Law schools slated for claims that LNat needs no coaching

The director of a leading National Admissions Test for Law (LNat) learning aid company has branded law schools naive for claiming that the test is impervious to coaching.

TheLNatisanew compulsory exam for students wishing to study law at the universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, East Anglia, Nottingham, Oxford and University College London. It aims to assess candidates ability to make logical deductions and test writing skills and will be sat for the first time by an estimated 10,000 students on 3 November.

The consortium of universities has claimed the test cannot be coached and that reading a quality newspaper and practising sample questions is sufficient preparation.

However, Selwyn Lim, a director and one of the founders of Cataga, a provider of test preparation support, which sells a book entitled Crack the LNat, said it was beyond doubt that these products give students an edge.

Lim, speaking in a personal capacity, argued that the LNat consortium had watered down its claims that the LNat is impervious to coaching, but criticised the providers, saying it was naive to begin by making these claims.

UCL law department sub-dean and faculty tutor Rodney Austin urged students to be scepticalofcompanies claiming to help them pass the test. The LNat cant be taught or coached. Practising the sample test will help you, but you cant learn it since its not a test of knowledge.

Austin said at least 12 more universities including Exeter, Manchester, Liverpool and LSE had enquired about joining the consortium.

As <>Lawyer 2B went to press, there were still question marks over whether UK resident overseas students would be required to sit the exam, but Austin said this would be clarified imminently.