June 6, 2018
It can be hard to know where to start when it comes to preparing for the LNAT. These five tips will help you kick off your LNAT revision and tackle some of the main challenges of the test.

1. Start Writing Essays

This doesn’t have to be a pain or more work to add to your already-hectic A-levels.

The recommended length of an LNAT essay is 750 words because you only have 40 minutes to write it. As a result, it’s important to keep your essay concise and to the point.

The more practice you put into writing argumentative essay answers to unseen questions, the easier this process will be. You will be able to know your essay style, to perfect your introductions and your conclusions and to ensure that you are picking a side and making your point adequately.

The best thing about essay practice is how much support there is out there.

  • Your teachers will be more than happy to spend 5 minutes reading over such a short piece and giving you some feedback on your arguments
  • The Lawyer Portal has some helpful tricks about planning and writing the LNAT essay
  • Even your parents and friends will be able to help you by making up some controversial titles or reading your pieces for you

I promise you that this is the practice you will be glad you did when it comes to actual assessment day.

2. Start Timing Yourself

You are going to hear this a lot. Timing is key here. It is important that you know your times and you stick to them.

95 minutes are given to you to complete the multiple-choice section, which is more than enough time to read, answer and review each question.

This is not to say that during your preparation for the LNAT that you cannot spend much longer familiarising yourself with the skills and technique required for the multiple choice questions. But you do need to ensure that, as you get closer to assessment, you are working well within the time given to you.

Despite being assured you have enough time, don’t become complacent. Time is of the essence and you must be strict with yourself in your practice sessions in order to ensure you aren’t spending too much time on a particularly hard question merely because its hard.

More often that not, the better strategy is to flag for review, move on and come back to it. The answer could even be clearer to you if you do it this way and you won’t waste time stuck on an answer.

However, take care – once the 95 minutes are up, you cannot go back, so ensure that if you have flagged five questions, you leave some time at the end to go back and choose an answer.

3. Start Staying Up to Date

The LNAT may well be the first time in your life you become interested in the newspapers. However, I cannot stress enough the importance of being aware in the months running up to the LNAT.

Not only might some of the LNAT multiple choice question passages and essay questions have been based on current events, but reading the news will allow you to think analytically and intelligently and really improve your overall LNAT performance.

The best way to do this is to read a broadsheet newspaper – don’t forget that this need not cost money as there may be copies available from school, your local library or even on your own kitchen table if your family already reads them. You can also access some very good news resources online.

However, moving away from the news, it is also a good idea to familiarise yourself with some simple academic articles. This will be the type of argumentative style passage may be used for the multiple choice questions and will also provide you with some useful style ideas for your own argumentative essay in Section B.

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4. Start Creating Your Strategy

How you tackle each section of the LNAT is up to how you work best and how you are most comfortable. The only way to find out your perfect strategy is by practising daily.

Everyone answers multiple choice questions differently – some people may read the question and then go into the passage, others may start with a gist reading of the passage before reading the questions, or some people might opt for a strategy of exclusion of answers until the right one becomes clear.

Whichever way works best for you is your choice.

Other important strategic points are:

  • The flagging technique described above;
  • Always answer every question. The LNAT does not negatively mark and therefore it’s important that even if it’s just an educated guess, a ¼ chance is better than nothing;
  • Read all the LNAT essay questions and think about each in turn before you launch into the first one you see;
  • Pick an LNAT essay question that you know lots about instead of one you feel strongly about. You might have a very passionate argument about euthanasia, but that often doesn’t make for a well-argued piece as your bias is too strong.

5. Start Practising Regularly

Keep practising, even if you feel completely sure you know what you are doing, extra practice never hurt anyone, and you might be glad of it. Get used to carrying out the test on a screen – reading passages on a screen can be a struggle, but not if you have had enough practice doing it.

Finally, don’t panic. If you are reading this, it is clear that you are conscientious enough to have prepared for the LNAT and you can do it!

Good luck!

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