Jurica
Three chapters, built from UCAS figures, SOAS’s own pages and its replies to FOI requests.
SOAS’s standard offer for Law is AAB at A-level, the lowest of the nine UK universities that use the LNAT, and its contextual offer is ABB. This chapter explains the equivalents SOAS accepts, how it treats GCSEs, who qualifies for a contextual offer and what grades its applicants and entrants have had.
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Try Jurica for freeSOAS’s standard offer for the LLB is AAB at A-level, and its contextual offer is ABB. The same grades apply to every BA degree that includes Law.[1][2] There are no required A-level subjects and no GCSE requirement for the LLB.[1]
Note that the offer was cut recently. SOAS asked for AAA for 2022 to 2025 entry, and changed to AAB at the start of the cycle for 2026 entry, in the autumn of 2025.[6][2] The contextual offer has moved too: it was AAB from 2022 to 2023, and has been ABB since 2024.[6] So if you read older advice that SOAS asks for AAA, it is out of date.
Note also that SOAS calls these grades a typical offer. Its Admissions Policy says that meeting or being predicted to meet the published requirements does not guarantee an offer.[5]
SOAS publishes a table of qualifications it treats as equivalent to AAB and ABB. For example, AAB is 34 points in the IB, with at least 17 at Higher Level and no Higher Level grade below 3.[3]
| Qualification | Standard offer (AAB) | Contextual offer (ABB) |
|---|---|---|
| A levels | AAB | ABB |
| International Baccalaureate | 34 points, at least 17 at Higher Level, no HL grade below 3 | 32 points, at least 16 at Higher Level, no HL grade below 3 |
| Scottish Highers | AAABB | AABBB |
| Scottish Advanced Highers | ABB | BBB |
| BTEC National Diploma or Extended Diploma | DDM | No contextual offers for BTECs |
| Cambridge Pre-U | D3, D3, M2 | D3, M2, M2 |
SOAS warns that actual offers may differ slightly from the table.[3] There are four further points to note:
SOAS’s offer is the lowest of the nine UK universities that use the LNAT. AAB is one grade below the AAA asked by Oxford and Glasgow, and two below the A*AA asked by the other six.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]
| University | Standard A-level offer | Contextual A-level offer |
|---|---|---|
| Oxford | AAA | None |
| Cambridge | A*AA | None |
| UCL | A*AA | AAB |
| LSE | A*AA | AAB |
| King’s College London | A*AA | AAB |
| Durham | A*AA | AAB |
| Bristol | A*AA or A*A*B | AAB |
| Glasgow | AAA | Adjusted offers in Highers only |
| SOAS | AAB | ABB |
As you can see, SOAS’s contextual offer of ABB is also one grade below the AAB that UCL, LSE, King’s, Durham and Bristol publish.[10][11][12][13][14] Oxford and Cambridge make no contextual offers at lower grades.[15][16]
SOAS publishes no grade profile of its own, but two sources give one. A reply to a Freedom of Information request gives the average number of each A-level grade held by applicants and offer holders for 2019 and 2020 entry, and Discover Uni gives the UCAS Tariff points of students who started the LLB in 2024-25.[17][18]
| Group | A* | A | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applicants, 2019 entry (400) | 0.21 | 0.64 | 1.04 | 0.73 | 0.41 |
| Offer holders, 2019 entry (285) | 0.27 | 0.81 | 1.25 | 0.70 | 0.22 |
| Applicants, 2020 entry (745) | 0.34 | 0.83 | 1.06 | 0.60 | 0.30 |
| Offer holders, 2020 entry (615) | 0.40 | 0.96 | 1.17 | 0.54 | 0.18 |
The figures are predicted or achieved grades for the single-honours Law programmes.[17] As you can see, the typical offer holder in both years held more B grades than A grades (1.17 Bs against 0.96 As per offer holder for 2020 entry), at a time when SOAS was advertising A*AA to AAB.[17][6] Offer holders had only slightly better grades than applicants as a whole, which fits an offer rate of about 88% for 2020 entry.[17]
The Discover Uni figures tell a similar story. Of the 265 LLB entrants in 2024-25 with Tariff data, 49% had between 112 and 127 points, and about two thirds (66%) had fewer than 128.[18] For comparison, AAB is worth 136 points and ABB 128.[19] That was in a year when the standard offer was AAA.[6]
We would treat this with care, for three reasons:
Having said that, the figures suggest that SOAS has in practice admitted many students below its advertised offer. This is our reading, and it does not mean you should apply expecting the offer to be lowered for you. We recommend planning to meet AAB.
