Oxford Law Students and Applicants

Hey, I'm in Year 11 and it has been my dream to attend Oxford and study law since I was young. Therefore I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me, that could perhaps better my chances or portray myself as a more attractive applicant. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

How much, if at all, were people asked about anything to do with their personal statement?

Hardly anything iirc, maybe mine was just really boring though.
Obviously it's common sense to make sure you're confident on stuff you have mentioned.

Hi I have an interview for law with spanish. Can anyone advise on the likely format of the spanish interview - the website says it's a test of oral competence, but no further detail is given.
Any guidance would be great - thanks

Hi I have an interview for law with spanish. Can anyone advise on the likely format of the spanish interview - the website says it's a test of oral competence, but no further detail is given.
Any guidance would be great - thanks

I'm currently in Year 12 IB (November 2012 session), wishing to apply for Law. I've heard varying reports on this, but for the most part the general consensus is that legal work experience is indeed valuable. I've not had the opportunity to undertake any, nor do I envisage I would be able to between now and application date. Thus, I ask: how much does this hurt my chances?

You do not need work experience. However, bear in mind that universities want to see evidence of your commitment to the subject. It is perfectly possible to demonstrate this without any shadowing etc. (e.g. through reading, through expressing an interest in topical legal issues - with examples - in your PS), but that's not to say that work experience can't contribute to putting your commitment across.

Here's what I posted on the subject a while back:

Turn up to the local Magistrates' or Crown Court, and ask the person on the desk which courtrooms have some trials going on. The Magistrates' is often better, weirdly, because you can sometimes see several complete trials in a day, and there's less messing around with formalities and submissions and whatnot. That said, if you can find a good but reasonably speedy trial at the Crown Court, that will probably be higher calibre.

As Yawn said, the thing to remember is that a Law degree is not vocational. That's not to say experience cannot be very useful for your statement and any interviews; just that you need to mention it in a certain way. Don't say "Going to court made me want to study law", or "I have prepared for a degree by visiting my local Magistrates' Court". Instead, say things like "My interest in the law spurred me to see it in action". This does not suggest that you view a law degree as vocational, and demonstrates your commitment: tutors want to see some evidence to back up the assertion that you are interested in the law; crucially, you've linked the practice (going to court) with the academic aspect of law (you went to court because this appealed to you). You could also link practice to academia the other way round: "Visiting Manchester Crown Court, I observed at the trial of XYZ, which reinforced my view that sentences need to be weighed more towards deterrent".

i'm thinking about applying to oxford university to study law. there are however a number of problems. my gcse's are average (i.e. a mixture of a*'s, a's and b's.) , my a level grades are average too. on the oxford website it says you need aaa to apply to study law. would oxford accept a candidate who retakes their a levels from scratch i.e. took 2/3 year out resat a few gcse's and retook two/three a level subjects and applies to uni as a mature student as i would be 21 if i got a place for sept 2015? or is there no point? plus if they accept retake mature students would they make the entry requirements higher than the usual aaa?

is taking 3 years out to apply a crazy idea?

advice from those who go to oxford and are doing law please

thank you