What LNAT score do you need for Cambridge Law?

How does Cambridge use the LNAT?

Every Law applicant to Cambridge, at every college, sits the LNAT before the colleges decide whom to interview.^[15] The Faculty says the test is used to “deselect applicants” (that is, along with everything else in your application, to decide who is invited to interview) and again in the selection of applicants after interview. Cambridge uses both sections, and it marks the essay itself.^[13]

The LNAT is not new to Cambridge. The University was a founder member of the LNAT Consortium, introduced the test in 2004 and required it up to 2009 entry.^[30] It then replaced the LNAT with the Cambridge Law Test, a written paper sat at interview, and brought the LNAT back from the autumn 2022 admissions cycle (for 2023 entry), when the Cambridge Law Test was dropped.^[36] This means there are three cycles of LNAT data so far, for 2023, 2024 and 2025 entry, and across them the average Section A score of offer holders has hardly moved: 29.33, 30.06 and 29.99.^[1][2][3]

Note that Cambridge’s college-by-college replies give no University-wide average. They give the lowest, average and highest score at each of the 29 colleges, so the averages on this page are our unweighted means of the 29 college averages. (Weighting each college by its number of applicants changes them by less than a fifth of a mark.) The one University-wide figure we have found agrees closely: a 2023 reply gave the average of all Law offer holders for 2023 entry as 29.43 on Section A and 7.55 on the essay,^[37] against our 29.33 and 7.45.

The Section A figures are very close to Oxford’s. At both universities offer holders score about 30, and at Oxford the gap between all applicants and offer holders was between 5.5 and 6.5 marks in each of its last two rounds,^[32][33] compared with about 5 marks at Cambridge. The essay, on the other hand, is marked on a different scale at each university, as we explain below.

How is Cambridge different from Oxford?

If you are deciding between the two (you cannot apply to both in the same year), there are five differences worth knowing about.

1. The deadlines are the same, but Cambridge has a second form. For 2027 entry, its UCAS deadline is 15 October 2026 at 6pm UK time, the same day as Oxford’s, and at both universities the LNAT must be sat by 15 October 2026.^[31] The difference is Cambridge’s own form, My Cambridge Application, which is due a week later, on 22 October 2026 at 6pm.^[18]
2. Cambridge has 29 undergraduate colleges, all of which admit Law students,^[16] while Oxford has 31 colleges offering Law.^[35] Some names are the same (Trinity, Jesus, St John’s and others), but the colleges have nothing to do with their Oxford namesakes. The college-by-college LNAT figures in this chapter were released by the University’s Information Compliance Office in reply to Freedom of Information requests. St John’s, Trinity, Queens’ and Christ’s answered requests themselves.
3. The essay is marked on a different scale. Cambridge marks the LNAT essay on a scale of 1 to 10. Oxford marks essays by comparing them in pairs (using No More Marking) and reports the result as a score out of 100.^[32] The two scales cannot be converted into each other, so a Cambridge 7 is not the same as an Oxford 70.
4. Each college runs its own interviews. Cambridge invites “many applicants” to interview, and everyone who is made an offer will have been interviewed, but it publishes no interview rate for Law.^[20] The number and format of interviews vary from college to college: most applicants have one or two, and for 2027 entry 17 of the 29 colleges interview Law applicants online. The main interview period is 7 to 18 December 2026.^[20] What is discussed also varies, and some colleges set reading beforehand (King’s a short factual scenario with a set of legal provisions, St John’s an unseen legal text).^[22][23] You do not need any knowledge of law.^[21]
5. Cambridge has a winter pool. Applicants whose own college cannot offer them a place may be placed in the winter pool in January, and other colleges can then offer them a place. In January 2026, across all courses, about one in four pooled applicants was offered a place by a different college.^[25]

What the Cambridge data can and cannot tell you

Cambridge releases, for each college, the lowest, average and highest Section A and essay scores of its applicants and of its offer holders. It does not release a score for each applicant, as Oxford has done. You can therefore see averages and ranges, but not how many applicants scored 28, say, or what share of them received an offer. The college figures are complete, however: every one of the 29 colleges is covered in each of the three years.^[1][2][3]

How many applicants are interviewed?

