AIBE XXII (22) Exam 2026 – Registration | Syllabus | Exam Pattern | Passing Marks
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AIBE XXII is on 29 November 2026, with registration open from 19 August and closing 27 October 2026. Full schedule, eligibility, fees, exam-day rules, pattern, subject weightage and passing marks.
- By Taxmann
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- Last Updated on 28 September, 2026
Latest from Taxmann
Updated 23 September 2026
The All India Bar Examination (AIBE) is the qualifying examination conducted by the Bar Council of India that a law graduate must clear to obtain the Certificate of Practice and appear before courts in India. AIBE XXII is scheduled for 29 November 2026, with online registration open from 19 August 2026 and closing on 27 October 2026. It is a three-hour, open-book paper of 100 multiple-choice questions with no negative marking, and the qualifying mark is 45% for General and OBC candidates and 40% for SC, ST and PwD candidates.
This guide covers the schedule, registration, eligibility, fees, exam-day rules, pattern, passing marks, subject weightage and preparation for the AIBE XXII cycle.
Table of Contents
- What is the AIBE, and what does AIBE stand for?
- AIBE XXII (22) 2026 at a Glance
- AIBE XXII (22) 2026 Important Dates
- Registration Process & Documents Required
- Eligibility – Who Can Apply for AIBE XXII?
- AIBE XXII Exam Fees
- Admit Card, Exam Day Instructions & What to Carry
- AIBE Exam Pattern
- AIBE Passing Marks, and How the Cut-off Moves
- AIBE Syllabus and Subject-Wise Weightage
- Books & Resources
- Preparation Strategy
- Previous Year Papers and How to Use Them
- After the Exam – Answer Key, Result, Rechecking & Certificate of Practice
- Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the AIBE, and what does AIBE stand for?
AIBE stands for the All India Bar Examination. It is a national qualifying examination conducted by the Bar Council of India under Rules 9 to 11 of Part VI, Chapter III of the Bar Council of India Rules, framed under section 49(1)(ah) of the Advocates Act, 1961.
Its purpose is narrow and practical: to establish that a law graduate has the minimum professional competence to practise. Clearing it is what entitles an advocate to the Certificate of Practice (CoP), without which an advocate enrolled with a State Bar Council cannot represent clients in court.
The examination is open book. That is the single most misunderstood fact about it, and it is covered in section 7.
2. AIBE XXII (22) 2026 at a Glance
| Examination | All India Bar Examination – XXII (AIBE-XXII) |
| Conducting Authority | Bar Council of India |
| Examination Date | 29 November 2026 |
| Mode | Offline, pen and paper, OMR-based |
| Nature | Open book, Bare Acts without notes permitted |
| Total Questions | 100 multiple-choice questions |
| Total Marks | 100, one mark per correct answer |
| Duration | 3 hours |
| Negative Marking | None |
| Qualifying Marks | 45% for General and OBC, 40% for SC, ST and PwD |
| Purpose | Eligibility for the Certificate of Practice |
One hundred questions in three hours is ninety seconds a question. Because the paper is open book, the binding constraint is not whether you know the law but whether you can find it inside that ninety seconds.
3. AIBE XXII (22) 2026 Important Dates
The Bar Council of India announced the AIBE XXII schedule in its press release dated 18 July 2026, signed by the Chairman, alongside the declaration of the AIBE XXI result. The release states that the Bar Council “has further decided to conduct the next All India Bar Examination i.e. All India Bar Examination – XXII (AIBE-XXII) on 29th November, 2026.”
