Statement and Conclusion Questions

📑 On this page

⚡ The short answer

Statement and conclusion questions give you a line, or a passage, and ask which conclusion can be drawn. A conclusion follows only if the statement makes it true, directly or by one short, safe step. Read the statement as a rule, test each option against it, and reject anything that runs the rule backwards, guesses a motive or widens the scope.

🎬 The 30-second story

The evening-batch notice

““Students scoring below 60 in three straight mocks will move to the evening batch.””

📋

Meher

A new notice on the coaching board.

“So everyone in the evening batch is weak. Called it.”

🌙

Aarav

Aarav reads it backwards.

“They want to push weak kids out! Forwarding to the parents' group.”

📲

Rohan

Rohan finds a motive.

“All it says: 55, 58, 52 in a row and you move. That's it.”

🖍️

Zoya

Zoya circles one line.

Tara's verdict: The notice is a rule: three sub-60 scores → evening batch. Zoya runs it forwards, so her conclusion follows. Aarav runs it backwards; Rohan invents a motive. A conclusion follows only if the statement forces it.

How does CLAT word statement-and-conclusion questions?

Stem	Seen in	What it really asks
“[quoted line]” Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from the above statement?	2021 Q109; 2022 Q130; 2024 Q88	What does this line, in its passage, commit the author to?
The author's statements about X, if true, provide most support for which conclusion?	2023 Q133	Make the idea a rule; apply it to each option.
Statement… Conclusions I and II. Which follows?	The classic aptitude format	Judge each conclusion on its own: follows or not.

→ scroll to see more

Modern CLAT uses the first two. The passage around the line is context you may use, not a licence for your own views.

When does a conclusion really follow?

🎚️ The scale

The conclusion ladder

← Forced by the statementFights the statement →

Follows

True whenever the statement is.

e.g. Three sub-60 mocks → evening batch.

Safe step

One short step, passage only.

e.g. Mock scores now affect batches.

Possible

Could be true; the statement doesn't care.

e.g. The evening batch is smaller.

Unsupported

Motive, prediction or advice.

e.g. They want weak students out.

Contradicted

The statement rules it out.

e.g. Scores never affect batches.

Only the top two rungs can win. The I/II format demands the top rung; CLAT's “can be drawn” stems allow one safe step.

📌 The forwards rule

Most statements are rules in disguise: if A, then B. A conclusion that runs the rule forwards (A happened, so B) follows. One that runs it backwards (B, so A) or denies the start (no A, so no B) does not.

How do you test a conclusion in four moves?

1
Box the statement
Rewrite it as a rule or a flat fact. Note the quantifier (all, some, only) and the scope (who, where, when).
2
Predict
Before the options, say one thing that must be true.
3
Run each conclusion
Follows, possible or unsupported? Check direction (forwards only), size (no some → all) and voice (no invented motive).
4
Take the shortest jump
If two survive, pick the one that needs fewer steps from the text.

What tricks hide in the conclusion options?

🧩 At a glance

Six ways a conclusion fails

🔁Runs backwards

“Evening batch, so below 60.” Rules run one way.

🎯Invented motive

“They want weak students out.” Statements rarely give reasons.

📈Some becomes all

“Many hostels serve bad food” never gives “hostel food is bad”.

🔮Prediction

“This will cut dropouts.” The line gave no future.

🩹Advice

“So scrap the rule.” A should-claim needs a value the line holds.

🧩Wrong part

True of the passage, not of the quoted line.

Can “should” ever follow?

Yes, when the statement already carries a value. A line that calls the policing of humour “anything but funny” is a complaint, so “creative freedom should not be curbed unreasonably” is one short step. A neutral fact (“the rule moves students to evenings”) gives no should at all.

Either I or II: the old-format special

Sometimes neither conclusion is certain, yet one must be true because together they cover every case, like “some toppers are cricketers” and “no topper is a cricketer”. That pair gets “either I or II”.

⭕ Venn check

Two statements, three conclusions

Statements

▸All Toppers are Hostellers
▸Some Hostellers are Cricketers

Conclusions

Some Hostellers are Toppers
✅ Definitely follows — Every topper sits inside the hostellers' circle, so some hostellers are toppers.
Some Toppers are Cricketers
🤔 Possible, not certain — The cricketers may overlap the hostellers outside the toppers' circle.
No Toppers are Cricketers
🤔 Possible, not certain — Equally possible. With the one above it forms an either–or pair: exactly one is true.

shaded = empty× = at least one lives here

⚠️ The common-sense trap

True in real life but not forced by the statement? It does not follow. “Toppers study hard” may be true; it doesn't follow from a line about hostels.

Can you see it work on CLAT-style statements?

✍️ Worked example Warm-up ⏱ 30 sec

The midnight library

Statement: “The library will stay open till midnight only during the two weeks before exams.”
I. In the exam fortnight, the library is open till midnight.
II. In other weeks, it shuts before midnight.
(A) Only I follows (B) Only II follows (C) Both follow (D) Neither follows

1
Box: “till midnight only during X” packs two claims: late in X, not late outside X.
2
Predict: both halves are given.
3
Run: I is the first half; II is the “only”.