Cambridge admits about 230 Law students a year (230, 236 and 232 in the 2023, 2024 and 2025 cycles). Applications were 1,580, 1,604 and 1,654 in those cycles, and offers 280, 288 and 291, so the offer rate has stayed at about 18%.^[17]

How many of these applicants reach interview? Unfortunately, Cambridge does not say. Its interviews page says only that “many applicants” are invited,^[20] and the figure it used to give (around 75% of Home applicants) covered all courses in earlier years and has since been removed. Oxford, by comparison, interviewed about 30% of its Law applicants in each of its last two rounds.^[32][33] The University does say that there is no pass mark, but that a strong test performance is usually needed to get through to interview.^[24]

The published data cannot tell you, then, whether a score in the mid-20s is more likely to lead to an interview at Cambridge than at Oxford. It does show that offers go well below the averages: for 2025 entry the lowest Section A score among offer holders was 18, at Churchill, Girton and Robinson.^[3]

How does the offer rate rise with your score?

No reply gives the offer rate at each Section A score for all Cambridge applicants. A request for the number of applicants and offer holders at each score in the 2026 cycle was refused in March 2026, while the round was still open.^[12] The nearest is a reply on the 104 applicants who applied with IB predictions for 2023 entry, which lists each one’s Section A score and whether they received an offer (21 did).^[37]

The pattern is much the same as at Oxford. None of the 19 applicants who scored below 23 received an offer, and only one of the 20 who scored 23 to 25 did. From 26 upwards the rate rises steadily, to 35% at 29 to 31 and 42% at 32 or more.^[37] Note that these are small numbers, for one group of applicants in one year, so treat them as a rough guide. Even so, they support the target we suggest below: a score of about 30 puts you where offers become common.

What this means for your preparation

If you are choosing between Oxford and Cambridge, note that Cambridge makes offers to a larger share of its Law applicants: 17.6% in the 2025 cycle and 18.0% in 2024, against about 12% at Oxford in each of its last two rounds.^[17][32][33] Because Cambridge publishes no interview rate, the two cannot be compared at the LNAT stage.

Since each college sets its own interviews, their number, length and topics vary. Some colleges give you something to read first and then discuss it with you, as we mentioned above, so we recommend practising with short unseen texts as well as LNAT papers. The Interview chapter covers the format in more detail.

Has the bar changed over the last three cycles?

Hardly at all. The average score of all applicants has moved up and down from year to year, while the offer holders’ average has stayed within a band of less than one mark.^[1][2][3]

There are three things to notice here:

1. The applicants’ average rose from 24.2 in 2023 to 25.9 in 2024, then fell back to 24.8 in 2025, so three cycles show no steady trend.
2. The offer holders’ average went from 29.3 to 30.1 and then 30.0. The 2024 cycle ran slightly higher, but the bar has settled at about 30.
3. The gap between the two has stayed at about 4 to 5 marks (5.1, 4.2 and 5.1). Whatever the level in a given year, the LNAT separates offer holders from the rest of the field by a similar margin.

The essay averages tell the same story.^[1][2][3]

How is the essay marked?

Cambridge marks the essay itself and gives each one a mark from 1 to 10. It does not publish its marking criteria in the detail Oxford does,^[13] but the FOI figures show how the scale is used in practice.

For 2025 entry, the applicants’ essay average ranged from 4.6 at Pembroke to 6.5 at Wolfson, with a cross-college average of 5.5. The offer holders’ average ranged from 5.4 at Emmanuel to 9.0 at Peterhouse, with a cross-college average of 7.5.^[3] Three points follow from this:

1. Offer holders tend to score about 7 or 8. At most colleges the offer holders’ average is between 7.0 and 8.5, so an essay of 7 or more is competitive, while one of 5 or 6 is below the typical offer holder.
2. Top marks are given. Many colleges have offer holders with an essay mark of 10, so the scale is used in full. Oxford’s marks, by contrast, are bunched together: there, offer holders average about 65 and all applicants about 62 to 63 out of 100.^[32][33]
3. A low mark does not rule out an offer. For 2025 entry, the lowest essay mark among offer holders was 3 or lower at 13 of the 29 colleges, and 1 at Magdalene and Trinity.^[3] St John’s interviewed an applicant with an essay mark of 1 for 2023 entry.^[7]

What does a 7 look like?

