5 Common Mistakes to Avoid While Taking LAT

Sitting the Law Admission Test (LAT) can be nerve-racking. You might have been preparing all year long, going through the step-by-step process of admission, and finally receiving the opportunity to appear in the exam it can be followed by a pretty daunting feeling.

From appearing in exams to solving questions, the chances of committing errors are tremendous, which needs to be avoided at all costs to clear your exam and get admission to the University of New South Wales. These errors could appear in your persuasion, structure, or even your grammar! Before we can prevent these errors, we first need to identify and understand what they are!

A Comprehensive Guide to Common Mistakes in the LAT

When your dream career as a high profile lawyer in Australia is just a stone's throw away, all you can do is ace the LAT exam and grab the opportunity.

But wait, how do we avoid the pitfalls in the way of your LAT clearance journey? How do we ensure that we have a strong LAT result to couple and complement our ATAR?

Here’s everything you need to know, let’s dive in and uncover the common mistakes to avoid when taking the LAT.

1. Lack of Understanding and Preparation

Rehearsal before the actual show is mandatory in all cases. If you appear in the exams unprepared, you risk underperforming. Engaging in practice tests has been shown to significantly enhance learning and retention. For instance, a meta-analysis by Adesope, Trevisan, and Sundararajan (2017) examined the effects of practice testing on learning outcomes. Their findings indicated that students who engaged in regular practice tests demonstrated significantly higher retention and comprehension compared to those who relied solely on passive study methods such as rereading or highlighting. The study also highlighted that practice testing was particularly effective in improving long-term memory, making it an essential strategy for high-stakes exams like the LAT. Furthermore, the researchers found that the benefits of practice testing were consistent across different subjects and assessment formats, reinforcing the idea that structured preparation is crucial for academic success.

You need to begin your LAT preparation some months before the test day to hone your skills, understand the test format, and bring your best written persuasive skills forward. Following a study schedule and preparing for the test accordingly can help you prepare for the exam and avoid nervousness while taking the assessment. Many people, including previous students and UNSW lecturers, may tell you that you do not need to prepare. This implies they believe you cannot improve your written persuasive skills, which is not accurate. Therefore, preparing to some extent must have benefits, even if it means that your wording is clearer. Individuals who go unprepared face the consequences of taking a lot of time to answer each question, perhaps having some paragraphs that are vastly longer than others, and writing in too complex a manner. We offer our Premium Masterclass under UNSW Law alumni instructors that can help you achieve a great mark for LAT and take a step towards your bright future.

2. Lack of Focus While Taking the Test

On the other hand, if you study hard and have been practising and preparing for the entire day before the exam, you may lose focus.

LAT is all about analysing your critical and problem-solving skills, so staying alert and active while taking the exam is important. This is so that you don’t miss key details in the argument when the author is being unpersuasive or even missing logical fallacies. It is recommended to wrap up the preparation early and enjoy a good night’s sleep to keep single-minded on the day of the exam. Instead of cramming for hours on end, try using structured study techniques like the Pomodoro method, where you study in focused 25-minute intervals followed by short breaks. This prevents burnout and helps retain information more effectively. If you find yourself feeling exhausted or struggling to concentrate, it is a sign that you need to take a break or step away from studying for the evening. Overloading your brain with last-minute revision can result in mental fatigue, making it harder to analyse arguments and write clearly under time pressure. By maintaining a balanced study routine and ensuring proper rest, you will be better equipped to think critically and manage your time efficiently during the exam.

Focusing on Quantity Rather Than Quality

One of the most common mistakes in the LAT is students focusing on writing lengthy paragraphs to explain their ideas. Many assume that more detail will make their argument stronger, but this often leads to unnecessary repetition and a lack of clarity. LAT never requires overly detailed answers; rather, it assesses your ability to present your thoughts in a clear, structured, and concise manner.

The test is designed to evaluate your critical thinking and problem-solving skills, your ability to analyse unseen stimuli, and your capacity to construct persuasive arguments. For example, when responding to an essay prompt, instead of spending half a page explaining a single point with multiple examples, it is far more effective to state your argument succinctly, provide one strong piece of evidence, and move on. Using techniques such as the PEEL structure, where you make a point, support it with evidence, explain its relevance, and link it back to the question, can help ensure your paragraphs remain focused and contribute effectively to your overall argument.

