What unis do you need LNAT for?

Apr 02, 2024

Written By Helena Kudiabor

The LNAT aims to assess your suitability for law, and is required by a number of universities in the UK. In the article, you’ll learn a bit more about the LNAT and whether you need to take it.

What is the LNAT?

The LNAT is the national admissions test for law, and is used by universities when assessing applicants for a law degree. To ensure that students who have studied law in the past don’t have an unfair advantage, the test does not assess your knowledge of the law or legal systems.

Instead, it assesses whether you have the skills required for a successful law career. Skills assessed include: drawing conclusions, analysing evidence and verbal reasoning.

What is the format of the LNAT?

The LNAT involves both multiple choice questions and long answer questions. The first part of the exam tests your comprehension skills. You’ll need to read 12 passages and answer 42 multiple choice questions about what you’ve read. You’ll have 95 minutes to do this. The scores from this section are marked by computer, and you’ll receive a mark out of 42. This mark is known as your LNAT score.

The second part of the exam asks you to write an essay. You’ll have 40 minutes to choose an essay question from a selection of three and write the essay. The questions discuss current affairs issues, with past questions ranging from feminism in modern society to ethical debates surrounding tourism. The essay won’t be marked, and you won’t receive a score for it, but your university will still read it.

Which universities require the LNAT?

You’ll need to take the LNAT if you’re applying to one of these UK universities:

- University of Bristol

- University of Cambridge

- Durham University

- University of Glasgow

- King’s College London

- The London School of Economics (LSE)

- University of Oxford

- SOAS

- University College London (UCL)

It’s important to note that these universities require a number of applicants to take the LNAT, not just those applying for an LLB. The LNAT official website provides a list of courses for which the LNAT is mandated, as per the universities specific guidelines. You’ll also need to take the LNAT if you’re applying for the Singapore University of Social Sciences, or IE University in Spain.

Are there any exemptions for the LNAT?

The LNAT must be taken by applicants (UK, EU and overseas) to undergraduate law programmes, so there aren’t any general exemptions. However, in extreme circumstances, an individual university may grant an exemption to individual candidates. Situations which may result in an exemption include: natural disasters, no test centres in your country or an unplanned hospitalisation.

If you believe you have extenuating circumstances, you should contact each LNAT-participating university to ask if they will waive the LNAT requirement.. You’ll need to make a separate exemption application to all the universities you apply to. The decision will be at the discretion of each university.

LNAT