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Oxford Law Students and Applicants

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You could have a look in the personal statement library at example of law personal statements. The law course at Oxford is a bit different from many other law courses so make sure you're not just applying for the 'Oxford brand name' and you would actually enjoy the course as it's pretty intense. My friends who do law are always complaining about their Roman law essays.

In general demonstrate your academic interest in the subject, don't talk about how much you want to be a lawyer, talk about how much you want to study law. Wider reading is more important than irrelevant extra curriculars, these should take up 1-2 sentences if you mention them at all.
Original post by AakankshaS
So, I've started on my Personal statement (Very early, i know) and the course i'm going to be applying for is law. So i just wanted to know if anyone had any tips? And is anyone, who's been accepted to oxford or has any idea about what the admissions tutors are looking for, willing to take a look at it? Thank you :smile:


I have an offer for Law at Oxford (and four other Law offers) so hopefully I might be of some help :smile: my personal statement was almost all academic, just a couple of sentences about extra-curriculars and legal work experience at the end. Make sure you talk about wanting to study Law rather than why you want to practise it in the future. I had a couple of paragraphs on things I'd come across during my ASs which linked to Law, this is by no means necessary though (I only did it for History and Politics, my other subjects were German, Maths and FM and there's not much point making a really tenuous link from a subject which is basically not related). I also did my EPQ on a law-related subject so I wrote a paragraph about that as well. I only mentioned one book so I wouldn't worry too much about name-dropping everything you've ever read.

Having said all this, my PS wasn't mentioned at all in either of my interviews - not sure they'd even read it :tongue:

Good luck!
Um, i'm a little confused, when you say academic. I mean, everyone that i've talked to says academics but when they tell me what they count as academics, it just seems like extra curriculars to me! Little help, please? :P
Original post by AakankshaS
Um, i'm a little confused, when you say academic. I mean, everyone that i've talked to says academics but when they tell me what they count as academics, it just seems like extra curriculars to me! Little help, please? :P


Example of academics:

I want to study law because I find its philosophical underpinnings very interesting. I am especially interested in the moral limits of the law. For instance, should the law be used to prohibit activities which, while morally repugnant, do not cause harm to others? Mill would argue that the principled limit to criminal sanction is the harm principle. However, should "harm" be more broadly conceived to include strong offence, as with someone shouting racist epithets or homosexuality in certain jurisdictions? If so, how would this Feinbergian notion of harm stack up against freedom of speech and right to private life? These are questions which are of fundamental importance in determining the role and extent of law in society, and questions which I hope to answer through studying the law.

Example of extracurriculars:

I shadowed a barrister/solicitor/ judge for x number of days and found their work very interesting. I would like to study law because I wish to be a practitioner in the future.

That said, you can turn extracurriculars into academic interests as well. For example, you can say that when you shadowed a barrister, he tasked you with a piece of legal research involving xyz areas of law. You found it abc debates very interesting etc

I literally just invented the academic bit off the top of my head, so I wouldn't take it as a good example of what you can write. Basically, you should be writing about why you want to study the law as an academic interest. Is it jurisprudential notions like what is law or should/ are there principled limits to the law that interest you? Or is it the idea of human rights - how do we balance one right against another or guarantee such rights? Or do you prefer the constitutional/administrative aspects of it - what do we mean by the rule of law? In what circumstances should we allow judicial review, knowing that this might have implications for effective governance? What is the court's role in judicial review - to what extent should they be allowed to set aside governmental decisions (knowing that they don't have the same expertise/access to information)?

There are so many ways you can take this really. Just pick an area that interests you and read up on it. I've pulled all the examples from what I've learnt on the course, but it isn't exhaustive.
Original post by mishieru07
Example of academics:

I want to study law because I find its philosophical underpinnings very interesting. I am especially interested in the moral limits of the law. For instance, should the law be used to prohibit activities which, while morally repugnant, do not cause harm to others? Mill would argue that the principled limit to criminal sanction is the harm principle. However, should "harm" be more broadly conceived to include strong offence, as with someone shouting racist epithets or homosexuality in certain jurisdictions? If so, how would this Feinbergian notion of harm stack up against freedom of speech and right to private life? These are questions which are of fundamental importance in determining the role and extent of law in society, and questions which I hope to answer through studying the law.

