Law @ Jesus, Oxford in 2021

Interview format

National Admissions Test for Law, 2x interviews

Interview content

Questions focussed on pre-read sources

Best preparation

Went over personal statement and any books mentioned

Test preparation

Used online resources (practice questions and videos)

Final thoughts

Make sure you get used to discerning the main points in a piece of text

Remember this advice isn't official. There is no guarantee it will reflect your experience because university applications can change between years. Check the official Cambridge and Oxford websites for more accurate information on this year's application format and the required tests.

Also, someone else's experience may not reflect your own. Most interviews are more like conversations than tests and like, any conversation, they are quite interactive.

Interview Format

Test taken: National Admissions Test for Law (LNAT)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 1 day
Length of interviews: 10-15 minutes
Online interview: Yes

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

I had 2 extracts (one per interview) of legal judgements. I was given 15 minutes before my interview to look over them. They pretty much just walked through the passages and asked my opinions on things. They asked me what I thought certain terms meant etc. It was really relaxing once I got into it and the tutors really put me at ease.

There was no stress about not having the opportunity to say what I wanted as the tutors let you talk until you get your point across. I ran over the time in one of my interviews because we were discussing about a rather bizarre situation relating to intent of a crime.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

Familiarise yourself with any topic in your personal statement. Especially the first book/article you’ve mentioned because they usually ask you about it as an icebreaker.

Although I researched current legal debates it was pretty useless. My whole interview was based on hypothetical situations and hypothetical crimes which they made me assess.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

Used the Arbitio website, LNAT guide book and past papers from the website. Also watched a lot of YouTube videos on current debates for the essay section. I found the videos more useful as they gave the simplest of points which is good for a short essay. Plus it was relatively enjoyable

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Law is something unstudied by the majority of applicants. The tutors do not expect you to have legal knowledge so instead of getting bogged down in learning legal jargon and debate, focus on presenting your points and becoming confident with your speaking.

I would also get used to discerning the main points in a piece of text but this is something that you may have practiced anyway from the LNAT