National Admissions Test for Law

{{Short description|Admissions aptitude test adopted in 2004}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}} {{Use British English|date=February 2015}} The '''National Admissions Test for Law''', or '''LNAT''', is an admissions aptitude test that was adopted in 2004 by eight UK university law programmes<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3451897.stm Education: New entry test for law students], BBC News, UK.</ref> as an admissions requirement for home applicants. The test was established at the leading urgency of the University of Oxford as an answer to the problem facing universities trying to select from an increasingly competitive pool with similarly high A-levels. With effect from its second year, the LNAT is required for UK and overseas applicants alike. There are now nine participating law schools and hundreds of test centres worldwide.

It is used alongside standard methods of selection such as A Level (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 now has over 500 test centres worldwide and twelve participating law schools.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Legal {{!}} LNAT |url=https://lnat.ac.uk/legal/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=lnat.ac.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=What is it for {{!}} LNAT |url=https://lnat.ac.uk/what-is-lnat/what-is-the-lnat/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=lnat.ac.uk}}</ref>

==Format== The LNAT is 135 minutes long and consists of two sections. The test taker is allotted 40 minutes to complete the essay and 95 minutes to answer 42 multiple-choice questions aimed at measuring reading comprehension and logical reasoning skills. The reading portion contains twelve short passages, with three or four questions about each passage. The questions typically ask for terms and arguments from the reading to be defined by inference. The essay portion is 40 minutes long and involves the candidate answering one of three available essay questions, which are generally open-ended prompts that can focus on any one of a wide variety of issues. The reading section is scored out of 42 and the essays are individually marked by proctors at the respective universities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Test format {{!}} LNAT |url=https://lnat.ac.uk/what-is-lnat/test-format/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=lnat.ac.uk}}</ref>

== Universities == The universities currently using the LNAT in their admissions procedures are:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Do I need to sit the test? {{!}} LNAT |url=https://lnat.ac.uk/what-is-lnat/do-i-need-to-sit-the-test/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=lnat.ac.uk}}</ref>

*Durham University<ref>{{Cite web |last=University |first=Durham |title=Law National Aptitude Test (LNAT) - Durham University |url=https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/how-to-apply/entry-requirements/law-national-aptitude-test-lnat/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=www.durham.ac.uk |language=en-gb}}</ref> *IE University, Spain<ref>{{Cite web |title=Admissions Test {{!}} IE University |url=https://www.ie.edu/university/admission/admission-process/admissions-test/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=University |language=en}}</ref> *King's College London<ref>{{Cite web |last=London |first=King's College |title=Law LLB - Entry Requirements |url=https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/law-llb/requirements |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=King's College London |language=en}}</ref> *London School of Economics<ref>{{Cite web |last=Science |first=London School of Economics and Political |title=Entry requirements |url=https://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Undergraduate/Prospective-Students/How-to-Apply/Entry-Requirements.aspx |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=London School of Economics and Political Science |language=en-GB}}</ref> *O.P. Jindal Global University, India<ref>{{Cite web |title=Online application form |url=https://lawadmissions.jgu.edu.in/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=lawadmissions.jgu.edu.in}}</ref> *Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore<ref>{{Cite web |title=Law National Aptitude Test (LNAT) - Law Entry Requirements |url=https://www.suss.edu.sg/academics/programmes/law-programmes/pre-qualifications/law-national-aptitude-test-(lnat)---law-entry-requirements |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=www.suss.edu.sg |language=en}}</ref> *University of Oxford<ref>{{Cite web |title=Admissions tests {{!}} University of Oxford |url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/guide/admissions-tests |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=www.ox.ac.uk}}</ref> *SOAS, University of London<ref>{{Cite web |title=Undergraduate entry requirements {{!}} SOAS |url=https://www.soas.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/undergraduate-entry-requirements |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=www.soas.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref> *University College London<ref>{{Cite web |last=White |first=Alex |title=LNAT Advice and Guidance {{!}} Faculty of Laws |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/lnat-advice-and-guidance |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=www.ucl.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref> *University of Bristol<ref>{{Cite web |title=LNAT {{!}} Study at Bristol {{!}} University of Bristol |url=https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/after-you-apply/interviews/lnat/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250716144117/https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/after-you-apply/interviews/lnat/ |archive-date=2025-07-16 |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=www.bristol.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref> * University of Cambridge<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Admissions Test for Law (LNAT) {{!}} Undergraduate Study |url=https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/apply/how/law-admission-test |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk}}</ref> * University of Glasgow<ref>{{Cite web |title=University of Glasgow - Schools - School of Law - Undergraduate - Law National Aptitude Test (LNAT) |url=https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/law/undergraduate/lnat/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=www.gla.ac.uk}}</ref>

