Jurica
Three chapters, built from primary admissions data.
Durham’s standard offer for Law is A*AA, but most of its offer holders were predicted more. This chapter explains which qualifications count, what Durham’s offer holders and entrants had, how Durham reads your GCSEs and how the contextual offer works.
Put what you’ve read into practice with a free diagnostic test and a full LNAT mock exam.
Try Jurica for freeFor 2027 entry, Durham’s standard offer for LLB Law (M101) is A*AA at A-level, in any subjects. The IB offer is 37 points with 7, 6 and 6 at Higher Level, and the contextual offer for eligible Home applicants is AAB.[1]
Note that meeting the offer does not guarantee you a place. Durham’s Admissions Policy says so in as many words, and only 31% of Home applicants to Law received an offer for 2025 entry.[3][4] Most of those who did were predicted more than A*AA: of the offer holders for 2025 entry with three A-level predictions, 64% were predicted A*A*A or better.[5] The rest of this chapter explains what Durham asks for, what its offer holders and entrants actually had, and how the contextual offer works.
Durham asks for A*AA with no required subject, and the A* can be in any of your three subjects.[1] Offers are usually based on your best three A-levels. General Studies and Global Perspectives & Research are not accepted, and the Extended Project (EPQ) does not form part of the offer.[6]
| Qualification | Standard offer | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A-level | A*AA | Any three subjects except General Studies and Global Perspectives & Research. The EPQ does not form part of the offer. |
| International Baccalaureate | 37 points | With 7, 6 and 6 at Higher Level. Up to 2026 entry it was 38 points with 6, 6 and 6. |
| Scottish Advanced Highers | AAA | Where a school offers few or no Advanced Highers, Durham may make the offer on Highers (AAAAA) or a mix of the two. |
| BTEC | D*DD | As listed on the course page. |
| Welsh Baccalaureate | Not counted | The Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales does not form part of Durham’s offers, so the A*AA applies to your A-levels. |
There are three things to notice here:
As you can see, History and Classics (95 entrants) and English Literature (80) were the most common, followed by Law (45), Mathematics, Politics and Psychology (40 each).[5] Some candidates worry that taking A-level Law will count against them. At Durham there is no sign of this, since 45 of the 2025 entrants had taken it. The list also shows 80 entrants with an Extended Project, which Durham does not use in its offers.[5][6]
Most offer holders were predicted above the standard offer. Of the 550 offer holders for 2025 entry with three A-level predictions, 215 were predicted A*A*A*, 135 A*A*A and 120 A*AA, so 470 (85%) were predicted A*AA or better. Another 50 were predicted AAA and 30 lower grades.[5]
Note that these 550 are only the offer holders with three A-level predictions. Durham made 1,500 offers in that cycle, and many of the rest went to international applicants with other qualifications.[5] The 80 offer holders predicted AAA or below include contextual offer holders, whose offer is AAB.
The grades that entrants achieved tell a different story. Of the 435 students who started in 2025, 155 or so had three A-levels (280 had other qualifications). Their results were spread more widely than the predictions:[5]
There are three things to notice here:
Older figures point the same way. For 2021 entry Durham gave averages for applicants and offer holders, shown below, and said that the majority of UK entrants entered with A*A*A or A*AA. Their average tariff was 180 UCAS points.[11] Since three A-levels at A* give 168 points, an average of 180 means that many entrants counted a fourth qualification (an AS-level or an EPQ, for example).[12]
| Measure, 2021 entry | Applicants | Offer holders |
|---|---|---|
| GCSEs at A*, 8 or 9 (average number) | 5.1 | 5.8 |
| Predicted A* grades at A-level (average number) | 1.46 | 1.69 |
| Achieved A* grades at A-level (average number) | 1.50 | 1.77 |
| Predicted IB total | 41.38 | 41.72 |
| Achieved IB total | 41.14 | 41.60 |
As you can see, the differences between applicants and offer holders were small: about a quarter of an A* grade at A-level and under half a point in the IB.[11] In general, this means that Durham’s applicants are already a strong field on paper, and that most decisions are made between candidates with similar grades.