Since Cambridge publishes no rubric, the description below is our own reading of what the figures suggest. Cambridge has published no scheme of its own. In our view, an essay that would score about 7:

• takes a clear position and defends it throughout;
• considers at least one counter-argument and answers it properly;
• has a clear structure (an introduction that states the position, the argument, the counter-argument and a conclusion);
• is written in clear, accurate prose.

An essay of 8 does all of this and also shows independent judgement (for example, noticing an objection or a distinction that the question did not directly invite). An essay of 9 or 10 is original in how it frames the question or in its argument. Below 6, essays usually fall short on structure (there is no clear position) or on engagement (they repeat familiar points without taking a view). Below 5, these problems tend to come with weak writing as well.

How does this differ from Oxford?

Oxford’s No More Marking system compares essays in pairs and turns the result into a score. As we noted above, the scores are tightly bunched: in each of Oxford’s last two rounds the essay average was about 62 to 63 for all applicants and about 65 for offer holders.^[32][33] At Cambridge the averages are much further apart on the scale: 5.5 for applicants and 7.5 for offer holders for 2025 entry.^[3]

Preparing for Cambridge therefore means writing essays that would score 7 or more, while preparing for Oxford means writing essays that compare well with other candidates’ essays. Having said that, the skills you need are the same at both universities: a clear position, a careful answer to the strongest objection and a coherent structure.

Does the bar differ between colleges?

It does, but less than you might expect. For 2025 entry the highest offer holders’ average was 33.14 at Downing, just ahead of Wolfson at 33.11, and the lowest was 26.0 at Girton, a spread of about 7 marks. Most colleges were between 28 and 31.^[3] The chart shows each college’s applicants (in grey) and offer holders (in blue).

The table gives each college’s offer holders’ average for all three years, so you can see how much it moves. Click a column heading to sort the table.^[1][2][3]

For 2025 entry, the colleges fall roughly into three groups:^[3]

1. Wolfson, Downing, Homerton and Peterhouse had offer holders’ averages above 32, about 3 marks above the cross-college average.
2. Most colleges, including Trinity, St John’s, Magdalene, Newnham and Pembroke, were between 29 and 32.
3. A smaller group, including Robinson, Girton, Churchill and St Edmund’s, were between 26 and 29. Note that this does not make them easier to get into. It means only that this year’s offer holders at those colleges scored lower on Section A.

However, you should not read too much into any single year. Each college made between 5 and 16 Law offers in 2025, so one year’s average rests on a handful of people.^[17] Fourteen of the 29 colleges’ averages moved by more than 2 marks across the three cycles, and the order changes from year to year: Churchill was 27th in 2023, joint third in 2024 and 27th again in 2025, Peterhouse went from 28th to 13th to 4th, and Robinson, the second lowest in 2025, was fifth in 2023.^[1][2][3] Across all three cycles the college averages run from 25.3 (King’s in 2023) to 34.0 (Newnham in 2024).

Cambridge publishes no LNAT threshold or target range for its colleges. It says there is “no pass or fail mark” for its admission tests,^[24] and admissions decisions are made by the colleges. We therefore recommend choosing a college for other reasons and aiming for the same target, about 30 or more, wherever you apply.

What happens between interview and offer?

