Every LNAT essay question published for candidates
LNAT’s candidate-facing pages and PDFs carry twenty Section B essay questions, across four documents, and a sample answer to three of them.
Sources checked · Official LNAT sample essays · Official LNAT practice tests
Which essay questions does LNAT publish for candidates?
Nine on its sample-essay page, five in each of its two 2010 sample tests, and one more inside its preparation guide.
How should judges be appointed?
Make the best case you can for public funding of the arts.Read LNAT’s answer
Does it matter if some animal and plant species die out?Read LNAT’s answer
‘It is right that students should contribute to the cost of their degrees.’ Do you agree?
What disciplinary sanctions should teachers be allowed to use?
‘We must be prepared to sacrifice traditional liberties to defeat terrorism.’ Discuss.
Should the law require people to vote in general elections?
Should private cars be rationed? If so, how?
What is ‘political correctness’ and why does it matter?Read LNAT’s answer
Official LNAT preparation guidance says essay topics are not specifically about current affairs.
What is in the three PDFs?
Each 2010 sample test prints five essay questions and asks for one, against three on the day. The preparation guide works its own question through to a plan in four parts, which no other published question gets.
Every question below is LNAT’s own wording, reprinted from the PDF named above it.
Sample Test 1
In what circumstances should abortion be permitted and why?
Would you agree that travel and tourism exploit poorer nations and benefit only the richer ones?
The Olympic games, today, are less a test of personal athleticism and more a measure of national investment and authority. Do you agree?
Wearing a burkha in Western countries is just as offensive as wearing a bikini in Arab countries. Do you agree?
‘Women now have the chance to achieve anything they want.’ How do you respond to this statement?
Sample Test 2
In a Western society arranged marriages should no longer be tolerated. Discuss.
‘Modern society is too dependent on debt: we should all pay our way.’ Do you agree?
The Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed should never have been published. Do you agree?
The internet and instant communication technologies are profoundly changing our world for the better. Do you agree?
What is your response to the view that the purpose of education is to prepare young people for the world of work?
Your guide to Preparing for the LNAT
Do you think that national service is a thing of the past or could it perform an important role in modern society?
LNAT’s plan for that last one, verbatim: Introduction, Arguments for reintroduction, Arguments against reintroduction, Conclusion.
Official LNAT test format: 40 minutes, three questions on the day.
Independent practice material. Not affiliated with or endorsed by LNAT Consortium Ltd. It does not predict an LNAT score or admissions outcome.
What do the questions ask for?
Eight of the twenty end with “Do you agree?” or “Discuss.” On the sample tests that is six of ten, against two of nine on the sample-essay page.
One tells you which side to argue: “Make the best case you can for public funding of the arts.” LNAT’s own published answer to it opens by naming the two worries on the other side, then argues the case anyway.
What should I do after writing?
Check whether your draft answers the question you were set, commits to a position, meets an objection and closes. The free checker lists all twenty and names the question's own words your draft never uses.
Check my essayAfter the twenty questions
Twenty questions at 40 minutes each is over thirteen hours of writing. Section A gives you 42 questions and no choice at all. 10 of the 83 questions on the practice page are free. Founder access is £25 for the other 73, each with the passage sentence your answer turned on.