SOAS publishes no GCSE requirement for the LLB. Its course page names no GCSE subject or grade, and its Admissions Policy says that any GCSE subject requirement is listed on the programme page.[1][5]
There are three exceptions:
This is quite different from some other universities. Oxford, for example, ranked candidates with a contextualised GCSE score 80% on that score when it drew up its shortlist for 2026 entry, and LSE asks for several GCSEs at grades 7 to 9 with at least a 6 in English Language and Mathematics.[22][11] If your GCSEs are uneven but your A-level predictions are strong, SOAS has no published rule that would hold you back.
SOAS makes contextual offers to UK applicants who meet at least one of its criteria. For Law the contextual offer is ABB, one grade below the standard offer, although SOAS’s general rule allows a reduction of up to two grades.[1][4]
SOAS’s contextual-offers page names ten kinds of contextual data it may take into account, without giving thresholds for any of them:[4]
Note three limits. Contextual offers are for UK students only; they are not made for BTEC qualifications or for A levels combined with other qualifications; and they do not apply in Clearing.[4] Subject-specific requirements, such as the GCSE Mathematics grade for Economics and Law, are not reduced.[4] If you have taken part in one of SOAS’s outreach programmes, its policy says you may receive additional consideration, which is not the same as a reduced offer.[5]
SOAS gives no figures for Law. A Freedom of Information reply of December 2022 gives counts for all its undergraduate courses together: for 2022 entry, 428 applications were flagged as meeting the criteria for a reduced contextual offer, 408 of them received offers and 124 were firmly accepted.[24]
As you can see, almost every flagged application received an offer in the later years (408 of 428 in 2022, and 258 of 269 in 2021).[24] The same reply gives the criteria SOAS used from at least 2019, which were more specific than the current page: for example, a school with more than 25% of pupils on free school meals, POLAR quintile 1 or 2, or IMD decile 1 to 3.[24] These are four cycles old, so we would not treat them as the rule for 2027 entry.
That depends on which group you are in. In each case SOAS considers your application as a whole, and none of its pages says that Law applicants are interviewed, so in general your grades, personal statement and reference (and, for some applicants, the LNAT) are what it has to go on.[5][25]
With A levels or the IB you do not need to sit the LNAT.[1] We recommend applying by the UCAS deadline of 13 January 2027, since across SOAS in 2025 on-time applications received offers at 95.0%, against 65.3% for later ones.[26][20] If you are sitting the LNAT for another university anyway, SOAS says it will consider a lower offer for a promising result, which gives you some protection if you miss a grade.[1]
If you are predicted ABB, check first whether you qualify for a contextual offer, since that is exactly the contextual grade for Law.[1][4] If you do not, you have two other options. You can sit the LNAT, since SOAS will consider a lower offer for a promising score; or you can apply anyway, because SOAS’s published grades are a typical offer.[1][5] Note also that an applicant who does not meet a degree’s requirements may be offered SOAS’s Foundation Year instead.[5]
You must sit the LNAT, and you cannot receive a contextual offer if your qualifications include a BTEC.[3][4] SOAS sends non-standard and marginal applications to the Admissions Tutor, so a strong LNAT result and, in particular, a careful essay are worth preparing for.[5][27] The LNAT chapter gives the scores SOAS has released for this group.
SOAS counts you as mature if you are over 21 on 1 September of the year you start. Its policy says that mature applicants who have been out of education for some time will often find an Access course useful, and that a directly relevant one, such as Access to Law, is preferred for some degrees.[5] Note that you must sit the LNAT because of the Access Diploma; your age makes no difference to the rule.[3]
Note, however, what the figures show. In the 2025 cycle, Law applications from 21 to 24-year-olds received offers at 61.3%, against 98.8% for 18-year-olds.[20] SOAS itself says its access rate for mature students is below the sector average, and the mature share of its intake fell from 18% to 12.1% by 2021/22.[23] So we recommend making a strong case in your personal statement for why you want to study Law now, and preparing well for the LNAT if your qualifications require it.
The standard offer is the same, and SOAS publishes equivalents for qualifications from many countries.[3] There are three points to note:
In the 2025 cycle, applications for Law from outside the EU received offers at 87.6%, against 93.5% for applications from England.[20]
SOAS publishes little admissions data of its own. These are the public sources behind the claims above.
