AIBE XXII 2026: Exam Date, Syllabus, Pattern and Passing Marks

AIBE XXII (All India Bar Examination 22) will be held on 29 November 2026, with online registration open from 19 August to 27 October 2026, according to the Bar Council of India press release dated 18 July 2026. The exam is an offline, open-book, multiple-choice paper of 100 questions across 19 subjects, with the pass mark fixed in recent cycles at 45 percent for General and OBC candidates and 40 percent for SC, ST and specially abled candidates. This guide pulls every date, rule and figure from the official AIBE and BCI notifications so that you can plan the next six weeks with confidence.

AIBE XXII 2026: official exam schedule

The Bar Council of India announced the AIBE XXII schedule in the same press release that declared the AIBE XXI result. The dates below are described by the BCI as tentative, which in practice means they can be extended but are rarely advanced. Treat 27 October as your real deadline for registration.

Registration is online only, through allindiabarexamination.com. The registration fee is shown on the portal at the payment step; the schedule notification does not state the amount, so confirm the figure on the portal rather than on third-party websites.

The BCI now holds two exams a year: AIBE XX was held on 30 November 2025 and AIBE XXI on 7 June 2026, so AIBE XXII follows the winter slot with about one month between the registration deadline and the paper.

Who can appear for AIBE XXII

Eligibility was widened after the Constitution Bench ruling in Bar Council of India v. Bonnie Foi Law College (SLP (C) No. 22337 of 2008, decided 10 February 2023), which upheld the BCI’s power to conduct the exam. The AIBE registration notification lists these categories, all of whom must have studied at a BCI-recognised university or a BCI-approved college.

Students from institutions not recognised or approved by the BCI are expressly ineligible, and the burden of confirming recognition is on the candidate. Those who qualify under the undertaking route must later upload an enrolment certificate; the portal notice of 7 July 2026 sets 6 January 2027 as the current last date, under BCI letter No. BCI:D:4035/2026.

AIBE XXII exam pattern

The BCI describes AIBE as a multiple-choice, offline, open-book examination of three and a half hours, conducted in national and regional languages across centres in dozens of cities. AIBE XXI, for example, was held at 292 centres in 60 cities, with 1,75,701 candidates appearing.

In recent cycles the paper has been an afternoon session. The AIBE XXI guidelines required candidates to report by 11:30 AM and barred entry after 1:15 PM. The exact reporting and start time for AIBE XXII will be printed on the admit card, so follow the admit card rather than past patterns.

AIBE XXII syllabus: 19 subjects and question weightage

The Bar Council of India Trust issued the AIBE XXII syllabus on 13 October 2026. It keeps the familiar 19-subject structure and pairs each of the three old criminal codes with its 2023 replacement. Questions may therefore come from either the Indian Penal Code or the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Criminal Procedure Code or the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Evidence Act or the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam.

Five subjects account for 46 of the 100 questions: Constitutional Law, CrPC and BNSS, CPC, IPC and BNS, and Evidence and BSA. Add Family Law and the Contract cluster and seven subjects carry 62 marks against a pass mark of 45. Carry the new Sanhitas as well as the old codes, because a question may be framed under either and the section numbers differ; our IPC to BNS section converter is built for exactly this mapping.

Open-book rules: what you can and cannot carry

The open-book label causes more failures than it prevents, because candidates assume they can look everything up. The Examination Guidelines for AIBE XXI, the latest rules on the official portal, are precise about what is permitted, and the AIBE XXII guidelines are expected to follow the same template shortly before the exam.

Permitted inside the hall

Only Bare Acts without notes and comments. A Bare Act carrying short notes, case comments or a commentary section counts as prohibited material. The guidelines do not limit the number of Bare Acts, so carry the statutes that match the weightage table above.

Prohibited inside the hall

Mobile phones, digital or smart watches, bags, handbags, calculators, electronic gadgets, papers, books and notes of any kind. A candidate found with such material, or using unfair means, is liable to be summarily disqualified and ordinarily debarred from taking the exam.

Other exam-day rules from the official guidelines

Carry the admit card and one government-issued photo ID, since entry is refused without the admit card and barred after the cut-off time. Fill the question booklet set code and roll number correctly on the OMR sheet, because errors lead to direct rejection of the sheet. Nobody may leave the hall before the exam ends. Candidates with more than 40 percent disability get 20 minutes of extra time per hour on production of a certified disability certificate, and the guidelines set out scribe rules with the required medical proforma.

AIBE passing marks and how moderation works

The official schedule notification for AIBE XXI states that the passing percentage is fixed at 45 percent for General and OBC candidates and 40 percent for SC, ST and specially abled candidates. The same figures have applied in AIBE XX and are expected for AIBE XXII unless the BCI notifies otherwise. There is no sectional cut-off, no ranking and no merit list; the exam is purely qualifying.

