Am i working too hard for Year 1 Law LLB

Better to worry about working too hard than the opposite..


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How easy is it to get a 40% pass in Law LLB in first year? How hard did you work? Do you think I will pass? Im so stressed! Eeeeek!

How easy is it to get a 40% pass? Extremely easy - you could probably pass at most universities with 5 minutes revision. Why are you even considering getting 40%? You may as well not have gone to university if you get those sort of grades.

It's very easy to get a pass honestly. Last year I hated university and I didn't do any work all year. I mean none, I truly hated it and spent most of the time sitting in my room feeling miserable. I got 40 in one exam which I actually left an hour into and only wrote two essays out of the required three. Another one, contract law, I got 44 on and only revised one topic. Fortunately that topic came up, but I made up the other three essays. I was extremely lucky.

It's not a bad thing to work hard in first year. It means that when you apply for vac schemes/mini pups in second year you're more likely to get one. Due to my appalling first year grades (I got 57 in our beginners type module and 59 in criminal law, scraping a 2:2 overall) I didn't even bother applying for vac schemes. I do have a mini pup through a personal contact but that's it. Also, because I managed to do ok overall last year I have done the same this year - not done any work nor attended anything. Four weeks from exams and I know barely anything for 3 of my modules, the only one I know is tort. It's definitely better that you're getting into a good work ethic now, and next year just try to go to lectures/seminars as the tutors often tell you things from a different perspective and they are the ones who set the exam. I hate lectures because some of them don't do powerpoints and I can only learn by reading things, the ones who just stand and talk teach me absolutely nothing. But it's still better to go and it saves you doing AS much work, too.

Thankyou for this long reply it has honestly made me feel so much better! God bless you!
i can't believe you walked out and still passed? I hardly attend uni because I feel like the lecturers are so slack and you could probably do more work at Home. Honestly all they ever do is read off a PowerPoint slide and that's it. Uni may not be spoon feeding and chasing you every second like college/school but the complete opposite of being so slack and lazy. :/ I also get depressed a lot in the afternoons just thinking where my life is going. Nowhere.

What I mean by 40% is that that's the minimum you need for each module overall to pass 1st year, but I am obviously trying to aim higher. Also first year doesn't count towards the degree you just have to pass to go into second year which is when it really starts counting towards your degree

Do you enjoy the course? I still don't like it. But I chose to stay and now I'm 1 year from finishing so I might as well stick it out if I get a 2:2 again this year. Just remember it's not the end of the world if you do badly in first year, and if you do well it will help you get vac schemes etc. Either way, first year doesn't count and you can definitely bring it back in second/third years. I know what you mean, I always feel I can do much more in the library with a textbook than I would learn in 2 hours of someone talking at me.

First year is important however your final degree is classified. When you apply for vacation schemes, training contracts, mini-pupillages or pupillages, every single form is going to ask for a breakdown of your module grades. No recruiter is going to be impressed by a 40% in Contract Law (or whatever your first year modules are) accompanied by the explanation 'It didn't count towards my final grade'.

If you're not interested in law as a career at all then first year will be less important. Most non-law employers will only ask for your degree classification and not your module grades.

I do enjoy the course to an extent but sometimes it just gets so boring and confusing. Also, the fact that I don't particularly like the people on my course makes me so demotivated I don't even know why. Also the fact that I have to commute there and back everyday is not particularly nice! But I don't wanna move out as the commute is only 15 mins by train. Going off topic slightly, overall I do enjoy the course and I am slowly getting to know ppl so that's good? plus its only first year.

I wouldn't think 'its only first year' it definitely gets worse in second. But if you enjoy it most of the time that's good I don't like the people on my course either tbh. I would love to live at home haha! Going home at xmas/easter is like going back to a palace

It gets worse? eeeek! how? awhh I couldn't imagine living away :/

Also, I want to know that for the first year courseworks, I got 2 40% passes and 1 60% (3 courseworks overall) if I do kind of well to well in the exams, could I possibly end up with a 1st class grade for first year? Is it a possibility?

Well it depends how your course is structured. In first year I studied criminal law, contract, constitutional/admin and then LSR (legal system and reasoning, basically watered down jurisprudence). This year I did land law, equity law, eu law and tort. The first of those three are hell, absolutely the most boring things I've ever studied in my entire life. Tort is good. But this year has really questioned my ability to do this course, I hate it, I'm so miserable and I've been looking into leaving. Only recently I've thought well I'm only a year from finishing and I've chosen my modules for next year which sound a lot better. Getting the core modules for the LLB out of the way is awful. Unless you're actually interested in commercial law, equity is boring. Everyone finds land law boring, it's notoriously difficult and technical, plus it's rooted in a 1925 Act which barely seems relevant these days. I know, I wish I'd stayed at home so much haha

Very unlikely...depends on how the coursework is weighted against the exam. You'll need to do really well to bring the modules you got a 40 in up to a 2.1, let alone a first. You could get a first in the module you got 60% in though, but overall probably not.

Im doing ew law currently in first year, although I hated the classes for it because I never understood anything (partly because I hardly attended) once I started revisin for it I kinda get it a lot. Ur right tho it's as boring as hell! also I've talked to a few 2nd and 3rd years and they found it hard to pass eu and have to keep on retaking it elk hope that's not the case for me :/ yeah I've also heard that land law is so hard and boring I'm so not looking forward to doing that! I think if you've only got one year left the seriously go for it! What's the worst that can happen? especially if your looking forward to ur next year modules. You've come this far so don't give up at the last hurdle btw what did u get for ur first year marks and grades for cw and exams and how many weeks prior did u revise and how intense?

Also, I want to know that for the first year courseworks, I got 2 40% passes and 1 60% (3 courseworks overall) if I do kind of well to well in the exams, could I possibly end up with a 1st class grade for first year? Is it a possibility?