The page for the LLB (course code M100), three or four years full-time, with an optional year abroad that students apply for in their second year (a mark of 55% or higher in the first year is needed). Entry requirements: A levels AAB, contextual ABB; no required A-level subject and no GCSE requirement. Applicants with A levels, the IB or another high-school qualification considered equivalent to A levels are not required to take the LNAT, but the School of Law will consider making lower offers (e.g. AAA, AAB, ABB or 37, 36, 35 in the IB) to candidates who sit it and perform promisingly; applicants with non-standard qualifications (including Access to HE Diplomas and foundation courses) and anyone offering a Level 3 BTEC, alone or in combination, must take it. Applicants for transfer into year 2 who have taken the LNAT and performed well may be considered. Compulsory modules include Legal Systems of Asia and Africa in years 2 and 3; human-rights modules are guided options; module descriptions name Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), decolonial and feminist approaches and critical race theory. Lists 23 employers of recent graduates, among them Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Linklaters and Slaughter and May, without numbers. Fees shown are for 2026/27 entrants. Read 10 October 2026.
Lists the BA degrees that combine Law with another subject: 17 entries, which are 15 combinations plus two year-abroad versions. Every combination requires AAB (contextual ABB), and the page carries the same LNAT paragraphs as the LLB page. SOAS says the BA is aimed primarily at those not wishing to become practising lawyers. No UCAS codes are given. An archived copy of 8 October 2025 shows the page had moved from AAA to AAB, with a contextual offer of BBB that has since become ABB again.
SOAS’s tables of qualifications equivalent to AAB, ABB and BBB. For AAB: IB 34 points with at least 17 at Higher Level and no HL grade below 3 (ABB: 32 with 16 at HL); Scottish Highers AAABB; Advanced Highers ABB; Access to HE Diploma with at least 30 Level 3 credits at Distinction plus 15 at Merit or Distinction; BTEC National Diploma or Extended Diploma DDM; Cambridge Pre-U D3, D3, M2. Actual offers may differ slightly. BTEC qualifications are reviewed in combination with the GCSE profile. GCSE Maths at grade 6/B is required for Economics combined honours programmes. Applicants to single or joint Law programmes must take the LNAT if they hold an Access to HE Diploma, a BTEC (including with A levels), the WJEC Level 3 Applied Diploma in Criminology (including with A levels), or a foundation year or other non-standard qualification; anyone unsure is told to contact the Enquiries team. Also gives country-by-country equivalents and, for some countries, requires an International Foundation Programme. The EPQ is considered only alongside three A levels with a predicted B or better and predictions that already meet the requirement.
For UK students. Names ten kinds of contextual data SOAS may take into account (free school meals, experience of care, POLAR4, IMD, estrangement, caring responsibilities, parenting responsibilities, a parent or carer in the armed forces, having served in the armed forces, and refugee or asylum-seeker status), with no thresholds. An applicant must meet at least one. A contextual offer is up to two grades below the standard requirement; subject-specific requirements are not reduced. No contextual offers are made for BTEC qualifications or for A levels combined with other qualifications, or through Clearing.
The current university-wide policy (MSRA-013, version 03, approved 21 May 2026). Admissions are largely centralised: academic admissions tutors set the entry requirements, professional admissions staff apply them, and non-standard and marginal applications go to the Admissions Tutor. SOAS considers all aspects of an application, which may include qualifications and grades, the personal statement, the reference, performance at interview, a sample of written work and the context of the applicant’s qualifications. All A-level subjects carry equal weight except General Studies; AS levels and General Studies do not count towards the offer; there is no penalty for resits; GCSE subject requirements are listed on programme pages; the published entry requirements are a typical offer and meeting them does not guarantee one. Contextual data include IMD, POLAR, school GCSE performance, first-generation status, the school’s free-school-meal share and care experience; participants in SOAS outreach may receive additional consideration; a care leaver is someone under 25 who is or has been in public care for at least three months. On-time applications get equal consideration; offer conditions must be met by 31 August; deferred entry applications are welcome. Mature applicants (over 21 on 1 September of the year of admission) who have been out of education for some time will often find an Access course useful, and a directly relevant one such as Access to Law is preferred for some degrees. An applicant who misses a degree’s requirements may be offered the Foundation Year. The LNAT is not mentioned.
