Summary: Choosing the right section order in CLAT can drastically affect your final score. Based on insights from top 100 rankers and expert mentors, this guide explores the best CLAT 2026 section attempt order depending on your strengths, section difficulty, and time management needs. Whether you're aiming for AIR 1 or just cracking the top 500, a smarter sequence helps you avoid burnout, silly errors, and poor pacing.
CLAT is not just about what you solve, but how and when you solve it.
With 150 questions in 120 minutes, mental energy becomes a key resource. The order in which you attempt sections affects:
Speed and stamina
Confidence early in the paper
Time left for trickier sections
Accuracy under fatigue
Top rankers consistently agree: your strategy should maximize early momentum and avoid time sinks.
The CLAT paper typically follows this section order:
1. English Language
2. Current Affairs including GK
3. Legal Reasoning
4. Logical Reasoning
5. Quantitative Techniques (Maths)
But you can answer questions in any order. So what’s optimal?
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Strategy 1: Start With Your Strongest Section
Best for: Those who want to build confidence early.
Example order: Logical → English → Legal → GK → Quant
Why it works: You gain momentum, accuracy is high at the start, and it reduces early pressure.
Strategy 2: Legal Reasoning First
Best for: Students who are accurate but slow in Legal.
Example order: Legal → Logical → GK → English → Quant
Why it works: Legal is lengthy. Solving it when fresh saves time and improves comprehension.
Strategy 3: GK First to Free Mental Space
Best for: GK-ready students who don’t want to lose recall power.
Example order: GK → Legal → Logical → English → Quant
Why it works: GK is memory-based and stressful. Finishing it early improves focus on skill-based sections.
Strategy 4: Keep Maths for the End
Best for: Majority of aspirants.
Example order: Any mix → Quant (Last)
Why it works: Maths is a speed breaker. Solving it last ensures it doesn’t drain energy from core sections.
Read More: CLAT 2026 GK Marathon: 3-Month Plan to Master Static & Current Affairs
1. Following a rigid order from mocks – Stay flexible.
2. Starting with the weakest section – Leads to time loss and confidence drop.
3. Never experimenting during mocks – You won’t discover what works best.
4. Saving GK for last – You’ll be tired and forget facts.
Use your mocks as labs to test 3-4 different section orders. Track:
Which order gives you the highest accuracy?
Where do you run out of time?
How fresh do you feel while attempting Legal or Logical?
Track these patterns in a mock audit sheet and refine your strategy every 2 weeks.
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Rather than fixed section orders, some toppers use strict time caps per section:
Section Time Cap (in minutes)
GK 10
English 20
Legal 30
Logical 30
Quant 15–20
This gives you more control in case one section is tougher or easier than usual.
If a section feels unusually difficult:
Don’t panic – it’s tough for everyone.
Skip stuck passages/questions – come back later.
Flag them for review but move on quickly.
Wasting time on one passage can ruin your overall attempt. Your order should be adaptable.
Even if you've decided on a general section order, your mock test performance should guide fine-tuning. Here's how:
1. Check where accuracy dips: If your Legal scores are high only when attempted first, don't push it to the end.
2. Track question fatigue: If you start missing simple questions after the 100th question, that’s cognitive fatigue kicking in. Ensure your easiest/strongest section comes before this dip.
3. Monitor question types: Some mocks may have long Legal passages, others have dense Logical puzzles. Based on this, flip between Legal/Logical.
4. Use color codes in audit sheets: Mark sections red/yellow/green based on your comfort level and adapt your order accordingly.
This hybrid approach, combining a default plan with real-time adjustment,makes your CLAT attempt resilient under pressure.
Read More : CLAT 2026 Doubt Clearing: Build Strong Conceptual Clarity for Every Section
Your section order impacts the final score more than you think.
Test different orders in mocks and track performance.
Always begin with strength or high-focus sections.
Avoid mental fatigue by saving time-sinks for later.
Be flexible: no order is universal. Adapt based on the paper.
At NLTI, we don’t just give mocks, we break down each mock to reveal YOUR ideal paper strategy:
Mock audit sheets designed by NLUs
Mentorship from AIR 1–100 rankers to refine section orders
Personalized test reviews every week
Strategy-based mocks to simulate Legal-heavy or GK-heavy papers
CLAT 2026 is a game of decisions under time pressure. With the right order, every decision becomes easier.
NLTI helps you make those decisions right, again and again.
