Law work experience for year 12

(edited 2 weeks ago)

Hi! Work experience is by no means required for law, and you won’t be disadvantaged in any way for not doing any!

There are some books surrounding law that you could read that would look good in your PS, for example I read The Rule of Law. You could do volunteering somewhere if you want some transferable skills to talk about. You could have a look online at things like springpod to see if there’s any online courses etc related to law

Reply 2

thegeek888

Original post by ronitadas

Hi, I am currently a student in Year 12 with an interest in pursuing law. Could anyone recommend me things to include in a personal statement as I have had difficulty finding work experience opportunities?

Cambridge University has a Supercurriculars suggested here on Page 26:

https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/super-curricular_suggestions.pdf

:smile:

Reply 3

Durham Students

Official Rep

Original post by ronitadas

Hiya

These websites list some firms that offer work experience to Year 12s if you haven't looked at them already: https://www.thelawyerportal.com/study-law/law-work-experience/law-work-experience-year-12/
https://careerinlaw.net/uk/law-work-experience-uk/year-12-and-a-level-law-work-experience

If you cannot secure any work experience, don't fret! Most students applying to uni don't have any and tbh, you're not expected to have any because the opportunities are very limited. Ways in which I showed a passion for law was through my father's influence on me since he's a lawyer, studying law during high school, law-related books (classic fictions like How to Kill a Mockingbird or anything related to law that you may have read and liked). I would advise against including Suits as one of your driving factors- many students tend to do that and honestly Suits doesn't even reflect the reality of working in a law firm, so it's not something that will potentially set you apart from other applicants. You may also have read some other subject in sixth form that you can connect to law- for instance, I studied sociology and did a project on womens' rights, so I connected that to the laws surrounding women empowerment and how that interested me. You can even go one step further and see if there are any modules that relate to an area you're interested in- like intellectual property or family law. This goes without saying but if you do this, please ensure that the module is available at all unis you're applying to otherwise they'll know the personal statement wasn't tailored with them in mind.

Another way is to complete some free virtual internships like Bright Network IEUK, Forage and Springpod. These allow you to get a real insight into the kind of work you'd do as a lawyer, and you can develop skills alongside. This will look great on your PS. Again, many students do these now and this alone won't set you apart. So try to use a mixture of reasons (ideally 3-4) to explain why law interests you and how you'd be a good fit for the course.

There are some sample personal statements on TSR so you can have a look at them: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/university/personal-statements/law/

Hope that helps, feel free to ask more questions :smile:

-Himieka

(edited 10 months ago)