Advice on universities good for studying law

[NCTDN]

Has anyone got any current experience/ views on places to study law?
We have pretty much ruled out all of Scotland which is a shame because Edinburgh looks great, but to then do law in England means some extra conversion course or something like that.
I'm looking for experience from parents and students as it's all new to me. Did is looking for 2022. Thanks.

You can do English Law at a couple of Scots Universities (Glasgow and at least one other) but not sure why you would if not eligible for Scottish fees.

Then depends on intended field. Obviously Oxford, Cambridge are top tier for employability and the supervision system means you will need to discuss in detail with very few other people.

Then Bristol, Warwick, London (especially LSE), Durham

Then other redbricks. Think about where they are likely to want to work, law firms often have strong links with their local universities for recruitment.

This is assuming large firm, solicitor is your aim.

Look at teaching group sizes and if relevant options exist if there's an interest in a specific field.

DS is studying architecture, but his best friend is studying Law at Exeter, which is excellent and well-respected among firms. UCL as well.

Durham doesn't have the course she wants. She's looking at one with international law with a year abroad. That really lowers the number of potential unis.

Nottingham Trent University has a good reputation for law.

KCL offers this:
www.kcl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/law-with-transnational-legal-studies-llb

Any particular country? As most were based on Erasmus. I did the Birmingham LLB law with French which worked out to 2/3 law (exempting) and 1/3 French. German was the same structure.

If it is a "with language" course check the structure of the modules for the "with" bit, my free choice French module was a bit meh, writing essays in English about French history was preferable to writing essays about particularly unappealing (to me) French literature (had got hold of the books in the choosing process) but still meh compared with the rest of the degree. Also limits options as you only got a few credits left once you've done the compulsory exempting subjects so check for "extra" compulsory subjects outside the exempting ones.

Or do something else then law conversion, law degree is not compulsory!

My son is in his final year at Birmingham Uni doing International Law and Globalisation.
He spent last year at the University of Adelaide.
He's had a really good experience on the whole although this final year has presented some challenges regarding studying in lockdown.

Post Brexit I don't know how it works, but I did LLB Law with European Studies (I.e. normal LLB with year on Erasmus exchange) at UEA back in the mid-2000s. Most classmates who stayed in law qualified into good firms, including silver circle. They also offered very competitive Law with French, Law with German and US exchanges (first two being Erasmus with added language classes (so law courses were the essential components only and no optional law units), latter being some other exchange programme for a year, and otherwise a normal LLB programme). Remember that A Levels count when applying for training contracts, so she needs to aim high and put in the extra curriculars too. If a uni is struggling for students (I.e. offers for less than excellent A Levels), I would really question the worth of going there. Intellectual snobbery is strong in this industry.

@NiceTwin

Nottingham Trent University has a good reputation for law.

Uni of Nottingham maybe. Although NTU does run the LPC which is of course disappearing.

As ever I suggest you take a look at this

www.chambersstudent.co.uk/where-to-start/newsletter/law-firms-preferred-universities-2019

Any advice here is entirely meaningless without some idea of potential grades- no point in recommending eg Exeter if the candidate only likely to get B’s

One thing to note is that core modules will be the same at all universities as it’s a requirement for qualification. So focus on what other modules of interest might be available. Also might be worth seeing if the university runs some kind of law clinic where students can volunteer. Entry into the profession is brutally competitive so any extra edge a student can show is advisable.

Then of course you need to consider City vs Campus, distance from home, any other facilities that might be of interest (sports, music, theatre etc) as with any course.

QMUL?

www.qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/coursefinder/courses/2021/global-law/

www.qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/coursefinder/courses/2021/english-and-european-law/

www.qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/coursefinder/courses/2021/english-and-french-law/

If a potential student is only going to get Bs, forget a career in law.

That’s the crux of this. Does the student want a job? Who are the International Law employers? Is the DC intending to become a barrister or a solicitor?

University matters 100% for Law. International law with a year abroad is a huge luxury. I would never advise not looking at Oxbridge, Bristol, Nottingham, UCL, and other top law schools to find a certain slant on the law degree of employment is key. Look at employing solicitors and see where their employees went. 40% will not have undergrad law degree at all. Law degrees are not the only way into international law. Maybe look at lawyers in the civil service who advise the Foreign Office.

