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Birkbeck Law or City Uni law or Uni of Law or BPP?

Hi,
I in through clearing as been rejected by all choices let alone not meeting the grades. I am being offered places for LLB Law at Birkbeck, City Uni, Uni of Law (Ulaw) and BPP. Any advice would be appreciated as I would need to make decisions quickly.
Thanks

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Original post by UKStudent2016
Hi,
I in through clearing as been rejected by all choices let alone not meeting the grades. I am being offered places for LLB Law at Birkbeck, City Uni, Uni of Law (Ulaw) and BPP. Any advice would be appreciated as I would need to make decisions quickly.
Thanks


I would probably choose Birkbeck out of those. It is closest to a 'traditional university', and although it has historically been known primarily as a provider of part-time evening courses the impression that I get is that this is changing. It has the strongest faculty for LLB of those four by a mile.

I know that the BPP LLB is not absolutely terrible having done the course myself, but I wouldn't put it much higher than that.
Reply 2
Avatar for Estreth
Estreth
11
I don't know much about City, University of Law, or BPP, although I do know of intelligent people who have done their degrees there and done well afterwards.

I do have direct experience of Birkbeck, and I have to say that the standard of teaching in the law school (this is definitely not the case across the university) is truly appalling. When I was there many of the seminar leaders did not even speak English to a good enough standard to teach.
Reply 3
Avatar for 1775339
1775339
9
Original post by UKStudent2016
Hi,
I in through clearing as been rejected by all choices let alone not meeting the grades. I am being offered places for LLB Law at Birkbeck, City Uni, Uni of Law (Ulaw) and BPP. Any advice would be appreciated as I would need to make decisions quickly.
Thanks


Honestly, I'd avoid ULaw and BPP since they are in the corporate side of higher education as opposed to established universities.

City have a very good track record of producing practitioners. I've seen many City graduates with great training contracts and pupillages. The Law School has guest speakers from the profession, sponsored mooting competitions allowing their students to interact with firms and chambers and overall just a good relationship with the profession.
Having just completed year 1 of the LLB at Birkbeck, it's actually not that bad. The school of law seems quite disorganised in part but I really enjoyed my first year. Constitutional law was incredibly boring in term 1 and the lecturer is so dull, however when it came to revision, literally everything I needed was in his slides.

Birkbeck still gets involved in extra curricular activities aswell such as mooting and mock trials and also run law clinics for students to volunteer at (year 2 onwards)


Blog: www.thenubianrapunzel.com
Original post by Forum User
I would probably choose Birkbeck out of those. It is closest to a 'traditional university', and although it has historically been known primarily as a provider of part-time evening courses the impression that I get is that this is changing. It has the strongest faculty for LLB of those four by a mile.

I know that the BPP LLB is not absolutely terrible having done the course myself, but I wouldn't put it much higher than that.


Many thanks for kind feedback. I'm off to open evening today Wed 7 Sep to BBK after accepting the formal offer, before I enroll. Not so sure if it's too late for student finance though for this year 2016.
Original post by Nubian Rapunzel
Having just completed year 1 of the LLB at Birkbeck, it's actually not that bad. The school of law seems quite disorganised in part but I really enjoyed my first year. Constitutional law was incredibly boring in term 1 and the lecturer is so dull, however when it came to revision, literally everything I needed was in his slides.

Birkbeck still gets involved in extra curricular activities aswell such as mooting and mock trials and also run law clinics for students to volunteer at (year 2 onwards)


Blog: www.thenubianrapunzel.com


Thank you for kind feedback. After accepting their formal UCAS offer, I'm off to open evening today Wed 7 Sept before I take up their invite to enroll.

A bit worried whether it's too late to be considered for student finance for this year 2016 entry.
Original post by UKStudent2016
Hi,
I in through clearing as been rejected by all choices let alone not meeting the grades. I am being offered places for LLB Law at Birkbeck, City Uni, Uni of Law (Ulaw) and BPP. Any advice would be appreciated as I would need to make decisions quickly.
Thanks


heya. I'm off to Birbeck too :smile:
It's definitely not too late for student finance. Will probably get paid late though


Blog: www.thenubianrapunzel.com
I've been to Birkbeck for over two years now. Entering my third. The School of Law has quite the reputation in terms of it's academics as a lot of them have quite varied research interests and are willing to put the work in and help if you want to make the most of your time there. I've seldom had any hassle getting in touch with a lecturer or Professor while here.

We've some very good research here and most people who end up wanting to take their studies to the next level (LLM or PhD) end up coming back here to do it!

At times the administration can be a bit hit and miss/disorganised. But they do their best and this is kind of to be expected from a university, not least one of it's largest departments...

