Yes, the survey is a regular procedure, as the faculty wants to know how applicants found the app process (not that they will do something about it :D)

Hello, I'm new to the thread and applying to the MJur. I have not received any survey. Do you mind telling me what it is? 

[Edited by ffrancis on Feb 18, 2021]

Did any of you notice that last year the number of admitted students in the BCL and MJur combined was 221? This year the BCL webpage says there are only 140 seats. 

Did any of you notice that last year the number of admitted students in the BCL and MJur combined was 221? This year the BCL webpage says there are only 140 seats. 

[Edited by prioscarrillo on Feb 26, 2021]

Did any of you notice that last year the number of admitted students in the BCL and MJur combined was 221? This year the BCL webpage says there are only 140 seats. 

[Edited by Gobbledygook on Feb 26, 2021]

Did any of you notice that last year the number of admitted students in the BCL and MJur combined was 221? This year the BCL webpage says there are only 140 seats. 

Hi! I was an offer holder last year. And I can say that the admissions process was a bit different from that of previous years. I guess that, perhaps, it was due to the pandemic. In fact, it was the common impression that they made more offers than normal (maybe they were expecting lots of offer-holders withdrawing). I remember that offers to waitlisted applicants were made even in June or July— (the What's App group for offer holders was increasing constantly!, haha) As a result, the cohort was much bigger than normal.

Not sure, though, I am not 100% sure that this was the case. But some rumours in that sense were reported by some who, understandably, felt worried that they were given an offer just for the sake of securing tuition fees income rather than their actual merit. 

Did any of you notice that last year the number of admitted students in the BCL and MJur combined was 221? This year the BCL webpage says there are only 140 seats. 

Hi! I was an offer holder last year. And I can say that the admissions process was a bit different from that of previous years. I guess that, perhaps, it was due to the pandemic. In fact, it was the common impression that they made more offers than normal (maybe they were expecting lots of offer-holders withdrawing). I remember that offers to waitlisted applicants were made even in June or July— (the What's App group for offer holders was increasing constantly!, haha) As a result, the cohort was much bigger than normal.

Not sure, though, I am not 100% sure that this was the case. But some rumours in that sense were reported by some who, understandably, felt worried that they were given an offer just for the sake of securing tuition fees income rather than their actual merit. 

I understand that more offers were given, with the expectation that many students would turn down the offer due to covid. Unfortunately that was not the case last year (very little turned down). I don't think the same will occur this year.

It seems like after their experiment in the last year, they wont issue more than 140 offers this year. Applying to Oxford is very stressful since they don’t give any signals of giving an offer unlike Cambridge and LSE. 

It seems like after their experiment in the last year, they wont issue more than 140 offers this year. Applying to Oxford is very stressful since they don’t give any signals of giving an offer unlike Cambridge and LSE. 

[Edited by Gobbledygook on Feb 26, 2021]

It seems like after their experiment in the last year, they wont issue more than 140 offers this year. Applying to Oxford is very stressful since they don’t give any signals of giving an offer unlike Cambridge and LSE. 

How is the process at Cambridge/LSE better though? With Cambridge people keep worrying about being under review still vs. moving to GAO, etc. (even the DPhil doesn't normally do interviews). There is a certain solace in knowing everyone gets their answer more or less at the same time, without constantly looking for their little hints. Look at how nice and calm this thread is compared to Cambridge. 

[Edited by miki3999 on Feb 26, 2021]

It seems like after their experiment in the last year, they wont issue more than 140 offers this year. Applying to Oxford is very stressful since they don’t give any signals of giving an offer unlike Cambridge and LSE. 

How is the process at Cambridge/LSE better though? With Cambridge people keep worrying about being under review still vs. moving to GAO, etc. (even the DPhil doesn't normally do interviews). There is a certain solace in knowing everyone gets their answer more or less at the same time, without constantly looking for their little hints. Look at how nice and calm this thread is compared to Cambridge. 

TBH I like the Oxford's app process much more than Camb's or LSE's; Oxford gives you more chances to showcase your abilities, whereas at Cambridge, for example, they are basically just looking at your grades. Moreover, I know that the waiting process is annoying, but there are no such things like people being moved to GAO or not, or someone's transcript dropping down or not. Likewise, the waiting list system works fairly well.

