UCL or Durham Law?

I’ll be submitting my UCAS application in a week but I really can’t decide between these two unis! Any suggestions ? In terms of employability, internship opportunities, student life etc. also, which one has a more lenient lnat requirement? Since I’m not sure how I did but my essay was pretty bad

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

Original post

by hannahloveslaw

Better: UCL
Easier to get into: Durham

I'd honestly just recommend looking this stuff up. There's already a wealth of information out there regarding both actual admissions statistics and people's anecdotal experiences. But, to simplify, for law, Durham is much more lenient with the LNAT and probably has better student life, whillst UCL is much more prestigious (especially internationally) and is therefore more strict with the LNAT.

Reply 2

faqstudent

Per UCAS, excluding contextual offers, the highest achieved grades at both were A*A* A*, the most common at both A*AA and the lowest at Durham was AAB compared to ABB at UCL.

Of offer holders who missed by 1 grade & got AAA, 71% of them were admitted anyway at UCL compatred to 48% at Dur.

The industry view would be along these lines
https://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/where-to-start/newsletter/law-firms-preferred-universities-2019

Reply 3

Physician

Both universities have great reputations for Law in the UK. If you are outgoing, and want a well rounded student experience, then Durham might be for you. But one thing to be wary of is the college allocation, given that four of the colleges aren't that nice to look at. UCL has a much stronger international reputation all-round, and that might help if you intend to work for a large American law firm one day. The downside to UCL is the weak student experience, and you might feel yourself getting impatient after a few months at the uni. At UCL a lot of home students commute from their parent's home, whilst a lot of international students live in private accommodation. Only a relatively small number of home students from outside of London move to London to study there. The plus side is the current major renovation of the main quad, which will be completed by January 2026.

Reply 4

roguelady

Durham has a HUGE enrichment opportunities, especially in music and theatre, but in every other way possible. It is in a beautiful medieval city, close to greenery and fresh air, and choose well and your college will be your life. There are 17 colleges at Durham, and yes there are some ugly buildings as noted above, but nobody cares when they're crawling the 17 bars and ending up at out beloved sticky floor clubs.

There is everything you need as a student in Durham. No uni is perfect, but it offers outlets for any itch you might need to scratch outside academics, and nobody is going to sniff at a Durham degree. I'm not paid, it was hard last year for me, but I love this place now, my degree and teaching staff are fabulous, and considering we're now #3 in the country, what's not to love?

Yes, uni ratings vary on many points but let us lap it up for a bit.