They try their best to put on extra activities such as mooting (essential I'd say) and the mentoring scheme. We've a Law Society ran by students who try to put on events and debates. The School of Law itself runs a few events too- awards evening; drinks reception and summer party come to mind...

I'd say if you're interested then you should give it a go! Most of our lessons will be evening based unless you're one of the unlucky few to get a Saturday morning seminar for an optional module.

I'm happy to answer any other questions if you have them.

Original post by Estreth
I don't know much about City, University of Law, or BPP, although I do know of intelligent people who have done their degrees there and done well afterwards.

I do have direct experience of Birkbeck, and I have to say that the standard of teaching in the law school (this is definitely not the case across the university) is truly appalling. When I was there many of the seminar leaders did not even speak English to a good enough standard to teach.


Which Birkbeck have you gone to? Because I can confidently say this is an over-exaggeration. We've had a few foreign tutors (criminal law comes to mind)... there's been no issues?

(I've been student rep to the College Academic Board the past year and heard nothing of the sort for law)

Original post by Nubian Rapunzel
Having just completed year 1 of the LLB at Birkbeck, it's actually not that bad. The school of law seems quite disorganised in part but I really enjoyed my first year. Constitutional law was incredibly boring in term 1 and the lecturer is so dull, however when it came to revision, literally everything I needed was in his slides.

Birkbeck still gets involved in extra curricular activities aswell such as mooting and mock trials and also run law clinics for students to volunteer at (year 2 onwards)


Blog: www.thenubianrapunzel.com


I have a funny feeling I know who this is!! Is it Marinos?

Original post by Risobelle
heya. I'm off to Birbeck too :smile:


Good luck! See you around hopefully :smile:
@Lord Jon Thank you for taking the time to brief in detail. Really appreciate it and your briefing removed some anxieties. I'm glad to say that I've finally enrolled online.
Was wondering, as a mature student who's been away from higher studies for a longtime, if there would be any orientation skills event or induction that addresses our concerns and prepares us for the intensive study of a difficult subject such a law.
Thanks
Original post by Lord Jon


Which Birkbeck have you gone to? Because I can confidently say this is an over-exaggeration. We've had a few foreign tutors (criminal law comes to mind)... there's been no issues?



What do you mean by 'which Birkbeck'? Surely there is only one. I did my LLB there a few years ago.

Fair enough, 'many' might be an exaggeration. I have two specifically in mind, both in criminal law as you suggest, whose English was not good enough to teach (and in one case of these cases, to lecture). This is a disgrace in any university. I can think of one more whose English was sub-standard at best. But in my opinion the standard of teaching in general is very poor.
Original post by Lord Jon
I've been to Birkbeck for over two years now. Entering my third. The School of Law has quite the reputation in terms of it's academics as a lot of them have quite varied research interests and are willing to put the work in and help if you want to make the most of your time there. I've seldom had any hassle getting in touch with a lecturer or Professor while here.

We've some very good research here and most people who end up wanting to take their studies to the next level (LLM or PhD) end up coming back here to do it!

At times the administration can be a bit hit and miss/disorganised. But they do their best and this is kind of to be expected from a university, not least one of it's largest departments...

They try their best to put on extra activities such as mooting (essential I'd say) and the mentoring scheme. We've a Law Society ran by students who try to put on events and debates. The School of Law itself runs a few events too- awards evening; drinks reception and summer party come to mind...

I'd say if you're interested then you should give it a go! Most of our lessons will be evening based unless you're one of the unlucky few to get a Saturday morning seminar for an optional module.

I'm happy to answer any other questions if you have them.



Which Birkbeck have you gone to? Because I can confidently say this is an over-exaggeration. We've had a few foreign tutors (criminal law comes to mind)... there's been no issues?

(I've been student rep to the College Academic Board the past year and heard nothing of the sort for law)



I have a funny feeling I know who this is!! Is it Marinos?



Good luck! See you around hopefully :smile:



Haha! I'm saying no names!!! And I agree, to say the teaching standard is poor is an absolute stretch! That said, I can think of one seminar tutor who's English was very VERY basic


Blog: www.thenubianrapunzel.com
Original post by UKStudent2016
@Lord Jon Thank you for taking the time to brief in detail. Really appreciate it and your briefing removed some anxieties. I'm glad to say that I've finally enrolled online.
Was wondering, as a mature student who's been away from higher studies for a longtime, if there would be any orientation skills event or induction that addresses our concerns and prepares us for the intensive study of a difficult subject such a law.
Thanks


Anytime! There are a series of activities during induction which will equip you with the skills you need. You will be told the basics of statutory interpretation; answering a problem question and writing an essay etc..

Our "Get Ahead, Stay Ahead" resources on the MyBirkbeck website are also useful for those who need it, and the School of Law has contacts who can help you with academic skills too (I'll find out the name for you in a bit). - http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/get-ahead-stay-ahead

It's also advisable to buy a Legal Skills and a writing skills for law book if you can. I found the Legal Skills book quite useful so far! Writing is a lot different in law than say for History or English.

