Why join LNAT?

Law requires excellent critical reasoning skills which cannot be easily measured by a standard exam or coursework.

Nine UK and two non-UK leading universities currently use LNAT as part of their admissions process to help them identify the very best students, regardless of background or education, from the thousands who apply to study undergraduate law each year.

The National Admissions Test for Law (or LNAT) was therefore developed to help university admissions tutors learn more about individual candidates and their aptitude for studying law.

It does this by assessing a candidate’s intellectual abilities, rather than their knowledge of particular subjects including law, measuring their abilities in critical reasoning, comprehension and command of written English.

Impact analyses carried out annually by the LNAT Consortium have demonstrated that the impact of socio-economic variables on candidate performance is far less marked than in A Levels.

The test is now seen by many of the UK’s top universities as an essential part of their undergraduate law selection process. The LNAT offers them the following main benefits:-

  • It is the only test designed specifically for law, and is used by LNAT universities for both single subject and joint LLB degrees such as Law with Chemistry, French, German, Accountancy, or Management.
  • It offers a fair and objective way to distinguish between the many excellent candidates who apply to them each year.
  • It reduces the extent to which they have to rely on predicted grades for A Levels or their global equivalents.
  • It enables them to take positive steps towards widening participation in higher education since it assesses potential rather than achievement. This means that they can identify ability in candidates who do not have traditional academic qualifications but who demonstrate an aptitude for law by performing well in the LNAT.
  • The web-based results system guarantees security, confidentiality, and speed of results delivery to admissions staff.
  • It minimises the need for the proliferation of entrance tests since (under the UCAS system) candidates can apply to up to five LNAT universities but need take only one test.
  • It enables them to assess applications from candidates with a wide variety of qualifications ranging from UK GCSE and A levels to International Baccalaureate, Hong Kong A levels etc.
  • It allows universities to assess an overseas candidate’s English language proficiency without requiring them to take additional tests such as the International English Testing System (IELTS) or Test of English as A Foreign Language (TOEFL).
  • It is a global test in that it is delivered around the world and also because from its inception test developers have focussed on developing questions with as little UK bias as possible that will have global relevance.

The LNAT is not a substitute for A Level (or their global equivalent) results, applications, personal statements or interviews but is used by each LNAT University in the way that best suits its own admissions policy. Different universities place different emphasis on the multiple choice score and the essay question. Candidates receive their results only after the admissions process has completed.

Who currently uses the LNAT

Eleven universities currently use the LNAT as part their admissions process for undergraduate law degrees. These are:

* LNAT Consortium member.

LNAT is operated by LNAT Consortium Ltd working in partnership with Pearson VUE, the world’s leading computer-based testing and assessment business, with the collaboration of Edexcel, the leading provider of internationally recognised qualifications.