Universities use the Law National Aptitude Test (LNAT) to help them select applicants for their undergraduate law courses. The test doesn’t test your knowledge of law or any other subject. Instead, it allows universities to assess your aptitude for the skills required to study law. This guide will give you a comprehensive view of the test you need to know.
The LNAT is a two-part test: multiple choice questions based on text passages and an essay. Students are strongly advised to practise and prepare for the test (see How to Prepare).
The LNAT is designed to test aptitude rather than educational achievement. The skills that help candidates score well in the LNAT are “also the skills that they need to do well in legal education”.
LNAT scores are evaluated alongside standard selection methods such as high-school (A-Level / IBDP, or their global equivalent) results, university applications, and admissions interviews to give a more accurate and rounded impression of the student’s abilities.
The LNAT exam format
The test lasts 135 minutes and is divided into two sections.
Section A consists of 42 multiple-choice questions. The questions are based on 12 argumentative passages, with 3 or 4 multiple-choice questions on each. You are given 95 minutes to answer all of the questions.
For Section B, there will be three essays questions on a range of subjects. Of which, candidates have 40 minutes to answer one question.
Although there are two sections, only the grade in Section A towards the final LNAT score. Unlike many other standardised tests, there is no conversion into a scaled score of any kind, and the score report will simply report the raw score out of 42.
Section B, the essay, assesses a student’s writing and argumentative abilities and receives no formal grade. Instead, it is simply forwarded directly to universities for their respective admissions committees to review.
What is a good score for LNAT?
Students’ overall LNAT score will be based on their performance in Section A since the Essay from Section B receives no formal grading. Although the essay is not scored directly, students should note that their essays are reviewed by admissions committees and may serve as the differentiating factor between applicants.
With a maximum score of 42, students should aim to score between 25 to 28 for a competitive score. It is worth noting that the average score of students receiving offers from highly selective institutions such as the University of Oxford (acceptance rate ≈ 8%) is about 29, with only 2% of applicants scoring above 34.
Registration and Cost
For applicants to Oxford:
1 August – 15 September: register and book the LNAT. It is highly recommended to register and book by 15 September to secure an LNAT test date before the 15 October deadline.
Before or on 15 October: take your test. For your score to be considered by Oxford, candidates must sit your test before or on 15 October.
15 October: deadline to submit your UCAS form
For applicants to other universities
15 January 2022: Register and book your LNAT test slot before this date
26 January 2022: Submit your UCAS form by 6:00 pm UK time.
20 January 2022: Sit the LNAT before or on 20 January 2022.
26 January 2022: For KCL and UCL and the University of Nottingham sit the LNAT before or on 26 January 2022
26 February 2022: For the University of Glasgow sit the LNAT before or on 26 February 2022
The total registration cost for test centres outside of the UK is 120GBP.
If you take the test on or before 20 January, you’ll receive your results in mid-February.
If you take the test after 20 January, you’ll receive your results in mid-August.
Applicants to Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) can take the LNAT between 1 September 2020 and 31 July 2021 for the University’s 2022 intake. For the 2023 intake, applicants can take the LNAT between 1 September 2021 and 31 July 2022.
Sample Question
Sample passage:
"There will be many words in the language of, let us say, some remote and indigenous tribe in New Guinea or South America which cannot be translated satisfactorily into English or Russian, because they are words that refer to objects, flora, fauna or customs unfamiliar in Western culture. The vocabulary of one language cannot be described as richer or poorer than the vocabulary of some other language in any absolute sense; every language has a sufficiently rich vocabulary for the expression of all the distinctions that are important in the society using it. We cannot therefore say, from this point of view, that one language is more "primitive" or more "advanced" than another. The point is even clearer with respect to the grammatical structure of languages. Differences there are between any particular "primitive" language and any particular "civilized" language. But these are no greater than on average the differences between any random pair of "primitive" languages and any random pair of "civilized" languages. So-called "primitive" languages are no less systematic, and are neither structurally simpler nor structurally more complex, than the languages spoken by more "civilized" peoples. All human societies of which we have knowledge speak languages of roughly equal complexity; and the differences of grammatical structure that we do find between languages throughout the world are such that they cannot be used as evidence for the construction of an evolutionary theory of human language."
Sample
Question: Which of the following encapsulate the argument above
A.Languages differ because human societies differ.
B.All languages have rich vocabularies and similar grammatical structures.
C.Human language is essentially different from animal 'language'.
D.Every language reflects the culture of those that speak it.
E.Grammatical differences between languages are not evolutionary.
Conclusion
We wish you all the very best should you intend to sit for the LNAT in the future.
Have any questions regarding the test? Drop us an email, and our team will be happy to point you in the right direction.
If you would like to understand how you can leverage a good LNAT score to craft a competitive application to your dream law programme, drop us an email. Our friendly consultants at KB Consulting will be happy to point you in the right direction to find out how we can support you.