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Original poster

Teachers, any thoughts? Law at A level.....

65 replies

quanglewangle · 29/03/2006 09:53

ds is thinking of doing Law at A level. He has been told by head of sixth form that there is a lot of essay writing and some universities prefer students without Law at A level.

So, is there any more essay writing than any other arts or humanities subject (he has decided against sciences)?
And is the point about uni true? Even if it is, those unis can be avoided.

But they aren't offering Law so are they just trying to put him off in order to keep him? ds says I am an old cynic. He is very able, and his form tutor says he is probably the most able student in the year.

OP posts:
spacedonkey · 29/03/2006 13:41

Sorry if I'm repeating what others have said, but I've heard lots of people say that Law is a "mickey mouse" A Level. Best to stick to one of the traditional subjects (history?).

blueshoes · 29/03/2006 13:44

Law seems too specialised to waste time on at A Level. Agree with CountessDracula, if your ds proceeds to do law at Uni to training contract etc, how many more times can he be expected to learn about Donoghue v Stevenson? Loads of trainees in my City law firm did not even do an LLB at undergrad level. And the actual practice of law is so different from the academic side of law anyway that your ds will have to acquire a whole new set of skills/knowledge afresh on the job when he starts in a law firm (if that is where he wants to be).

Oh, at this age, just best to work on broadening his outlook, acquiring general life and analytical skills, common sense and focus. Your ds will have all he needs!

CarolinaMoon · 29/03/2006 13:45

tbh, I'd go as far as saying it would look slightly odd on his CV, it's so rare. Think lots of recruiters like to see a nice mix of A-levels and other interests.

CountessDracula · 29/03/2006 13:47

Is he going to do English?
DH says that most of the new trainees he gets now can't write a letter or spell or punctuate to save their lives Shock These are all well educated people a lot with very good degreesShock Shock

spacedonkey · 29/03/2006 13:50

Just looked and Law A Level is actually one of the "blacklisted" subjects at the LSE! If it's not highly regarded there, I'm guessing other unis won't think much of it either.

  • Accounting
  • Art and Design
  • Business Studies
  • Communication Studies
  • Dance
  • Design and Technology
  • Drama/Theatre Studies
  • Home Economics
  • Information and Communication Technology
  • Law
  • Media Studies
  • Sports Studies
eldestgirl · 29/03/2006 13:57

Learning the Law by Glanville Williams was the old chestnut that we were given to read to see if we liked the law. As I recall, it was hard to read but accurately reflected the style of the reams of stuff we were expected to read for Law!

I would say, get 3 strong A levels in anything but Law, and chose subjects you really enjoy. It's very competitive to get a place in a good uni, and that's just the beginning....

Being a lawyer is bloody hard work though. It's almost impossible to coast along relying on innate intelligence. Most successful lawyers work their socks off and are the most anal, analytical and nose to the grindstone people I know.

Original poster
quanglewangle · 29/03/2006 14:17

Good points, CarolinaMoon.
A visit to the public gallery is a good idea. But he is such a gregarious creature that I think having someone to discuss it with afterwards would be even better. So maybe some like-minded students could go together before applying to uni, assuming he doesn't do law A level, which is sounding les and less like a good idea. Also, I wouldn't want A or AS to be a compete turn-off if it isn't a representative as a taster.

spacedonkey - Shock at law A level being on black list. I would have expected it to be 'neutral' not actively prohibited! That's probably the final nail in the coffin then!!

Countess, he is considering English Language. This is probably a good idea as according to his report 'he has a superb writing style'. Never reads though. Oooh nearly forget, he read the DaVinci Code last summer.

eldestgirl, he is going to get a shock at A level, never mind uni!! That is one of my gripes about gcse - being able to excel with no effort isn't a habit anyone should be allowed to get into.

He also neeeds to grow up. He is so mature in some ways but not in others. Kids grow up a lot during the sixth form and his oulook on life will (I hope) develop further than clubbing and dj skills!!

OP posts:
honeyflower · 29/03/2006 14:21

I'm a university lecturer, in a humanities subject though not in Law. At the well-respected provincial university I work at, the combination of Law, Psychology and Philosophy would NOT greatly impress an admissions tutor. Generally, Psychology is one to avoid, because it tends to be taught as a social science at A-level, whereas it's almost invariably a science at university (at a good university, anyway).

If he is really keen on Law, then he could do it, but it should be in combination with, say, History and Geography.

The issue of subject combinations is probably more important than the individual subject. Spacedonkey's LSE list is VERY conservative, and we would certainly not rule out a candidate with, say, law or dance, so long as it was alongside 2 blue-chip academic subjects. Home Ec, ICT and Sports Studies wouldn't get you far though!

honeyflower · 29/03/2006 14:23

Crossed posts - English Language also not seen as super-academic, I'm afraid.

