Help! Doing mock interviews for students applying to do Law plus a language at Oxford

[NeverSplitTheDifference]

Hi there I’m a partner in a law firm. For a few years now I’ve done Mock interviews with students from the local comprehensive who are applying to do English at Oxford or Cambridge (English was my 1st degree). This year there are no applicants for English but there are several applicants to do law with French law with Spanish law at Oxford and I’ve been asked to do them.

I’ll be really grateful for any YouTube video or similar that would help me orient myself so I can give them an experience that is useful for them. I never did a law degree myself – just a conversion course so I’m actually not used to the academic study of law,

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbZhg1t=PLbZhg1xWyWSAtCPmxP9tcINywtbAl8i

Oxford provides demonstration interviews

For those applying for law plus french/spanish law, they will be assessed on their language proficiency as they will spend a year abroad so need to be able to follow the law course in the native language. That's all. They won't be interviewed on French law etc.

Thanks. I neither speak Spanish nor understand Spanish law so my candidate was on safe ground there!

There's a Trinity College mock law interview on youtube. My DD is studying law at Cambridge and she also mentors aspiring law students and preps them for interviews. She had 2 interviews as I recall. One based on her PS and a technical one based on problem questions. Areas that they tend to ask are criminal law and tort law as they are more intuitive, but also contract law (think questions along the lines of can you terminate if costs have increased). She had some labour law questions too. It's a good idea to find out who the interviewer is and practice questions on the area of law they teach. With problem questions, they tend to give scenarios and then ask "what if" question changing the facts a little. They do not except students to know the law. They (say they) want to see their way of thinking. Some PQ prep helps though.

Tell me more re the mentoring. Does her college organise this as part of outreach?

Re areas of law - my DH teaches Tort and Contract, Labour Law and has written text books on both in addition to his research and monographic writing.

Re the PS - it’s likely that the interviewer that has more interest in the PS is the college admissions tutor.

My DD is a Zero Gravity mentor. Cambridge also has some outreach programmes and she takes part in those, but helping younger kids locally. For prep purposes either get some ready made PQ or put together some simple ones based on case law, mixing key areas of law. Intent, foreseeability are areas they tend to come up as you'd expect. Oxford tutors may also ask some more philosophical /ethical questions, although in my DD's cohort they asked PQ too. I expect the language interview will be separate, led by a language tutor.

The Trinity College mock interview on YouTube

Thanks! Youngsters all love the postmasters cases so we looked at those….