Jurica
Three chapters, built from primary admissions data.
Durham’s Law offer holders averaged 24.9 out of 42 on Section A for 2025 entry, and Durham reads the essay without marking it. Using Durham’s replies to Freedom of Information requests, this chapter shows you how the scores have changed since 2019, what offer holders scored and where your own score would place you.
Put what you’ve read into practice with a free diagnostic test and a full LNAT mock exam.
Try Jurica for freeDurham reads both parts of the LNAT, but it gives a score only to Section A. Its course page says that the multiple-choice score and the essay are “always considered” by admissions selectors, that no minimum score is required, and that the LNAT may be used to distinguish between otherwise similar candidates.[1] The essay itself is not marked.[2][3]
Durham does not publish LNAT averages, but it has released them in reply to Freedom of Information requests. For 2025 entry (the 2024/25 cycle), the average Section A score was 23.8 for all applicants and 24.9 for offer holders.[2] Offer holders who received a contextual offer averaged 24.1.[4]
Note how close the two averages are. At Oxford, offer holders averaged 30.48 out of 42 in the 2025-26 round, against 24.94 for all applicants;[5] at Durham the offer holders’ figure has been between 24.0 and 26.3 in every cycle since 2019/20.[6][2] In general, this tells you that Durham does not use Section A as a hurdle, and that your grades, your personal statement and your essay carry much of the weight. It does not mean that the LNAT can be left to chance, as the rest of this chapter explains.
Durham’s LLB Law has the UCAS code M101 (institution code D86).[1] On the LNAT Consortium’s list, every other UK university that uses the LNAT has a course coded M100, and Durham is the only one without one.[7] The code is an administrative label: M101 is a three-year LLB, and its graduates hold a Qualifying Law Degree.[1]
There are two practical points here:
Durham also has a Law with Foundation degree (M102), for which the LNAT is required as well, and a two-year Senior Status LLB for graduates (M105).[7][8][9] The M105 page does not mention the LNAT, so if you are a graduate we recommend asking Durham directly whether you need to sit it.
Offer holders’ average Section A score has stayed between 24.0 and 26.3 in the six cycles Durham has released, and applicants’ average between 21.8 and 25.1. The highest averages were for 2024 entry; for 2025 entry both fell by a little over a mark.[6][10][3][2]
| Year of entry | Cycle | Applicants’ average | Offer holders’ average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2019/20 | n/a | 24.7 | n/a |
| 2021 | 2020/21 | 23.0 | 24.1 | 1.1 |
| 2022 | 2021/22 | 21.8 | 24.0 | 2.2 |
| 2023 | 2022/23 | 23.9 | 26.0 | 2.1 |
| 2024 | 2023/24 | 25.1 | 26.3 | 1.2 |
| 2025 | 2024/25 | 23.8 | 24.9 | 1.1 |
There are three things to notice here:
Most of Durham’s offer holders scored between 21 and 30, but a sizeable minority scored 20 or below. For 2025 entry, 295 offer holders scored between 11 and 20, 815 between 21 and 30 and 220 between 31 and 42; fewer than five scored 10 or below.[2]
| Section A score | 2023 entry | 2024 entry | 2025 entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 or below | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 | fewer than 5 |
| 11 to 20 | 150 | 125 | 295 |
| 21 to 30 | 740 | 845 | 815 |
| 31 to 42 | 185 | 220 | 220 |
As you can see, the share of offer holders who scored 20 or below rose from about 14% for 2023 entry and 11% for 2024 entry to 22% for 2025 entry, which matches the fall in the average.[2] The counts are rounded to the nearest five, and they include only offer holders whose LNAT result Durham could match to their UCAS record (about 1,330 of the 1,500 offers for 2025 entry).[2][4]
For one earlier cycle Durham gave the lowest and highest scores as well. For 2021 entry, applicants scored between 7 and 36 and offer holders between 12 and 36.[10] Durham has withheld the lowest and highest scores since then, on the grounds that they might identify individuals.[3][4]
A score below 20 does not rule you out at Durham. Between 125 and 295 offer holders scored between 11 and 20 in each of the last three cycles.[2] Having said that, it is much safer to aim above the offer holders’ average of about 25, because a lower score leaves the rest of your application with more to do.