If you are eligible and Durham makes you an offer, it will be AAB instead of A*AA, two grades lower: the A* becomes an A, and one A becomes a B.[1][2] There is no separate application. Durham checks every Home applicant’s eligibility automatically.[2]
For the 2026-7 cycle (2027 entry), you are eligible if you have been eligible for free school meals (whatever type of school you attend), or if you meet at least two of the following:[2][3]
Note that contextual offers are only for applicants with Home fee status, and are not available for Foundation programmes or through Clearing. Eligibility does not guarantee an offer: it means that if Durham makes you one, it will be at the lower level.[2] If you are care-experienced or estranged, your referee should say so in the reference or by email to Durham.
The latest figures are for 2025 entry, under the previous year’s rules (POLAR4 and ACORN in place of the two postcode measures above). Durham received 590 contextual applications and made 245 contextual offers, and 95 of the 435 entrants (22%) came in on a contextual or other reduced offer: 65 through the contextual offer itself, 10 through Supported Progression, 10 through the Sutton Trust summer school and 5 through STEP.[5] Their contextual offer holders averaged 24.1 on Section A of the LNAT, against 24.9 for all offer holders.[5]
The scheme is younger than you might think. Durham made its first contextual offers in the 2017/18 cycle, when the offer for Law was AAA (or AAB if you made Durham your firm choice), and it made 125 of them in Law that year.[13][14] For 2021 entry, 295 of the 460 offers to UK Home applicants (64%) were contextual or reduced offers.[11]
Supported Progression, the Year 12 programme that led to a guaranteed lower offer, has been discontinued.[15] Its successor, Destination Durham, is for Year 12 students in the North East of England, and applications for its 2026 intake closed on 20 March 2026.[16] Under the 2026/27 Admissions Policy, eligible applicants who complete one of Durham’s access schemes (Destination Durham, the Sutton Trust Summer School, STEP, Futures in STEM or Asian Access) receive a guaranteed standard offer or, in some cases, a guaranteed contextual offer.[3]
Durham sets no GCSE requirement for Law and uses no GCSE formula.[1] Your GCSEs are read with the rest of your application: the Admissions Policy lists achieved qualifications first among the things selectors assess, together with predicted grades, the personal statement, the reference and, for Law, the LNAT score and essay.[3]
The figures Durham has released suggest that its offer holders have strong GCSEs. For 2025 entry, offer holders averaged 7.6 across their numerically graded GCSEs (international GCSEs are left out).[5] For 2021 entry, applicants averaged 5.1 GCSEs at A*, 8 or 9 and offer holders 5.8.[11] These are averages, and Durham sets no minimum.
Other universities read GCSEs in different ways, as the table below shows:
| University | GCSE rule | How it is used |
|---|---|---|
| Durham | None | Read with the rest of the application; no formal threshold or formula.[1][3] |
| Oxford | Contextualised GCSE score | 80% of the rank used to draw up the shortlist in the 2025-26 round, with 10% on each LNAT score.[18] |
| Cambridge | No threshold | Read in the context of your school, with an adjusted GCSE score.[19] |
| UCL | English Language and Mathematics at grade 6 | A published minimum, with no wider GCSE rule.[20] |
| LSE | Several grades at 7 to 9 | With at least grade 6 in English Language and Mathematics.[8] |
For example, consider two applicants predicted A*AA. The first has six grade 9s and two grade 8s at GCSE; the second has two 9s, an 8, two 7s and two 6s. Both can apply, and neither is ruled out. The first is above the 2021 offer holders’ average of 5.8 top grades, and the second is below the applicants’ average of 5.1,[11] so the second applicant’s LNAT score and personal statement will have more to do.
Durham has three other ways into Law for applicants who do not fit the standard offer: Law with Foundation, the Access to HE Diploma and the Senior Status LLB for graduates.
Note also that Durham considers deferred entry for Law only in exceptional circumstances, so we recommend applying in the year you intend to start.[1]
Durham does not interview for Law and uses no grade formula, so selectors decide on your whole written application and your LNAT.[24][3] What you should concentrate on depends on your predicted grades.
You are in the largest group of Durham’s offer holders: 350 of the 550 offer holders with three A-level predictions for 2025 entry were predicted A*A*A or A*A*A*.[5] Even so, only 31% of Home applicants received an offer, so Durham is not a safe choice for anyone.[4]
What we recommend. Prepare for the LNAT seriously, aiming for a Section A score above the offer holders’ average of about 25, and use your personal statement to show why you want to study law.