What candidates often miss is moderation. The result is calculated out of 100 marks, but a Monitoring Committee headed by a former Supreme Court judge reviews the paper and the result summary before declaration. In AIBE XXI it reduced the qualifying marks by three for all categories, bringing the effective cut-off to 42 for General and OBC and 37 for SC, ST and PwD candidates. In AIBE XX, five questions were withdrawn and the result was computed out of 95 marks, making the qualifying marks 43 and 38. Aim for 55 or more in your mocks so that you never depend on moderation.

After the provisional answer key, candidates may raise objections through the online objection tracker for a limited window; the result is based on the final key. After the result, the portal opens an online OMR rechecking window, which for AIBE XXI carried a fee of Rs 500 per application.

Exam angle: how to use the next six weeks

Treat the open-book format as a time problem, not a knowledge problem. With 100 questions in 210 minutes you have about two minutes per question, enough to verify a section you already know but not to read a chapter you have never opened. Spend the first three weeks on the seven heavy subjects, marking the sections that are repeatedly tested: Articles 12 to 35, 226, 227 and 368 of the Constitution; Sections 9 to 11 and 96 to 115 of the CPC with Orders I, II, V to IX, XXI, XXXIX and XLI; arrest, bail, FIR, charge and trial under the BNSS alongside the CrPC; general exceptions, abetment and offences against the body and property under the BNS; and admissions, confessions, dying declarations, burden of proof and electronic records under the BSA. In the last three weeks take full-length timed mocks with your actual Bare Acts and tab the pages you had to hunt for. On exam day answer the direct statutory questions first and return to the rest with the Bare Act.

Preparation checklist for AIBE XXII

• Register on the official portal before 27 October 2026, pay by 28 October and use the correction window till 30 October.
• Confirm that your college is BCI-recognised and keep self-attested scanned marksheets ready for the undertaking route.
• Buy clean Bare Acts, without short notes, for the Constitution, CPC, CrPC and BNSS, IPC and BNS, Evidence Act and BSA, Contract, Specific Relief, Transfer of Property, Negotiable Instruments, Hindu Marriage Act and the BCI Rules.
• Tab the high-frequency sections and practise locating any section within thirty seconds.
• Solve the AIBE XXI question paper sets published with the official answer key.
• Sit for at least five full-length timed mocks under exam conditions.
• Download the admit card from 14 November and visit the centre a day earlier.
• Pack the admit card, a photo ID, two blue or black ball point pens and your Bare Acts the night before; leave the phone and smart watch behind.

FAQs

Is AIBE XXII an open-book exam?

Yes, but the official guidelines permit only Bare Acts without notes and comments. Books, printed notes, commentaries, handwritten material and electronic devices are prohibited inside the hall.

What are the passing marks for AIBE XXII?

The BCI fixed the passing percentage at 45 percent for General and OBC candidates and 40 percent for SC, ST and specially abled candidates in the AIBE XX and XXI notifications, and the same is expected for AIBE XXII, subject to moderation by the Monitoring Committee.

Can final-year law students appear for AIBE XXII?

Yes. Final-semester students of a 3-year or 5-year LL.B. course at a BCI-recognised institution with no backlogs can register by submitting an undertaking and scanned marksheets of all previous semesters. Graduates awaiting their degree or not yet enrolled are also eligible.

Is there negative marking in AIBE?

No negative marking is indicated in the official notifications or answer key notices, and the result is calculated on the basis of 100 marks. Attempt every question.

Will AIBE XXII have questions from the BNS, BNSS and BSA?

Yes. The official AIBE XXII syllabus dated 13 October 2026 lists the Indian Penal Code and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita together for 8 questions, the CrPC and the BNSS together for 10 questions, and the Evidence Act and the BSA together for 8 questions. Carry both the old and the new Bare Acts.

Practise with Lexfolio

Once you have registered, the most useful thing you can do is sit a timed paper under open-book conditions. Lexfolio’s AIBE XXII mock tests follow the 19-subject weightage above, with questions framed under both the old codes and the new Sanhitas and explanations that cite the section so you can tab your Bare Act as you go. If you are also preparing for a post-graduate entrance, the free CLAT PG 2027 online mock and our 30 important Supreme Court judgments of 2026 cover the same core subjects, and the legal current affairs for October 2026 keeps you current on the new criminal laws. Browse all exam packs for judiciary and UGC NET Law as well.

Sources

• Bar Council of India, Press Release dated 18.07.2026 (AIBE XXI result and tentative schedule for AIBE XXII)
• Bar Council of India Trust, Syllabus for All India Bar Exam-XXII, dated 13.10.2026
• Examination Guidelines for AIBE XXI (open-book and exam-day rules)
• BCIT:D:0014/2026, Schedule for All India Bar Examination-XXI, dated 10.02.2026 (passing percentage)
• AIBE notification on registration of final-year students and graduates without enrolment (undertaking)
• AIBE official portal notices (enrolment certificate submission, OMR rechecking)
• Bar Council of India, All India Bar Examinations (AIBE) information page
• Bar and Bench, 69.21 percent candidates pass AIBE XX; AIBE XXI to be held on June 7
• Supreme Court Observer, Bar Council of India v. Bonnie Foi Law College