Merit v 2.1 in law

[peaceinourtime]

Hiya all, how is getting a merit in law different to a 2.1? Also how does getting a merit in law affect your employment prospects? Many thanks

Do you mean in an undergraduate degree? In English law?

I recruit lawyers and have never heard of a merit.

Do you mean in a merit in the law conversion course? It usually seems to depend on the classification of your first degree.

Thank you both, I was meaning the Legal Practice Program or Solicitor Practice Program. Would getting a merit in these affect employment prospects?

Do you mean a merit as opposed to a distinction? Having googled it looks like a pass is 60% or above and distinction is above 90%. That rings an a vague bell form when I did mine a million years ago.

We recruit before people have done the LPC and we just need them to pass. We are moving to SQE now though. And we tend only to take people who got a 2:1 in their undergrad. You have to have an undergrad degree before LPC and if it was not in law you need the GDL as well.

Why do you ask, it sounds like you are not the student and are asking on behalf of someone else? The reasons for giving someone a job in law are much much more complicated than exam marks, it’s all about interviews and assessment days and vacation schemes, and also varies hugely depending on the type of firm and practice area.

Thank your for that information. Yes its for someone else. They got a 2.1 in their undergraduate but also acknowledge that its based on other things such as interviews, assessments and firm/practice area.

Are you talking about getting a job after paying for the SQE privately? So the person does not have a training contract? If not, why not? It’s going to limit jobs surely?

Legal Practice Program or Solicitor Practice Program do not exist so yo probably mean postgraduate studies possibly a law conversion (PGDL) or the LPC or SQE exams for solicitors. Merit is 60- 69% on the BPP LPC (or it was about a year ago when my twins did it ). They got "distinction" (70% plus) and worked very hard.

for those future trainee solicitors sponsored by a law firm with jobs waiting for them who do the LPC or SQE course the law firm usually just requires them to pass. The grade does not matter.
For those with no training contract as yet it certainly does no harm to get high marks. I suspect my son's 99% on one module (God knows how he got that high....) helped him get his secondment in that area of law. However it tends to be our A level grades and marks in each module in years 1 - 3 law firms like to see and assess people based on upon.

What these post grad laws call certain bands of marks has changed in the last few years by the way., When my daughters did it (over 10 years ago ) the grades were called some different things but the percentage levels are similar between old and new naming.

Thank you Xenia