The full schedule announced in that release is set out below.
| Activity | Date |
| Online registration for AIBE-XXII begins | 19 August 2026 |
| Online registration for AIBE-XXII closes | 27 October 2026 |
| Last date of payment through online mode | 28 October 2026 |
| Last date of correction in the registration form | 30 October 2026 |
| Admit card goes live | 14 November 2026 |
| Date of examination | 29 November 2026 |
| Result declaration | Between 7 and 10 January 2027 |
Two points that catch candidates out. The registration window closes on 27 October but payment runs to 28 October and corrections to 30 October, so the three are not the same deadline. And candidates who sat AIBE XX or AIBE XXI and did not qualify are not required to register afresh; the Bar Council’s notice of 19 August 2026 states that such candidates may log in with their existing User ID and password to fill and submit the AIBE XXII application form.
These dates are administrative and can move by notification. Confirm the current position on the official Bar Council of India portal before acting on them.
4. Registration Process & Documents Required
Registration for AIBE XXII is conducted online through the official AIBE portal, which went live for AIBE XXII on 19 August 2026.
4.1 Step-by-Step Registration Process
- Visit the official AIBE registration portal and create a login using a valid email ID and mobile number. Candidates who failed AIBE XX or AIBE XXI should log in with their existing credentials instead of creating a new account.
- Fill in personal details, academic details, and State Bar Council enrolment information as required.
- Upload scanned copies of the prescribed documents in the specified format.
- Review the application form carefully before final submission.
- Pay the examination fee online and download the confirmation receipt.
4.2 Documents Generally Required
- Recent passport-size photograph
- Scanned signature
- Enrolment certificate issued by the State Bar Council, or the applicable undertaking where permitted
- Category certificate for SC, ST and PwD candidates, where applicable
- Semester mark sheets, for final-year candidates and for graduates who have not yet received their degree
Accuracy matters here. Discrepancies between the application and the enrolment record are a common cause of rejection or delayed admit cards, and the correction window closes on 30 October 2026.
5. Eligibility – Who Can Apply for AIBE XXII?
The core requirement is a 3-year or 5-year LL.B. degree from a university recognised by the Bar Council of India, or from a college approved by the Bar Council and affiliated to a recognised university.
The Bar Council’s notification on eligibility extends the examination to several further categories:
- Final-year, final-semester students of a 3-year or 5-year LL.B. course, provided they carry no backlogs from previous semesters
- Graduates who have completed the course but have not yet been conferred their degree
- Graduates who hold the degree but have not enrolled with any State Bar Council, and those who enrolled and have since surrendered the enrolment certificate
- Law graduates in employment who have not enrolled or have surrendered enrolment because of that employment, with enrolment then limited to six months subject to resignation from the job
A candidate from an institution not recognised or approved by the Bar Council is not eligible, whatever their stage of study. The Bar Council places the burden of checking recognition on the candidate.
Final-year candidates and graduates awaiting degrees must submit self-attested scanned semester mark sheets: Semester I to V for a 3-year course and Semester I to IX for a 5-year course where the final semester is pending, and Semester I to VI and Semester I to X respectively where the course is complete.
Eligibility is interpreted by the Bar Council at the point of registration and has changed between editions. Read the instructions on the official portal before applying rather than relying on any summary, including this one.
6. AIBE XXII Exam Fees
| Category | Examination Fee |
| General and OBC | ₹3,500 |
| SC, ST and PwD | ₹2,500 |
The fee is payable online and the last date for payment is 28 October 2026, one day after registration closes. Bank charges or applicable taxes may be levied in addition. Fees are set by the Bar Council and can change between editions, so confirm the figure on the portal at the time of payment.
7. Admit Card, Exam Day Instructions & What to Carry
The AIBE XXII admit card goes live on 14 November 2026, fifteen days before the examination. Download it from the official portal and carry a printed copy.
The AIBE is an open-book examination. That does not mean unrestricted access to materials, and the distinction is where candidates get into trouble at the centre.
The instruction printed on the AIBE question paper reads: “Bare Acts without notes are allowed. In case of unavailability of Bare Acts without notes, Bare Acts with least short Notes will be allowed subject to the discretion of the Examiner/Invigilator.”