About half. For 2025 entry Durham received 2,970 applications for M101 and made 1,500 offers; 435 students started the course.[2][4] For 2021 entry the figures were 2,025 applications, 1,025 offers, 490 offer holders who made Durham their firm choice and 390 entrants.[10]
Note that these counts include Home and overseas applicants together, whose offer rates are very different (31% and 80% for 2025 entry, on Durham’s department table), so the 50% describes neither group.[12] The Overview chapter explains the two streams.
The reply for 2021 entry also split the 1,025 offers by fee status: 460 to UK Home applicants and 560 to international applicants (EU and overseas together). Of the 460 Home offers, 295 (64%) were what Durham then called Generalised Contextual Offers, a group that took in Sutton Trust and Supported Progression participants as well as applicants eligible for a contextual offer.[10] For 2025 entry Durham made 245 contextual offers from 590 contextual applicants.[4] The rules have changed since 2021, and again for 2027 entry, so we recommend treating these as figures for their own years.
Yes, although it is never given a mark. Durham says the essay section “does not receive a score”, and its course page says that both parts of the test are “always considered by admissions selectors when assessing an application”.[3][1] Durham’s page for unsuccessful applicants lists a weaker essay among the reasons an application may fail.[13]
The course page lists six things selectors look for in an LNAT essay:[1]
Note that two of the six concern the argument itself (evidence and counter-arguments), so a fluent essay that answers the question but argues only one side will fall short. Durham’s internal admissions guidelines, which it released under FOI, say the same: the essay “is not marked or graded but can be incredibly useful in identifying strengths and weaknesses of a candidate”, and the considerations they list include references to relevant evidence and any mention of counter-arguments.[14] Note that these are internal guidelines, which Durham has not published as a marking scheme.
Because the essay has no mark, Durham has never released figures on it, and we cannot tell you how much it weighs against Section A. Many candidates assume that an unmarked essay can be written quickly on the day. This is understandable, but we do not recommend it, for two reasons:
Practise timed essays for Durham. We recommend writing at least six full essays in 40 minutes before your test, each with a clear answer, two or three reasons with evidence, a counter-argument you answer, and a short conclusion. These are the six things on Durham’s list.[1]
They are recruited in a separate stream, and their offer rate is much higher. On Durham’s table for 2025 entry, 80% of overseas and EU applicants to Law received an offer, against 31% of Home applicants.[12] Durham has never split its LNAT figures by fee status, so we do not know whether international offer holders score more or less than Home ones.
The overseas offer rate has risen. An FOI reply for 2015 to 2018 entry gives the following figures for applicants paying overseas fees:[15]
| Year of entry | Overseas applications | Overseas offers | Offer rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 600 | 345 | 57.5% |
| 2016 | 775 | 450 | 58.1% |
| 2017 | 650 | 455 | 70.0% |
| 2018 | 800 | 440 | 55.0% |
From 55% to 70% in those years, the rate reached 61% for 2021 entry and 80% for 2025 entry on Durham’s own tables.[16][12] The two series count slightly differently (the 2015 to 2018 figures are for overseas fee status only and leave out students from Durham’s International Study Centre), so we suggest comparing them only roughly.[15] The same reply lists the nationalities of overseas offer holders for each year, without counts.
Having said that, a high offer rate does not mean a lower standard. The LNAT is required of every applicant, wherever they apply from, and Durham sets national equivalents of A*AA for international qualifications.[7][1] If you are applying from outside the UK, we recommend preparing for the same Section A score as Home applicants, and taking particular care over the essay, which is the one piece of writing every selector sees in the same conditions.
