Jurica
Four chapters, built from primary admissions data.
Cambridge’s standard offer for Law is A*AA, but most of its Law students achieve more. This chapter explains the A-level offer, how Cambridge reads your GCSEs and your background, and how the colleges draw up their shortlists.
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Try Jurica for freeCambridge’s standard offer for Law is A*AA at A-level.[4] There is no single Faculty ranking of the kind Oxford uses. Instead, each college draws up its own shortlist, weighing your GCSEs, your A-level predictions, the LNAT (which every Law applicant must sit by 15 October 2026), your personal statement and your reference, and then interviews the candidates it has shortlisted. The number of interviews varies from college to college.
This means there is no published formula that turns your grades into a place on the shortlist. Having said that, Cambridge’s own figures show that most of the students it admits have grades well above the minimum offer, so you should not read A*AA as a typical profile.
The standard offer is A*AA at A-level (41 to 42 points in the IB, with 776 at Higher Level), and Cambridge asks for no particular subjects.[4] Most of its Law students had studied at least one of English, History, a language, Economics, Law, Mathematics, Psychology or a science, and other common subjects include Classical Civilisation, Further Mathematics, Geography, Politics, Music, Philosophy, Religious Studies and Sociology. Cambridge adds that these are common combinations, which does not mean they are favoured.[4]
There are four points to bear in mind about the offer:
A great deal, it seems. An FOI reply of September 2025 lists every A-level applicant to Law for the 2021 to 2025 cycles, with their predicted grades and whether they received an offer.[18] The chart groups the five years together by each applicant’s best three predicted grades.
| Best three predicted grades | Applicants | Offers | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| A*A*A* | 2,078 | 560 | 26.9% |
| A*A*A | 1,511 | 173 | 11.4% |
| A*AA | 1,208 | 67 | 5.5% |
| AAA | 156 | 1 | 0.6% |
| Other | 161 | 2 | 1.2% |
As you can see, applicants predicted A*A*A* were about five times as likely to receive an offer as those predicted A*AA (26.9% against 5.5%), and applicants predicted below the minimum offer almost never did: 3 offers from 317 applicants.[18] (The 566 applicants without three predicted grades are left out.) Note, however, that the reply has no LNAT column, so it cannot show how much of this difference comes from the grades themselves and how much from the other strengths that applicants with high predictions tend to have. Having said that, if you are predicted A*AA, you should not assume that meeting the minimum offer is enough. The rest of your application, and your LNAT in particular, will have to show the colleges more.
Two colleges have released the predicted grades of the Law students who started in October 2026. Trinity’s reply counts its 12 students by their predictions.[15]
As you can see, seven of the twelve were predicted at least three A*s, and three of them were predicted four. One was predicted A*A*A, and the reply does not say what the remaining four (“Other”) were predicted, or whether they took A-levels at all.[15] Christ’s, which admitted two Law students from its December 2025 interviews, said only that they were predicted A* in Biology, Economics, English Literature, History, Maths and Further Maths.[16] Note that these colleges keep no records of unsuccessful applicants, so the figures describe students who were admitted, not everyone who applied.[15][16]
Almost all Cambridge Law offers are conditional, usually on A*AA. You will receive an unconditional offer only if you have already completed your qualifications and achieved the grades needed (for example, if you are applying in a gap year with your results in hand).
In August, colleges consider a small number of applicants for any places they still have: offer holders who narrowly missed their conditions, and applicants being reconsidered through the August Reconsideration Pool.[10] In the 2025 cycle, 291 Law offers led to 232 confirmed places. The difference is made up of offer holders who missed their conditions or did not take up the place.[1]
They do, but Cambridge uses them less mechanically than Oxford uses its contextualised GCSE score. There are no GCSE requirements for entry. The colleges read your results as an indicator of academic performance, in the context of the school where you took them.[12] Note that this school data is not something your school sends. Cambridge researchers produce it from the Department for Education’s National Pupil Database, which covers schools in England only.[6]
Cambridge also computes an “adjusted GCSE score” for each applicant. This is most often a simple count of A*, 8 and 9 grades, but for pupils from schools where the mean “sum of best 8 GCSE score” is below 40, grades of 7 or A are counted as well.[6] Cambridge does not publish a rule that turns this score into a weight in shortlisting. Its guidance treats the GCSE record as one of several things the colleges consider, whereas at Oxford the contextualised GCSE score made up 80% of the shortlisting rank in the 2025-26 round.
