UCAS Law - A Guide to Applying to Study Law at University

What is UCAS?

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) is an independent charity, and the UK’s shared admissions service, for higher education institutions. Almost all applications for university or college are made through UCAS, which helps match hundreds of thousands of students every year with university and college courses.

How to Apply For a UCAS Law Degree Course

You can get support from your school or college to make a UCAS law application, but it’s worth understanding the process so that you are fully ready to apply.

Step-By-Step UCAS Law Application Process

To apply to study law through UCAS, you will need your personal information, a prepared personal statement and bank details to pay for your application.

1. Register with UCAS. You will need to provide an email address, your first name and surname, create a password and agree to the terms of service to set up an account in the UCAS Hub.
2. Complete registration questions. Once you have set up an account, you will need to complete a series of registration questions, including the year you want to study and that you’re interested in studying as an undergraduate.
3. Your application. After completing the registration questions, you will be transferred to the UCAS Hub dashboard. Here you will find a section that directs you to ‘Your Application’. Click start to begin your application.
4. Fill out application details. To start your application, enter your first name, any middle names and your surname exactly as they appear on official documents, such as your passport, driving licence and birth certificate. If you only have one name, enter this in the first and last name fields on your application.
5. Add your education history. You must enter all qualifications from secondary education onwards, even if you are still awaiting grades. This will help universities to determine if you meet entry requirements.
6. Provide your employment history. If you have been in any paid job roles – full- or part-time – you can give details of up to five jobs. You will need to include company names and addresses, job descriptions and start/finish dates. Unpaid or voluntary work should not be included in this section – these should be mentioned in your personal statement.
7. If you have no paid work experience, leave this section blank.
8. Search university law degree courses using the UCAS search tool. Find different types of law courses offered by hundreds of universities.
9. Research the courses and check the entry requirements for the law universities that you’re interested in. For example, check the A Level grades that you need, and whether you need to take an LNAT exam or other entry test – if so, make sure you register for the required entry exam early.
10. Select your courses. You can choose up to five courses, and you are not required to pick the same course for each institution, but bear in mind that your law personal statement must be applicable to each university that you apply to. There’s no preference order, and your chosen universities won’t see where else you have applied until you start replying to offers.
11. Upload your UCAS law personal statement. A law personal statement is needed to support your application. If you have not yet prepared one, see our personal statement writing guide.
12. Review your UCAS application. Check for errors and make sure your course choices, personal details and your supporting statement are all correct.
13. Get a teacher’s reference. Ask your school teacher(s) to provide a character reference to further support your application to study law.
14. Pay your application fee. UCAS application costs for 2023 are £22.50 for a single course or £27 to apply for multiple courses.
15. Submit your application. Once you are happy that your application is complete and you have paid the correct fee, submit your application.

Law Admissions Tests

The LNAT is the main admissions test used by a number of universities to further distinguish between high-quality candidates, as law is such as competitive subject. Law universities that require the LNAT, include:

You will need to factor in the UCAS law deadlines when taking an admissions test. If you are applying to Oxford or Cambridge, you must complete the entrance exam by October. For all other universities, you must take the LNAT by January.

Our LNAT guide has everything you need to know about the test.

UCAS Law Deadlines

UCAS law deadlines vary depending on the university, and are subject to change:

The deadline for applications for Oxford and Cambridge law courses is typically October.

For all other law universities, the deadline is usually January.

Some universities have additional entry exams to be taken alongside a UCAS law application, which will also have a deadline.

UCAS Late Applications

If you miss the UCAS January deadline, you can still apply for a law degree course, up to 30 June. However, universities may treat applications on a first-come, first-served basis. Applying after the deadline means that some popular law courses may be unavailable to you. UCAS Extra opens in February, which gives you additional options should you need them, allowing you to add further course choices if you have received no offers or decline any that you have received.

Any application submitted after 30 June is automatically entered into clearing.