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how do you study for law A-levels?

I'm taking AQA Law unit 1/2/3/4 at once and i want to know what are the best ways to prepare for the exams whilst i still have several months.

Basically, if i put by 4 hours a day total for the next 4 months, what are the best things i can do with that time to get a good grade in law?

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Original post by lmorgan95
I'm taking AQA Law unit 1/2/3/4 at once and i want to know what are the best ways to prepare for the exams whilst i still have several months.

Basically, if i put by 4 hours a day total for the next 4 months, what are the best things i can do with that time to get a good grade in law?


All those at the same time? Woah yeah I guess you should put extra effort since you are gonna be doing them all at once. Do past papers and make sure you memorise most answers since it's all about writing as much as you can from memory. Its good to know the structure too so that you dont waste time planning on what to include in each answer.
Reply 3
Original post by xtenshiai
All those at the same time? Woah yeah I guess you should put extra effort since you are gonna be doing them all at once. Do past papers and make sure you memorise most answers since it's all about writing as much as you can from memory. Its good to know the structure too so that you dont waste time planning on what to include in each answer.

Yeah, it's hard but it should still be possible right? I'm working really hard for it, there's just a crap load to remember haha.
Original post by lmorgan95
Yeah, it's hard but it should still be possible right? I'm working really hard for it, there's just a crap load to remember haha.


I'm guessing you're doing other subjects too? Which ones? How much do you revise for each topic each day for law?
Reply 5
Original post by xtenshiai
I'm guessing you're doing other subjects too? Which ones? How much do you revise for each topic each day for law?

Maths A-level retake and 1 bio retake, but i'm doing fine for that (pretty much already got the grade i need) and i'm not doing a set amount per topic per day, i set myself targets instead of strict hours... possibly around 4 hours a day though.
edit: i need a B btw
Do you take law?
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by lmorgan95
Maths A-level retake and 1 bio retake, but i'm doing fine for that (pretty much already got the grade i need) and i'm not doing a set amount per topic per day, i set myself targets instead of strict hours... possibly around 4 hours a day though.
edit: i need a B btw
Do you take law?


Ah I see. Yup Im taking law. First exam in 5 weeks ><
Reply 7
Original post by xtenshiai
Ah I see. Yup Im taking law. First exam in 5 weeks ><

unit 1? :smile:
been doing a bunch of notes and flash cards for it today. how are you feeling about it?
Original post by lmorgan95
unit 1? :smile:
been doing a bunch of notes and flash cards for it today. how are you feeling about it?


I've been doing a lot of revision for it too. Just going over exam questions. My teacher's quite helpful.. but we still haven't gone through unit 2 tort yet!! I'm kinda panicking because I feel we won't know everything in time but all my other teachers are doing the same and they say there will be enough time.. I'm going over the topics myself at home though in case. What about you?
I achieved an A grade in A-Level Law last year with full UMS marks in the main A2 paper. The key to success is rote learning as there is so much content. Condense all this content into the bare bones and memorise it. My technique was to 'rote learn' i.e. actively and repeatedly write out my notes word for word without looking until they were committed to memory. Though this won't work for everyone and depends on the quality/brevity of your note taking.

Also, it's risky but predicting likely questions to come up from past papers can focus your revision and ultimately pay off like it did for my class. My Law Teacher pretty much got her predictions spot on! (:

Posted from TSR Mobile
One suggestion I would add to what everyone else has said is to not worry too much if you can't memorise all of the case names exactly. You'll get more marks if you can remember (and apply) what the law says but have forgotten what the case was called, rather than the other way around. Focus on memorising exactly what the law is on each point you have to revise, and then work on the case names once you've done that. Obviously there will be a key few that you'll need to memorise - stuff like Donoghue v Stevenson or the Wagon Mound for tort, for example - but for most it's not crucial that you remember exactly what it's called; the examiners may well give you credit if you can only remember a partial name or a set of facts.
Original post by Doppelgänger
I achieved an A grade in A-Level Law last year with full UMS marks in the main A2 paper. The key to success is rote learning as there is so much content. Condense all this content into the bare bones and memorise it. My technique was to 'rote learn' i.e. actively and repeatedly write out my notes word for word without looking until they were committed to memory. Though this won't work for everyone and depends on the quality/brevity of your note taking.