Example of extracurriculars:

I shadowed a barrister/solicitor/ judge for x number of days and found their work very interesting. I would like to study law because I wish to be a practitioner in the future.

That said, you can turn extracurriculars into academic interests as well. For example, you can say that when you shadowed a barrister, he tasked you with a piece of legal research involving xyz areas of law. You found it abc debates very interesting etc

I literally just invented the academic bit off the top of my head, so I wouldn't take it as a good example of what you can write. Basically, you should be writing about why you want to study the law as an academic interest. Is it jurisprudential notions like what is law or should/ are there principled limits to the law that interest you? Or is it the idea of human rights - how do we balance one right against another or guarantee such rights? Or do you prefer the constitutional/administrative aspects of it - what do we mean by the rule of law? In what circumstances should we allow judicial review, knowing that this might have implications for effective governance? What is the court's role in judicial review - to what extent should they be allowed to set aside governmental decisions (knowing that they don't have the same expertise/access to information)?

There are so many ways you can take this really. Just pick an area that interests you and read up on it. I've pulled all the examples from what I've learnt on the course, but it isn't exhaustive.



Okay alright, I get an idea of what you're saying right now. That's great thanks. :smile:
So I have chose what I want to do for A levels which is Economics, Psychology, Business studies and PE and I am not sure what I need to get in these subjects to get into Oxford or even be considered . I basically need advice on whether I can just pick the easier subjects and get in or are their subjects I am required to do?

Thank You
Original post by Raja_Hayder
So I have chose what I want to do for A levels which is Economics, Psychology, Business studies and PE and I am not sure what I need to get in these subjects to get into Oxford or even be considered . I basically need advice on whether I can just pick the easier subjects and get in or are their subjects I am required to do?

Thank You


There are no required subjects for Law however Oxford would expect at least two facilitating subjects at A2 (sciences, english lit, maths, geography, history and languages) so you may be at a real disadvantage here/ not even considered... I'm no sure.

I know other Unis also class Economics and Business as too similar so don't like to see that combo either.

If you are really serious about doing Law at Oxford you may need to rethink you options. Law at Oxford isn't going to be easy so don't just pick 'easy' subjects as it won't set you up well.

I hope this helped a little.


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Original post by Raja_Hayder
So I have chose what I want to do for A levels which is Economics, Psychology, Business studies and PE and I am not sure what I need to get in these subjects to get into Oxford or even be considered . I basically need advice on whether I can just pick the easier subjects and get in or are their subjects I am required to do?

Thank You

It would be good for you to take eng lit or lang and history (maybe maths). Then choose 2 other subjects which you enjoy - psychology and one other.... :smile: Good luck
Economics and Business Studies are too similar. Drop one and do a more academically rigorous subject instead. Psychology is borderline, though you may get away with it if your other two subjects are obviously academic.

Oxford is not easy, and even the very academically able are not able to be confident that they will be offered a place.

You are likely to need A*AA for law at Oxford and A*AA -AAA for most of the Russell Group. Pick carefully, and study hard from the outset. A levels are a big step up from GCSEs.

Oh and a final thing ... work hard on your grammar and spelling - those are a prerequisite for law in the big leagues.
Original post by Raja_Hayder
So I have chose what I want to do for A levels which is Economics, Psychology, Business studies and PE and I am not sure what I need to get in these subjects to get into Oxford or even be considered . I basically need advice on whether I can just pick the easier subjects and get in or are their subjects I am required to do?

Thank You


My advice for questions like this is generally to take what you enjoy and think you will do best in, with the proviso that you should try and make sure that your selection includes a number of academically rigorous subjects, for which see Le Nombre's links above. If you were to keep your current selection I would advise dropping PE after AS for this reason (presuming this includes a practical element).

