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Higher education

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Original poster

Thoughts on University for LLB please!

32 replies

SaintCharlie · 19/11/2021 07:05

Hi, we are very lastminute.com here. My DS has Edinburgh, Warwick, York and Exeter as wishlists for a Law degree. Are we missing out on looking at other options aswell before applying? He finished school last year but due to Covid we have delayed by a year (Brits but live on the other side of the world). He has begun an Open University LLB so hoping to transfer into 2nd year. Does anybody have any advice, guidance, words pf wisdom? Thank you!

OP posts:
randomsabreuse · 19/11/2021 07:14

Does Edinburgh do English law? I seem to remember it's only a couple of Scottish universities including Glasgow that do, the others do Scots law which is VERY different, closer to the Canadian system.

Bristol, Nottingham and Durham sit with Warwick and LSE/UCL as the most "desirable" law degrees after Oxbridge if you're looking at city firms but all the rest of the redbricks are decent enough.

I'm assuming there's a reason to avoid London...

MarchingFrogs · 19/11/2021 07:34

The LLB at Edinburgh is designed to prepare you for a career as a lawyer in Scotland, providing the ideal foundation for further professional study. In accordance with the stipulations of the Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates
www.law.ed.ac.uk/study/undergraduate-degrees

No mention of the option to study Enlish Law - this may not matter if the OP's DS would actually happily settle in Scotland (if the intention is to use the degree as a basis for a career in the law; not everyone who studies Law as an undergraduate subject wants to do so), but the suitability of the OU modules studied might preclude transfer into second year?

titchy · 19/11/2021 10:29

How wedded to the idea of going into the second year is he? It could be difficult. Others have commented on suitability of a Scottish uni for rest of UK law. Assume you're aware he'll be paying international fees? And that ucas application needs to be done by mid Jan?

titchy · 19/11/2021 10:30

I'd add Bristol and Leeds (if he drops Edinburgh) to the list though - there's five slots on the form - may as well use them all!

Original poster
SaintCharlie · 19/11/2021 10:55

Thank you very much for your advice..

Hadn't even thought about the Scottish Law ...

We had a consultant who was excellent but seems to have dropped the ball with a few bits so I'm having to play catch up! I wasn't aware that there 5 choices available!

Yes, we'd have to pay Intl fees ... second child finishing finals next week so I need to do the same thing with him aswell.

I feel very old .. very different 'back in my day'!

OP posts:
Original poster
SaintCharlie · 19/11/2021 10:57

So...

Bristol
Warwick
Leeds
Nottingham
Exeter

OP posts:
titchy · 19/11/2021 11:13

Sounds good! Now get that UCAS form in!

readsalotgirl63 · 19/11/2021 14:57

Would suggest Glasgow as there are options to study English Law. Dundee and Aberdeen also offer joint qualifying degrees. However having an LLB from a Scottish University does not appear to have hampered the careers of people like Helena Kennedy or Gerard Butler

MarchingFrogs · 19/11/2021 21:40

We had a consultant who was excellent but seems to have dropped the ball with a few bits so I'm having to play catch up! I wasn't aware that there 5 choices available!

With the exception of a few bits accessible only to the 'advisors' or the individual applicant, the whole UCAS website is very open and I do hope that at least your DS had already discovered how the application process works, even if you hadn't realised that you could just have a good 'rummage' around the site for information. UCAS facilitating applications for up to five courses initially is a very basic 'factoid', so to speak (hopefully he won't need to enter into the Extra process and Clearing and Adjustment are unlikely to be relevant if he already has his A level or equivalent grades in hand, but the info is there, if he is curious). I wouldn't consider any 'consultant' to be 'excellent', if they hadn't at least imparted that information very early on.

Original poster
SaintCharlie · 19/11/2021 21:59

I was merely asking advice. You have no idea about our life, circumstances etc... I don't need a lecture. Thank you.

OP posts:
ItsDinah · 19/11/2021 22:16

Helena Kennedy did not go to university in Scotland. She went to England as soon as she finished school. Gerard Butler did his LL.B and post-grad training in Scotland to qualify as a Scottish ( not English) solicitor. A Scottish LL.B course would be 4 years to get an Honours Degree,which is what he is likely to need to transfer to English courses. So, if you are looking at skipping first year, in Scotland you would be looking at a further three years undergraduate rather than two in England. I wouldn't choose a Scottish University unless your son is particularly keen on Scotland.

readsalotgirl63 · 20/11/2021 01:20

Oops I stand corrected with regard to Helena Kennedy - my bad. But plenty of people study law in Scotland and then go elsewhere.

burnoutbabe · 20/11/2021 01:49

I think you would need to speak to all the departments to see if they accept a transfer in from open university first year.