Also, it's risky but predicting likely questions to come up from past papers can focus your revision and ultimately pay off like it did for my class. My Law Teacher pretty much got her predictions spot on! (:

Posted from TSR Mobile

What did you get at AS and what exam board were you?
Original post by Blyts-_
What did you get at AS and what exam board were you?

At AS I achieved two low As in both papers as I failed to finish either due to chronic timing issues I had writing essays. My exams were with OCR - forgot to mention - but the principles remain the same I'd imagine.
Original post by Theflyingbarney
One suggestion I would add to what everyone else has said is to not worry too much if you can't memorise all of the case names exactly. You'll get more marks if you can remember (and apply) what the law says but have forgotten what the case was called, rather than the other way around. Focus on memorising exactly what the law is on each point you have to revise, and then work on the case names once you've done that. Obviously there will be a key few that you'll need to memorise - stuff like Donoghue v Stevenson or the Wagon Mound for tort, for example - but for most it's not crucial that you remember exactly what it's called; the examiners may well give you credit if you can only remember a partial name or a set of facts.

I'd have to strongly disagree with you here. Name dropping case names and statues correctly is incredibly important if a candidate is to achieve top marks for the A or A* grade. Bearing in mind my exam board was OCR not AQA, so there may be differences but a key component of the top band of the mark scheme was to include at least 8 relevant cases/statute in your essay. Remembering the years isn't so important but will impress an examiner. Think about it, the examiner will mostly be skim reading an essay looking for case law/statute to tick off the checklist and guide their marking.
Original post by Doppelgänger
At AS I achieved two low As in both papers as I failed to finish either due to chronic timing issues I had writing essays. My exams were with OCR - forgot to mention - but the principles remain the same I'd imagine.

I'm doing OCR Law as well, got a mid B at AS, could you give advice as to how to remember the cases and how you went about revision? :smile:
Reply 15
Original post by lmorgan95
I'm taking AQA Law unit 1/2/3/4 at once and i want to know what are the best ways to prepare for the exams whilst i still have several months.

Basically, if i put by 4 hours a day total for the next 4 months, what are the best things i can do with that time to get a good grade in law?


I'm doing unit 1&2 this year. Havent really focused on Law at all because I'm struggling on my other subjects. But for 2nd unit, its mainly just knowledge. We've got given all the questions that are can come up along with model answers to answer them, so I'll just me memorising them word for word.

Unit 1- First two definitons questions I'll also be learning them from the model answers.
Next two questions is about applying to the scenario given- for this I'll be learning the actus reus and mens rea for all five offences and cases that go along with them +examples
Last two questions is just learning the content (failing to remember what it actually is:|)

Goodluck! You can do it! Just put the effort into revising- although I'm struggling to do that atm
People revise 4 hours a day? I do about 10 minutes a month.
Reply 17
Original post by Abdul-Karim
People revise 4 hours a day? I do about 10 minutes a month.


Yeaaah, I probably do the same as you, but for Alevels that isnt enough at all:P
Original post by umieee
Yeaaah, I probably do the same as you, but for Alevels that isnt enough at all:P


I got AAB at AS and I'm pretty confident I can get A*AA for which I need to go to university with at A2. Although, I just understand content first time and seem to have a different way of revising. Quality over quantity.
Original post by Doppelgänger
I'd have to strongly disagree with you here. Name dropping case names and statues correctly is incredibly important if a candidate is to achieve top marks for the A or A* grade. Bearing in mind my exam board was OCR not AQA, so there may be differences but a key component of the top band of the mark scheme was to include at least 8 relevant cases/statute in your essay. Remembering the years isn't so important but will impress an examiner. Think about it, the examiner will mostly be skim reading an essay looking for case law/statute to tick off the checklist and guide their marking.

How developed do the cases have to be? Would 2-3 lines for facts and maybe another 2-3 for the law be okay?

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