Bristol Law, in numbers.
Five cycles. ~3,200 applicants per year. Bristol publishes the data; we plot it.
Bristol Law
OVERVIEW
Headline numbers
Bristol's LLB Law (M100) received 3,235 applications for the 2022 cycle and made 1,255 offers — an offer rate of 38.8%. 460 applicants accepted; 405 registered. Figures are rounded to the nearest 5 under HESA suppression rules.[1]
2022 OFFER RATE
Applications per place
7.99
3,235 apps / 405 registered (2022). The over-subscription ratio rose from 6.43 in 2018 to 7.99 in 2022.[1]
Contextual offers
255
~20% of all offers in 2022 carried Bristol's contextual lower-grades flag (mostly state-school, POLAR 1–2, care leavers).[1]
Home vs Overseas
73 / 27
Of 2022 applications, 2,360 (73%) were Home and 875 (27%) Overseas. Overseas offer rate is markedly higher.[1]
Three numbers worth fixing in your head
AAA
Standard A-level offer
Bristol's LLB standard offer is AAA at A-level. The contextual offer is AAB, available to applicants flagged via Bristol's contextual offer scheme.[2]
38.8%
Overall offer rate (2022)
Offer rate has fallen from 56.0% in 2018 to 38.8% in 2022 — Bristol is selecting harder as application volume climbs.[1]
0
LNATs sat (2024 entry onwards)
Bristol requires the LNAT from the 2024 cycle. Selection is now UCAS-form + grades only, with no interview.[3]
Five cycles, one chart
Applications climbed 29% in five years (2,510 to 3,235), while offers fell 10% (1,405 to 1,255). The result: Bristol's offer rate dropped from 56.0% to 38.8% over the window.[1] Registered intake has stayed in the 390-525 band.
Figure 1 · Five-cycle funnel
Applications
Offers
Accepted
Applications, offers, accepted
Source: Bristol SSIO admissions statistics, 2018-22 cycles. Figures HESA-rounded to nearest 5.[1]
| Cycle | Apps | Offers | Contextual offers | Accepted | Registered | Offer rate | Apps/place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2,510 | 1,405 | 325 | 445 | 390 | 56.0% | 6.4 |
| 2019 | 2,630 | 1,750 | 465 | 500 | 435 | 66.5% | 6.0 |
| 2020 | 2,940 | 1,990 | 540 | 605 | 525 | 67.7% | 5.6 |
| 2021 | 3,160 | 1,455 | 400 | 530 | 480 | 46.0% | 6.6 |
| 2022 | 3,235 | 1,255 | 255 | 460 | 405 | 38.8% | 8.0 |
What the trend tells you
- Applications up 29% over five years — from 2,510 (2018) to 3,235 (2022). Bristol Law is on a clear upward demand curve.[1]
- Offers down 11% — Bristol has tightened, particularly from 2020-21 onwards. The 2020 peak of 1,990 offers fell to 1,255 by 2022.
- Offer rate collapse from 67.7% (2020) to 38.8% (2022). Half the offers, same place count.
- Registered intake stable around 400–500. The capacity isn't moving — only the selectivity is.
- Contextual offers track the cycle. They peaked at 540 in 2020 and fell to 255 in 2022, in line with total offer volume.
Cycle for cycle, the bar is rising. If you compare your application to someone's from 2019, you're competing on a different curve. Treat the 2022 38.8% offer rate as the realistic baseline.
Inside the 2022 cycle
Bristol's SSIO data splits the Law funnel by applicant category. Home applicants face a substantially harsher offer rate than Overseas: 28% vs 68% in 2022.[1] That gap matters because Home applicants are the majority of the funnel — 73% of all applications.
Home (2022)
2,360 → 280
2,360 applications, 660 offers, 280 accepted, 245 registered. Offer rate 28.0%.[1]
Overseas (2022)
875 → 180
875 applications, 595 offers, 180 accepted, 160 registered. Offer rate 68.0%.
Contextual flag rate
38%
~38% of Bristol's 2022 Home offers carried a contextual flag (250 of 660). One in three Home offers is contextual.
