Law at Durham University

Hey there @katnix. Glad to know you're thinking of applying to Durham! I'm a current law student at Durham so hopefully I can answer your questions

1. UCAS does ask for your GCSEs and it's not something that just Durham specifically asks for. GCSEs usually do not play a deciding role in your application, it is mostly just to check whether you have proficiency in English or not because of the complexity of language in law degrees. If you have a predicted A*A*A*, it's good enough because it meets the minimum entry requirements.
2. Durham does consider personal mitigating factors in assessing your scores. In such cases, you can get a contextual offer with lower entry requirements. This link will help: https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/how-to-apply/what-happens-to-your-application/contextual-offers/
3. I don't think AS level scores count, but you can ask about that if you visit us on one of our open days that are scheduled for June and September 2022, or maybe just request a callback from our admissions team and they'll be happy to assist you. (https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/ask-us/)
4. For law, I'm pretty sure that A-levels and LNAT scores are the most important. So I'd suggest not to worry about your GCSEs and focusing on getting the right A-level scores.


Let me know if you have more questions and good luck with your future application

-Himieka (Official DU Rep)

So recently I had a change of careers paths and now interested in studying Law at University preferably Durham’s University as that has looks like a good university to study Law in and heard it’s one of the best universities in England. I currently study A-levels in : Biology , Psychology and Business studies. I got 5’s and 6’s for GCSEs. So I have a few questions on admission criteria and if I am likely to get in .
1) If I am predicted all A*A*A for A-levels am I likely to get an offer even though I had average gcse grades
2) I am currently doing AS-levels this year so next year will do my A-levels so if I get 3 A’s at my AS exams does Durham look at AS grades as part of there admission process and helps them give a holistic look at a candidates performance.
3) Also the school I did my gcses and A-levels at is a underperforming school I think according to the gov.uk website would Durham’s look at that as part of the reason I may not have performed so well in gcses and may consider me still.
4) If I do the LNAT and score quite a high score in that and write a good essay that impressed them how likely are there to ignore my gcse grades by any chance. If everything else I did extremely well on and I did go to a underperforming school for gcses and A-levels
I am applying for University next year in year 13 I am currently in year 12

Hi can you pls help me in selecting a suitable accommodation for my daughter who got an offer for law. Received a mail from Durham asking for accommodation preferences. She’s not a party person, loves to read, loves to cook, loves art and history, does not drink. Prefers to get an accommodation close to the law department. She’s an international student. Thanks in advance.

I am in year 13 and waiting for my Response from Durham for Law, so from what I have found out you do need to meet their gcse requirements which I believe is 5 and above in GCSE Maths and English just as a Uni standard. They probably won't look at your school and GCSE results in much depth unless you are able to receive a contextual offer.

For the LNAT Durham's average acceptance is 23 from what I have seen but I would aim for around 27-30 incase you want to apply for other unis.

For the essay section it's mainly to see whether or not you can established and formulate a coherent well structured argument.

I don't know how well I have done in my LNAT yet but what I would of done is to start practicing begging of September and say my test mid November, unless your applying for oxford then there is an lnat deadline beginning of October.

I sent my application mid January and sat my LNAT end of December so I feel really unorganised so I do suggest to start earlier to get more practice in.

p.s will keep updated if I get an offer ahaha

Hello JV Law , Thank you so much for replying to my thread. But I have a few questions if you don't mind. 1) So first one is that I do not qualify for a contexual offer for Law at Durham so would they look at my GCSE grades because my gcses grades were 5's and 6's at GCSE level. more closely then due to the fact I would be treated as a standard applicant. 2) What are your predicted grades for A-levels and what A-levels subjects do you do? Also Durham is the only LNAT school I am thinking of applying to the other 4 don't require the LNAT? Also can I ask which other universities you have applied for and if you received any offers for any of them or not ? Also wanna know what I should do to strengthen my application to Law at Durham other then prepare for the LNAT. Like would doing relevant work experience help my application? And yes please keep me updated if you do receive an offer for Law at Durham.

Hello, congratulations on your daughter's offer!

All colleges have some students who are not party people (like me) but still get on well in the university accommodation, although sometimes it may be difficult because of the noise from flat parties. She also doesn't have to drink and no college will force her to, so that should be okay.

If she loves to cook and wouldn't mind going to a self-catered college, that would be my suggestion. I honestly love cooking too and always knew self-catered would be my choice because I can have control over my meals. Self-catered colleges include John Snow, Stephenson, Josephine Butler, South. Castle and St. Cuthbert are partially self-catered.

All law lectures take place in the Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC) to which hill colleges are closer compared to the bailey colleges. Hence if she prefers not more than an 8-minute walk to the TLC and a self-catered college, she could choose from amongst John Snow, South, Josephine Butler and Stephenson. On the other hand, if she opts for catered and wants to live close to the TLC, St. Mary's and Grey are viable with Mary's being literally opposite to the TLC.

If you scroll down on this page, it will take you to a table where you can find the characteristics of different colleges and that should help too: https://www.durham.ac.uk/colleges-and-student-experience/colleges/#d.en.467132

Hope that helps

-Himieka (Official DU Rep)

Hi can you pls help me in selecting a suitable accommodation for my daughter who got an offer for law. Received a mail from Durham asking for accommodation preferences. She’s not a party person, loves to read, loves to cook, loves art and history, does not drink. Prefers to get an accommodation close to the law department. She’s an international student. Thanks in advance.