Very little. Cambridge’s annual statistics reports contain no GCSE table, for Law or for any other course. The 2025-cycle report breaks admissions down by A-level profile, school type, region and other measures, but not by GCSE grades.[1] The University’s statistics dashboard lists applicant qualifications among the things it covers,[2] but we do not hold a reliable GCSE distribution for admitted Law students, so this chapter does not give one.
Cambridge has no scheme of lower offers: it says it does not use contextual data to make offers at lower grades as a matter of course.[6] Instead, it flags applications and reads them with those flags in view.
There are two kinds of flag that you do not need to do anything about, because Cambridge works them out from data it already holds:[6]
Disruption to your studies is reported separately. The Extenuating Circumstances Form (ECF) that older guides describe is no longer used. For 2027 entry, your teacher declares most extenuating circumstances in the UCAS reference; where that is not possible, a relevant professional (such as a doctor or care worker) emails the college assessing your application. Any extra information is due by 22 October 2026.[7]
In the 2025 cycle, students from state (maintained-sector) schools made up 72.5% of Cambridge’s Home acceptances from UK schools, up from 71.0% the year before. Cambridge publishes the figure for Law as well: 76.3% in the 2025 cycle.[1] As the chart shows, Law has been above the figure for all courses in every year since 2018, although its share has fallen since 2019.[1][17]
Make sure your circumstances are reported. The postcode and school flags come from data Cambridge already holds, but disruption to your studies does not. If you have a case (for example, disruption at school or a family circumstance), make sure your teacher sets it out in the UCAS reference, or that a doctor or care worker emails the college by 22 October 2026. If nobody reports it, the college will not know about it.[7]
Cambridge has no Oxford-style 80/10/10 ranking. Each college shortlists its Law applicants in its own way. According to Cambridge’s guidance, colleges consider your academic record, school reference, personal statement, admissions test and contextual data together,[10] and the Faculty says the LNAT is used, along with all the other relevant information, to decide who is invited to interview.[8]
Every Law applicant, at every college, must sit the LNAT before the colleges shortlist. You take it at a test centre, and it lasts 2 hours 15 minutes: 42 multiple-choice questions on 12 passages in 95 minutes, then one essay from a choice of three in 40 minutes. For 2027 entry you register and book between 1 August and 15 September 2026 and sit the test by 15 October 2026. Cambridge uses both sections and marks the essay itself.[8] Mature applicants who apply in the January round have a later deadline.
Note that the requirement is the University’s, not a college’s, so there is nothing to check college by college, and there is no separate test for Law at interview.[5] Older guides describe the Cambridge Law Test, a one-hour essay that candidates sat when they came for interview. It was last used for 2022 entry; the LNAT has been required since the autumn 2022 round, for 2023 entry.[9]
The process at each college runs roughly as follows:
If a college cannot offer a place to an applicant it rates highly, it can put them in the pool shared by all the colleges, and another college can then offer them a place. About a fifth of all Cambridge offers each year are made this way, by a college other than the one the applicant applied to (19.5% in the 2025 cycle),[1] although the annual reports give no figure for Law alone.
How does this differ from Oxford? Cambridge publishes no weights. Whereas Oxford’s contextualised GCSE score made up 80% of the shortlisting rank in 2025-26, Cambridge says its colleges consider all the information together and are most interested in your academic ability, as shown in your most recent and relevant performance.[10] The interview is one part of that picture, and Cambridge does not say that it counts for more than the written application, or less.
How you divide your time should depend on where you are starting from. Below we set out our advice for four common kinds of applicant.