The LLB page as it stood for 2025/26 entrants: entry requirements AAA, contextual ABB. The next archived copy, of 6 February 2026, carries fees for 2026/27 entrants and gives AAB. Earlier copies of SOAS’s LLB pages show A*AA to AAB in 2019 and 2020, AAA to AAB in January 2021, and AAA from May 2022, with a contextual offer of AAB until October 2023 and ABB from April 2024.
The entry requirements for BA Jurisprudence are AAA at A-level or equivalent.
Standard offer AAA at A-level. Glasgow’s adjusted (contextual) offers are set in Highers for applicants living in Scotland.
The course page as archived in January 2026. Standard offer A*AA at A-level, contextual offer AAB, with GCSE English Language and Mathematics at grade B or 6.
Standard offer A*AA at A-level and contextual offer AAB. For GCSEs LSE asks for several grades at A (7) and A* (8-9), and at least B (6) in English Language and Mathematics.
Standard offer A*AA at A-level and contextual offer AAB.
For 2027 entry: standard offer A*AA at A-level and contextual offer AAB.
Standard offer A*AA or A*A*B at A-level; contextual offer AAB.
Oxford does not use contextual information to make conditional offers at lower grades: all offer holders for a subject must meet the same offer requirements.
Cambridge does not use contextual data to make conditional offers at lower grades systematically.
Figures for the single-honours Law programmes for 2019 and 2020 entry. Applications 630 and 670; offers 470 and 590; firm acceptances 190 and 130; first-year enrolments 105 and 190 (of which the LLB itself 90 and 165). Average number of each A-level grade per applicant studying A levels, 2019 entry (400 applicants): A* 0.21, A 0.64, B 1.04, C 0.73, D 0.41; 2020 entry (745): 0.34, 0.83, 1.06, 0.60, 0.30. Per offer holder, 2019 entry (285): 0.27, 0.81, 1.25, 0.70, 0.22; 2020 entry (615): 0.40, 0.96, 1.17, 0.54, 0.18. Average LNAT multiple-choice score for 2019 entry: 19 among applicants and 24 among offer holders; the 2020 figures were withheld because LNAT sittings were cancelled mid-cycle and very few candidates sat. Counts are rounded to the nearest 5, and the application and offer counts came from a different team from the A-level counts, so the two sets do not match for 2020.
Official course data for the LLB. Entrants in 2024-25: data from 305 students, of whom 91% held A-levels, Advanced Highers or similar (a group that includes BTEC Nationals), 4% other qualifications, 2% a degree and 2% an Access course. UCAS Tariff points of 265 of them: 176-191 points 2%, 160-175 3%, 144-159 12%, 128-143 17%, 112-127 49%, 96-111 14%, 80-95 1%, under 48 2%. 92% of the 195 students who started in 2023-24 were still on the course or had completed it a year later. National Student Survey (students graduating 2025-26): 80% positive about teaching, 60% about assessment and feedback. Median earnings of SOAS Law graduates: £28,000 three years after the course and £36,000 after five. Accredited by the Bar Standards Board for the purpose of a Qualifying Law Degree. Counts are rounded to the nearest five.
An A level is worth 56 Tariff points at A*, 48 at A, 40 at B and 32 at C, so AAA is 144 points, AAB 136, ABB 128 and BBB 120.
The provider-level files give main scheme applications, offers, offer rate and accepted applicants by subject group for each cycle from 2019 to 2025. Law at SOAS: 920 applications, 665 offers, 72.5%, 180 accepted (2019); 945, 790, 83.9%, 285 (2020); 1,045, 920, 88.3%, 325 (2021); 1,055, 930, 88.5%, 325 (2022); 970, 860, 88.5%, 340 (2023); 1,180, 1,080, 91.6%, 410 (2024); 1,195, 1,105, 92.4%, 320 (2025). Accepted applicants who made no main scheme application: 55, 100, 95, 90, 100, 100 and 100. For 2025, by domicile: England 915 applications at 93.5%, EU 35 at 95.9%, outside the EU 235 at 87.6% (2019: 550 at 76.2%, 50 at 79.3%, 315 at 65.0%); by age: 17 and under 40 at 90.8%, 18 780 at 98.8%, 19 205 at 84.1%, 20 65 at 88.0%, 21 to 24 75 at 61.3%. Whole of SOAS, 2025: 6,210 applications at 91.9%; UK applicants with A levels only 2,630 applications and 2,560 offers, BTEC only 260 and 235, A levels with a BTEC 185 and 175, Access to HE only 95 and 85; applications by the January deadline 95.0% offered, those made between January and 30 June 65.3%. Law in 2025 at the other UK LNAT universities: Oxford 2,420, 270, 11.1%, 220; Cambridge 1,935, 330, 16.9%, 255; UCL 4,510, 670, 14.9%, 255; LSE 3,240, 515, 15.9%, 215; King’s 5,195, 1,345, 25.9%, 445; Durham 3,040, 1,435, 47.1%, 460; Bristol 2,795, 1,530, 54.8%, 505; Glasgow 1,800, 1,160, 64.5%, 335. Each Law figure adds together every course by its share of Law (so a joint degree counts in part), counts are rounded to the nearest five, and the offer rate is a share of applications, not of applicants.
