How to do well in the LNAT

How To Do Well In The LNAT?

The LNAT was created in 2004 as an additional selection tool for admissions tutors to use to select the best students to admit to their universities. For you, the applicant, it is an additional challenge and opportunity to prove your ability. While factual knowledge is not tested in the LNAT, it is a test of aptitude and skills. As such, your performance will improve through preparation. This guide is designed to provide some help as to what is it is and how to tackle it.

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The LNAT (National Admissions Test for Law) is a test designed to assess your potential to perform in a law degree. All applicants to the law schools of the Universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Glasgow, King's College London, Manchester Metropolitan, Nottingham, Oxford and University College London will be required to sit the LNAT.

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The test may be taken from 1 September 2006 until 15 January 2007, or 1 November 2006 for Oxford and Cambridge applicants. The LNAT is to be used by Universities as a tool that will enable more informed and equitable selection decisions to be made as to the suitability of applicants. It will complement the rest of your educational record presented on the UCAS form, as a standardized test of your skills.

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The LNAT does not require prior study of the Law—it tests aptitude and intellectual skill rather than specific knowledge. It is a two hour test, comprising two sections; Section A which is an 80 mins multiple choice paper, and Section B which is 40 mind essays task.

What
Section A: Multiple Choice - Reading Comprehension

[INDENT] The Reading Comprehension section comprises of ten passages, each of 300 to 600 words, with 3 multiple-choice questions per passage. Each question tests an aspect of your comprehension of the passage. For example "which of the following is the author's main argument in the passage?" and "which of the following is not stated in the article?" The passages are typically taken from newspaper articles, scholarly books and magazines. The issues they deal with are the natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities. Each question is worth one mark and the final score will be out of 30. This is a difficult section but, with practice, you can excel. [/INDENT]

Section B: Essay

[INDENT] In Section B you are required to type an academic essay, answering one of five questions. There are 40 minutes allocated to this section. The essay questions are on topical issues in the humanities such as education, politics and the environment. The word limit is 750. [/INDENT]

HowThe LNAT is part of the package of information about you sent to universities. It is a factor which will be used to distinguish you from the hundreds of other applicants who have the same grades as you. A high score in the LNAT can even compensate for lower marks in other exams.

HowSlow Down

[INDENT] You can instantly improve your score and hence your chances of admission into the University of your choice by slowing down! The benefit of spending a few extra seconds on a question can be huge. In this extra time you are far more likely to spot that crucial word or make that crucial judgement. [/INDENT]

Answer Everything

[INDENT] There is no negative mark for getting a question wrong. This means that in order to maximize your mark, you should give an answer for every question. [/INDENT]

Eliminate

[INDENT] The best thing about multiple choice exams is that the right answer is there in front of you. However, it is the test writers' job to disguise the right answer and surround it with alternatives which look as good as, if not better than, the real one! So, to crack the LNAT, you must eliminate all the incorrect answers ... [/INDENT]

Attitude

[INDENT] Attack every answer- find something that's wrong with it and cross it off. Take a critical attitude. Think like a lawyer - pick the holes in any answer. Don't hunt for reasons why it might be right, dig out the reasons why it is wrong. With this mindset, you will eliminate wrong answers and do better on any multiple choice test. This is far better than the opposite mindset: trying to find the right answer. [/INDENT]

Misreading
[INDENT]
One of the most common mistakes on the LNAT is to misread sentences. In the key sentences, just about every word is crucial to the meaning. Simply mistaking a 'should' for a 'could', because of carelessness is a sure way to fail. You will be misunderstanding the question, the
passage, and the answers.

Avoid misreading sentences by using these techniques:

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Read carefully and deliberately.

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Maintain a confident and critical attitude. Remember - these are two of the skills you will need to succeed in a law degree.

[/INDENT]

Practice ... Practice ... Practice

[INDENT] The central element of preparation is practice. To ensure that your practice is beneficial, consciously analyse your mistakes and learn from them. You may find yourself making errors consistently in the same type of questions or in the same part of the test. [/INDENT]

HowThere are three criteria for choosing which question to answer: [INDENT]

1.

Knowledge

[INDENT]While you do not have to be knowledgeable on the subject to write a good essay, having a solid understanding of the issue can certainly help. When deciding upon a question to answer, consider the degree of your knowledge on both sides of the issue. For example, if you are passionate about animal rights yet are not familiar with the arguments in favour of fox hunting, avoid the temptation to leap into an essay on the subject.[/INDENT]

2.

Understanding

[INDENT]It is essential that you understand all the terms used in the question you decide upon. A lack of understanding of the question will at best result in a less relevant essay and at worst may lead to embarrassment. For example, if the question under consideration is a comparison of opposing quotations, ensure you understand what each quotation means. If you do not understand both it would be wise consider another question. However, you are free to define terms however you like, so long as you can construct a well argued essay. So, if you are not certain what a term means, but have an idea for an argument based on a specific interpretation of that term, then define that in your essay. [/INDENT]

3.

