According to the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), the number of students accepted onto a law degree course has reached an all-time high in 2025, seeing a 10.4% increase compared to the previous year. This takes the total number of law course acceptances to 27,150 students, up from 24,590 last year. Despite concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) reshaping the legal sector, these figures indicate a strong demand for careers in law.
What Do The 2025 UCAS Figures Reveal?
The latest information from UCAS, following the release of the 2025 A-Level figures, confirms that law is one of the subjects that has seen a substantial increase in demand for university entry. The subjects with the largest percentage increases are:
- Engineering and technology: 30,020 applicants accepted, up 12.5% from 26,680 last year
- Mathematical sciences: 9,220 applicants accepted, up 10.5% from 8,350 last year, and
- Law: 27,150 applicants accepted, up 10.4% from 24,590 last year.
Dr Jo Saxton, Chief Executive of UCAS, reflected on this year’s results, “This year’s students were just 13 when the pandemic hit, and their secondary schooling was turned upside down. It’s great to see these applicants securing a university place in record numbers, seeking more education and investing in their futures”.
The figures also show:
- 226,580 UK 18-year-olds received an acceptance for their first choice course compared with 216,750 last year (up 4.5%)
- The number of UK mature students (aged 21 and over) securing a place has fallen, from 52,130 in 2024 to 50,880 this year (-2.4%).
- The number of accepted international undergraduate students applying via UCAS has increased (52,640 acceptances compared with 51,170 in 2024, a 2.9% rise), with the largest increase +13.0% from applicants from China.
What Are The Top Universities For Law In 2025 In The UK?
The Complete University Guide publishes rankings for all universities by subject based on entry standards, student satisfaction, research quality, and graduate prospects. Their analysis shows that the top 10 universities for the study of law are as follows:
- University of Cambridge
- UCL (University College London)
- Durham University
- University of Oxford
- London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
- King’s College London, University of London
- University of Bristol
- University of Glasgow
- Queen’s University Belfast
- Queen Mary University of London
How Can New Entrants Future-Proof Their Legal Careers?
By the time many new entry-level legal students complete their degrees, the legal industry may look quite different, especially due to the increasing use of AI in law firms. There is much that students and existing legal professionals can do to future-proof their careers. According to Orrick Labs, a legal tech solution provider, the legal role will require a new set of skills. Law students will need to learn how to oversee work done by generative AI, such as ChatGPT. Their global head of practice, Kate Orr, explains, “We … think about the lawyer of the future as a ‘trifecta’ of part-lawyer, part-business counsellor and part-technologist”.
Jeff Ward, director of Duke University law school’s law and technology centre, also believes that key skills such as critical thinking, ethical reasoning and understanding power structures will remain important. Lawyers will need to apply them to a fast-changing technological landscape and to learn to work responsibly and effectively with AI; “human insight and machine insight increasingly work hand-in-hand”.
Another expert in this area, George Casey, global chair of Linklaters’ corporate department and an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Carey Law School, believes that the role of young lawyers will undergo a radical change. No longer will they need to spend long hours reviewing evidence and documents; instead, it will involve “overseeing work being done by AI”. As he explains, “We will need to know how to interact with AI and how to analyse the outcome . . . And most importantly, we will need to be able to apply judgment to the work product coming from AI that can only come from experience”.
Final Words
The UCAS figures for 2025 confirm that, at least for now, law remains one of the most sought-after degrees and occupations in the UK. For entry-level and experienced legal professionals, this presents both opportunities and challenges. A wave of motivated new entrants will need to adapt to technological shifts within the legal profession, particularly in areas such as artificial intelligence and automation. By doing so, they can future-proof their careers.
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