SOAS was open in Clearing for all subjects in 2022 to 2025 except, in every year, the LLB with Year Abroad (and in 2022 and 2023 the Senior Status LLB and one joint programme with UCL), so the standard LLB was open in each of those years. It withheld its Clearing entry grades as commercially sensitive and pointed to UCAS for application and offer data.
The report on the round for 2026 entry. Shortlisting ranked candidates with a contextualised GCSE score on 80% GCSE score, 10% multiple-choice score and 10% essay. The average Section A score was 24.94 for all candidates and 30.48 for those who received an offer.
Filed with the Office for Students and linked from SOAS’s Access, participation and student success page. Says all home undergraduate applicants are considered eligible for reduced offers, depending on individual, school and area indicators, and that SOAS now uses TUNDRA in place of POLAR in contextual admissions. Gives the mature share of the intake as 12.1% in 2021/22, down from 18%, and says access rates for mature students are below the sector average. Institution-level only: it does not mention Law or the LNAT.
SOAS has used contextual data for all its undergraduate programmes since at least 2015/16 entry, to decide whether a reduced offer can be made. The criteria in use since at least 2019 were: a school where fewer than 50% of pupils got five GCSEs at A* to C, a school with more than 25% of pupils on free school meals, no parent in higher education, POLAR quintile 1 or 2, IMD decile 1 to 3, experience of care, or satisfactory participation in outreach. Institution-wide counts of applications flagged for a reduced contextual offer, offers and firm acceptances: 2015 207, 137, 39; 2016 251, 184, 47; 2017 141, 94, 18; 2018 288, 196, 25; 2019 634, 548, 126; 2020 403, 379, 81; 2021 269, 258, 59; 2022 428, 408, 124. Nothing by subject.
All undergraduate applications, international ones included, go through UCAS (institution code S09). Applications are considered holistically by the admissions team. The steps listed after applying include no interview; the page mentions an interview only for disabled applicants who need special arrangements. SOAS gives no deadline of its own and refers applicants to UCAS.
For 2027 entry the equal-consideration date for most undergraduate courses is 13 January 2027 at 18:00 UK time.
The average LNAT score of offer holders who were required to take the test for September 2022 entry was 15.2. SOAS requires a strong essay in addition to the LNAT score it requires; the essay is assessed by the Admissions tutor, who looks for the ability to reason, argue and construct a cohesive essay, and a solid essay is especially important where the applicant has missed the required score by a few points. The essay carries no grade. The required score itself is not given.
For direct entry SOAS asks for IELTS Academic 6.5 overall with 6.0 in every sub-score, with no higher bar for Law.
The 2026/27 calendar (2027 entry). Booking opens 1 August 2026 and testing starts 1 September 2026. Oxford and Cambridge: sit by 15 October 2026. King’s, LSE and UCL: sit by 31 December 2026. Bristol and Durham: book and sit by 13 January 2027. All other LNAT universities, SOAS among them: UCAS form by 13 January 2027 at 6pm UK time, book before 20 January 2027, sit by 25 January 2027. Late applicants (usually international) may sit up to 31 July 2027, but universities may not accept results that late. A candidate may sit the test only once in a cycle, and results cannot be carried forward to another year.
More from the SOAS Law guide.
Applications and offers for Law, the LLB and the BA degrees, and how SOAS selects.
Open Overview →Who must sit the test, what happens if you sit it by choice, and the scores SOAS has released.
Open LNAT →SOAS's ABB contextual offer for Law and who qualifies.
View contextual offers →