Read that carefully. Bare Acts without notes are allowed as of right. Anything with short notes is allowed only at the discretion of the examiner or invigilator, which is not a permission you can plan around. Copies carrying pen marking or highlighting are frequently rejected at the centre.
Candidates are permitted to carry:
- Bare Acts without notes, commentary or annotations
- Printouts of Bare Acts as published in the Official Gazette, and bare indexes of Acts
Candidates are not permitted to carry:
- Notes, guides, commentaries or question banks
- Bare Acts with commentary, in which an author comments on each provision
- Mobile phones, smart devices, calculators or electronic gadgets
- Loose papers or handwritten material
Taxmann’s Bare Acts for the AIBE are published without comments for this reason, across all nineteen subjects.
8. AIBE Exam Pattern
| Component | Details |
| Mode | Offline, pen and paper, OMR-based |
| Total Questions | 100 MCQs |
| Marks per Question | 1 |
| Total Marks | 100 |
| Negative Marking | None |
| Duration | 3 hours |
| Time per Question | 90 seconds |
| Qualifying Marks | 45% for General and OBC, 40% for SC, ST and PwD |
There is no negative marking, so a blank answer and a wrong answer cost exactly the same. There is never a reason to leave a question unattempted.
9. AIBE Passing Marks, and How the Cut-off Moves
The qualifying percentage is 45% for General and OBC candidates and 40% for SC, ST and PwD candidates. On a paper of 100 questions that is 45 marks and 40 marks.
The percentage is fixed. The number of marks is not, and in each of the last two examinations the score actually required came out lower, by two different routes.
Withdrawal. Where questions are withdrawn after the objection window, whether for a technical error or on a valid objection, they are removed from evaluation and no bonus mark is given. The paper is then marked out of the reduced total. In AIBE XX the Bar Council withdrew five questions, so the paper was marked out of 95 and the qualifying score became 45% of 95, which is 42.75 and was taken as 43, and 40% of 95, which is 38.
Moderation. AIBE XXI worked differently. The press release of 18 July 2026 records that the result was directed to be calculated on the basis of 100 marks, with no questions withdrawn, and that the Monitoring Committee, having gone through the question paper and the result summary, unanimously decided to moderate the result and reduce the qualifying marks by three. The cut-off therefore fell to 42 for General and OBC candidates and 37 for SC, ST and PwD.
Of the 1,75,701 candidates who appeared in AIBE XXI, 1,15,805 qualified and 59,876 did not, with the results of 20 candidates held pending decisions on alleged malpractice. The overall pass percentage was 65.92%.
Neither mechanism is announced in advance. The qualifying score has recently moved downwards and never upwards, and it moved because the papers were found to be harder or longer than intended. That is not a reason to aim lower.
10. AIBE Syllabus and Subject-Wise Weightage
The AIBE syllabus covers nineteen subjects. The distribution below is the weightage against which candidates should plan.
| Sr. | Subject | Questions |
| 1 | Constitutional Law | 10 |
| 2 | Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 / BNSS, 2023 | 10 |
| 3 | Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 | 10 |
| 4 | Indian Penal Code, 1860 / BNS, 2023 | 8 |
| 5 | Indian Evidence Act, 1872 / BSA, 2023 | 8 |
| 6 | Contract, Specific Relief, Property Law, Negotiable Instruments Act | 8 |
| 7 | Family Law | 8 |
| 8 | Law of Tort, Motor Vehicles Act and Consumer Protection Law | 5 |
| 9 | Professional Ethics and Professional Misconduct under BCI Rules | 4 |
| 10 | Alternative Dispute Redressal including the Arbitration Act | 4 |
| 11 | Law related to Taxation | 4 |
| 12 | Public Interest Litigation | 4 |
| 13 | Labour and Industrial Laws | 4 |
| 14 | Administrative Law | 3 |
| 15 | Company Law | 2 |
| 16 | Environmental Law | 2 |
| 17 | Cyber Law | 2 |
| 18 | Land Acquisition Act | 2 |
| 19 | Intellectual Property Laws | 2 |
| Total | 100 |
Two things are worth knowing about this table before you plan around it.
