Having talked about the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) exam pattern, eligibility, application pattern, syllabus etc. in the previous article, this article would discuss the preparation strategy which would help you to clear the All India Bar Examination in your maiden attempt.
Despite being an open book exam, many newly enrolled advocates with the respective state bar councils find it difficult to clear the AIBE exam in their first attempt. The assumption of most of the newly enrolled advocates when it comes to AIBE being an open book exam and bare acts can be referred for answering the questions is one of the biggest mistakes that most candidates make. It is to be borne in mind that it is important to understand that AIBE is an assessment of legal knowledge, conceptual clarity, decision making and aptitude required to practice law.
Bar Council of India (BCI) which is the body responsible to conduct the AIBE exam with the view to increase the quality of advocacy, has recently made some changes hereby, candidates are now no longer allowed to carry reference books, marked bare acts or any other material. Candidates from now onwards would be allowed only to carry unmarked bare acts with no commentaries. With this major change in AIBE exam pattern (that the exam is no longer an open-book test), it has become even more difficult for candidates to clear this national level law exam. For this reason, a good and well thought-out AIBE 2021 preparation strategy is a must for candidates and therefore, one must prepare for the upcoming AIBE exam in a holistic manner for which candidate must be well versed with the syllabus and examination pattern of the exam.
LONG TERM STRATEGY
By now you must have checked the above link and must have acquired information about the required study material and books, it is now time to talk about proper preparation strategy for the upcoming AIBE XVII. The preparation plan should include all aspects of preparation including study of books, making of notes, revision and attempting previous year question papers.
PREVIOUS YEAR AIBE QUESTION PAPERS
Attempting previous years’ AIBE question papers is one of the most important aspects of clearing the Bar exam. Attempting AIBE past year papers not only help in understanding the difficulty level of questions asked in the exam but also help in knowing the important topics for the exam. Additionally, the candidates will also be able to estimate the level of difficulty of the questions they can expect in the exam.
MAKE A STUDY TIME TABLE
The first requirement is to make a study plan after keeping the vastness of the AIBE syllabus, examination pattern and exam date into consideration. The study routine should include all aspects of preparation such as notes making, revision etc. AIBE would require the candidate to demonstrate the conceptual clarity of the topics. And, developing legal concepts will take time. So, candidates should make a study schedule before starting the preparation for AIBE.
RELY ON STANDARD BOOKS AND STUDY MATERIAL
Candidates are advised to refer only to standard goods and bare acts. As now candidates are allowed only to carry out bare acts, candidates should have good conceptual clarity of the concepts pertaining to different subjects asked in the examination. It is always advisable that candidates should refer only to standard books and authentic sources while studying for the examination.
FOCUS ON SUBJECTS WITH MAXIMUM WEIGHTAGE
As a minimum of 40% is to be secured to clear the AIBE exam, it becomes extremely important for the candidate to put their maximum efforts on subjects such as Code of Civil Procedure , Code of Criminal Procedure etc. which have the maximum marks weightage. For the sake of convenience, the detailed weightage in terms of marks and questions being asked from different subjects prescribed in the syllabus is given below in a tabular form –
| Subject | Weightage |
| Constitution | 10 |
| Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 | 10 |
| Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 | 10 |
| Indian Penal Code, 1860 | 08 |
| Indian Evidence Act, 1872 | 08 |
| Alternative Dispute Redressal (Including Arbitration Act) | 04 |
| Family Law | 04 |
| Public Interest Litigation | 04 |
| Administrative Law | 03 |
| Professional Ethics and cases of misconduct under Bar Council rules | 04 |
| Company Law | 02 |
| Cyber Law | 02 |
| Environmental Law | 02 |
| Labor & Industrial Laws | 04 |
| Law of Tort, including Motor Vehicle Act and Consumer Protection Law | 05 |
| Law related to Taxation | 04 |
| Law of Contract, Specific Relief, Property Laws, Negotiable Instrument Act | 08 |
| Land Acquisition Act 2019 | 02 |
| Intellectual Property Law | 02 |
REVISION IS THE KEY
With a syllabus as vast and diverse as this, candidates will have to allot time for revision in the AIBE preparation strategy. Candidates must make the habit of making notes as they read and revisit the topic until they have complete mastery over the same and feel confident. Revision is a must for AIBE preparation given the recent changes introduced by the BCI.
GIVING MOCK TESTS
As the exam approaches candidates must also ensure that they take up mock tests to have a qualitative estimate of their preparation. Mock tests will allow candidates to work on their time-management skills by insinuating exam-day like conditions. Candidates will have a better knowledge of how to distribute their time efficiently among the various sections in the exam if they practice solving mock tests as a part of AIBE XVII preparation. Therefore, one should attempt as many mock tests as possible to clear the exam in the maiden attempt.
WORD OF CAUTION- Candidates are advised to make sure that they have or have sufficient means to arrange for bare acts as per the directions of the BCI as it might be a troublesome time consuming task to arrange for bare acts if you don’t have these especially just before the examination.
You can also visit our website from time to time to get all the necessary information about the upcoming AIBE examination. Team YLCC wishes you all the best for the upcoming AIBE XVII examination.
YLCC would like to thank Manan Agrawal for his valuable inputs in this article.
