CLAT Negative Marking: How Many Questions to Attempt

There is no single right number, but the arithmetic is simple: with +1 for correct and minus 0.25 for wrong, a guess has positive expected value whenever your chance of being right is above 20 percent. So attempt every question you can reduce to two or three plausible options, and leave blank only those where you truly have no basis to choose. Most well-prepared candidates end up attempting a large majority of the paper, not all of it.

The scoring rule

CLAT UG 2027 has 120 questions for 120 marks, +1 for each correct answer and minus 0.25 for each wrong answer, per the exam pattern. Unanswered questions score zero.

The break-even point

If the probability that you are right is p, your expected score on that question is p minus 0.25 times (1 minus p), which simplifies to 1.25p minus 0.25. That is zero when p is 0.2, or 20 percent. Some worked values:

• Pure guess among 4 options: p is 0.25, expected gain 0.0625 marks. Tiny, with large variance.
• Eliminated one option, 3 left: p is about 0.33, expected gain about 0.17.
• Eliminated two options, 2 left: p is 0.5, expected gain 0.375.

So a blind guess is nearly worthless, but an educated guess is clearly worth taking. The practical rule: never leave a question blank if you can honestly rule out at least one option.

What attempts look like in score terms

These are illustrative figures we computed, not real results or cut-offs.

• Attempt 110 questions, 88 correct, 22 wrong: 88 minus 5.5 equals 82.5.
• Attempt 100 questions, 85 correct, 15 wrong: 85 minus 3.75 equals 81.25.
• Attempt 120 questions, 90 correct, 30 wrong: 90 minus 7.5 equals 82.5.
• Attempt 120 questions, 84 correct, 36 wrong: 84 minus 9 equals 75.

Compare the first and third lines: attempting 10 more questions and getting 2 more right while 8 more wrong leaves the score unchanged, because 2 minus 2 equals 0. In general, each extra attempt at 80 percent accuracy adds 0.8 minus 0.05, which is 0.75 marks; at 50 percent accuracy it adds 0.375.

Where accuracy collapses

Accuracy is not even across sections. Candidates are typically most reliable in the parts they have drilled and least reliable in rushed passages. The question to ask during your mocks is: in which section do my last 5 attempts have an accuracy below 50 percent? That is where to attempt fewer or slow down. Our guide on analysing a mock test shows how to measure this with an error log.

A decision rule you can use in the hall

1. Read the question and options once. If you are sure, answer and move on.
2. If you can eliminate at least one option, pick the best of the rest and mark the question for review if time remains.
3. If you cannot eliminate anything after about a minute and a half, skip it. Return only if time is left.
4. In the last five minutes, you may take a pure guess on the blank ones: it is a very small positive expectation, and it will not matter much either way. Do it only after your review is done.

Do not confuse attempts with ambition

Targeting 120 attempts forces you to guess blindly on some questions. Targeting around 100 to 110 on mocks, with accuracy of 80 percent or more on those, is a realistic aim for many strong candidates. But those are just reference points, not official benchmarks. Cut-offs change every year and depend on the NLU and category, so check past admission data on the Consortium’s website instead of relying on a coaching number.

Passage-based papers punish skipping in a different way

Because each passage carries four to six questions, skipping an entire passage can mean forfeiting several marks. Before skipping a passage, give it a 30-second skim of the questions: often one or two are answerable from a quick look at the relevant lines.

Practise it

The only way to find your own attempt rate is to run timed mocks and record attempts, correct answers, wrong answers and marks per section. Any set of papers will do; Lexfolio’s four-paper mock pack (Rs 149) lists an answer key and section-wise analysis table for each mock, which helps with this record. Then use the time management plan to pace those attempts.

Why a streak of wrong answers is not a reason to stop

Early in a paper you might get three wrong in a row and feel the urge to stop attempting. Resist it. Accuracy over a whole section is what counts. If your elimination technique is good, the expected value of your later answers is unchanged by the earlier misses. What is useful is to pause for ten seconds and check whether you are misreading the stems.

Different candidates, different targets

• High accuracy and slow: attempt fewer questions but protect accuracy. Practise speeding up in the easiest section first.
• Fast and careless: your problem is wrong answers, not unattempted ones. Add a five-second check of the stem before you mark.
• Anxious and over-cautious: you probably leave questions blank that you could have answered after eliminating two options. Practise elimination out loud.

A short practice routine

For one week, mark every answer in your mocks with a confidence tag: sure, probable, or guess. Afterwards compute accuracy within each tag. Sure answers should be right over 90 percent of the time; if probable answers are right more than 50 percent of the time, keep making them. If guesses are right about one time in four or worse, leave those blank.