I want to study law but need to re take A levels

[Meowmeowwoofxo]

I am 25 years old and have a okay career with a good company, but I have the need inside me to get a degree. I didn't complete my alevels as I dropped out and got a job, and life got in the way, but now I want to make something of myself and I want to get a law degree - something I do think is achievable and also it goes well with my current profession.

However, i would need to retake my A levels (@£400 each) and score As in order to be taken into law school.

Does anyone have any experience with post 19 education and if they think this is a pipe dream or something I should actually do? I might be caught here but I have such conflicting emotions.

Please help x

If you didn’t complete your A Levels you may not have to pay for them, as you don’t have a level 3 qualification. I did my A Levels in my twenties, went to a top 10 Uni and have done rather well since, it’s not a pipe dream if you work hard.

Look into Access courses though - I don’t know if they have a law pathway (you don’t need a law A Level to do law at uni anyway) but they’re usually a much better option for mature students who want to go to uni, they’re better preparation for uni as well. Good luck

I would recommend contacting some Law Schools at Universities to ask about entry requirements for mature students. Some, even those offering qualifying degrees, will accept Access courses, OU Foundation courses etc which you may find more accessible having been out of formal education for a few years. It's coming up to the University Open Day season so you could go along and get a taste of what life would be like as a law student. Good luck!

I'm a mature law student. I only have one a level, and you don't actually need any for my course, although they will assess your application to see if they think you'd be suitable. Where are you based?

@whereiscaroline I'm in Nottingham, East Midlands x

@KirstenRaymonde Hi Kirsten, thanks for your message. I actually didn't know there was such thing as an access course so I will look into that. I see people around me being able to obtain better lives due to a degree and also people look down on me because of my lack of degree - thanks for your words of advice they may be instrumental:) x

@Boyskeepswinging Hi, thanks for your message. That's a really good idea about contacting them directly - I hadn't thought to do so. I'm at the very start of my journey with this, as I've only let myself admit that I should have stuck with them as a teen! It's so useful having advice and information so Thankyou x

As a mature student, 25 or over you need to satisfy the uni that you will be able to cope with the course. That may not necessarily mean a levels. Do you have any evidence of recent learning? If not one a level may suffice. Give the admissions office a call at the uni you are considering. For law you need to be conficent of getting a 2.1 at least, if you are considering becoming a barrister or solicitor. I would advise doing some work experience or intern work before committing. Oxford Brookes is really good uni for law. I was in my 30s when I graduated and qualified a few years later. Most of my friends at uni went on to become academic lawyers, solicitors and barristers, a few did something else and many dropped out. 59 started in my year and 29 qualified, with a couple deferring a year. It is a tough course but very rewarding. Then you need law school for a year, the course costing 10k or so. Have you looked at the law apprenticeships?

@Jonbb Hi, thanks for taking the time to respond.

In terms of recent learning I have taken on qualifications through my work place - not to do with law though. I would be looking at Nottingham uni as that's where I live so I will contact them.
It's so nice to know someone else has achieved a degree at a later stage, it is quite intimidating the thought of it when there are so many 18 year olds who are ready for it.

Wow that does sound tough, but I am prepared. I think being that little bit older does give me the advantage of knowing that this is what I want to do. I haven't thought about an apprenticeship- I have a good job at the moment, which I wouldn't want to leave for an apprenticeship. It's worth looking into for the long haul, but I would like to combine my studies with my current role for as long as possible. X

Hey OP I’m currently doing Law at Nottingham Uni :) it is hard but i think as far as unis go I think they’re quite nice.
They’ve lowered their standard offer since last year - i think it’s AAA now, but to be honest in my intake year i know several people got in despite falling short of their offer. There are plenty of people who didn’t do A Levels at the same time as most of their age group, myself included (this is very outing haha!)

Have you looked into student loans etc?

Sorry I don’t know if i have anything very useful to say but since i do that course at that uni i couldn’t not comment all the best!

@Oohjuicy Hello! Thanks for your comment, it is useful! It's nice to know people don't think I'm stupid for wanting to do this, gives me a bit of motivation.
Thankyou for being so open, it really is useful. TBH I feel like an idiot for not trying at A levels. I went to a good school and did well in my GCSEs, but dropped out of college as it wasn't interesting to me. I regret it now....