How is the process at Cambridge/LSE better though? With Cambridge people keep worrying about being under review still vs. moving to GAO, etc. (even the DPhil doesn't normally do interviews). There is a certain solace in knowing everyone gets their answer more or less at the same time, without constantly looking for their little hints. Look at how nice and calm this thread is compared to Cambridge. 

TBH I like the Oxford's app process much more than Camb's or LSE's; Oxford gives you more chances to showcase your abilities, whereas at Cambridge, for example, they are basically just looking at your grades. Moreover, I know that the waiting process is annoying, but there are no such things like people being moved to GAO or not, or someone's transcript dropping down or not. Likewise, the waiting list system works fairly well.

Agreed! I personally feel that Cambridge puts a lot of emphasis on not only how your grades look on paper but also the reputation of the university you graduated from. I rarely see people from lower ranking unis get into Cambridge despite their excellent results whereas in Oxford (if you look at their class profile), there are many students who form part of their cohort despite applying from a 'lower rank' university. I think this is mostly due to the fact applicants have to submit a written work which gives them a better chance of showing their analytical abilities in writing. Overall, I think Oxford is a little more fair with their application process.

[Edited by ctbbiggestfan on Mar 02, 2021]

TBH I like the Oxford's app process much more than Camb's or LSE's; Oxford gives you more chances to showcase your abilities, whereas at Cambridge, for example, they are basically just looking at your grades. Moreover, I know that the waiting process is annoying, but there are no such things like people being moved to GAO or not, or someone's transcript dropping down or not. Likewise, the waiting list system works fairly well.

Agreed! I personally feel that Cambridge puts a lot of emphasis on not only how your grades look on paper but also the reputation of the university you graduated from. I rarely see people from lower ranking unis get into Cambridge despite their excellent results whereas in Oxford (if you look at their class profile), there are many students who form part of their cohort despite applying from a 'lower rank' university. I think this is mostly due to the fact applicants have to submit a written work which gives them a better chance of showing their analytical abilities in writing. Overall, I think Oxford is a little more fair with their application process.

I wouldn't rely on this being the case. Oxford provides no indication of how much it considers the written work submitted by applicants (my own guess would be very little), and last year's cohort was a lot bigger than this year's as a result of the uncertainty around the pandemic, which probably explains people from lower-ranked unis getting accepted in higher volumes. To be accepted by Oxford or Cambridge it seems like you just need high grades, a very good rank, and a bit of luck; I don't think one is necessarily fairer than the other. If anything, the BCL seems more competitive.

TBH I like the Oxford's app process much more than Camb's or LSE's; Oxford gives you more chances to showcase your abilities, whereas at Cambridge, for example, they are basically just looking at your grades. Moreover, I know that the waiting process is annoying, but there are no such things like people being moved to GAO or not, or someone's transcript dropping down or not. Likewise, the waiting list system works fairly well.

Agreed! I personally feel that Cambridge puts a lot of emphasis on not only how your grades look on paper but also the reputation of the university you graduated from. I rarely see people from lower ranking unis get into Cambridge despite their excellent results whereas in Oxford (if you look at their class profile), there are many students who form part of their cohort despite applying from a 'lower rank' university. I think this is mostly due to the fact applicants have to submit a written work which gives them a better chance of showing their analytical abilities in writing. Overall, I think Oxford is a little more fair with their application process.

I wouldn't rely on this being the case. Oxford provides no indication of how much it considers the written work submitted by applicants (my own guess would be very little), and last year's cohort was a lot bigger than this year's as a result of the uncertainty around the pandemic, which probably explains people from lower-ranked unis getting accepted in higher volumes. To be accepted by Oxford or Cambridge it seems like you just need very good grades, a high rank, and a bit of luck; I don't think one is necessarily fairer than the other. If anything, the BCL seems more competitive.

Agreed! I personally feel that Cambridge puts a lot of emphasis on not only how your grades look on paper but also the reputation of the university you graduated from. I rarely see people from lower ranking unis get into Cambridge despite their excellent results whereas in Oxford (if you look at their class profile), there are many students who form part of their cohort despite applying from a 'lower rank' university. I think this is mostly due to the fact applicants have to submit a written work which gives them a better chance of showing their analytical abilities in writing. Overall, I think Oxford is a little more fair with their application process.

