UK Law School Rankings by Entry Requirements: 98 LLBs Compared (2026 Entry)

Q: Which UK law degrees have the highest entry requirements?

Edinburgh publishes A*A*A to A*AA, and Cambridge, LSE, UCL, King's College London, Bristol, Warwick, Durham, Manchester and Queen Mary publish A*AA, so those ten sit at the top of a ranking by standard offer. Oxford publishes AAA but also requires the LNAT.

By Michael Thompson · Education Specialist; 10 years teaching the IB at Bromsgrove School · Published 5 October 2026 · Updated 6 October 2026

Every UK law school ranking you will find weights teaching, research and graduate outcomes differently, so the same university can sit first in one table and fifth in another. This page ranks differently: by the standard offer each university publishes on UCAS for its full-time LLB, taken from our course directory in October 2026. That gives you one answer to the question the league tables skirt around - which law degrees are hardest to get into, and which ones you can realistically reach with the grades you are predicted. 98 universities publish an A-level or IB offer; 23 more list a law degree without one, and they are listed separately at the end.

Key Takeaways

The table covers 121 UK universities: 98 publish a standard A-level or IB offer on UCAS and are ranked; 23 list a full-time LLB without a published offer and appear in a separate list.
*10 universities ask for AAA or higher*: Edinburgh (AAA to AAA), Cambridge, LSE, UCL, King's College London, Bristol, Warwick, Durham, Manchester and Queen Mary. Another 13 ask for AAA, including Oxford.
9 universities in the table require the LNAT: Cambridge, LSE, UCL, King's College London, Bristol, Durham, Oxford, Glasgow and SOAS. Every other LLB here admits without it, which changes your timetable if you are applying to both kinds.
IB offers run from 24 to 42 points: 69 of the 98 ranked degrees publish an IB figure, and most pair the total with Higher Level grade conditions that must also be met.
The lowest published offers sit at CCC and below: Abertay, Westminster and Wolverhampton publish CCC, and one further-education college lists DD. A law degree with a UCAS Tariff requirement under 100 points is a realistic route, not a fallback.

1. How This Ranking Works

This is a ranking by entry requirements, not by quality. Each row is one university's full-time LLB (or BA Law, where that is the undergraduate law degree), taken from the course records in our UK course directory, which holds the standard offer each provider has published on UCAS for 2026 entry. Where a university lists more than one full-time law degree, the three-year route is the one shown.

The order is decided by the A-level offer, from AAA down to DD. Where a university publishes a range, such as AAB to BBB, it is ranked on the first figure in its UCAS record, which is usually the standard offer. Ties are broken by the IB points figure, then by the UCAS Tariff minimum. Universities that publish an IB offer but no A-level offer sit at the end of the ranked table, ordered by IB points.

Two records are corrected from the universities' own pages. Bristol's UCAS record carries its contextual offer (AAB, IB 34), so the table shows its standard offer of A*AA and IB 38; Cambridge's record is a 2023-entry listing, so the table shows its 2026 offer of IB 41-42. A few tariff ranges in the raw records start far below the published A-level offer (16 or 32 points, for example), so those are shown from the figure that matches the offer.

If you want a league table that measures teaching, research and graduate prospects, use the Complete University Guide, the Guardian University Guide or The Times Good University Guide. None of their scores are reproduced here. The two kinds of ranking answer different questions, and the sensible way to shortlist is to read both: the league tables tell you where a law school stands, and this table tells you whether it will make you an offer.

Offers change every cycle. Each university name links to its course page in the directory, which shows the figure currently on UCAS.

2. The Ranking: 98 Law Degrees by Standard Offer

A-level and IB figures are the standard offers published on UCAS. The tariff column shows the UCAS Tariff points the provider lists, as a range where the course record gives one. LNAT marks the universities whose course record names the Law National Admissions Test.

