Law schools could face an unprecedented battle to attract entrants, with new universities particularly vulnerable, a law expert has warned.

Phil Harris, professor of legal education at Sheffield Hallam University, made the prediction when revealing the results of a UK law schools survey during the annual conference of the Association of Law Teachers at Edinburgh University this week.

The survey, which attracted a 71 per cent response rate from law schools, shows a 25 per cent drop in applications over nine years.

The average number of applicants for full-time single honours courses fell from 12.8 to 7.3 between 1994-95 and 2002-03. This is especially marked in new universities, which in 2002-03 had 4.6 applicants for every place, compared with 9.6 in old universities.

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Over the same period, the number of law places increased by 25 per cent.

Professor Harris said this suggested that supply and demand for courses were approaching an equilibrium.

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"With the onset of top-up fees, there is no room for complacency," he said.

"It will be interesting to see what kind of answer we give to students and their parents when they ask, 'Why should I come to you?'."

* April Stroud, senior law lecturer at Southampton Institute, has won the ALT's law teacher of the year competition.