The first is that the papers do not always follow it. Taxmann’s question-by-question classification of the recent papers shows Constitutional Law running at twelve, fifteen and fourteen questions in AIBE XIX, XX and XXI against a stated ten, which makes it consistently the largest block on the paper. Seven subjects, including Evidence, ADR, Taxation, Company Law, Environmental Law, Cyber Law and Intellectual Property, came in at exactly their stated figure in all three.
The second is that criminal law and taxation are both mid-transition. Criminal questions are now set across the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 as well as the codes they replace, and AIBE XXI asked about section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and about the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam in the same paper. Taxation is now written on the Income Tax Act, 2025. Preparing on repealed provisions alone will cost marks.
The full syllabus and exam pattern guide goes through each subject in turn.
11. Books & Resources
For an open-book paper the material divides cleanly into what you carry into the hall and what you use before it.
What you carry. Clean, unannotated Bare Acts for the subjects that carry weight: Constitution, the criminal codes old and new, CPC, Evidence, Contract and Property, Family Law and Professional Ethics. Nothing with commentary.
What you work before it. Past papers, worked under time, and conceptual material for the questions no Bare Act can answer. Taxmann’s CRACKER for the AIBE carries 1,162 solved questions from twelve papers, AIBE X to AIBE XXI, regrouped subject by subject with an answer key closing each subject, the whole AIBE XXI paper with a question-by-question difficulty classification, three full-length mock tests with practice OMR sheets, and the legacy provision named alongside its current counterpart so an older question remains workable under the new codes.
Taxmann.com | Students carries the wider set of resources for candidates working towards enrolment.
12. Preparation Strategy
Three phases, and the order matters.
Phase 1, conceptual. Read the high-weightage subjects properly, alongside the Bare Act rather than instead of it. The aim is to know which chapter of which Act a question belongs to, not to memorise section numbers.
Phase 2, retrieval. Work past questions with the Bare Acts you will actually carry, and tab them at chapter level as you go. This is the phase most candidates skip, and it is the one the paper actually tests.
Phase 3, timed mocks. Full-length papers under exam conditions. Three hours, clock running, clean Bare Acts only. Log what cost you time, not only what you got wrong: a question answered correctly in four minutes is a worse outcome than one answered in thirty seconds.
Our note on getting real value out of mock tests covers the timing in more detail.
13. Previous Year Papers and How to Use Them
Past papers are the most useful preparation material available, and most candidates use them badly by reading them instead of working them.
Use them to find which provisions recur, to practise the search rather than the recall, and to calibrate speed. Note that difficulty is not stable between editions: on Taxmann’s classification, thirteen questions in AIBE XX could not be answered from a Bare Act at all, against twenty-seven in AIBE XXI. Working a single recent paper tells you what one examiner did once.
Our subject-wise study material guide sets out what to use for each subject.
14. After the Exam – Answer Key, Result, Rechecking & Certificate of Practice
The sequence after the paper runs as follows. The Bar Council releases a provisional answer key and opens an objection window. Objections are examined, questions may be withdrawn, and a final answer key is published. The result follows, between 7 and 10 January 2027 for AIBE XXII. A rechecking window may then open on payment of the prescribed fee.
Candidates who qualify are issued the Certificate of Practice. Rule 11(1) of the Bar Council of India Rules requires it to be issued within thirty days of the date on which the result is declared.
Two further points that candidates ask about. Rule 10(1)(e) places no limit on the number of attempts, so an unsuccessful candidate may sit the examination again. But a provisional enrolment certificate issued by a State Bar Council is valid for two years from enrolment, and permits work under a senior advocate rather than independent practice, so the examination has to be passed inside that window for the enrolment to hold.