Interest
[INDENT]If you are interested in a subject, then you will inevitably write a better essay. Therefore, take into account how interesting you find an issue before answering a question on it.[/INDENT]

[/INDENT]

The order of your thinking is essential to planning a good essay. Once you have chosen your question you will have an idea of your general thoughts on the issue. At this point it is crucial to get a clear conception of what your conclusion will be and then work backwards from that. Now, you can write your essay from your plan. Be positive, confident and focused. Be efficient but do not rush. A strong introduction and conclusion are essential. In the conclusion, do not simply repeat what you have already written. Leave enough time to write a punchy conclusion that ties together all your points.

Lastly, check for errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. Here you can add any vital information which you may have overlooked. If you find you have written anything which is confusing, irrelevant or misplaced, then delete it.

Practice
QUE -

Schools

The government is considering a re-think with regards to its policy on school selection. Originally the proposed new 'flagship' secondary schools, which are to form the centrepiece of Labour's education policy, were to be at least partially selective with up to ten percent of students being chosen through aptitude tests. It was argued that these specialist schools, which will select primarily based upon ability in subjects such as music, sport and design, do not represent a regression towards the grammar school system and the much maligned 11-plus examination where pupils were segregated according to academic aptitude. The specialist schools would create a diversification in the educational system allowing talented youngsters to concentrate on the areas they are gifted in, but without segregating schools into a higher and lower stream. However, the House of Commons Education Select Committee has made a series of severe criticisms of Tony Blair and other ministers for backtracking on their manifesto pledge that selection would not be allowed to re-enter the state education system. In what is beginning to bear some resemblance to the debate over foundation hospitals it seems that again this government's choice of the so-called 'third way' has led to accusation of betrayal by grass roots supporters and back bench MPs.
Setting the ideological connotations of the word 'selection' aside, a rational consideration of selective specialisation in education produces a less one-dimensional evaluation. With regard to academic ability or technical skills the prevailing opinion amongst education experts and ministers is firmly against selection. Contrastingly in the areas of music and sport in particular governmental opinion is inclined the other way and there is a large degree of evidence which shows that allowing talented children to concentrate on their particular area has an overwhelmingly positive impact on their attention levels whilst in school. It would seem that at least some form of selection would be necessary for specialised talents to be made apparent. However, in these particular areas it can be argued that after-school activities are a more appropriate forum for advancement without prejudicing the pupil's academic prospects. Whether or not we want selection in our schools is an issue that cannot be discussed independently of what role we wish state education to play in our society. If we are to subscribe to the government's policy of diversification and specialisation then we need not agree with its policy on selection but we must consider selection within the context of a particular educational system. The debate on this issue must be well informed and not fall back to entrenched opinions concerning the moribund policy of pure selection by ability as seen in the past.

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Reply 1

Lord Hysteria

OP

18

Solemn Wanderer

May I suggest an amendment. "How to do well in the LNAT" is not a question but a title and should, therefore, not be crowned with a question mark. :smile:

SW, you have done your LNAT? Have you? Did it go well?

Reply 2

Tory_boy

2

Yep, Sol sat the LNAT. Of course, he didn't even have to perform to as high a standard as required at most other "LNAT" universities.

Reply 3

Birchington

20

Does anyone know if there are any decent practise LNAT tests online?

Reply 4

Lord Hysteria

OP

18

Birchington

Does anyone know if there are any decent practise LNAT tests online?

No ... but I have a few which I am working on uploading ... but it will take sometime ... :s-smilie:

Reply 5

Denny Crane

13

Great post, this will help me a lot, later this summer.

Reply 6

eve_22

18

Denny Crane

Great post, this will help me a lot, later this summer.

LNAT is one of the things I dread the most...English not being my first language I find it challenging to grasp the texts when there is a time limit on each one...I am taking the one day course at KAPLAN and reading critical thinking book at the moment to introduce myseld to various techniques...

If things do not seem to improve, I will probably apply for 5 hour private tuition at Kaplan this august and see if it can help me...I am desperate to do well and believe that every little thing I do to improve my skills will benefit me in some sort of way... :confused:

Reply 7

Lord Hysteria

OP

18

I am going to upload past papers on the LNAT but itis taking me time

Reply 8

Lord Lawz

Preparation is not the key to success, in my opinion, and in fact can be counter-productive. The whole point of the LNAT is that it is designed so that you can't prepare specifically for it. Of course, there are ways to improve your score and essay. Unfortunately, it's not done by doing endless past papers. It's done by reading- newspapers and books. You could do worse than pick up a book on logic, e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logic-Book-Merrie-Bergmann/dp/0079130836/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211891906&sr=8-1

Doing the past paper on the website should be sufficient to get a feel of the exam. If you're really nervous buy an LNAT book, and try one or two of the exercises. Though I got 25/30 (average is 16/17) in the LNAT and didn't buy one.

Reply 9

Lord Hysteria

OP

18

Your the only person hinting at doing endless past papers - not me.

