Expand AIBE eligibility criteria to include all final-year students, NLUSA urges BCI

Students of national law universities have urged the Bar Council of India (BCI) to expand the eligibility criteria of All India Bar Examination (AIBE) 2025 or extend the registration deadline to include all final-year students. The National Law Universities Students’ Association (NLUSA) flagged variations in academic calendar rendering several aspirants ineligible for the exam.

AIBE 20 registration 2025 ends today, October 28, and the last date to make corrections in the application forms is October 31. AIBE XX exam will be held on November 30. The current AIBE 2025 eligibility criteria restrict registration to final semester students or graduates who have already obtained their provisional or final transcripts, the students’ group noted.

Acknowledging the intent behind the rule, NLU students argued that, in practice, it has created disparities amongst students of the same graduating batch as the law universities follow different academic calendars.

The students’ association highlighted how final year students of different law colleges are ineligible due to different issues. In several universities, ninth semester exams are scheduled in November–December 2025 due to which their students are technically not eligible to apply before the registration deadline.

Trimester system, missing marksheets in law schools

Some law schools follow the trimester system instead of the regular semester system, making the 14th trimester and eighth trimester, for the 5-year programme and the 3-year programme respectively, the penultimate trimester rather than the final one which strips the eligibility of students despite technically being in the final year.

Some colleges have already conducted ninth semester examinations, but transcripts and mark sheets will not be available before the registration deadline, thereby disqualifying otherwise eligible students, students pointed out.

“The aforementioned institutional variations have led to unequal treatment among students of the same academic batch (Batch of 2026), where eligibility is determined by differing university schedules rather than academic merit or standing. This inconsistency is contrary to the principles of equity, natural justice, and fairness,” NLUSA said.

Also read ‘7 minutes per college’: NGO alleges fraud in Tamil Nadu law school inspections; seeks probe against TNDALU

Arguing that the current AIBE eligibility criteria have caused widespread concern and uncertainty among final-year law students nationwide, the NLU students urged BCI to reconsider and expand the eligibility criteria to include all students who have entered their final year (including IX semester, XIV trimester and VIII trimester for the 5-year programme and the 3-year programme respectively).

The student group also demanded extension of the registration deadline or relaxation of transcript submission requirements for candidates whose results are pending due to their university’s academic schedule.

NLUSA further sought a clarificatory notification from BCI ensuring uniform opportunity and equal treatment for all final-year students across law universities, schools, colleges in India.

“We remain hopeful that the Bar Council of India, as the apex body governing legal education and the legal profession, will take cognizance of this issue and take appropriate steps to ensure fairness, parity, equal treatment and inclusivity for all aspiring advocates, particularly the graduating batch of 2026,” NLUSA said.