Last updated September 2026 · 9 minute read
In this guide
Adelaide does not ask for the LSAT. That is not the same as asking for less.
For Canadian students, the LSAT sits in front of law school like a gate. Months of preparation, a test-day score that follows you around, and admissions committees that weight it heavily against everything else you have done.
Australian law schools do not use it. Adelaide University assesses you on your academic record instead. Understanding why makes the difference between seeing this as a loophole and seeing it as what it is, a different approach to the same question.
What the LSAT is for, and what it is not
The LSAT tests logical reasoning, reading comprehension and analytical thinking under time pressure. It is a decent predictor of first-year law school grades and it gives North American admissions committees a single comparable number across thousands of applicants from hundreds of different undergraduate programs.
That comparability is the real function. With applicants arriving from wildly different degrees and grading cultures, a common test makes the pile sortable.
What it does not measure is how you perform across three or four years of sustained academic work, which is closer to what law school demands.
Two ways of deciding who gets in
- What is measured Logical reasoning and reading under time pressure
- When One sitting, on one day
- How you are judged Ranked against everyone else applying
- Preparation Months, often paid
- What is measured Sustained performance across your studies
- When Already done, it is your transcript
- How you are judged Against a published academic standard
- Preparation None beyond your grades
Neither model is softer than the other. They disagree about what predicts a good lawyer, not about how good you need to be.
What Adelaide looks at instead
Australia treats law as a first degree rather than a graduate one, and its universities have always selected on academic results. There is no national admissions test because the school-leaving results and university transcripts already provide a consistent measure within the system.
For a Canadian applicant, Adelaide looks at your academic record: your high school results if you are applying from Grade 12, or your university transcript if you already hold a degree. If you meet the academic threshold, you are in.
That last point is the one worth sitting with. Australian admissions are largely threshold-based rather than comparative. You are not being ranked against every other applicant for a small number of seats. You are being assessed against a published standard.
Route one: straight from high school
Because law is an undergraduate degree in Australia, you can enter the Bachelor of Laws (Honours) directly after Grade 12. No prior undergraduate degree, no LSAT, no waiting.
For a Canadian student who already knows they want to practise law, this removes three or four years and an entire undergraduate tuition bill from the path. It is the single biggest structural difference between the two countries’ legal education systems, and most Canadian families are not aware it exists.
It is not for everyone. Committing to law at seventeen or eighteen suits students who are genuinely certain. If you are not certain, an undergraduate degree first is a perfectly sensible way to find out, and the second route is waiting for you.
Route two: after a degree you already have
If you hold a completed undergraduate degree in any discipline, you enter with advanced standing and the program shortens accordingly.
Your major does not need to be related to law. Arts, science, commerce, kinesiology, all of it works. Law schools everywhere take students from every discipline, and Adelaide is no different.
How much credit your degree earns depends on what and where you studied. That is one of the things we work out for you before you apply, so you know the actual length of your program rather than a range from a website. Choosing between the two routes is a decision worth taking seriously.
Find your entry route
Where are you right now?
- Assessed onYour Grade 12 results, subject by subject
- LSATNot required
- LengthFour years full time, then the eight month Montréal program. No challenge exams either way.
- You skipAn undergraduate degree, and four years of tuition
What we would do next: convert your Grade 12 results to the standard Adelaide assesses against, and tell you where you stand before you apply.
- Assessed onYour university transcript to date
- LSATNot required
- LengthThree years full time once you hold a degree, with Montréal as the final term
- Worth knowingFinishing your current degree usually earns more credit than it costs you in time
What we would do next: look at what you have completed and estimate the credit it is likely to earn, so you can decide whether to finish first.
- Assessed onYour full university transcript
- DisciplineAny. It does not need to relate to law
- LSATNot required
- LengthThree years full time, with Montréal as the final term
What we would do next: assess your transcript against Adelaide’s entry standard and tell you the actual length of your program, not a range.
- Assessed onYour diploma, and how it maps to degree-level credit
- HonestlyA diploma alone does not usually open direct entry to law
- Often betterUpgrading the diploma to a degree first, which KOM also arranges
What we would do next: tell you plainly whether law is reachable from where you are, and what the realistic route looks like if it is.
This shows you the route, not an admissions decision. Only Adelaide can make that, and we will tell you honestly what we think your chances are before you spend anything.
What “no LSAT” does not mean
It does not mean easier. This is worth being blunt about, because the phrase attracts a certain kind of wishful thinking.
