AIBE GOES BIANNUAL REDUCING WAITING PERIOD FOR LAW GRADUATES
The move eases uncertainty and stress for final year students offering clarity and stability at a critical transition
By Vishal Katoch
Times of India
The Bar Council of India BCI has announced that the All India Bar Examination AIBE will now be conducted twice a year. This move is aimed at easing long standing academic and professional pressures faced by law students.
Under the previous framework around one lakh law candidates who graduated months earlier were required to wait an entire year to appear for the examination. This delay affected their career progression and disrupted academic momentum. The revised policy allows final year students to appear for the examination closer to the completion of their courses ensuring continuity of learning and reducing the gap between legal education and professional assessment.
While hearing a writ petition filed in 2024 seeking directions to permit final semester students to appear for the AIBE a bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta recorded the submission and disposed of the petition.
MOBILISING EFFORTS
Speaking to Education Times Vikhyat Maheshwari founder National Law Universities Students Association NLUSA final year law student Dharmashastra National Law University DNLU Jabalpur says a formal representation was submitted to the BCI in October 2025 by the NLUSA seeking the inclusion of all final year students from the 2026 batch in the eligibility criteria for the AIBE in view of variations in academic calendars.
Subsequently student bodies across the country along with several law universities came together to support the representation. When the AIBE was held only once a year in December law graduates encountered significant practical and professional challenges. Most law universities complete their academic sessions by May or June forcing graduates to wait nearly five to six months to appear for the AIBE followed by further delays in the declaration of results adds Maheshwari.
UNMET EXPECTATIONS
Prof Vageshwari Deswal Law Centre Two Faculty of Law University of Delhi says across law universities examination results are often delayed. When the AIBE was conducted only once a year students were forced to wait an entire year if they missed the examination for any reason whatsoever. This included cases where a student had to reappear for a paper or was unable to sit the AIBE due to unforeseen circumstances.
In the past many students chose to pursue an LLM Masters of Law abroad or explore other options simply because they had missed the examination. The Supreme Court directive will support the students but there is room to address several other issues that create roadblocks.
Delhi High Court judgment directing colleges not to detain students due to short attendance was helpful but the BCI has not issued any clear or comprehensive guidance on the matter adds Deswal.
DATE : 27/1/2026
POSTED BY : EDUCATION TIMES