There is no magic threshold which you can achieve in your A levels to be sure of getting into Oxford, but unless you have extenuating circumstances you will generally need to (at least) hit the requirements set out in the prospectus (AAA) in order to be considered.

As Crumpet1 mentioned, you should also work on your grammar and spelling (unless your post above is a simple lapse). The first impression one gets from reading a post which includes a conjugation error within the first sentence and a later incorrect use of 'their' instead of 'there' is not great and if similar errors are found in an LNAT essay you are likely to be given short shrift by the reader.
Hello, I am a year 12 student looking to apply to read law at Oxford in 2015.

If you applied to do law or are a current law student at Oxford, I would be very interested to know what you thought about the application process / interviews and how you are getting on at the moment.

I recently looked around Oxford and decided that I liked Lady Margaret Hall the best. If you know anything about this college then again please tell me!

Thanks in advance, I look forward to your replies! :smile:
Original post by studentiam
Hello, I am a year 12 student looking to apply to read law at Oxford in 2015.

If you applied to do law or are a current law student at Oxford, I would be very interested to know what you thought about the application process / interviews and how you are getting on at the moment.

I recently looked around Oxford and decided that I liked Lady Margaret Hall the best. If you know anything about this college then again please tell me!

Thanks in advance, I look forward to your replies! :smile:


Hi, I have an offer for law at Oxford starting in September :smile: what would you like to know?
Thank you
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Raja_Hayder
I am in year 11 nearing my exams and am not so sure of what I want to do for my A levels and would like to get a better overview of if my choice of subjects Economics, business, psychology and PE are a good choice and if I should choose differant subjects.

Thank you


could you please rephrase what you're asking
Original post by 391iady
could you please rephrase what you're asking

Do you think that I can be accepted at Oxford to do Law with the subjects I have chose for my A levels which are Business, Economics, Psychology and PE. If you do not think these are not suitable choices then can you please recommend me some better possible choices.

Thank you
Original post by Raja_Hayder
Do you think that I can be accepted at Oxford to do Law with the subjects I have chose for my A levels which are Business, Economics, Psychology and PE. If you do not think these are not suitable choices then can you please recommend me some better possible choices.

Thank you


The grades are more important, but I've heard the combination of Business and Economics is disliked due to poor breadth. I'd suggest you switch Business for something else.
Original post by iheartdjokovic
Hi, I have an offer for law at Oxford starting in September :smile: what would you like to know?


Hello fellow Djokovic fan! :awesome:

Thanks for your reply and congratulations on your offer, you are very lucky indeed.

I am interested in the application process - could you please tell me what college you applied for and if you had an interview at any other college? Also, what sort of stuff was discussed in your interview?

I am doing the IB and will probably apply for the Law with Law Studies in Europe course, which I am aware is very competitive. If you know anything about this course please tell me.

Thanks so much and good luck in your exams!:h:
You should probably do at least two 'facilitating subjects' as the Russell group says of should have at least two, they're English literature, history, geography, biology, chemistry, physics, maths and a language (I think that's all of them)
I'd recommend something more ing the lines of
English lit
History
Maths
Economics
(I'm no expert)
For law as long as you have strong subjects they don't ask for specifics, but the ones you listed aren't really considers as being strong in my knowledge, correct me if I'm wrong but I think that's how it is


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Original post by Raja_Hayder
I am in year 11 nearing my exams and am not so sure of what I want to do for my A levels and would like to get a better overview of if my choice of subjects Economics, business, psycology and PE are a good choice and if I should choose differant subjects.

Thank you


Cambridge sent me to this link when I asked what subjects would be best for law. I was told that picking 4 from the A1 and A2 category is ideal (the subjects in A1 and A2 are equally desirable, it's just that they're split into arts and sciences.)

http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=604

Economics is the only one out of your A level options which is in either of those categories. Business and Psychology are in list B, and PE is in list C along with subjects like Critical Thinking. They ideally want you to do more rigorous, traditional subjects which build core skills. Also take into account that most people you'll be competing with will have probably chosen 4 A level subjects from A1 and A2.
(edited 9 years ago)

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