I advocate practice, at what, reading & comprehension - so do you which is ultimately a way to prepare for the LNAT, so it is not counter-productive.

Reply 10

Lord Lawz

You were getting ready to produce a list of past papers and your advice for multiple choice ('practice, practice, practice') could be interpreted, although you may have meant entirely reading newspapers and books, as doing past multiple choice papers. Yes, it is reading but they're usually extracts of articles and books - it's not the same as reading articles and books. It's also been shown by pyschologists that the more you read long pieces of prose, i.e. books, the faster your reading speed. It has far less effect when reading small disjointed passages.

Kaplan, to the poster above, to my knowledge is pretty much a scam. They claim to have the 'magic formula' to succeed in the LNAT (this is absolutely true!!!). My friends dropped some LNAT books at my house. I had taken it already but read them out of curiosity and found a lot of the advice was really 'advice' - i.e. spelling/grammar. Most of what they said was just fill up pages. My friend took a Kaplan class, studied really hard for the LNAT and got 13/30. He ended up at Durham but was brighter than me and should have gone to Cambridge. He's not an isolated case. When I compared scores with my friends, those of us who got the highest marks did the least preparation. Imagine that.

Reply 11

Lord Hysteria

OP

18

Lord Lawz

Kaplan, to the poster above, to my knowledge is pretty much a scam. They claim to have the 'magic formula' to succeed in the LNAT (this is absolutely true!!!). My friends dropped some LNAT books at my house. I had taken it already but read them out of curiosity and found a lot of the advice was really 'advice' - i.e. spelling/grammar. Most of what they said was just fill up pages. My friend took a Kaplan class, studied really hard for the LNAT and got 13/30. He ended up at Durham but was brighter than me and should have gone to Cambridge. He's not an isolated case. When I compared scores with my friends, those of us who got the highest marks did the least preparation. Imagine that.

Ha ha - it is no more than an market niche and business people love that.
of course, you are right ... how is a book supposed to teach you comprehension skills :confused:

Reply 12

{City17}

Lord Hysteria

Think about it, not being able to answer multiple choice quiz on some peculiar article on micro-atomic means that you can't succeed at law at university, considering at uni you never have to asl yourself "what is the author hinting at"?

that makes no sense

Reply 13

Lord Hysteria

OP

18

{City17}

that makes no sense

exactly.

Reply 14

Ad-Alta

14

Kudos to the Lord for the effort required to make such a big post, but imo, there's really no need to get so stressed about the LNAT; I did the practice test on the website about twice (although tbh there's really only a point doing it the first time, as after that you'll know the answers) - obviously if there's more than one test on there now, then you should do both.

However, I did NOTHING else to practice for it (not even the "reading a quality newspaper" fluff) and got 24. I wholeheartedly believe that it's one of those things you can't really revise/attempt to get better at - you either have the skill or not.

Regarding the essay section, the only advice I would give is do be generally aware of some current affairs stuff; tbf, the question I did I had some prior knowledge of (it was to do with reproductive technologies) but it had been in the news recently, so I did incorporate some of that.

With the questions, you either have the coarse/fine-grained skills, or you don't - you can get an IDEA of what you should be doing by taking the practice tests, but I found (I think a lot of people would agree) that the actual one is much harder.

Reply 15

Lewisy-boy

11

However, I've proved that, at Nottingham, the score is given the most importance (by talking to the admissions tutor bloke). Wrong it may be, but if a university signs up for the test only caring about the first (or second) part, because they believe the other part isn't that helpful to them, then so be it.

Reply 16

Lord Hysteria

OP

18

yes yes ... the reality is very much for that score!
Hence, I made this thread

Reply 17

Lewisy-boy

11

But you're also the man who thinks that treating your grades from Cambridge as an overall grade is a preilous practice ...

Reply 18

eve_22

18

I have just done the sample LNAT on the website and I wish it would have given me at least the score instead of counting it separately on the answer sheet... :frown:

Reply 19

Kolya

17

Lord Lawz

Preparation is not the key to success, in my opinion, and in fact can be counter-productive. The whole point of the LNAT is that it is designed so that you can't prepare specifically for it. Of course, there are ways to improve your score and essay. Unfortunately, it's not done by doing endless past papers. It's done by reading- newspapers and books. You could do worse than pick up a book on logic, e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logic-Book-Merrie-Bergmann/dp/0079130836/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211891906&sr=8-1

I think that this Critical Thinking book (and, after that, the one for unit 4) are one of the best ways to prepare for the multiple-choice test; they will certainly be better than a logic book. Applying the skills taught in the textbook to passages in newspaper articles and books should put one on a good footing; if one first understands the precise of terminology, and then practises, it will generally be better than just hoping the skills will develop naturally by reading. Of course, some people may develop those skills naturally, but it is not a given. In addition to this preparation, I think it is important to do practice tests from the LNAT and from Critical Thinking; close familiarity with the format and speed of the exam is an important factor in taking that extra step and doing exceptionally well.

How to do well in the LNAT

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