I'm not saying I endorse these judgments, btw, just passing them on!

spacedonkey · 29/03/2006 14:26

honeyflower, I think the official line at the LSE is that they will consider applicants with one of the blacklisted subjects at A level, as long as the others are blue chip. I realise though that the LSE is not representative of all unis!

tamum · 29/03/2006 14:28

I agree- I am a scientist, but I have definitely heard of law A level as being actively discouraged for people applying to do law at uni. I think it's one of those things that can involve a lot of unlearning unless it's taught fabulously well.

bundle · 29/03/2006 14:31

I went to a Science/Technology University where I studied one of a couple of non-science subjects (English - bit of lang and lots of lit; the other was law) and people always used to go on about oh if you don't like English/Law you could transfer between them..but I found it incomprehensible that the same kind of person would want to do these 2 v different subjects.

blueshoes · 29/03/2006 14:36

haha bundle, law is a perfect hybrid between the arts/humanities and the hard sciences/math IMO. The former develops expression and language skills whilst the latter analytical skills, the combination of which is vital for the legal discipline. So it possible to come from either background at A Levels and still ace law at Uni as a subject (or not).

honeyflower · 29/03/2006 14:37

That's the same as us then, Spacedonkey - by 'blacklisted', I took you to mean that they wouldn't touch those subjects with a barge pole. But obviously not quite that bad!

Original poster
quanglewangle · 29/03/2006 14:38

Aagghh!! What a lot to think about.
Thanks honeyflower. I already had reservations about psychology, but it is so popular these days. A bit of a bugger about the English Language though, as he writes very well.

He may think he is choosing 'grown-up' subjects that will stand him in good stead. I will have to disabuse him. Geography seesm to be the only respectable subject he has in mind so far.

OP posts:
bundle · 29/03/2006 14:39

hmmmmmmmm not for me, it's not. the bit of law i've had to do (journalism law so mainly libel, contempt, how to report court cases, representation of the people etc) is quite enough for me Wink

bundle · 29/03/2006 14:41

quangle, you do a lot of writing for eng.lit (but obviously have to read the books first, or find a good Penguin introduction Wink) and that's the bit I loved, writing about style, content and what the hell the author was all about...

vkr · 29/03/2006 14:42

I did law at A level by default !! Cambridge didn't seem to have a problem in accepting it to study law. I had chosen History Geog and Maths for A level and decided to take law AS in the lower sixth. Hated Maths - loved Law - dropped maths at end of lower sixth and took A level law in Upper sixth - maybe this was not a problem as I had done the A level in a year rather than two - never asked the admissions tutor !! - this was - to my horror nearly 20 years ago - so my knowledge maybe rather out of date

Rhubarb · 29/03/2006 14:43

I enjoyed Law. I enjoyed doing the researching, finding long forgotten cases that proved my case, learning arguing skills and so on. I think Law is much more useful than English Lit. My degree comprised of both, because I couldn't make my mind up between them both, but I think I should have carried on with law.

donnie · 29/03/2006 14:44

I am an English teacher who DID do law A level! I did English lit, History and Constitutional Law and have to say I found it rather dull. Loads and loads about the constitution of parliament, the juduciary , bicameralism and the history of the Lords etc,and not much about the citizen and the state which was where the juicy cases were ( freedom of speech etc).Mind you , I have found such knowledge handy in life. I really don't know what the A level is like now as we don't do it at my school, niether do we offer English Language A level - Lit is the 'good' one universities want.
There was a great deal of essay writing involved in Law A level but we did do some funky things like to to the Commons and the courts etc, but as other posters say your ds could do that anyway.
Aaah, memories. Donohue v Stevenson....!

Rhubarb · 29/03/2006 14:48

But Constitutional Law is different. Really depends which bit of Law you want to do. Criminology is very interesting - contract law is boring. I like the diversity of it all.

blueshoes · 29/03/2006 14:51

Yes, a high threshold for boredom is also essential for law - procedural law, constitutional law, tax (yawn), regulation (snooze). Then as a lawyer, you'd better drafting and reading reams and reams of documentation and fine print ... not to put your ds off, quangle!

Jennypog · 29/03/2006 14:54

Another thing. I did A level Psychology (like an uninformed fool) and when i went to University I studied psychology for one of my options and we just covered all the topics I had done at A Level. It made it easy, but it also made me think why did I struggle to understand Psychology at A Level?

My daughter wanted to do psychology (she isn't at A level yet, but we were just talking about it) and I said to her, is it because you want to know what your personality is like? To which she replied, yes. Not a good reason to do an A level.

A lot of 16 year olds study subjects that they think sound "cool", but then decide they aren't cool at all, just plain dull. Although having said all that, I loved psychology, but it was so difficult at 16 I got a very poor grade at the end because I didn't have the maturity.

Original poster
quanglewangle · 29/03/2006 14:55

Rhubarb - are you saying you did law A level as well as at uni? It certainly sounds fun at the college ds will/may go to, otherwise there would be drop-out after AS. And they get loads of A grades. It was maybe telling that when descring the syllabus, she mentioned constitutional etc. then said they got onto the 'fun' stuff - murders etc. They also go to the Old Bailey.

OP posts:
Rhubarb · 29/03/2006 14:56

I did a Legal Diploma and then at Uni I majored in English Lit with Law as a minor, but I really did enjoy the Law and wish I'd carried on.