Each stage has its own page: the AIBE admit card, the answer key and objection window, the result and cut-off, and the Certificate of Practice.
15. Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ 1. When is AIBE XXII 2026?
AIBE XXII is scheduled for 29 November 2026. Online registration opened on 19 August 2026 and closes on 27 October 2026. The admit card goes live on 14 November 2026.
FAQ 2. What is the last date to apply for AIBE XXII?
Online registration closes on 27 October 2026. Online payment runs to 28 October 2026 and the correction window closes on 30 October 2026, so the three deadlines are not the same.
FAQ 3. Is AIBE an open-book exam?
Yes. The AIBE is an open-book examination. Only Bare Acts without notes or commentary are permitted, and marked or highlighted copies are frequently rejected at the centre.
FAQ 4. What are the passing marks for AIBE XXII?
45% for General and OBC candidates and 40% for SC, ST and PwD candidates. On a paper of 100 that is 45 and 40 marks, subject to any reduction in the total or moderation by the Bar Council. In AIBE XXI the cut-off was moderated down to 42 and 37.
FAQ 5. Is there negative marking in the AIBE?
No. Each correct answer carries one mark and nothing is deducted for a wrong answer, so there is no reason to leave a question unanswered.
FAQ 6. Do I need to register again if I failed AIBE XX or XXI?
No. The Bar Council’s notice of 19 August 2026 states that candidates who failed AIBE XX or AIBE XXI need not register afresh and may log in with their existing User ID and password to submit the AIBE XXII application form.
FAQ 7. Can final-year law students apply for the AIBE?
Final-year, final-semester students of a 3-year or 5-year LL.B. course may apply provided they carry no backlogs from previous semesters and their institution is recognised or approved by the Bar Council of India. Self-attested semester mark sheets and a prescribed undertaking must be submitted with the application.
FAQ 8. How many times can a candidate attempt the AIBE?
There is no limit. Rule 10(1)(e) of the Bar Council of India Rules provides that an unsuccessful advocate may appear again without any limit on the number of attempts. A provisional enrolment certificate is separately valid for two years from enrolment.
FAQ 9. What is the AIBE exam fee?
₹3,500 for General and OBC candidates and ₹2,500 for SC, ST and PwD candidates, payable online by 28 October 2026. Bank charges or taxes may apply in addition.
Examination dates, fees, eligibility and permitted material are set by the Bar Council of India and change by notification. Confirm the current position on the official Bar Council of India portal before acting on it.
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My photo is not uploading in online form so what should I do?
Hello manish,
You can download the Adobe photo editing and do in ratio of 4.5cm*3.5cm and just crop it , after that it will upload.
This has worked for a lot of other people
In AIBE Form, I Belong to OBC but Don’t Have an NCL Certificate — Should I Apply Under General Category?
If you belong to the OBC category but do not have a valid Non-Creamy Layer (NCL) certificate, you should apply under the General category in the AIBE form. Only candidates with an active NCL certificate are eligible for OBC benefits.
Can I apply for AIBE while in the 5th semester of a 3-year LL.B. from DU with pending backlogs?
No. You are not eligible to apply for AIBE while in the 5th semester of a 3-year LL.B. or if you have uncleared backlogs. You must complete the full LL.B. program and clear all papers before you can register for AIBE.
Do I Need to Upload the Original Caste Certificate or the Caste Validity Certificate for AIBE Registration?
Can BCI Postpone the Exam After Registration Closes on 28 October? Has It Happened Before?
There is a slight possibility that the AIBE 20 exam scheduled for 30 November 2025 may be postponed, as the BCI has changed exam dates in the past—however, no official confirmation has been issued yet.
Do I Need to Submit the Undertaking If I Have a Provisional Enrollment Certificate but Not the Final One?
If you already have your provisional enrollment certificate, you do not need to submit the undertaking. The undertaking is required only for final-year students or graduates who have not yet enrolled with any State Bar Council.