==Results== The LNAT was first administered on 3 November 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bristol |first=University of |title=National admission test for law: universities set to improve selection |url=https://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2004/343.html |access-date=2025-07-17 |website=www.bristol.ac.uk |date=3 February 2004 |language=en-GB}}</ref> The average score for the reading portion was 13.16 out of 24. Four test-takers received a 21 out of 24, the highest score achieved;<ref name="Guardian 2005">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/feb/03/highereducation.accesstouniversity | title=Pupils achieve 'same marks' in law admission tests | work=The Guardian | date=3 February 2005 | accessdate=10 September 2016 | author=Ford, Liz}}</ref> the lowest score achieved by the 4,345 candidates was 3.<ref name="BBC 2005">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/4230881.stm | title=Law candidates 'not good enough' | work=BBC News | date=3 February 2005 | accessdate=10 September 2016}}</ref> Men performed slightly better than women on the multiple-choice portion, scoring 13.37 and 13.02 on average, respectively.<ref name="BBC 2005" /> A University of Bristol report on the scores expressed dissatisfaction with the ability of law candidates to develop "reasoned arguments".<ref name="BBC 2005" /> Men and women scored approximately equally to each other, in contrast to the distribution of A grades in A-level law, which were awarded to 19.3% of women and only 14.1% of men.<ref name="BBC 2005" />

The LNAT consortium also reported statistically insignificant differences in scores between state and independent students.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}} Research conducted by the University of Bristol concluded: "the impact of the LNAT both in general and on specific supposedly sensitive widening participation groups has been negligible".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lnat.ac.uk/2010/documents/pressrelease0908.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2014-01-07 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815232655/http://www.lnat.ac.uk/2010/documents/pressrelease0908.pdf |archivedate=15 August 2010 |df=dmy }}</ref>

==Average scores== {{Unreferenced section|date=September 2016}} Entrants' mean average scores for the multiple choice element of the test in each year are as follows:

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Score !! Percentage |- | 2006/2007|| 8/30|| 26.6 |- | 2008/2009|| 16.7/30|| 55.6 |- | 2010/2011|| 17.7/42|| 42.1 |- | 2011/2012|| 18.6/42|| 44.3<ref name="Pearson VUE's email to candidates">Pearson VUE's email to candidates</ref> |- | 2012/2013|| 21.3/42|| 50.7 |- | 2013/2014|| 21.1/42|| 50.2 |- | 2014/2015|| 22.3/42|| 53.1

|- | 2015/2016|| 22.9/42|| 54.5 |- |2016/2017 |17.9/42 |42.6 |- | 2017/2018|| 19.9/42|| 47.4 |- | 2018/2019|| 23/42 || 54.8 |- |2019/2020 |21.5/42 |51.2<ref name="Pearson VUE's email to candidates"/> |- |2020/2021 |20.8/42 |49.5 |- |2021/2022 |20/42 |47.6 |- |2022/2023 |22/42 |52.4 |- |2023/2024 |23/42 |54.8 |- |2024/2025 |21/42 |50.0 |- |2025/2026 |21.8/42 |51.9 |}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{Official website|http://www.lnat.ac.uk}} *[https://www.theguardian.com/education/2004/feb/02/accesstouniversity.highereducation Sample LNAT questions from the Guardian] *[http://global.oup.com/uk/orc/law/skills/kenny_wilson2e/resources/lnat/ Advice on taking the LNAT] Oxford University Press website *[https://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/feb/02/law-university-interview-succeeding "The secret of winning a place to study law" by Alex Aldridge] in ''The Guardian''

{{University admissions tests in the United Kingdom}}

Category:2004 introductions Category:Standardized tests for legal education Category:Legal profession exams Category:Entrance examinations Category:Legal education in the United Kingdom Category:University of Oxford examinations