Rank	University	A-level offer	IB points	UCAS tariff	LNAT
1	The University of Edinburgh	AAA - A*AA	42	160	-
2	University of Cambridge	A*AA	41-42	152	Yes
3	London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)	A*AA	39	152	Yes
4	UCL (University College London)	A*AA	39	152	Yes
5	King's College London, University of London	A*AA	38	152	Yes
6	University of Bristol	A*AA	38	152	Yes
7	University of Warwick	A*AA	38	152	-
8	Durham University	A*AA	37	152	Yes
9	University of Manchester	A*AA	37	152	-
10	Queen Mary University of London	A*AA	36	152	-
11	University of Oxford	AAA	38	144	Yes
12	Cardiff University	AAA - ABB	36	144	-
13	University of Exeter	AAA	36	144	-
14	University of Liverpool	AAA	36	144	-
15	University of Sheffield	AAA	36	144	-
16	University of Southampton	AAA	36	144	-
17	University of York	AAA	36	144	-
18	Newcastle University	AAA	34	144	-
19	University of Nottingham	AAA	34	144	-
20	University of Birmingham	AAA	32	144	-
21	Queen's University Belfast	AAA	-	144	-
22	University of Glasgow	AAA	-	144	Yes
23	University of Leeds	AAA	-	144	-
24	Lancaster University	AAB	35	136	-
25	Loughborough University	AAB	35	136	-
26	Royal Holloway, University of London	AAB - ABB	34	136	-
27	SOAS University of London	AAB	34	136	Yes
28	University of Aberdeen	AAB	34	136	-
29	University of Reading	AAB	34	136	-
30	University of Strathclyde	AAB - BBB	34	136	-
31	University of Sussex	AAB	34	136-153	-
32	University of Kent	AAB - BBB	34	120-136	-
33	University of East Anglia UEA	AAB	33	136	-
34	University of Leicester	AAB	33	128-162	-
35	Swansea University	AAB - CCC	32	96-150	-
36	Ulster University	AAB	27	136	-
37	Northeastern University London	ABB	34	128	-
38	University of Surrey	ABB	33	128	-
39	Keele University	ABB	32	128	-
40	University of Dundee	ABB	32	128	-
41	Brunel University of London	ABB - BBB	31	128	-
42	City St George's, University of London	ABB	31	128	-
43	Aberystwyth University	ABB - BCC	30	104-128	-
44	Bath Spa University	BBB - BCC	32	96-120	-
45	Aston University, Birmingham	BBB - BBC	31	120	-
46	Manchester Metropolitan University	BBB	30	120	-
47	The University of Law	BBB	29	120-122	-
48	University of Stirling	BBB	28	120	-
49	Kingston University	BBB - AAB	27	112-144	-
50	University of Portsmouth	BBB - BBC	27	112-138	-
51	Cardiff Metropolitan University	BBB	24	80-128	-
52	Glasgow Caledonian University	BBB	-	120-153	-
53	Liverpool John Moores University	BBB	-	120	-
54	University of Hertfordshire	BBB	-	120	-
55	University of Derby	BBB	-	106-120	-
56	University of Huddersfield	BBB - BBC	-	96-120	-
57	University of Buckingham	BBC - BBB	32	112-120	-
58	Edinburgh Napier University	BBC	30	112	-
59	University of Chester	BBC - BBB	30	108-120	-
60	Coventry University	BBC	30	112	-
61	Canterbury Christ Church University	BBC	29	112	-
62	Birmingham City University	BBC	28	112	-
63	London Metropolitan University	BBC	28	80-114	-
64	Liverpool Hope University	BBC	26	112	-
65	University of Northampton	BBC	25	96-112	-
66	Birkbeck, University of London	BBC	-	112	-
67	Edge Hill University	BBC - BBB	-	112-122	-
68	St Mary's University, Twickenham	BBC	-	112	-
69	University of Bedfordshire	BBC	-	112	-
70	University of Bradford	BBC	-	112	-
71	University of East London	BBC	-	112	-
72	University of Roehampton	BBC	-	112	-
73	University of Staffordshire	BBC	-	112-120	-
74	University of Suffolk	BBC	-	112	-
75	University of West London	BBC - ABB	-	112-128	-
76	De Montfort University	BBC	-	80-112	-
77	Goldsmiths, University of London	BCC	29	104-108	-
78	Robert Gordon University	BCC	28	104	-
79	University of Chichester	BCC	28	104	-
80	University of Brighton	BCC - BBB	26	104-120	-
81	University of the West of Scotland	BCC	24	96-126	-
82	University of Gloucestershire	BCC	-	104	-
83	University of South Wales	BCC	-	104	-
84	University of Cumbria	BCC - BBB	-	102-120	-
85	ARU London	BCC	-	96-104	-
86	Buckinghamshire New University	BCC - CCD	-	88-112	-
87	University of Lincoln	CCC - BBC	29	96-112	-
88	Abertay University	CCC	25	96-108	-
89	University of Westminster, London	CCC	-	96	-
90	University of Wolverhampton	CCC	-	96	-
91	Wrexham University	CCC - BBC	-	96-112	-
92	Middlesex University	BB - BBC	-	80-112	-
93	University Centre Leeds, Leeds City College	DD	-	48	-
94	University of Salford	-	31	112-120	-
95	Bournemouth University	-	31	104-120	-
96	Southampton, Solent University	-	31	104-120	-
97	University of Hull	-	30	120	-
98	University of Plymouth	-	28	112	-