I wouldn't rely on this being the case. Oxford provides no indication of how much it considers the written work submitted by applicants (my own guess would be very little), and last year's cohort was a lot bigger than this year's as a result of the uncertainty around the pandemic, which probably explains people from lower-ranked unis getting accepted in higher volumes. To be accepted by Oxford or Cambridge it seems like you just need high grades, a very good rank, and a bit of luck; I don't think one is necessarily fairer than the other. If anything, the BCL seems more competitive.

I wrote a letter to Oxford some three years ago asking them this question of written work. They replied that they indeed look at the university from which the applicants graduate, but they also much value both the written work and references. It seems to me the general tone within is the university is important, but the written work and references carry much weight as well.

I wouldn't rely on this being the case. Oxford provides no indication of how much it considers the written work submitted by applicants (my own guess would be very little), and last year's cohort was a lot bigger than this year's as a result of the uncertainty around the pandemic, which probably explains people from lower-ranked unis getting accepted in higher volumes. To be accepted by Oxford or Cambridge it seems like you just need very good grades, a high rank, and a bit of luck; I don't think one is necessarily fairer than the other. If anything, the BCL seems more competitive.

All we can do now is speculate but if you look at the class profile (not just last year when the pandemic struck), you'll see many students from 'lower ranking' universities forming part of the BCL cohort. This is something I don't see in the Cambridge LLM where the majority of their cohort are from prestigious universities based on rankings. However, almost all of them have spectacular academic achievements from their undergraduate studies and are obviously strong candidates irrespective of their uni rankings. I would disagree with you about Oxford putting very little weight on the written work. I believe they will look at them and mark them according to their standards as part of the admission process but I do agree with you saying you need high grades, a good rank and a glitter of luck!

Anyways, I've got a question for law students in UK universities. Does your uni disclose what 'rank' you are among your cohort? How do you even find out that kind of information?

I wouldn't rely on this being the case. Oxford provides no indication of how much it considers the written work submitted by applicants (my own guess would be very little), and last year's cohort was a lot bigger than this year's as a result of the uncertainty around the pandemic, which probably explains people from lower-ranked unis getting accepted in higher volumes. To be accepted by Oxford or Cambridge it seems like you just need high grades, a very good rank, and a bit of luck; I don't think one is necessarily fairer than the other. If anything, the BCL seems more competitive.

I wrote a letter to Oxford some three years ago asking them this question of written work. They replied that they indeed look at the university from which the applicants graduate, but they also much value both the written work and references. It seems to me the general tone within is the university is important, but the written work and references carry much weight as well.

That's interesting, thanks for sharing. I certainly hope they consider the written work and references, as I'm really happy with mine. I just personally would be conservative in thinking how much weight is placed on them. The prevailing attitude of US institutions seems generally to be more holistic than the very academically-oriented attitudes of UK institutions, but I accept that strong references or even a strong piece of written work could be the deciding factor between two otherwise similar candidates.

I do believe, though, that they are unlikely to be a decisive factor in deciding in favour of an otherwise weaker candidate over one with stronger 'hard' credentials (I dislike the term 'hard' and 'soft' credentials as it almost seems to commoditise life experience in a way that is completely antithetical to a healthy and robust academic environment but I won't get on my soapbox about that lol). 



That being said, it's impossible to say and nobody can say for sure. Further, I feel like Oxford and Cambridge almost relish the opaqueness of their application process - it buttresses their mystique and prestige to some extent.

Just wondering when the GAO will release the result, I'm deadly waiting for a decision, whether it's an offer or a reject. it's already over 9 weeks since the Jan 22th ddl, the time waiting is killing me.

Just wondering when the GAO will release the result, I'm deadly waiting for a decision, whether it's an offer or a reject. it's already over 9 weeks since the Jan 22th ddl, the time waiting is killing me.

Just wondering when the GAO will release the result, I'm deadly waiting for a decision, whether it's an offer or a reject. it's already over 9 weeks since the Jan 22th ddl, the time waiting is killing me.

[Edited by LLM2021/22 on Mar 03, 2021]

"If it helps, BCL decisions in the past few years were first reported on LLM-Guide on these days:

2013/14 - March 11
2014/15 - March 18
2015/16 - March 18
2017/18 - March 14
2019/20 - March 20
2020/21 - March 19"
*Copied and updated from last year's thread.