How to prepare for LLM in Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS – CUET-PG 2026)?

School of Law, Rights and Constitutional Governance, Tata Institute of Social Sciences offers a Master's in Law to LLB graduates in a different course structure, which merges law with social sciences. The program provides for specialisation in Access to Justice, a concept of Human Rights. 

If you are committed to developing and advocating for marginalised and vulnerable groups of society, you should be doing an LLM from TISS. But you cannot just wake up one day and attend classes, right? For that, you will have to appear for CUET-PG (Common University Entrance Test – Postgraduate), which has replaced TISS-NET from 2024 onwards. Don’t worry, we’ll simplify the process for you. In this article, we’ll explain how you can join the LLM program of TISS through CUET-PG and the Online Assessment (OA).

Eligibility for TISS LLM (2026)

First, you need to know if you should even take the stress of an entrance test. Students with an LLB degree with a minimum of 50% marks (45% for SC and ST) are eligible for the program. Students in their final semester can also apply for an LLM.

Admission Process for TISS LLM (2026)

Stage 1: CUET-PG (50% weightage)

This is now the first step for admission to all TISS Master’s programs, including LLM.

• Mode: Computer-based test (CBT)

• Duration: 2 hours

• No. of Questions: 100

• Type: Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)

• Marking: +4 for correct, -1 for wrong answer (negative marking applies)

• Structure: Subject-specific (Law) + General/analytical abilities (depending on the CUET paper code chosen)

After clearing Stage-1, applicants are eligible to appear for Stage-2.

Stage 2: TISS Online Assessments (OA) (50% weightage)

This is a program-specific assessment. For LLM, you will be assessed based on two components. First, extempore and second, interview. For extempore, the panel that will be interviewing you later will give you three topics, and you can choose one among them. You will be allotted a maximum of 5 minutes to speak about a topic. We will now discuss in detail on how to prepare for OA.

Read on to know whether you should pursue an LLM in 2025-26. 

Extempore

You enter the room, and there is a panel of people ready to decide whether you should be admitted to LLM. It sounds intimidating, and it is. So, first things first, you need to be very calm and prepared because as soon as you are settled, they will give you a topic to speak on. If you are not comfortable with the topic, you can ask for another one, but no more. 

Now, the topic of extempore is generally on a contemporary issue. For its preparation, it is advisable to keep yourself updated on the recent socio-legal issues of the country. As the course is designed in a way which caters to the needs of marginalised and vulnerable sections of society, it is important to put more focus on those areas without losing sight of important legal concepts.

Make sure that you start with a brief introduction on the topic, then speak about your point of view on the same, ending it with a suitable and positive conclusion, all in 5 minutes. Because of time constraints, it is crucial to mentally prepare a framework of what you are going to speak about, and for this, you can take a minute or two before you start speaking on the topic.

Interview

For the interview, you need to prepare yourself from multiple aspects. Firstly, you need to thoroughly study the Detailed Application Form (DAF) you have filled out during the admission process. DAF contains questions about your interest in the chosen program, any previous work experience, and your biographical sketch. The panel uses it to assess your interests, and there is a chance that a lot of questions will come from what you have written on your DAF. For instance, if you have volunteered for a cause before, there is a probability that you will be drilled about that experience if you have mentioned it in your DAF. Thus, you must be honest on your DAF because you might have to speak about it at length during your interview.

So, what next? As you are a graduate of law appearing for LLM admission, you are expected to have a basic understanding of the law. So, you need to prepare yourself accordingly. Questions from subjects like the Constitution of India, the Code of Civil Procedure, the Code of Criminal Procedure, recent developments such as changes under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) may be asked to see your legal understanding. The panel would not be directly asking you sections or articles; the questions would require more descriptive answers.

Apart from this, just like any other interview you would be appearing for in your life, even in this one, it is important that you choose your answers carefully. Do not talk about something you cannot go in detail about if needed. A lot of times the panel forms a question from your answer. Although it has a positive side as well. It can prove to be helpful when you are well-versed on a given topic and have great in-depth knowledge about it. 

Again, knowledge about ongoing socio-legal issues is important as the panel might raise a question on that issue, asking for a legal solution. This will help them in assessing your legal knowledge along with your understanding on contemporary issues.

To summarise, it is not as intimidating as it initially sounded, right? You need to prepare for three things: CUET-PG, extempore and the interview, and keeping yourself aware helps in all three of them. You can start with reading news daily, not just the sports or entertainment section. Keeping yourself calm always is equally important, just knowing what recent judgements and new laws (like BNS, BNSS, BLR) has been passed will not be as useful if you would not be able to talk about it, would it? At the risk of sounding cliché, we will just say, “Do your best, forget the rest.”