LNAT Section A: 42 questions
The essay does not count towards your LNAT score, so these 42 questions carry all of it. 12 argumentative passages, 95 minutes.
Never leave one blank.
“There is a point for each right answer. But none are deducted for wrong answers. So don’t leave blanks,” LNAT says. Stuck? “eliminate the answers you know to be wrong and guess from the ones that are left”.
The rules LNAT sets
| Rule | What LNAT publishes |
|---|---|
| Questions | 42 multiple choice |
| Passages | 12 argumentative, with 3 or 4 questions on each |
| Time | 95 minutes |
| Score | A mark out of 42, made by computer from this section |
| The essay | “Does not contribute to your LNAT score” |
| Pass mark | There is none |
| Review | You can review your answers at any time during the 95 minutes |
| Section A closes | Once Section B starts you cannot return to it |
There is no pass mark. Oxford’s 2026-entry offer-holders averaged 30.48 of these 42 marks. What is a good LNAT score?
What LNAT tells candidates to do
Stay inside the passage
“Don’t read anything in, and don’t read anything out,” LNAT says. “You are not being asked to surmise.”
Leave what you know outside
“Don’t ever rely on what you know from other sources in answering the multiple-choice questions.”
LNAT says it “does not put great emphasis on speed”; pacing is “one of the main things you can learn” from its practice tests. Allow about 8 minutes a passage.
Where to practise
LNAT publishes an onscreen simulation plus two downloadable 2010 papers. Read its caveat first: LNAT says the online practice test has five possible answers per question, while “the real test now only has 4 possible answers to each multiple choice question”.
Questions candidates ask
How many questions are in LNAT Section A?
LNAT Section A is 42 multiple-choice questions based on 12 argumentative passages. You get 95 minutes for all of them, and each passage carries 3 or 4 questions.
How is LNAT Section A marked?
LNAT says there is a point for each right answer, that none are deducted for wrong answers, and so “don’t leave blanks”. If you really cannot work out an answer, LNAT tells candidates it is better to eliminate the ones you know to be wrong and guess from those that are left.
How much of your LNAT score comes from Section A?
Your whole LNAT score comes from Section A. LNAT says your scores from the multiple-choice section are checked by computer and a mark out of 42 is created, and that the Section B essay “is not marked by the test centre and does not contribute to your LNAT score”. Your universities still receive the essay and use it under their own admissions policies.
When do you get your LNAT results?
LNAT says the first batch of results reaches your chosen universities on 21 October for tests taken from 1 September to 20 October. After 21 October, Pearson VUE makes your score and essay available to them within 24 hours, before your results arrive by email. If you sit on or before 26 January, that email arrives in mid February; later test dates mean mid August. No specific dates can be given.
When does LNAT Section A close?
LNAT Section A closes the moment Section B starts. LNAT says you will not be able to return to the multiple-choice section once you begin Section B. Before that you can review your answers at any time during the 95 minutes, so a question you skip is not lost.
LNAT Section B: the essay · Which universities require the LNAT? · LNAT key dates