Original post by Estreth
What do you mean by 'which Birkbeck'? Surely there is only one. I did my LLB there a few years ago.

Fair enough, 'many' might be an exaggeration. I have two specifically in mind, both in criminal law as you suggest, whose English was not good enough to teach (and in one case of these cases, to lecture). This is a disgrace in any university. I can think of one more whose English was sub-standard at best. But in my opinion the standard of teaching in general is very poor.


I was taking the piss, of course there's only one Birkbeck, University of London... 😶

Original post by Nubian Rapunzel
Haha! I'm saying no names!!! And I agree, to say the teaching standard is poor is an absolute stretch! That said, I can think of one seminar tutor who's English was very VERY basic


Blog: www.thenubianrapunzel.com


:tongue: , I've had a seminar tutor like that too for criminal tbh. Fortunately it's a distinct rarity though!!

Be good to see you around at some point!
Original post by Lord Jon
Anytime! There are a series of activities during induction which will equip you with the skills you need. You will be told the basics of statutory interpretation; answering a problem question and writing an essay etc..

Our "Get Ahead, Stay Ahead" resources on the MyBirkbeck website are also useful for those who need it, and the School of Law has contacts who can help you with academic skills too (I'll find out the name for you in a bit). - http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/get-ahead-stay-ahead

It's also advisable to buy a Legal Skills and a writing skills for law book if you can. I found the Legal Skills book quite useful so far! Writing is a lot different in law than say for History or English.



I was taking the piss, of course there's only one Birkbeck, University of London... 😶



:tongue: , I've had a seminar tutor like that too for criminal tbh. Fortunately it's a distinct rarity though!!

Be good to see you around at some point!



I think I know who you're talking about. I had him for legal systems and methods and had to go to one of his contract seminars as my tutor didn't turn up but I know criminal is his subject. O....?? lol


Blog: www.thenubianrapunzel.com
@Lord Jon Please stay on this thread and guide us all. I've sick and tired of all that talk in the threads of the top unis here. I'm happy with Birbeck. It's clearly an up and coming uni staffed with really good law lecturers. So please please stay on this thread. You have so much to offer here. Thank you in advance :smile:
I would agree with Lord Jon and not Estreth. As per Estreth's own admission, they could think of two or possibly three...out of this bunch:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/law/our-staff

Open up the arrows and see that there are even more. Sure, some non-domestic, not-the-best English-speaking PhD students have to take some classes as part of their training, but I was more than happy with 99% of my teaching experience and law dept life as a Birkbeck student. My classes were inciteful, full of debate, with motivated students. However, the students do tend to fall into "I thought this was going to be easy" (who come unstuck if they don't change that mentality quickly), and "I'm here to get the best grade I can", who extract the best they can from the course, the extra curriculars, the networking, experiences etc.

I'm actually considering applying to study for a PhD in a few years... need to think of a topic for a proposal. *
These are all fair comments, and it's great that Birkbeck provides an educational resource that nowhere else does, i.e. for people who can't spare the time during the working day. I must also stress that my comments apply only to the law school - I have no experience of any other department. Bbut I'm genuinely surprised that anyone thinks that it's acceptable in a university to have even two seminar leaders and one lecturer (to be precise) who can't speak adequate English.
Original post by Lord Jon
Anytime! There are a series of activities during induction which will equip you with the skills you need. You will be told the basics of statutory interpretation; answering a problem question and writing an essay etc..

Our "Get Ahead, Stay Ahead" resources on the MyBirkbeck website are also useful for those who need it, and the School of Law has contacts who can help you with academic skills too (I'll find out the name for you in a bit). - http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/get-ahead-stay-ahead

It's also advisable to buy a Legal Skills and a writing skills for law book if you can. I found the Legal Skills book quite useful so far! Writing is a lot different in law than say for History or English.


Many thanks for pointing out towards beneficial resources, really appreciate it. I'm not so sure if we new students would get the chance to meet the existing students to share their experiences in the first week of our induction, especially tips on time management / work study life balance as well as organising files, notes and folders etc. But then again I guess I may be over concerned as one would probably pick up those things gradually along the way once study commences.
(edited 7 years ago)
The other thing I was wondering whether the law school at BBK hosts legal career events/visited by law firms for presentations on how to apply for future employment / training contracts /and or internships, known elsewhere as vacation schemes if I'm correct. If no such events are held, any alternative options that may exist e.g. events elsewhere etc. (I acknowledge such events may not be a common thing at BBK if not that many students are interested to go down the potential route of solicitor/or only few succeed securing a training contract in commercial / city law firms with fully funded LPCs.)
(edited 7 years ago)

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