University. Year One: The Round Up

If you've been reading my blog for a while, last summer around this time I talked to you about my A Levels and how I'd be moving on to university to study Law. Well, a year on I'm at the end of my first year of uni, having achieved a 2:1, so I thought I'd give you a bit a round up of the last year (similarly to my A Level Experience post, which you can find here.)

Law is an extremely popular subject to study in the UK, as I'm sure it is across the rest of the globe. It's challenging and difficult, but also extremely interesting and rewarding. Overall, I really enjoyed my first year. Some of it was really easy, and some of it I thought I'd never understand, but I got there in the end! It's the kind of thing that you really need to be passionate about...This passion will make the fun things more fun and the boring things bearable!

I'll try and talk about this in some kind of order, so we'll start with Semester 1, then move on to Semester 2, then briefly talk about Semester 3 (the exam period). So, during each teaching semester (1&2) I studied 4 modules, I believe this is the same at most English universities. For Semester 1 I studied Criminal Law, Contract Law, Legal Systems & Method and finally, Skills for Law. Both Criminal and Legal Systems were “short-fat” modules, meaning that they are taught just for one semester, whilst Contract and Skills were “long-thin” modules, meaning that they were taught over the period of two semesters.

For me, Criminal law was by far the most interesting module I studied in this last year. Perhaps because it was related to the things that people usually think of when someone talks about the law, such as theft, abuse and even murder. Whilst there is a lot of detail to be covered in Criminal law, once you get it, it's actually pretty straight forward, and simple to apply. At my university, Criminal Law was assessed with a 3 hour exam at the end of semester 1 which included multiple choice questions, problem questions (where you are faced with a scenario) and an essay question, where you are asked to debate or explain a point of law.

Legal Systems and Method was far more theory based and looked at the evolution of law and how it fits into society. It predominantly focused on Karl Llewellyn's theory of law jobs, so if you're looking to go and study law at some point in the future I'd grab a book on Llewellyn as his name always pops up! This module was assessed by a written piece which was around 5000 words long- I know that sounds mammoth, but it's split between two questions, and you'd be surprised at how much you have to say!

Moving on to Contract Law and Skills for Law. Contract, as you can imagine was hugely detailed. You look at everything from the formation of a contract to dissolving a contract and damages. Definitely extremely interesting if you allow yourself to be motivated by the subject matter, but it's easy to fall behind if you don't keep up, so make sure you do! Contract law was predominantly taught in S1, with around 4 weeks of teaching in S2, with the rest of the semester being allocated to completing the written assignment, which was a 5000 word piece, collected at the end of S2.

Skills focused on the research skills necessary for studying law- the practical things such as how to find relevant cases and how to cite them in academic papers. Not very interesting at all but completely crucial! 20% of the module mark came from an online quiz which tested your ability to use your legal skills whilst the remaining 80% came from a written assignment on an abstract matter, which focused on highlighting your legal research skills. Both of these were at the end of Semester 2.

Semester 1 over and done with, now on to Semester 2! As I previously mentioned two of my Semester 1 modules ran through to Semester 2, but I also picked up 2 new modules. Those being Public Law and the Constitution and Values and Law.

Public Law focused on the creation of law, why we need it and how the Constitution was created and is relevant to the law. It covers a lot of ground, is extremely fast paced, and honestly, is pretty difficult. What I would say is that if you have a sound humanities base from your A Levels, such as Politics or History, this will help a lot! Do not underestimate this module, it is tricky, highly detailed and is merely a taster of what is to come in your second year, so beware! 30% of this module mark came from an assignment, which was around 2500 words, whilst the other 70% came from a 2 hour exam at the end of S2.

And finally...Values and Law. As far as I am aware, this was an abstract module developed at my university which allowed us to focus on how the law really works in society in matters such as equality between genders and crime and punishment, it also looks at philosophical approaches as to why people are treated in certain ways. This enabled you to challenge what you thought was right and wrong with existing law and helped to understand why it is so. This was also entirely assessed by a 5000 word assignment at the end of S2.

So all in all, my first year consisted of 2 examinations, 4 written assignments and 1 online quiz.

It was tough. I really think it's important for prospective law students to understand that your first year is by no means a practice year that doesn't matter. It is extremely important as it lays the foundations for future years of academic study, and a lot of the core material that you're taught in your first year is absolutely essential for understanding future material!

Now that I've scared you all to death can I just say good luck to everyone that is waiting on A Level results (or any other exam results across the globe). University is one of the best experiences you can have and I wouldn't change my first year at all!

I know this post has been very  focused on the academic side of things, but I will be doing another Round Up post, focusing more on the social side of uni, which is probably what you're really excited/nervous/scared of!

Speak soon....