New Delhi: India’s large coaching industry, once dominated by the NEET, JEE, and UPSC exams, is now expanding to new areas: law entrance exams.
“The demand for specialised coaching is rising due to a larger number of students from various cities participating in competitive exams like CLAT and AILET,” said Keshav Aggarwal, president of the Indian Coaching Federation.
Around 57,000 candidates applied for CLAT in 2019. By 2025, the number had reached 96,000. It’s a 68 per cent rise in six years, according to the Consortium of National Law Universities. And the coaching market is clearly benefiting from the trend.
These coaching institutes have gone from niche metro segments to a nationwide presence with hundreds of centres and online platforms. They use a mix of offline and online classes, close student mentoring, and AI-based performance tracking.
“The low placement rates in NEET have pushed parents and students to pursue a different career path. Law seems like a good choice, given the opportunities, seeing a sharp rise with the advent of corporate law and diversification in the available fields,” said Aggarwal.
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A good alternative to NEET pressure
Law is emerging as a strong career option for students.
“Salaries are attractive, new courses have been introduced, and seats in law colleges have increased. Some students are also looking beyond the intense pressure associated with medical entrance preparation,” Aggarwal added.
CLAT coaching fees typically range from Rs 25,000 for shorter online or crash courses to over Rs 1.5 lakh for long-term classroom programmes. Now, many universities also offer five-year courses.
“A law degree also provides diverse opportunities beyond courtroom litigation, including corporate firms, policy, compliance, consulting, and interpretation-based roles,” Aggarwal said.
India now has over 300 offline centres offering dedicated CLAT or law entrances, including national chains and regional players.
As for the online-only platforms and small local institutes that run CLAT batches seasonally, the broader ecosystem has over 500 providers. This includes big brands such as Law Prep Tutorial, LegalEdge by Toprankers, Career Launcher, IMS, and CLAT Possible.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)