Suppose you are at a high-achieving school, with A*A*A predicted and nine or more A*s at GCSE. An application like this is competitive at any college, but an interview is not guaranteed: Cambridge says a strong performance in the test is usually needed to get through.[5] Once you have sat the LNAT, the part you can still influence is the interview, and in particular how you handle the unseen legal problems tutors ask about.
What we recommend. Before the test (by 15 October 2026), give most of your time to LNAT practice papers. After it, spend about half your remaining time on interview practice (mock interviews and legal problems) and the rest on wider reading, such as legal theory and cases on statutory interpretation. There is no need to revisit your GCSEs, which are already done.
Suppose you are at an average school, with A*AA predicted and six to eight A*s at GCSE. Your predictions meet the published offer, but 67% of the A-level entrants in the cohorts Cambridge reports (2018, 2019 and 2023) achieved at least A*A*A.[4] Since the colleges weigh the whole application and use the LNAT in deciding whom to interview, a strong LNAT score and a confident interview are the parts still in your hands.
What we recommend. Divide your time roughly equally between LNAT preparation (timed multiple-choice practice and structured essays, all before 15 October 2026), interview practice and reading around the subject. You may also wish to consider colleges with fewer applicants, such as Churchill, Robinson or Murray Edwards (which takes women only[14]), but check the college’s own offer first: Churchill is one of the five that set extra conditions.[4]
Suppose your school is disadvantaged but your own record is strong. Cambridge takes your background into account through flags on your application and the judgement of college tutors, not through a published formula, and there is no scheme of lower offers.[6] If your studies were disrupted, make sure your teacher sets out the details in the UCAS reference, or that a relevant professional emails the college by 22 October 2026.[7]
What we recommend. Apply, even if you doubt your chances. Your LNAT score will be read alongside your contextual flags and, if you are shortlisted, your interview. If a college you are considering runs outreach for applicants from schools like yours, its admissions staff are a good source of advice on applying.
About 30% of Cambridge’s Law applicants are international.[2] You sit the same LNAT as every other applicant, at a test centre near you, by 15 October 2026.[8] For 2027 entry, 17 of the 29 colleges interview all Law applicants online and four (Churchill, Emmanuel, King’s and Selwyn) interview everyone in person; the other eight interview applicants based outside the UK online or let them choose.[11]
What we recommend. Plan the LNAT early: for 2027 entry you register and book between 1 August and 15 September 2026, and you sit the test by 15 October 2026 at a Pearson VUE centre near you. We also suggest getting to know the Cambridge interview format, and checking whether your college interviews online or in person.
Every numerical claim above ends in a [n] superscript that links here. Click any link to open the primary report or dataset from which the figure was retrieved.
Published May 2026; covers applications from September 2024 for entry in October 2025. Law: 1,654 applications, 291 offers, 232 acceptances, a 14.0% success rate (Table 1.1). Also the A-Level profile of those accepted (Table 4.1), the maintained-sector share by course (Table 2.2) and the winter pool (Table 12.1). The report has no GCSE table.
The statistics dashboard on this page gives applications, offers and acceptances by course and college, and lists applicant qualifications among its contents. Applications from outside the UK were 30.1% of Law’s total in the 2023 apply year, 30.9% in 2024 and 30.1% in 2025 (dashboard as read on 8 May 2026). The annual PDF reports do not split Law by domicile.
Minimum offer (A*AA; IB 41–42 points with 776 at Higher Level), no required subjects, the subjects entrants commonly studied, the five colleges that set extra conditions, what recent entrants achieved, and the requirement that all Law applicants take the LNAT.
For 2027 entry. For Law the only test listed is the LNAT, taken at a test centre before colleges shortlist for interview. There is no pass or fail mark; a strong performance is usually needed to get through to interview, and the score is looked at again with the rest of the application.
The postcode and school flags, the adjusted GCSE score, where the school GCSE data comes from, and Cambridge’s statement that it does not use contextual data to systematically make offers at lower grades. Last updated November 2025, for 2026 entry or later.