Law is a precise endeavour, and your writing should reflect that. Avoid vague or overly wordy sentences. If an idea can be expressed more shortly and clearly, do so. For instance, rather than writing, "The writer of the article appears to suggest that the government may potentially have a role in addressing this issue," a more concise alternative would be, "The writer suggests the government should address this issue." By keeping your writing direct and purposeful, you will demonstrate a strong command of language and argumentation, which is exactly what the LAT assesses.

4. Running Short of or Out of Time

Students often sit on either extreme of time constraints, they’re either writing way too much and not having time to edit and think, or not writing enough due to analysis paralysis. LAT is a two-hour test with two sections. Dividing your time considering the time factor is significant to wrap up your entire test in the allocated time.

Poor time management is one of the most common mistakes in the LAT, often resulting in errors, anxiety, and a lower final score. When you give too much time to the starting questions, it is obvious that you are left with little time to answer the remaining part. A good strategy is to allocate specific time limits to each section and stick to them. For example, if one section requires more writing, you could spend 55 minutes on it and reserve the remaining 65 minutes for the more demanding essay task. Using timed practice papers before the exam can help you get accustomed to writing under pressure and ensure you complete all parts of the test.

Many students fail to complete the exam in the given time or do not get enough time to recheck, even if they manage to complete it. Rushing through the final few questions often leads to careless mistakes that could have been avoided with better time management. It is also helpful to set aside at least five minutes at the end to review your answers, ensuring that arguments are clear and that you have not left out key points.

Divide the entire two hours adequately so you can have some time to catch the mistakes and edit your answers. Taking a structured approach to time management will help you remain calm and composed, ultimately improving your overall performance.

5. Misreading Instructions or Questions

You are likely to misread the instructions if you are nervous or tired and unable to focus. The LAT is not only about writing; it also demands exceptional reading skills.

You must read several paragraphs to deduce your ideation and convey your thoughts. However, if the question is misread, the answer will definitely be wrong, leading to low scores on the final exam. A common mistake students make is failing to distinguish between directive words such as “analyse” and “evaluate,” which require different approaches. For instance, “analyse” means breaking down the argument into its components, whereas “evaluate” requires a judgement about its effectiveness. A study by Linderholm and van den Broek (2002) on reading comprehension found that students under time pressure or stress were more likely to misinterpret key details in texts, leading to incorrect conclusions.

Thus, it is important to stay alert, read the instructions properly, and double-check your answers to the questions to avoid making careless errors. A practical technique to prevent misreading is to underline or highlight key terms in the prompt before beginning your response. Additionally, pausing for a moment after reading the question and mentally rephrasing it in your own words can help ensure a clear understanding. Misreading a stimulus, such as a graph, is another frequent error. If a question asks for the main trend but a student mistakenly focuses on an outlier, their argument may be completely off track. Careful reading, combined with conscious strategies to slow down and process information accurately, will significantly improve performance on the LAT.

Quick Tips to Avoid Common Pitfalls in the Law Admission Test (LAT)

Here are a few success tips for the LAT to help you avoid common test pitfalls:

Prepare for the exams with the relevant study material and expert tutoring.
Wind up your preparation early and take time to relax to stay active on the exam day.
Read the instructions and questions clearly and answer them accordingly.
Divide the time for each section and question to avoid last-minute panic.
Utilise your rhetorical skills to solve the test, focusing on the quality of the content you write.

Bottom Line: Pursue Your Ambition by Avoiding Pitfalls

Refraining from these mistakes can make a significant difference in your test scores and, ultimately, clear your way to getting admission to The University of New South Wales.

To prepare well for the Law Admission Test (LAT), follow a schedule where you write, gather relevant study content, and get enough sleep before the exam day to stay active.

Read and understand the question and write each answer in a precise and convincing manner. Allocate specific time for each task and keep some time in spare to go through your answers to detect the errors. Thus, you can ace the test without a stumbling block.

Bibliography

Adesope, O. O., Trevisan, D. A., & Sundararajan, N. (2017). Rethinking the use of tests: A meta-analysis of practice testing. Review of Educational Research, 87(3), 659–701. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654316689306

Linderholm, T., & van den Broek, P. (2002). The effects of reading purpose and working memory capacity on the processing of expository text. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(4), 778–784.