What are the minimum requirements to be a decently paid lawyer?

I 'flopped' my A levels.

I can still go to a 'mediocre' university to study Law.

Is there any point?

What can I do to improve my chances at working somewhere decent and being paid a distinctive wage?

Reply 1

vimto39

Original post by Joyful_soul

General rule of thumb, without extenuating circumstances, is AAB/ABB at A level and a 2:1 or 1:1 from a Russell Group University.

Be warned this differs between Chambers and Firms, with some tending to recruit from the higher end of the academic spectrum.

Reply 2

Joyful_soul

Original post by vimto39

So there is no point in applying from a university like UCLan? :cry:

Reply 3

Demi4lyfe

I was told by the people from my work experience that as long as you have good grade in your degree and relevant work experience you should be fine

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Reply 4

vimto39

Original post by Joyful_soul

So there is no point in applying from a university like UCLan? :cry:

There isn't no point, but you would have to understand that there would have to be other far and beyond outstanding areas of the application in order to gain a Training Contract at somewhere that you would consider, based off your OP. It is by no means impossible; there is one Barrister in an excellent London Chambers with a degree from London Metropolitan University, usually one of a handful of Universities fighting to not be ranked worst for Law in the league tables annually. He, however, has the highest first in the year and an impressive mooting record, something which cannot be neglected. This is something that you would have to consider.

Equally, you could do a Law degree which is an excellent degree discipline anyway, and go into another career with that degree from UCLan, or wherever.

Reply 5

vimto39

Original post by Demi4lyfe

I was told by the people from my work experience that as long as you have good grade in your degree and relevant work experience you should be fine

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Undoubtedly the degree is the 'centre piece' as it were', but the sector is so overpopulated with similar graduates that A levels, and in some cases GCSE grades are used as differentiating factors.

Reply 6

JTTTT

I do not have the aforementioned A levels, attended a non-russell brick uni to read history and got a decent 2:1 (64%), got a distinction on my GDL/LPC respectively (self-funded) and have really, really struggled to get a TC.

My only advice if you do not have ABB A-levels would be not to self fund an LPC as there is not much chance of a return on your investment. Get a 1st in your degree (whatever uni you go to), _EXCEL_ at extra currics and apply for vac schemes/TCs as you graduate. If you can't get a TC by the time you are out then I would probably go for other professional careers there and then.

Best of luck!

(Sorry if this post sounds super blunt...i'm tired and it's a friday!)

Reply 7

DontWantYourBloodMoney

Original post by Joyful_soul

Which uni are you looking at?

I was in the same situation as you four years ago (with the Scottish equivalent of having average A-Level grades), and decided to go to university to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Stirling University (which I studied at school and excelled in), and as of June graduated with a high 2:1 and an offer to study Law at Aberdeen University, a great step up with regards to reputation, league tables and future employment perspective.

I would certainly look into studying another subject at an 'average' university (that being said when I went to Stirling it was top 10 for Philosophy which was a deciding factor), and then apply to do a graduate conversion, which if i'm right in England would only take a year, at a university with a better reputation.

That being said, this would obviously depend on your financial status, and whether you want to become a lawyer or use your degree for other purposes (I have a few friends that studied Law and couldn't think of anything worse than entering the legal profession).