For 2027 entry most extenuating circumstances are declared by your teacher in the UCAS reference. If that is not possible, a relevant professional such as a doctor or care worker emails the college, using Cambridge’s template. Extra information is due by 22 October 2026 for applicants who met the 15 October UCAS deadline.
The LNAT is required of Law applicants for 2027 entry as a pre-interview assessment: register and book between 1 August and 15 September, and sit the test by Cambridge’s 15 October 2026 UCAS deadline. Gives the format (42 multiple-choice questions on 12 passages in 95 minutes, then one essay in 40 minutes) and says Cambridge uses both sections, marks the essay centrally, and uses the test in deciding who is invited to interview and in selection.
Archive copy. States that from the autumn 2022 admissions cycle, for 2023 entry, applicants must sit the LNAT and that the Cambridge Law Test will no longer be used. The Cambridge Law Test itself (one hour, one essay question, sat at interview) is described on the Faculty’s page for it as archived on 17 January 2022: web.archive.org/web/20220117162247/https://www.ba.law.cam.ac.uk/applying/cambridge-law-test
What colleges consider (academic record, school reference, personal statement, any written work, the admissions test, contextual data and extenuating circumstances, and the interview), all weighed together, with most interest in academic ability as shown in recent performance. Also explains the winter pool and the August pools.
For 2027 entry: main interview period 7 to 18 December 2026; most applicants have one or two interviews; a table gives each college’s interview format, online or in person. The page gives no share of applicants interviewed.
There are no GCSE requirements for entry. GCSE results are read as an indicator of academic performance, in the context of the school or college where they were taken.
The college’s own Law page, read on 10 October 2026: minimum offer A*A*A at A-Level.
Murray Edwards and Newnham accept applications from women only. Hughes Hall, St Edmund’s and Wolfson are for students aged 21 or over.
Reply of 2 October 2026 to Jazz Singh’s request of 22 August 2026, with the spreadsheet "Jazz Singh Law data.xlsx". It covers the 12 applicants accepted for Law in the 2026 cycle only, because the College keeps no information on unsuccessful applicants: four interview marks for each student (no scale is given), each student’s Section A score and essay mark, and their predicted grades (A*A*A*A* 3, A*A*A* 4, A*A*A 1, other 4).
Reply of 23 September 2026 to a request of 23 August 2026. The College has destroyed the records of unsuccessful 2026 applicants, including those pooled to other colleges. For the two applicants it interviewed in December 2025 who took up a place in October 2026 it gave ranges only: interview 5 to 10, Section A 24 to 31, essay 9 to 10, and A* predictions in Biology, Economics, English Literature, History, Maths and Further Maths.
The earlier annual reports, linked from the statistics page. Winter pool: offers made by a college other than the one applied to were between 16.0% (2021) and 21.1% (2015) of all offers. Law’s share of Home acceptances from UK schools that came from the maintained sector: 73.4% (2018), 84.3%, 83.1%, 80.5%, 82.8%, 79.3% and 78.9% (2024); all courses 65.2% (2018) to 71.0% (2024).
Reply of 29 September 2025 to J. Prince’s request of 5 September 2025. One row for each A-level applicant to Law for the 2021 to 2025 cycles, with predicted and achieved grades and whether they received an offer. It has no LNAT column. Counting by best three predicted grades over the five years: A*A*A* 560 offers from 2,078 applicants, A*A*A 173 from 1,511, A*AA 67 from 1,208, AAA 1 from 156, other grades 2 from 161; 566 applicants without three predicted grades are left out.
The other chapters of the Cambridge Law guide, plus the sources.
Headline numbers, eleven-cycle funnel, demographic baseline.
Open Overview →College averages for three cycles, the 2026 entrants and a score calculator.
Open LNAT →Structure, what tutors look for, sample questions, tips.
Open Interview →Figures are taken from the University’s and its colleges’ own pages and reports.
View the sources →