LNAT

TSR Wiki > University > Applying to University > Procedure > Applying for Law > LNAT

Summary of Basic Information

• The LNAT is taken on a computer at a Pearson Vue Test Centre, the same place as driving theory tests.
• You sit the LNAT at a date of your choosing between 1st September and 20th January (1st November for Oxbridge applicants). You can sit the tests later, but most universities will mark applications late if you sit the test after these deadlines.
• The LNAT does not test legal knowledge: it tests critical thinking aptitude and similar skills required for learning Law.
• The test takes two hours: there is a 95-minute multiple choice section comprising of 42 questions on critical thinking and comprehension, and a 40-minute essay.
• For more detailed information and booking, refer to the official LNAT site http://www.lnat.ac.uk

Preparation

Everyone will have different preparation ideas based on their own experience, so it's probably best to separate each point with a bullet, and add a username beside the person who wrote it.

• The sample questions and answers on the site are without a doubt the best thing you can read. I'd recommend not doing these months and months before the LNAT so you don't lose your frame of mind, but at the same time not leaving it too late for you to look at anything you got wrong. --Stick Man 21:42, 15 November 2006 (GMT)
• Looking at LSAT(the american version) papers can be useful as well as they test similar skills in their multiple sections, and give you more practise than the one paper available on the LNAT website, though note that the passages are shorter in the LSAT. --Beenybabe 18:31, 27 April 2007 (GMT)

Books

"Mastering the National Admissions Test for Law" by Mark Shepherd

ISBN:1845680103 | RRP: £21.95

• Stick Man: The best bit about this book is the mutliple choice questions - there are lots of them, and they do stick quite closely to the style of the LNAT. They are a bit formulaic, they do sometimes seem to put words in your mouth, and clearly they are no substitute for the official sample paper, but they still make for good practice. The worst bit about this book is everything else. The so-called advice is largely mere grammar and spelling information, and the rest is much too formulaic to be useful when taking the test. Moreover, the sample essays (both questions and answers) are about as far away from the real thing as you can get. If it weren't for the multiple choice questions, I would wonder whether Mr. Shepherd had ever seen an LNAT paper.
• (Another review can go here)

"Passing the National Admission Test for Law" by Rosie Hutton, Glenn Hutton

ISBN: 1846410010 | RRP: £14.00

• Stick Man: I'm not sure how much advice I can give surrounding this book as I only leafed through it in Waterstones, but the thing that immediately struck me is that it seems that the answers to a lot of the sample questions are directly underneath the questions themselves. Try as I might, I couldn't help but glance down at them before even reading the whole question - which in my opinion completely defeats the point. Perhaps you'll find more value in them if you have more self-control than I do. The other thing I noticed about this book (well, apart from the unsuitable title given that there is no pass mark for the LNAT, but that could be dismissed as pedantry) is that the essay section is measly and pretty much common sense. Still, I guess it's better than an essay section which is completely wrong.
• (Another review can go here)

Kaplan LNAT Book

Problems?

• If something's not-quite-right with the computer or you have any similar problems during the test, raise your hand and get the invigilator's attention there and then.
• If you need to contact Pearson after you've sat the test, for example if you need follow-up after an incident (where you should have an incident number given to you by the invigilator), their LNAT department's number is 0161 855 7448. If you can't get through on that line, the staff on their DSA line (0870 600 0067) are also usually just as willing to help.
• Remember: these numbers are for Pearson, not the LNAT Consortium. The only known way to contact the LNAT Consortium is online or by post.