Durham accepts the Access to HE Diploma, and the LNAT is required as for every other applicant. The numbers are small: between 20 and 25 such applicants a year for 2018/19 to 2021/22, and 0 to 5 offer holders a year (rounded to the nearest five).[17]
| Year of application | Access to HE applicants | Offer holders |
|---|---|---|
| 2018/19 | 20 | 0 |
| 2019/20 | 25 | 5 |
| 2020/21 | 25 | 5 |
| 2021/22 | 20 | 0 |
Because there were so few offer holders, Durham gave their profile for the four years together. Their Section A scores ran from 19 to 30, with an average of 23.4; their ages from 19 to 34, with an average of 26; and their GCSEs at grade C or 4 and above from 2 to 14, with an average of 6.[17] The average of 23.4 is a little below the offer holders’ averages of 24.0 to 24.7 in the same years, but with a group this small that is no evidence of a lower standard.[6]
For the Diploma itself, Durham asks for 60 credits with 45 at level 3, and for a course at Law’s grade level at least 30 level 3 credits at Distinction and 15 more at Merit or above.[18] If you are 21 or over and do not meet these requirements, Law with Foundation (M102) is the other route; it also requires the LNAT.[8]
Durham has released the number of offer holders in three score bands, but not the number of applicants at each score, so we cannot work out your chance of an offer. What we can show is which band your Section A score falls in, and how many of the offer holders for 2025 entry scored in the same band.[2] Move the slider to see.
Remember that an average is not a threshold: Durham requires no minimum score, and it reads your score together with your grades, your personal statement, your reference and your essay.[1][19] The calculator therefore tells you where you stand on one part of the application only.
For 2027 entry you must book your test, submit your UCAS application (by 6pm UK time) and sit the LNAT, all by 13 January 2027. Bristol has the same date.[20]
Note that 13 January is not the first LNAT deadline of the cycle. Oxford and Cambridge applicants must sit the test by 15 October 2026, and King’s, LSE and UCL applicants by 31 December 2026. Only Glasgow and SOAS among the UK universities allow later, until 25 January 2027.[20] You can sit the LNAT only once in a cycle, and your result goes to every university you apply to, so we recommend planning your preparation around the earliest deadline on your list.[21] If you apply by 13 January, Durham says you should hear from it by the end of March.[22]
Since Durham reads Section A and the essay together with the rest of your application, how you divide your time should depend on the strength of your record.
Suppose you are predicted A*AA or better with strong GCSEs. Most of Durham’s offer holders are predicted A*AA or above, so your grades alone will not set you apart.[4] Offer holders averaged 24.9 on Section A for 2025 entry and 26.3 for 2024 entry.[2]
What we recommend. Aim for a Section A score of 27 or more, which would have placed you above the offer holders’ average in every cycle, and spend about a third of your preparation time on timed essays.
Suppose your practice scores are in the low 20s. That is close to the applicants’ average of 23.8, and the offer holders’ average is only about one mark higher.[2] About a fifth of the offer holders for 2025 entry scored 20 or below, so a modest score does not rule you out.
What we recommend. Divide your time roughly into 60% Section A practice and 40% essays. A rise of three or four marks would take you from below the offer holders’ average to above it.
For 2027 entry you may be eligible if you have received free school meals, or meet two of Durham’s five other criteria. The offer is AAB, and Durham checks eligibility automatically.[23][1] Contextual offer holders for 2025 entry averaged 24.1 on Section A, close to the 24.9 of all offer holders.[4]
What we recommend. Prepare for the same test as everyone else. Put your home address (not your school’s) on the UCAS form, and if you are care-experienced or estranged, ask your referee to say so.[23]
Durham’s overseas offer rate for Law was 80% for 2025 entry.[12] None of its LNAT figures is split by fee status, so the high offer rate tells you nothing about the score you need.
What we recommend. Aim for the same Section A score as a Home applicant, and practise essays under timed conditions, since the essay is the one piece of writing every selector sees in the same form.
There are four things to bear in mind when you read Durham’s LNAT figures:
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.