Probably they don't as entry requirements for open university are lower than the ones you listed.

So it would be starting again at first year.

womaninatightspot · 20/11/2021 02:01

I studied law in Scotland. The first 2 years contain all the mandatory courses so you don't get to skip a year. If you have a degree and want to get an LL.B you do the first two years of the course as well.

honkytonkheroe · 20/11/2021 02:28

I'd add university of Birmingham to your potential unis. A very beautiful campus with a lovely feel. My eldest DD studied law there (now a Solicitor) and my second DD is there now too being very clear she wanted to go there quite early on. Strangely by son-in-law and his brother both have law degrees from university of Birmingham too and are both now Solicitors. With regards to unis teaching Scottish law, I know when my eldest applied Dundee was the only Scottish uni teaching English Law. I'm sure no one would choose to study Scottish law if the didn't plan to practice in Scotland.

Netaporter · 20/11/2021 03:13

Popping on to say @SaintCharlie that York has a different teaching method than the other uni’s you mentioned. Suits self-starters but you know your DS better than ransoms on the internet. Might be worth taking a closer look. One of my DD’s is there having a great time. Also to mention qualifying as a solicitor specifically is changing in England so worth reading up on SQE. Law as a degree is very interesting and a great springboard to diverse career paths so I think he needs to consider if he wants to practice or just learn more about the subject. Good luck to him!

EmmaGrundyForPM · 20/11/2021 03:14

My DS' girlfriend has just finished her law degree at Nottingham. She is from SA and chose to come to uni in England as she was planning to return to SA after qualifying and it is apparently easy to transfer - she ruled out Scottish Unis as the law courses there aren't a good fit for SA law.

As it happens, she's fallen in love with the UK (and with DS) so has now got a job here.

alexdgr8 · 20/11/2021 03:17

Kings College London has an excellent reputation for law, but may be difficult to get into.

alexdgr8 · 20/11/2021 03:21

have you considered the university of law, used to be known as the college of law.
many international students, and a good reputation.
www.law.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/law/llb-hons-law/

burnoutbabe · 20/11/2021 09:04

[quote alexdgr8]have you considered the university of law, used to be known as the college of law.
many international students, and a good reputation.
www.law.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/law/llb-hons-law/[/quote]
It's a good reputation of doing professional exams but not as a law degree provider particularly.

SeasonFinale · 20/11/2021 17:29

If they are wanting to go on to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales they should consider this : www.chambersstudent.co.uk/where-to-start/newsletter/law-firms-preferred-universities-2019

Further I am not sure whether they would be able to just go straight onto year 2.

Finally do check which unis will require them to take the LNAT too.

TizerorFizz · 20/11/2021 18:22

Manchester is a very successful regional uni for people getting law jobs that are not in London. Ditto Birmingham. They have their own large legal circuits. Leeds and Sheffield also fall into this category.

Does he want to be a solicitor or go to the Bar? If it’s the latter, add in Bristol and Durham. There is the regional bar but most opportunities are in London.

Avoid Scotland. You would either have to stay in Scotland or convert to English Law with another course. The English law courses there don’t really feature in top 10 for English law. So there’s no point going really. I’ve no idea if he will get into any of these courses so ask his preferred universities.

ColinTheKoala · 21/11/2021 16:39

Strathclyde is worth considering as you can study English law there, and Glasgow is a great city. But if you are coming from the other side of the world, a smaller city/campus might make it easier to settle in.

So I'd stick with your choices of York, Exeter and Warwick and consider places such as Southampton, UEA, Birmingham as another pp said (campus but big city), Kent and Essex.

burnoutbabe · 21/11/2021 16:57

Won't this all depend totally on his current grades? No point drawing up a wish list if he does not have good enough grades.

Xenia · 21/11/2021 17:50

Don't go to the university of law (that is just for post grad - no one with decent A level grades does an LLB there)

Avoid Scotland as often is Scottish law and also is 4 years not 3 sometimes so more debt/cost.

Consider if the legal profession is an aim doing th LLB or another degree (50% of top lawyers don't read law first time round). Check out the special extra tests for law - LNAT? I don't know much about them but factor that in and look them up for university entrance.

If planning to be an English solicitor remember those starting an LLB in Sept 2022 are within the new SQE system not the old LPC etc one.

If he is going to get high grades consider going for the following (as he is too late for Oxbridge and assuming he wants to avoid London)...

Durham
Bristol (3 of mine went there - all lawyers or nearly lawyers)
Exeter
Warwick
Nottingham (one of mine - a lawyer went there)