I haven't looked into student loans properly yet, as I'm just on the start of my journey thinking about doing a degree. I did read that your household income needs to be under £25k, although that might have been for financial aid. I need to sit down and think about it properly. It's something I really really want to do, but obviously it's so much money. If you don't mind me asking are you funding it yourself, as the course cost is around £17k right? xxx

Hi!
I could be wrong but i don’t think tuition loans are affected by household income - i think it’s just maintenance loans. Looking at the Govt website it seems that there is no upper age for tuition loans if this is your first uni course.
The course is £9,250 per year for three years, so £27,750 for the whole thing if my maths isn’t utterly shite. I’m doing it on a tuition loan, which you have to pay back in installments once you’ve finished your degree and your income exceeds £21k per annum.

As you already live in Notts I’m guessing you don’t need to find accommodation?

Maintenance loan entitlement is really confusing though, so if you’d need a loan to live on it’s worth doing some research or contacting them xx

Loans for undergrad tuition fees are available for everyone, regardless of income. You start paying them back once you’re earning over £21,000 now, it comes out as a small percentage of your wage like a tax, before it gets to you, so you don’t need to worry about paying anything at the outset. Fees are around £9000 a year for 3 years, so loans are pretty much essential. You can also get loans to help with living costs which are based on household income. You could work part time alongside a degree but full time would be really difficult, your university work can easily take as much time as a full time job would if you work hard.

Entry requirements for mature students are different though, I only needed two to get on to my course and was accepted at all 5 unis I applied for. It’s worth speaking to the universities.

You might need to think more widely than just Nottingham uni though. It’s a top university and courses will be very competitive, you might be in trouble if you applied for only one uni and didn’t get in. Most people make 5 applications through UCAS (the admission service) you don’t apply directly to the universities.

You should get in touch with the WP team. They have someone with responsibility for supporting mature students and work with local FE colleges so should be able to recommend the best route.

www.nottingham.ac.uk/schoolsliaison/services/activities-for-local-further-education-colleges.aspx

Without wanting to be negative about your plan, I do feel you need to be aware that thousands of students graduate every year with law degrees and the majority don’t manage to get jobs in law. At least go into this knowing it will be tough.

@jeanne16 Hi, I'm aware of the risk. I want the degree to prove something to myself more than anything & also I can use it in my current career. :)

Have you looked into studying law/getting legally qualified via Cilex instead? You can do it while working and a lot of employers will fund it for you.

If a levels are something you do end up wanting to do still regardless of what the uni is happy with, you can take a levels without doing it through the companies that charge for a premade course and tutor contact, though you'll have to pay for your exams regardless and find somewhere to do them.

I'm retaking my a levels in a couple of years time and self studying at the moment to what is in the course syllabus. Admittedly I am probably going to pay out for at least one prepackaged course as it's in a subject that I have no support for (husband is helping me with two subjects as they are in his field of work) but you can just take the exams and use the course syllabus to work out a self study plan.

I did this! Go for it Meow!

Lots of good advice here re access courses etc which I'm not familiar with - I did my a levels and law degree a long time ago but as a mature student like you.

Did my a levels in early twenties. Started uni at 25 I think. Ultimately I qualified as a barrister and I have loved the opportunities my qualifications have given me. (Also went back to uni to do a Masters several years later while working, which I really enjoyed.)

You sound like you know what you are doing and you are realistic. I believe you are right to pursue this. I can remember wondering when I did my a levels whether it was all a pipe dream - but I couldn't have imagined then how much I would ultimately achieve! Best of luck!

@Meowmeowwoofxo my uni is in Buckingham, also East Mids but might be a bit far for you. It's a part time evening course, so means you can work full time throughout if you're good at juggling it's also only an extra year compared to a full time degree.

I think you need to have a good think about what you want to do with your education. Passing your law degree is very easy but doing well I quite hard and these days you do have to do well and have gone to a well reputed university to get a training contract. If you aren't planning on becoming a lawyer I would do something different.

It sounds like you want the law degree for your current career so if you can get to do the degree without A levels then that will be fine. If you wanted the law degree to become a lawyer and would want to be hired by law firms it would certainly help to have good A level results as those tend to be looked at as well as your degree level and where you took it. However if you just need the degree for your current work then the access courses etc sound like the route in.

Contact the uni they will tell you what they require from mature students, and it is often vastly different to 18 year olds admission.

If you go to college for an access course you will get some funding but it is 1 year full time. You can also do 2 year part time courses at some colleges.

As they are not asking for specific prerequisites you might be able to enroll without A Levels or an access course.