How do I prepare for LNAT UK?

Mar 05, 2024

Written By Thomas Cserep

Certain universities require you to take the LNAT as part of the application process for their law courses. Here we have gathered the best advice in one place to help you prepare for the examination.

The LNAT – what is it?

LNAT is the abbreviation for The Law National Aptitude Test, an examination designed to assess whether you are suitable to study law in higher education.

Whilst it is not mandatory to sit the LNAT to study law, the most prestigious institutions - including Oxford, Cambridge and LSE - require you to do the LNAT as part of their application process.

The LNAT is broken down into Section A and Section B. Section A consists of 42 multiple-choice questions that you have 95 minutes to answer. This will decide your final mark for the LNAT.

Section B is an essay task for which you will not receive a mark, but will play a part when your university considers your application as a whole. You will have to pick one question from the three presented in the exam and answer it in 40 minutes.

But how can I nail the LNAT and get a high grade? Check out our top tips below.

Ever considered studying law online?

There are so many study mode options available to aspiring lawyers now. But which one is right for you? Find out with Arden University's handy decision-making tool.

START NOW

Practice makes perfect

Our most important advice, which is relevant for both Sections A and B, is to do practice papers before the exam. The LNAT does not have a specific curriculum or text book that will teach you what you need to learn to pass it, meaning the best way to familiarise yourself with the exam is to do practice questions.

Luckily, there are plenty of resources online that can help you prepare. The LNAT website and other webpages have free practice tests that you can complete to help you get accustomed to the kind of questions that could come up in your exam.

Preparing for Section A

Before practising for Section A, it is crucial to understand what traits the LNAT is trying to test in this part of the examination. The exam hones in on your verbal reasoning and deductive reasoning skills, in addition to your ability to interpret information in the time allocated.

When it comes to analysing texts, make sure you read the possible answers first and try to extract any relevant information in the passage connected to them. Only rely on the information provided, as the exam doesn’t expect you to have any background knowledge on the topic of the text.

Be careful when answering questions, as some of the possible answers may seem similar to the actual solution, but are in fact only ‘almost correct’ answers.

Practising these questions over and over again will help you get used to the exercises that will come up in Section A. You will soon realise that all the questions are quite similar and require the same skillset to solve them.

Succeeding in Section B

As we have mentioned earlier, in Section B you will have to argue a point in the form of an essay. This is an essential skill to master as a law student, as it is a crucial credential to have if you want to work in the legal industry.

Whilst you can acknowledge arguments from both sides of the topic, make sure you clearly express which side of the argument you stand. You should also state on what information or assumption your points are based upon.

Your essay should have a clear structure, including an introduction and a conclusion. To get a feel for the kind of things you may need to write about, look for some practice questions online.

Keep up with the news

Even though you are not supposed to use knowledge outside of the texts provided, it is worth reading newspaper articles from reputed papers to familiarise yourself with the language that will be used in the exam. Being able to quickly read and analyse an article will provide you with the skills necessary to do the same on the LNAT.

Preparing for the LNAT is by no means an easy task, but hopefully we have provided you with some useful tips to help you get onto your first choice law course.

LNAT