The University’s figures cover applicants and offer holders only. St John’s College, in its own FOI reply, also gave figures for the candidates it interviewed, which shows what happens at each stage for one college.^[7]

As you can see, each stage raises every average.^[7] From all applicants to those interviewed, the Section A average rises by 1.6 marks (from 23.7 to 25.3) and the essay average by 1.4 (from 4.7 to 6.1). From those interviewed to those offered a place, Section A rises by a further 2.5 marks (to 27.8) and the essay by 3.0 (to 9.1). The interview score rises too, from 6.6 for everyone interviewed to 7.9 for those offered a place. (The College gives no scale for the interview score; the highest score was 10.)

The largest change is in the essay. Between interview and offer it rises by 3.0 points on a 10-point scale, while Section A rises by 2.5 marks out of 42 and the interview score by 1.3. St John’s appears to give the essay a lot of weight in its offer decisions, which fits Cambridge’s guidance that both sections are used, although Cambridge does not say how much each counts.^[13]

Note that St John’s is one college of 29, so the pattern may not hold elsewhere. Having said that, it is one of the colleges with the most Law applicants (75 in the 2023 cycle and 103 in 2024),^[6] so its figures are based on more candidates than most.

What did the students who started in 2026 score?

The University has not released 2026 figures: it refused a request for them in March 2026, while the round was still running,^[12] and its statistics report for the 2026 cycle is not expected until about May 2027.^[17] Since the round ended, however, two colleges have released the LNAT scores of every Law student who took up a place in October 2026.

1. Trinity admitted 12 Law students. Their Section A scores were 26, 27, 29, 30, 30, 32, 34, 34, 35, 35, 35 and 37, an average of 32.0, and their essay marks were 10, 9, 10, 10, 8, 10, 9, 10, 9, 9, 10 and 8, an average of 9.3.^[8]
2. Queens’ admitted 8 Law students, with Section A scores of 22, 28, 29, 24, 23, 28, 33 and 20, an average of 25.9.^[9]
3. Christ’s said that only two of the applicants it interviewed in December 2025 had taken up a place, so it gave ranges only: their Section A scores were between 24 and 31 and their essay marks between 9 and 10.^[10]
4. Magdalene did not release its 2026 figures.^[11]

Each dot in the chart is one student, and the dark bar is the college’s average. Note that these figures cover students who were admitted, not everyone who applied: both colleges say they keep no records of unsuccessful applicants.^[8][9] They are therefore best compared with the offer holders’ averages earlier in this chapter.

The two colleges look very different. Trinity’s entrants averaged 32.0, two marks above the cross-college offer holders’ average of recent years, and none scored below 26. Queens’ entrants averaged 25.9, and half of them scored 24 or less. Queens’ also released the Section A scores of its entrants for 2023, 2024 and 2025, which show how much one college’s intake can vary from year to year.^[9]

The Queens’ averages were 29.6 for 2023 entry, 30.7 for 2024, 30.0 for 2025 and 25.9 for 2026.^[9] For 2023 to 2025 they are close to the cross-college offer holders’ averages, so the low 2026 figure is more likely to reflect a small group of eight students than a change in what Cambridge looks for. Students with Section A scores of 20 and 22 were admitted, which confirms what the University figures already show: a lower Section A score can be made up for by the rest of the application.

How do international applicants fare at each college?

An FOI reply of September 2024 gave each college’s Home and international applications and offers for two cycles.^[6] International applicants were about 30% of the field in both (476 of 1,580 applications in 2023, and 496 of 1,604 in 2024), and they received offers at about the same rate as Home applicants. The table shows the 2024 cycle.

There are two things to notice here:

1. The offer rates are close. Home applicants received 195 offers from 1,108 applications in 2024 (17.6%).^[6] The FOI reply hides many of the international figures, but the University’s annual statistics give 288 Law offers in all for that cycle, which leaves 93 for the 496 international applicants (18.8%).^[17] In 2023 the rates were 17.7% for Home and 17.9% for international applicants.
2. No college shows a consistent Home advantage. Where a college’s Home and international offers are both given, the international offer rate was the higher one at 8 of 14 colleges in 2023 and 8 of 13 in 2024.^[6] Cambridge says no priority is given to applicants who pay overseas fees.^[29]