Answer: (C) Both follow

⚡ The exam-hall shortcut

“Only during X” = “during X” + “never outside X”. Two claims for the price of one word.

✍️ Worked example CLAT level ⏱ 70 sec

The cashless canteen

A city college made its canteen cashless last year. Footfall fell by a fifth in the first month, mostly among first-year students, many of whom had no bank account linked to a phone. By the third month, footfall had returned to its old level, as most students had set up payment apps.
“By the third month, footfall had returned to its old level.” Which conclusion can be drawn from this statement, read with the passage?
(A) Every student likes cashless payment.
(B) The first-month fall was largely a short-term adjustment.
(C) Every canteen in the city should go cashless.
(D) Students without bank accounts stopped eating there for good.

1
Box: footfall fell, then recovered once students set up apps.
2
Predict: the dip didn't last; it came from a setup hurdle.
3
Run: A widens to everyone. C advises a whole city. D fights the recovery. B is one safe step.
4
Shortest jump: B.

Answer: (B)

⚡ The exam-hall shortcut

Change over time? The safe conclusion describes the pattern, never a rule for all and never advice.

✍️ Worked example Tricky ⏱ 45 sec

The moot court rule

Statement: “Only students who clear the screening test can join the moot court team.”
I. Every student who clears the test is on the team.
II. Aarav is on the team, so he cleared the test.
(A) Only I follows (B) Only II follows (C) Both follow (D) Neither follows

1
Box: “Only X can Y” means Y → X: team → cleared.
2
Run I: cleared → team runs the arrow backwards. Clearing is needed, not enough.
3
Run II: team → cleared: the arrow, forwards.

Answer: (B) Only II follows

⚡ The exam-hall shortcut

Put the word after “only” on the right of the arrow: team → cleared.

How has CLAT asked statement-and-conclusion questions?

📝 Asked in CLAT 2021 · Q109 Read the line with its neighbour

…In higher-income countries, stigma rates may be greater than other countries, perhaps because of the pressure to excel. In low-income countries, one can be unwell and still play an active social and productive role somewhere…

“In low-income countries, one can be unwell and still play an active social and productive role somewhere as there are many such roles to play within the family and in society.” Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from the above statement?

AStigma rates in lower-income countries are higher as compared to higher income countries.

BStigma rates in higher-income countries may be more due to a pressure of performing and to excel.

CMental stigma is not related to the economic conditions of a country.

DHigher-income countries require people to perform multiple roles at their homes.

Reveal answer + reasoning

Answer: B

The quoted line is the other half of a contrast. Where many roles exist, an unwell person still fits in somewhere; where the pressure to excel bites, in richer countries, stigma may be higher. B keeps the author's own hedges (“may”, “perhaps”). Answer B. Time: 40 seconds.

Why the others fail

A — The flip: higher stigma sits in richer countries.
C — The contrast ties stigma to income.
D — Swaps the scope: the many roles are in low-income countries.

📝 Asked in CLAT 2022 · Q130 When “should” follows

A Madras High Court Judge’s suggestion to amend the Constitution of India mandating that every citizen also has a duty to laugh comes as a whiff of fresh air… in quashing an FIR against a man arrested for an innocuous social media post, his insightful observations only highlight the idiocy and absurdity that surround the growth and normalisation of the offence-taking tribe… A caption, ‘Trip to Sirumalai for shooting practice’, appeared to the police as a threat to wage war…

“Those who have been at the receiving end for their attempt at humour can draw strength from the ruling, but then, a creative process facing combative opposition because of its very nature is anything but funny.” Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from the above statement?

ACreativity and conflict go hand-in-hand.

BCreative freedom should not be curbed unreasonably.

CCreative expressions are strengthened due to challenges faced by their authors.

DCreativity often leads to conflict.

Reveal answer + reasoning

Answer: B

Two halves: the ruling strengthens people punished for jokes, but creative work meeting combative opposition is “anything but funny”. That's a complaint about humour being policed, so a mild should is one step away. Answer B. Time: 50 seconds.

Why the others fail

A — Turns a complaint into a law of nature.
C — Opposite tone: the opposition is “anything but funny”.
D — Closest trap: describes the clash, drops the author's point and adds an “often” the line never gives.

📝 Asked in CLAT 2023 · Q133 Apply the rule to each case

Why are we humans so susceptible to the doom and gloom of the news? Two reasons. The first is what psychologists call negativity bias: we’re more attuned to the bad than the good… Second, we’re also burdened with an availability bias. If we can easily recall examples of a given thing, we assume that thing is relatively common…

The author’s statements about negativity bias, if true, provide most support for which of the following conclusions?

AWe are more likely to notice a story about a billionaire donating their money to charity than a story about an airplane crash.