Reply to Rachel Chan’s request of 1 February 2026, for M101 and the 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 cycles. Average Section A score: applicants 23.9, 25.1 and 23.8; offer holders 26.0, 26.3 and 24.9. Offer holders by score band (rounded to the nearest 5): 11 to 20, 150, 125 and 295; 21 to 30, 740, 845 and 815; 31 to 42, 185, 220 and 220; 10 and below, fewer than 5 each year. 2,970 applications and 1,500 offers in the 2024/25 cycle. The essay is not marked and does not contribute to the score. Only applicants whose LNAT result could be matched by UCAS Personal ID are counted, and the 2025/26 cycle was not provided because it was still in progress.
Reply to John Carlo’s request of 16 July 2024. Average Section A score for the 2021-22 cycle (applicants 21.8, offer holders 24.0) and the 2022-23 cycle (23.9 and 26.0). The highest and lowest scores were withheld because they might identify individuals, and the 2023-24 cycle was declined because it was still in progress. "The essay section of the LNAT does not receive a score."
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.
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.
Average Section A score of M101 offer holders: 24.7 for the 2019-20 cycle, 24.1 for 2020-21 and 24.0 for 2021-22. The essay section does not receive a score.
The LNAT must be taken by all applicants (UK, EU and overseas) to the listed courses. Durham’s course codes are M101 and M102; every other UK university on the list includes M100. The page is still worded for 2026 entry.
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.
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.
Average Section A score of M101 offer holders in the 2021-22 cycle: 23.89. The essay part is not graded.
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".
The reasons Durham gives unsuccessful applicants. A lower LNAT score would not automatically lead to rejection but is considered alongside the rest of the application; an LNAT essay may have been "not as strong as those of successful applicants"; for the most competitive courses the decision often comes down to the personal statement.
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.
Reply of 18 December 2018 with the spreadsheet "FOI 469 final.xlsx". Overseas-fee applications and offers for M101 by year of entry: 600 and 345 (2015), 775 and 450 (2016), 650 and 455 (2017), 800 and 440 (2018), rounded. Students progressing from Durham’s International Study Centre from 2018 are not counted. A second sheet lists the nationalities of offer holders for each year, without counts. The reply said Durham then held no historical LNAT data.
The same table for the 2020/21 cycle (2021 entry). Law: Home/Islands 1,300 applications and 445 offers (34%), 165 alternative; Overseas/EU 810 and 500 (61%), 95 alternative. Wayback Machine copy captured 21 March 2023.
M101 applicants whose latest qualification was an Access to HE Diploma, rounded to the nearest 5: 20, 25, 25 and 20 for 2018/19 to 2021/22, with 0, 5, 5 and 0 offer holders. For all four years together, offer holders’ LNAT scores ran from 19 to 30 (average 23.4), their ages from 19 to 34 (average 26) and their GCSEs at A* to C from 2 to 14 (average 6).
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.
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.
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.
The LNAT is an essential requirement before Durham considers a Law application. The multiple-choice part is marked out of 42, and it and the essay are made available to the universities. One sitting a year; results cannot be carried forward. Dates are on the Consortium’s site.
Applications are read by admissions selectors, who look at the whole application. Durham may offer a different course instead (a referral offer). On-time applicants should hear by the end of March.
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.
Durham Law School has no minimum cut-off score for the LNAT and uses it holistically, in the context of the whole application; the essay is not graded; Durham then held no average LNAT score for successful applicants.
Durham released the multiple-choice scores of applicants who received an offer in the 2017/18 cycle as a spreadsheet, which we have not been able to read, and said the LNAT score contributes to its assessment of merit and potential.
The other two pages in the guide: the funnel and the LNAT.
2024/25 funnel, Home vs Overseas, demographic baseline.
Open Overview →The A-level offer, what offer holders were predicted, GCSEs and the contextual offer.
Open Grades →Which band your Section A score falls in, and how many offer holders scored there.
Open the calculator →