Cells marked “<3” (fewer than three) were hidden by Cambridge to protect applicants’ privacy. International offers are hidden at 16 of the 29 colleges in 2024 (13 in 2023), including large colleges such as Gonville and Caius and St John’s, so most colleges’ international offer rates cannot be worked out.^[6]

Where international applicants receive most of the offers

At three colleges, international applicants received more Law offers than Home applicants in both cycles. All three admit only students aged 21 or over, so they are not open to school-leavers:^[6][27]

• Hughes Hall had 43 international applications and made 12 offers in 2024 (a rate of 28%), after 38 and 10 in 2023 (26%). Home applicants received 5 offers in each cycle.
• Wolfson had 25 international applications and made 10 offers in 2024, after 12 and 8 in 2023. Home applicants received no offers in 2024 and fewer than three in 2023.
• St Edmund’s had 16 international applications and made 12 offers in 2024, after 15 and 8 in 2023. Home applicants received 4 offers in 2024 and fewer than three in 2023.

If you are an international school-leaver, the college figures are too small to guide your choice: outside those three colleges, no college made more than six international Law offers in either cycle.^[6]

Where does your score place you?

Because Cambridge does not release a score for each applicant, we cannot work out the chance of an offer at each score, as we can for Oxford. What we can do is show where your score sits against each college’s applicants and offer holders for 2025 entry.^[3] Choose a college and move the sliders to see where you stand.

Note that the calculator does not give you a chance of an offer, because Cambridge does not release the data needed to work one out. It shows only where you would sit among each college’s applicants and offer holders. Remember too that the colleges weigh the LNAT together with your interview and the rest of your application, so it is one part of the picture.

What are the deadlines?

For 2027 entry, Cambridge’s UCAS deadline is 15 October 2026 at 6pm UK time, the same day as Oxford’s. You must also complete My Cambridge Application by 22 October 2026 at 6pm, and sit the LNAT by 15 October 2026.^[18] Mature applicants who apply in the January round have until 25 January 2027 to sit the test.^[14]

Why does the second form matter?

My Cambridge Application is Cambridge’s own form, and it asks for information that UCAS does not: the topics you have studied, a transcript where one is needed, English test scores, a photo and, for most applicants from outside the UK and Ireland, a £60 application fee. It also has an optional statement of up to 1,200 characters for Cambridge alone.^[19] It has a firm deadline a week after the UCAS one, and Cambridge says that every deadline must be met for an application to be considered.^[18]

In practice, we recommend working to these dates:

1. By 15 September 2026, register for the LNAT and book a test.
2. By 15 October 2026, sit the LNAT and submit your UCAS application by 6pm.
3. By 22 October 2026 at 6pm, complete My Cambridge Application.

Your LNAT result is sent to Cambridge directly, as long as you named Cambridge when you registered for the test.^[14] Your reference and personal statement go through UCAS, and My Cambridge Application collects everything else Cambridge wants to know.

How should you prepare?

Cambridge’s offer holders average about 30 on Section A, much as Oxford’s do, and every offer follows an interview. How you divide your preparation should therefore depend on where you are starting from.

What are the limits of these figures?

The figures in this chapter have three limits.

1. Cambridge does not release a score for each applicant, as Oxford has done. We have only each college’s lowest, average and highest scores, so we cannot tell you, for example, what share of applicants with 30 on Section A and 7 on the essay received an offer.
2. Cells marked “<3” are figures Cambridge hid because fewer than three people fall in them. In the 2024 reply on Home and international applicants, international offers are hidden at 13 of the 29 colleges for 2023 and 16 for 2024, large colleges among them.^[6]
3. The figures for the 2023 and 2024 cycles appear in two sets of replies: FOI 2023/758 and FOI 2024/628, released after each cycle, and FOI 2025/260, which gives both years again.^[1][2][5] The two sets agree on the applicants’ averages but give different offer holders’ averages at 25 of the 29 colleges in each year, and nothing released explains why. This chapter uses the earlier replies. The 2025 figures were released twice, in FOI-2025-994 and FOI-2025-1072, which agree in every cell.^[3][4]