BWe are more likely to be attracted to a news article about a rise in life expectancy in our country than a news article about a murder in our city.

CWe are more likely to notice a story about increasing pollution levels than a story about improving educational levels in schools.

DWe are more likely to form our opinion of the world based on the information available to us rather than information we do not have access to.

Reveal answer + reasoning

Answer: C

Make the idea a rule: bad beats good for attention. Test each pair. Only C sets a bad story against a good one and picks the bad. Answer C. Time: 35 seconds.

🔬 Option autopsy

Option autopsy: CLAT 2023 Q133

Negativity bias, if true, most supports which conclusion?

A Charity story noticed over a plane crash Tag it

🔄 Opposite direction

Good beats bad: the rule reversed.

B Life-expectancy story over a local murder Tag it

🔄 Opposite direction

Reversed again, with nicer wording.

C Rising pollution noticed over improving schools Tag it

✅ Correct

Bad beats good. The rule, applied.

D Opinions formed from information available to us Tag it

🎯 Targets the wrong claim

That's the availability bias, the passage's second reason. The stem asked about the first.

🔄 Opposite direction✅ Correct🎯 Targets the wrong claim

Guess the trap behind each option, then tap to check. Wrong options fail in a handful of predictable ways.

Also asked: 2024 Q88 (“An engagement with words is the most captivating, enchanting, and sometimes daunting encounter…”). Key (D), words “paint a picture of the world in all its different colours”, keeps the line's full range; the rest shrink it to one use.

Which myths make students pick the wrong conclusion?

💥 Myth vs fact

Traps students fall for

🙅 Myth

If the conclusion is true in real life, it follows.

Tap to bust it →

✅ Fact

It follows only if the statement forces it. Real-life truth is the commonest trap.

🙅 Myth

“Only X can Y” means every X gets to Y.

Tap to bust it →

✅ Fact

It means Y needs X. Clearing the test lets you try for the team; it doesn't put you on it.

🙅 Myth

A conclusion can never contain “should”.

Tap to bust it →

✅ Fact

It can when the statement carries a value or a complaint (2022 Q130). It can't when the statement is a neutral fact.

Test yourself: five statements

🎯 Quick quiz

Follows or not?

0 / 5

“The bus pass discount applies only to students under 21.” I. A 23-year-old student gets no discount. II. Every student under 21 has a bus pass.

Q1. Which follows?

A state halved the fees at its government law colleges. Applications rose by 40% the next year, with the biggest jump from districts that had no law college of their own. The number of seats did not change, so cut-off marks rose sharply. Many of the new applicants were the first in their families to apply to college. Several private colleges reported fewer applications than usual.

Q2. Which conclusion can be drawn from the passage?

“Some reels that go viral are made by students.”

Q3. Which conclusion follows?

Since the hostel put a water cooler on every floor, the hostel shop's sales of bottled water have halved. The coolers arrived in July, and the drop began that same month. The shopkeeper says his snack sales have not changed. The warden says students now carry steel bottles to class, and the coolers cost less to run than she expected.

Q4. Which conclusion about the halved sales is best supported?

“If it rains on Sunday, the fest moves indoors.” I. It moved indoors, so it rained. II. It didn't rain, so it stayed outdoors.

Q5. Which follows?

🎯 Statement and conclusion in a nutshell

A conclusion follows only if the statement forces it; CLAT allows one safe step, no more.
Run rules forwards: A, so B. Never B, so A. Never no A, so no B.
“Only X can Y” means Y needs X.
Reject motives, predictions, advice and some → all upgrades.
All/some/no statements: draw the Venn, then look for an either–or pair.

📎 Cheat sheet

“Which conclusions can be drawn from the above statement?” → box the line, read its neighbour, predict.
“…if true, most support which conclusion?” → make it a rule, test each case.
“Conclusions I and II” → judge each alone; check for an either–or pair.
“Only”, “unless”, “if” → write the arrow, run it forwards.
“All / some / no” → Venn before conclusions.
“Author most likely to agree” → a different family: match stance, hedges, scope.

Frequently asked questions

What are statement and conclusion questions in CLAT?

You get a statement, usually a line quoted from an opinion passage, and pick the conclusion that can be drawn from it. Modern CLAT lets you read the line with its passage. The right option is forced by the line, or one safe step away, never a guess about motives or the future.

How do I know if a conclusion follows from a statement?

Ask whether the statement could be true while the conclusion is false. If yes, it doesn't follow. Then check direction (rules run forwards only), size (some never becomes all) and voice (no invented motives, predictions or advice). What survives follows.

What does “either I or II follows” mean?

Neither conclusion is certain on its own, but between them they cover every possibility, so exactly one must be true. The classic pair is “some A are B” and “no A is B”. One must be the exact denial of the other.

Is statement and conclusion the same as inference?

Close cousins. Both want what the text supports. A statement-and-conclusion question pins you to one quoted line, so the scope is narrower. An inference question lets you combine any sentences in the passage. In both, the answer is the safest claim the text guarantees.