Passage 1- “Stiff test: Editorial on depreciation of rupee & challenges before RBI” The passage was based on depreciation of currency and required students to employ basic contextual understanding and inference techniques. While the passage itself was a bit long, the questions asked were easy.
Passage 2- “Good news: Editorial on print media remaining the most trusted source of information” The passage was related to consumption of mass media as source of information. The passage was easy to understand and the questions asked were pretty straightforward.
Passage 3- “New energy conundrum” This passage was related to energy consumption and the cycle of needing more energy to save more energy. This passage required inference techniques to be used. The questions were mostly easy.
Passage 4- “How Stereotypes Affect Middle-Aged Women’s Careers” The passage dealt with stereotypes faced by middle aged women in their careers. The questions required the candidates to have contextual understanding of the passage. Majority of the questions asked from this passage were easy.
Passage 5- “Humankind: A Hopeful History” This passage is related to news and the way it has changed over the years. The passage and the questions were both moderately difficult in nature.

CLAT 2023 Analysis of the Quantitative Techniques Section

Oxfam Passage: Set of questions based on difference between earning of men and women in urban areas The first set was related to percentages. It contained questions related to percentages, simple interest, and ratios. Overall, the question was lengthy and had a lot of numerical values and facts, which students can find confusing. The questions weren’t of the type that was expected, like graph-based.
World Fruit Production The second set was again, percentage-based. While a few questions were easy to attempt, maximum were confusing. 1 question was on profit loss, involving discounts and marked prices. Again, graph-based questions weren’t asked.
Data in the form of weight of players The third set was based on averages. All questions were asked from the same. Again, while a few could be attempted, some were difficult in nature. The type of question asked wasn’t related to the pattern of the Quantitative Techniques section.

CLAT 2023 Expected Cut-off Score- 95-100

The highest mark secured in CLAT 2023 UG is 116.75

*We’ll be updating the score as we get more information from different students.

Important Links

Find the provisional answer key here
File objections against the questions or provisional answers before 9 A.M. on 20 December, 2022 here
Find the Final Answer Key here.
Find live updates about CLAT 2023 here.

Subscribe for updates

Join 10,000+ subscribers.

Ruchika Mohapatra

Contributing author

Have a doubt about this?Ask Doubts