You meet the standard offer, as 120 of the offer holders with three A-level predictions for 2025 entry did exactly.[5] Since many applicants have similar grades, the LNAT and your personal statement are likely to decide your application.
What we recommend. Put most of your preparation time into the LNAT, including timed essays, which Durham reads for every applicant.[1]
If you are predicted AAB and meet the criteria above, the contextual offer fits your grades. Durham made 245 contextual offers for 2025 entry.[5]
What we recommend. Check the criteria before you apply, give your home address, and prepare for the LNAT as fully as anyone else, since eligibility lowers the grades you are asked for but does not guarantee an offer.[2]
The overseas offer rate for Law was 80% for 2025 entry, but the offer is still A*AA or its equivalent (37 in the IB).[4][1] Contextual offers are not available to you.[2]
What we recommend. Check Durham’s equivalent for your qualification early, and give the LNAT essay plenty of practice, since it is read in the same form for every applicant.
Each numbered claim above links here. Click any link to open the primary Durham source.
Course page for September 2027 entry (UCAS code M101, institution code D86). Standard offer A*AA; contextual offer AAB; IB 37 with 766 at Higher Level (38 with 666 up to 2026 entry); BTEC D*DD. The LNAT is required: both parts are always considered, no minimum multiple-choice score is required, and performance in the LNAT may be used to distinguish between otherwise similar candidates. Lists six things selectors look for in the essay. No required A-level subjects and no GCSE requirement for Law. Deferred entry only in exceptional circumstances. Graduates hold a Qualifying Law Degree.
Who can be made a contextual offer under the criteria for 2027 entry: free school meals, or two or more of five criteria (TUNDRA quintile 1 or 2, Censation Affluence level E, a UK state school, care experience, estrangement). Home fee status only; applications are assessed automatically, and care experience or estrangement should be confirmed by the referee. An eligible applicant who is made an offer receives it at the reduced level. Not available for Foundation programmes or through Clearing.
For applicants starting in 2027-28. What selectors assess (qualifications achieved and predicted, personal statement, reference, the LNAT score and essay for Law, relevant work experience); more weight may be given to personal statements on some highly selective courses; meeting the required grades does not guarantee an offer; decisions are made centrally to criteria agreed with departments; the contextual offer criteria; the access schemes whose completers receive a guaranteed standard (or in some cases contextual) offer; Year 2 entry case by case.
Department-by-department applications, offers for the course applied to and offers of an alternative course, on separate Home/Islands and Overseas/EU pages, for the 2024/25 cycle (2025 entry). Law: Home/Islands 1,770 applications and 540 offers (31%), with 25 alternative offers; Overseas/EU 1,085 applications and 865 offers (80%), with 45 alternative offers. All departments: Home/Islands 74%, Overseas/EU 83%. Counts are rounded by the HESA method and percentages are calculated before rounding; the University notes that it has separate recruitment streams for Home/Islands and Overseas/EU students. Linked from Durham’s Undergraduate Admissions Statistics page as "2025 Entry".
Reply to F Ogunfemi’s request of 21 September 2026, for the 2024/25 cycle (2025 entry), rounded to the nearest 5. 2,970 applications (1,825 Home, 1,145 international), 1,500 offers and 435 entrants at the 1 December census, of whom 340 entered on a standard offer and 95 on a contextual or other reduced offer. 590 contextual applicants and 245 contextual offers, under the 2024/25 rules (free school meals, or two of POLAR4 quintile 1 or 2, ACORN 5 or 6, a UK state school, care experience, estrangement); the counts include Sutton Trust, Supported Progression and STEP reduced offers. Predicted best three A-levels of offer holders with at least three A-level predictions, achieved A-levels of entrants and their A-level subjects. Average Section A score of offer holders 24.9, and of contextual offer holders 24.1; the lowest score was withheld. Average GCSE grade of offer holders 7.6 (numerically graded GCSEs only). The EPQ is not used for reduced offers.
Offers are usually based on the best three A-levels; General Studies and Global Perspectives & Research are not accepted; the EPQ and the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales do not form part of offers. Scottish equivalents (AAA at Advanced Higher, or AAAAA at Higher). Access to HE Diploma: 60 credits with 45 at level 3, and for courses asking ABB to A*AA at least 30 level 3 credits at Distinction and 15 more at Merit. Durham names LLB Law among its most selective courses.
