- Getting into Law
- Law degrees have a strong vocational element + professional bodies have a strong input to the curriculum
- Law degrees have 2 stages: (1) academic, (2) vocational
- “Vocational” stage includes practice as either…
- Solicitor: Legal Practice Course (LPC)
- Barrister: Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC)
- “Vocational” stage includes practice as either…
- Non-law graduates must take 1 year “Graduate Diploma in Law” before LPC or BPTC
- So, it IS possible to be a lawyer in the UK without studying law at undergraduate!
- The “Graduate Diploma in Law” is intensely academic and competitive (12 months)
- Half of all practicing lawyers in the UK do NOT have an undergraduate law degree
- Indeed, some employers PREFER this as it demonstrates well-rounded-ness
- This half of the lawyers in the UK follow the “Graduate Diploma in Law”
- LLB and BA (Law) degrees are widely recognized internationally
- Note the difference in years (2/3/4) as some countries won’t recognize shorter ones
- Separately, the LLM is a post-graduate qualification which does not allow you to study law!
- Requirements of the Qualifying Law Degree (QLD, i.e. LLB or BA) throughout the UK are currently:
- Constitutional or Administrative Law
- Contract Law
- Criminal Law
- Equity & Trusts
- EU Law
- Land/Property Law
- Law of Torts
- Also further requirement of English legal system + legal study skills
- So, these above 7 courses + 8th requirement take up the entirety of the first 2 yrs of the course EVERYWHERE
- See photo for the various types of law degrees available
- Typical Russell Group (RG) offers for law: AAA/A* or 38 IB pts.
- Some RG uni’s have slightly lighter requirements for intl students (e.g. AAA or 36)
- Many other UK uni’s offer law with less demanding offers: BBB, 34 pts, or 280 Tariff, etc
- Personal Statements should include:
- Motivation (defending views)
- Confidence (expression)
- Preparation to participate
- Do NOT have to be career-intensive
- Most uni’s get far too many apps as compared to available seats
- UCAS app is helpful, but most all candidates have great grades, glittering references, sooo…
- LNAT: used by Birmingham, Bristol, Durham, Glasgow, KCL, UCL, Nottingham, Oxford
- LNAT must be done online in a test centre
- Structure of LNAT test:
- Multiple choice component with 42 questions
- Essay component with choice of 5 prompts, answered in 40 min
- Essay is sent to relevant schools
- Average score is 18/42; at some uni’s 20+ is minimum score with entries
- Pass mark can move from year to year