Why the Home/Overseas gap? Bristol's Home pool overlaps heavily with Oxbridge, LSE and UCL applicants, so self-selection runs hard. The Overseas pool is more variable, and Overseas conversion (offer → accepted) sits at 31% vs 42% for Home, so Bristol issues offers more liberally.
The Bristol funnel, line by line (2022)
| Stage | Home | Overseas | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applications | 2,360 | 875 | 3,235 |
| Offers | 660 | 595 | 1,255 |
| — of which contextual | 250 | 5 | 255 |
| Accepted (firm) | 280 | 180 | 460 |
| Registered | 245 | 160 | 405 |
| Offer rate | 28.0% | 68.0% | 38.8% |
Data is rounded to nearest 5 under HESA disclosure rules so categories don't add exactly. The Home offer rate of 28% is the figure UK applicants should plan against.
Who applies, who gets in
Bristol's SSIO data splits Law applications, offers, accepted and registered by school type, ethnicity, gender, POLAR3 and disability. State-school applicants take 47% of acceptances, the ethnicity gap shows mostly at the offer-to-accepted stage, and POLAR3 quintile 5 dominates the applicant pool.[1]
School type
| Group | Apps | Offers | Accepted | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State school | 1,860 | 515 | 210 | 27.7% |
| Independent school | 355 | 150 | 55 | 42.3% |
| Other / unknown | 1,025 | 585 | 185 | 57.1% |
Independent-school applicants have a noticeably higher offer rate than state-school (42% vs 28%). The "Other" bucket — largely Overseas and mature applicants for whom Bristol can't classify the school — sits at 57%, driven mostly by Overseas. Of accepted students, state-school account for 47% (210 of 450 classified).
Ethnicity
| Group | Apps | Offers | Accepted | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 1,485 | 425 | 200 | 28.6% |
| Asian | 350 | 165 | 95 | 47.1% |
| Black | 190 | 55 | 15 | 28.9% |
| Mixed | 190 | 60 | 30 | 31.6% |
| Other | 90 | 45 | 30 | 50.0% |
| Unknown | 930 | 505 | 80 | 54.3% |
The Black applicant pool has a similar offer rate to White (~29%) but a much lower accepted-conversion: 15 out of 55 offers (27%) vs 200 out of 425 for White (47%). Bristol publishes the numbers but not the underlying conversion drivers.
POLAR3 quintile (Home applicants only)
POLAR3 measures HE participation in the applicant's home postcode. Quintile 1 = lowest participation. Bristol's Law applicant pool leans towards quintile 5 (highest participation areas), broadly matching the national pattern for selective Law programmes.
[DATA GAP: Bristol's 2022 POLAR3 CSV is present but a clean per-quintile breakdown for Law UG would need re-aggregation across study levels — pending a follow-up parse.]
Gender
| Group | Apps | Offers | Accepted | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 2,210 | 885 | 315 | 40.0% |
| Male | 1,025 | 370 | 145 | 36.1% |
Bristol's applicant pool is 68% female (2,210 of 3,235). The offer-rate gap is small — 40% female vs 36% male — and reverses the Oxford pattern (where male applicants have a higher offer rate).
Sources cited on this page
Every numerical claim above ends in a [n] superscript that links here. Click any link to open the SSIO dataset page or admissions statement from which the figure was retrieved.
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[1]
University of Bristol — SSIO Applicant Statistics 2018–2022 DATASET
Multi-year CSV dataset published by Bristol's Education Administration Office. Applications, offers, contextual offers, accepted, registered by year, faculty, school, study level and applicant category. Rounded to nearest 5 under HESA suppression rules.
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[2]
University of Bristol — LLB Law (M100) course page COURSE PAGE
Bristol's standard offer (AAA) and contextual offer (AAB) for the LLB, with current entry requirements and selection criteria.
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[3]
LNAT consortium — list of participating universities OFFICIAL
Bristol is not listed among the LNAT consortium universities for 2024 entry onwards. Bristol requires the LNAT requirement after the 2023 cycle.
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[4]
University of Bristol — Law Admissions Statement 2024 REPORT
Bristol's annual undergraduate admissions statement for the LLB. Sets out selection criteria, contextual offer eligibility, and the post-LNAT selection model.