Adelaide Law School is ranked 63rd in the world for Law and Legal Studies in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026. Only three Canadian law schools place in the global top 100.
QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026, Law and Legal Studies.
It is the second oldest law school in Australia, founded in 1883, and has been rated above world standard in the Australian government’s research assessment, one of only seven of the country’s forty law schools to hold that rating continuously.
The academic standard once you are there is the standard of a serious law school. What is absent is one specific filter at the front door, not the rigour behind it.
It also does not mean your grades do not matter. They matter more, because they are the primary thing being assessed. A strong transcript carries real weight here in a way it sometimes does not when an LSAT score is dominating the file.
How your grades are read
Canadian and Australian grading systems do not line up. Percentages, letter grades, four-point and thirteen-point GPA scales all have to be converted into something Adelaide’s admissions team can assess consistently.
We do that conversion for you before anything is submitted, which means you find out where you stand before you commit to an application rather than after. If your record is short of the threshold, we will tell you, and we will tell you what would change that.
What happens between deciding and departing
- Transcript assessmentWe convert your results to the standard Adelaide assesses against and tell you where you stand. Free, and no application is submitted.
- ApplicationWe prepare and submit it. As the official Canadian application centre we can waive application fees for our partner universities.
- OfferAdelaide responds with an offer, a conditional offer, or a decline. We tell you what any conditions mean.
- Acceptance and depositYou accept and pay a tuition deposit to confirm your place.
- VisaWe review your student visa application before you submit it, to reduce the chance of a refusal.
- Accommodation and arrivalHousing, health cover and pre-departure orientation, so you are not sorting it out on landing.
KOM handles every step. Our service is free because our partner universities fund it rather than you.
A note for parents
If your first reaction to “no LSAT required” was caution, that is a reasonable instinct and we would rather meet it directly than talk around it.
Adelaide University is a member of the Group of Eight, Australia’s leading research universities. The law school has been running since 1883. And KOM has been the official Canadian application centre for our partner universities since 1991, funded by the universities rather than by families, which is why our service costs you nothing.
The absence of the LSAT reflects how Australian universities have always admitted students. It is not a concession made to attract international applicants.
The other thing worth weighing is what the years themselves contain. Your child would not simply be taking a faster route to the same licence, they would be building a life somewhere new for three or four years and coming home with experience that shapes how they practise.
Common questions
Does Adelaide Law School require the LSAT?
No. Adelaide assesses Canadian applicants on their academic record, either Grade 12 results or a university transcript. There is no admissions test.
Is it easier to get into an Australian law school?
It is different rather than easier. Australian admissions are largely threshold-based, so if you meet the published academic standard you are generally in, instead of being ranked against every other applicant for a small number of seats. The academic standard once you are studying is that of a law school ranked 63rd in the world.
Can I go straight from Grade 12?
Yes. Australia treats law as an undergraduate degree, so you can enter the Bachelor of Laws (Honours) directly after high school without completing a separate undergraduate degree first.
Does my undergraduate major matter?
No. Any discipline is accepted. What matters is your results, not your subject.
How much credit will my existing degree earn?
That depends on what and where you studied. We work it out before you apply so you know the real length of your program rather than a range from a website.
Do I need an English language test?
Canadians educated in English generally do not, though the requirement depends on your schooling. We confirm your position before you apply.
What happens after I graduate?
You take the Montréal program, as your final term if you entered with a degree or in the eight months after the four year degree if you entered from Grade 12. It satisfies the Canadian content the National Committee on Accreditation requires, so there are no challenge exams either way.
Where to go from here
Once you are in, the thing that sets Adelaide apart from every other Australian law school is what happens at the end. The Montréal program removes the NCA challenge exams entirely, which is worth roughly a year of your career.
If you want to know what your transcript is worth before you apply, ask us. That assessment is free.
Adelaide University: Australian University Provider Number PRV14404 / CRICOS Provider Number 04249J
Keep reading
LLB vs JD: What the Difference Means for a Canadian Career
Canada awarded LLBs until the 2000s. The switch was a renaming, not a curriculum change.
Read the guide →
Law After Grade 12 or After a Degree: Which Entry Route Is Right for You
Four years from Grade 12 or three with a degree. The time, the money, and the one risk nobody prices.
Read the guide →
Ranked 63rd in the World: How Adelaide Law Compares to Canadian Law Schools
Only three Canadian law schools rank above it. What that number measures, what it does not, and what the merger changed.
Read the guide →