Standard offer A*AA. Several GCSEs at A (7) and A* (8 or 9), with at least B (6) in English Language and Mathematics.
Standard offer for Law: AAA at A-level.
Durham’s internal guidelines on the factors considered in M101 admissions decisions, released under FOI. They say Durham does not insist on a minimum LNAT score and does not keep track of one, that the LNAT is a key differentiating factor between very similar applications, that the essay is not marked or graded but can be useful in identifying a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, and that all A-level subjects except General Studies and Critical Thinking are considered equally. They list the considerations for reading the essay, among them references to relevant evidence and any mention of counter-arguments. Undated in the copy we hold.
For M101 and the 2020/21 cycle: 2,025 applicants and 1,025 offers (UK home 460, of which 295 contextual offers including Sutton Trust and Supported Progression participants; international 560); 490 firm acceptances; 390 entrants at the December census. LNAT: applicants mean 23 (lowest 7, highest 36), offer holders mean 24 (lowest 12, highest 36). GCSEs at A*, 8 or 9: applicants 5.1, offer holders 5.8. A* grades at A-level, predicted and achieved: applicants 1.46 and 1.50, offer holders 1.69 and 1.77. IB totals, predicted and achieved: applicants 41.38 and 41.14, offer holders 41.72 and 41.60. Average tariff of UK-domiciled entrants 180; most entrants had A*A*A or A*AA. Counts rounded to the nearest 5.
Tariff points for each qualification: an A* at A-level is 56 points and an A is 48.
In the 2017/18 cycle, the first in which Durham made contextual offers, the contextual offer for Law was AAA against the standard A*AA, reduced to AAB for applicants who made Durham their firm choice; there were 125 contextual offers in Law.
M101 offer rate for applications in 2015, 2016 and 2017: 64%, 65% and 64%. First-year students at the December census: 292 (2016-17), 299 (2017-18) and 305 (2018-19), with UK-domiciled students 55% to 61% of first-years. Durham began making contextual offers in the 2017/18 cycle, and made 15 to 20 Supported Progression offers a year in Law. Durham has not entered Clearing for Law.
States that Supported Progression has been discontinued and introduces Destination Durham, for Year 12 students from the North East; applications for its 2026 intake ran from 12 January to 20 March 2026.
Access programme for Year 12 students from less advantaged backgrounds in the North East of England. Contextual offers go to eligible students who complete it. Applications for 2026 closed on 20 March 2026; the page names no offer grades.
For 2027 entry, Bristol and Durham applicants must register and book, submit the UCAS form (by 6pm UK time) and sit the test by 13 January 2027. Oxford and Cambridge applicants sit by 15 October 2026; King’s, LSE and UCL applicants by 31 December 2026; applicants to the other LNAT universities by 25 January 2027.
Oxford’s 2025-26 round: Section A averages of 24.94 for all applicants and 30.48 for offer holders. Candidates with a contextualised GCSE score were ranked 80% on that score and 10% on each of the two LNAT scores to draw up the shortlist.
How Cambridge reads GCSEs and other results in the context of the applicant’s school and background, including an adjusted GCSE score; there is no fixed GCSE threshold.
Standard offer A*AA with no specific subjects; GCSE English Language and Mathematics at grade 6 (B).
The Foundation Programme is for UK students; the academic floor is at least grade C in each A-level (or Merit in each BTEC). Applicants whose grades meet the direct-entry offer should apply for the degree itself.
LLB with a foundation year for UK students who do not meet the direct-entry requirements. Applicants over 21 must sit the LNAT by the UCAS on-time deadline. About ten applications for each place and 100 places across the whole Foundation Programme; pre-offer assessment.
A two-year LLB for graduates, typically in a subject other than law, with a high 2:1 or better, for September 2027 entry. The page does not mention the LNAT.
The only course with a compulsory interview is BA Primary Education; Foundation Programme applicants may also be interviewed. There is no interview for LLB Law.
The other two pages in the guide: the funnel and the LNAT.
2024/25 funnel, Home vs Overseas, demographic baseline.
Open Overview →Section A averages since 2019, what offer holders scored, the essay and a calculator.
Open LNAT →The AAB contextual offer: who is eligible and how Durham checks.
View contextual offers →