QMU, Nottingham Trent, UEA are not great for Law. RG (I know QMU slips in here) is vital. Within that group, the Chambers Student list is a good guide.

Is a law degree useful if you want to go into business, administration, graduate training schemes that don't require legal training but want a solid UG degree?

If you are ambitious but fixate on a year abroad you may well end up regretting it. You can do the year abroad independently, after uni, if you want to.

Oxford, Cambridge, Durham are the market leaders - and have been for decades.

I am talking about the standing of the law teaching/ degree, not all subjects in those unis.

I agree with the points above.
Also

1. Is she wanting a career in law?
2. What are her likely A level grades?
3. Is the year abroad essential as it narrows down choices?

I suspect the original post is not clear about the basic progression to solicitor or barrister too. You have always had to do another year of studyi8ng after your law degree - in my day the Solicitors Finals course or my children the Legal Practice Course (for solicitors and another for barristers). That year can be funded with a masters' student loan or if you apply in time and find a law firm to sponsor you - you do this years ahead at university - then they pay.

The list of places most bigger law firms pick from is here www.chambersstudent.co.uk/where-to-start/newsletter/law-firms-preferred-universities-2019.

Finally, at the end of 2021 a new set of exams for potential solicitors start known as SQE. So if your daughter does an LLB she might want to see if one will include the SQE1 preparation as part of the LLB and then she could take the SQE1 exam (there is a separate fee for this) during her LLB. She might then under the new system even if not sponsored by a law firm for post grad do a course leading to SQE2, a bit like the current LPC course, and then take that exam after a year - under the new system you are likely to pay for the post grad course plus separately pay for teh new SQE exams as they are run by a new centralised system with Kaplan running the exams. (or she could self study for SQE exams and just pay the exam fee which is about £45k to sit both SQE1 and 2) www.legalcheek.com/2020/07/sra-reveals-sqe-exam-cost-of-3980-as-it-extends-transitional-arrangements-in-response-to-covid-19/ Hopefully she would find a law firm to pay those fees.

However if she does not want to be a lawyer then much of the above is not relevant at all.

@CateTown

Is a law degree useful if you want to go into business, administration, graduate training schemes that don't require legal training but want a solid UG degree?

No more so than History, English, Maths or Economics so if you love Law then yes but as others say for a career in Law the minimum even in regionals nowadays for a training contract would be AAB at A level and a 2.1 as there are just too many people chasing training contracts. There may be the odd person who will pipe up that I got lower than that but that really would be an exception rather than the rule.

The Bar used to accept thirds for its Bar training course but they changed to a minimum 2.2 in the eighties. I remember the day it was announced the raw indignation of a friend of mine who'd got a third at Cambridge (Magdalene/ History). He was speechless with outrage, which made a first.

That said, a 2.2 wouldn't get you anywhere at the Bar, nor indeed a low 2.1 (and all the module marks seem to need to be disclosed these days, which is scary).

I think a Law degree from RG would be fine for business grad schemes. Better than English in some respects. There are very highly regarded courses in Management in universities such as Bath which are highly valued by employers. If a young person wants business admin grad schemes, a high quality Management degree from a top 10 university is possibly better than History or English from many universities.

DD’s friend finished her four year law degree last year - with one year of international study. She did her degree at Manchester and is now working for a bank in Luxembourg.

She loved her international year and was a huge benefit to her future career.

There is quite a lot of outdated info on this thread already. The larger law firms are really hot on diversity these days and they are not only recruiting from RG universities, their selection processes go way beyond the two interviews I had. If you have done a year overseas, that will be a plus point. You will need decent A level grades to get on law courses though.

The SQE changes everything too and I don't know anything about it. I was invited to attend a webinar the other day by email, so I might attend!

If you have a look here you can find the universities that offer law and language degrees, I put in German but you can put in whichever language is relevant :www.whatuni.com/degree-courses/search?q=law-and-german

Nottingham Trent has always had a good reputation for law, including in its poly days.

So has Hull university, although it won't have helped itself today with the news that it has decided that requiring good standards of English is elitest.

Op can you clarify what are her forecasted grades, and what does she wish to do,,Ie soljcitor or barrister, does she actually wish to practice and what kind of law Ie family, commercial etc?

I think you need to provide further insight for answers to be in any way meaningful.