A dash means the provider has not published that figure on UCAS. It does not mean the university will not accept that qualification: Queen's University Belfast and Leeds, for example, both make IB offers, but their UCAS course records only state the A-level and tariff figures.

3. What the Tiers Mean

The table splits into four bands, and the band matters more than the exact position within it.

A*AA and above: 10 universities

Edinburgh, Cambridge, LSE, UCL, King's College London, Bristol, Warwick, Durham, Manchester and Queen Mary all ask for at least one A* in a standard offer. Six of the ten also require the LNAT. IB offers in this band run from 36 to 42 points, with Edinburgh and Cambridge at the top. These are the degrees where predicted grades of AAA leave you below the offer before an admissions tutor has read a word of your personal statement, so they belong in the aspirational slot of a five-choice form, not the whole of it.

AAA: 13 universities

Oxford is here rather than in the top band because its published offer is AAA, with the LNAT doing the extra selection work. Exeter, Liverpool, Southampton, York, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, Birmingham, Queen's Belfast, Glasgow (which also requires the LNAT) and Leeds complete the band, with Cardiff listing AAA to ABB. IB offers run from 32 to 38 points. This is the band most students with AAA predictions should treat as their firm-choice territory.

AAB to ABB: 20 universities

Lancaster, Loughborough, SOAS, Aberdeen, Reading, Sussex, Leicester, East Anglia and Ulster sit at AAB; Surrey, Keele, Dundee, City St George's and Northeastern University London at ABB; Kent, Royal Holloway, Strathclyde, Swansea, Brunel and Aberystwyth publish ranges that start in this band. IB offers are mostly 31 to 35, with Ulster at 27 and Aberystwyth at 30. A student predicted AAB has a genuine choice here rather than a single reach.

BBB and below: 55 universities

The largest band. It includes The University of Law and Manchester Metropolitan at BBB, a long run of BBC offers at 112 tariff points, and CCC at Abertay, Westminster and Wolverhampton. Five providers (Salford, Hull, Bournemouth, Solent and Plymouth) publish only an IB figure, between 28 and 31 points. A degree in this band leads to the same professional routes as one at the top of the table; what differs is the competition for places, not the professional destination. The distinction that does matter is jurisdiction: Scottish LLBs, such as Abertay, Stirling, Robert Gordon, Edinburgh Napier, Glasgow Caledonian and the West of Scotland here, lead to the Scottish legal profession rather than to practice in England and Wales.

4. The LNAT Universities

9 of the 98 ranked degrees name the LNAT in their UCAS course record, and they are the nine UK universities that use the test: Cambridge, LSE, UCL, King's College London, Bristol, Durham, Oxford, Glasgow and SOAS. Eight of the nine sit in the top two bands, and six of the ten A*AA-or-higher offers come with the test.

That has a practical consequence for timing. The LNAT is sat between September and January of Year 13, and each university sets its own date by which you must have taken it. Oxford and Cambridge applicants have to sit it by 15 October, so they book the test before the personal statement is finished. For 2027 entry the others set later dates: 31 December 2026 for King's College London, LSE and UCL, 13 January 2027 for Bristol and Durham, and 25 January 2027 for Glasgow and SOAS. If your five choices are all drawn from the 89 non-LNAT degrees, the January UCAS deadline is the only date that matters.

The other point the table makes is that the LNAT is not a proxy for selectivity. Warwick, Manchester and Queen Mary ask for A*AA without it; Oxford asks for AAA with it. Treat the test as a separate hurdle rather than a tier marker.

5. IB Applicants: Reading the IB Points Column

69 of the 98 ranked degrees publish an IB figure, from 24 points at the University of the West of Scotland and Cardiff Metropolitan to 42 at Edinburgh. The number in the table is the overall points total the provider lists on UCAS.

Most of those offers also carry Higher Level conditions that the table cannot show in one column: 38 points with 6, 6, 6 at HL is a different offer from 38 points with 6, 6, 5, and both parts have to be met. A student who scores the total but drops one HL grade will see the offer withdrawn. Open the linked course page for the full wording before you treat a points figure as achievable, and read our guide to how UK universities read IB and A-level applications if you are weighing the two routes.

Where the IB column shows a dash, apply anyway if the A-level offer is in range. Most of those universities make IB offers; they have simply not published the figure on UCAS.

6. Law Degrees Without a Published Offer on UCAS

These 23 providers list a full-time law degree in the directory but publish neither an A-level offer nor an IB figure on their UCAS course record. Some set their requirements in UCAS Tariff points only; others state them on their own websites. They are listed alphabetically rather than ranked, with a link to each course page.

7. What to Do Next

Use the band your predicted grades put you in, then pick five courses across two bands rather than five from one. Our full guide to the best UK universities for law covers specialisms, the SQE route and combined degrees; the law entry requirements guide explains contextual offers and subject preferences; and choosing aspirational university choices shows how to balance a reach against a safe option.

When the list is settled, check your law personal statement before you submit it, and use the course finder to compare the current offer on every course you are considering. Offers in this table were read in October 2026 and will move for the next cycle.

FAQ

Which UK law degrees have the highest entry requirements?

Edinburgh publishes AAA to AAA, and Cambridge, LSE, UCL, King's College London, Bristol, Warwick, Durham, Manchester and Queen Mary publish AAA, so those ten sit at the top of a ranking by standard offer. Oxford publishes AAA but also requires the LNAT.

Is this the same as a law school league table?

No. League tables such as the Complete University Guide, the Guardian and The Times score teaching, research and graduate outcomes. This ranking orders law degrees by the standard offer each university publishes on UCAS, so it tells you how hard a course is to get into rather than how it is rated.

How many UK universities require the LNAT for law?

Nine: Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Glasgow, King's College London, LSE, Oxford, SOAS and UCL. All other LLBs in the table admit without it.

What is the lowest entry requirement for a law degree in the UK?

Among universities, Abertay, Westminster and Wolverhampton publish CCC; University Centre Leeds lists DD. Several others accept 96 to 112 UCAS Tariff points. All of these are full LLBs; Abertay's is a Scots-law degree, which leads to the Scottish profession rather than to practice in England and Wales.

What IB score do I need for law in the UK?

Published IB offers run from 24 points at the University of the West of Scotland and Cardiff Metropolitan to 42 at Edinburgh. Most Russell Group law degrees ask for 34 to 40 points, and most IB offers also set Higher Level grade conditions that must be met alongside the total.

References

Law league table - Complete University Guide - https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings/law
The Guardian University Guide - https://www.theguardian.com/education/universityguide
UK university rankings - The Times Good University Guide - https://www.thetimes.com/uk-university-rankings
Search results for law - UCAS - https://www.ucas.com/explore/search/all?query=law

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