Law Student - First year grades

Hi, how much weighting do first year grades hold on your final grades? I wanna apply for vac schemes and other programmes during second year but I feel like my grades will hinder me. Also, WHY does referencing mark you down so much????? I dropped from a 2:2 to a 2:1 on my first essay and I’ve got two 2000 word essays due in less than 2 days but I’m prob gonna get a 3rd or something bc of the referencing I’ve prob missed😭😭😭picking Law after doing science alevels was not the move man should’ve stuck to biomed.

Reply 1

DataVenia

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post by notoriouscake

Hi, how much weighting do first year grades hold on your final grades? I wanna apply for vac schemes and other programmes during second year but I feel like my grades will hinder me. Also, WHY does referencing mark you down so much????? I dropped from a 2:2 to a 2:1 on my first essay and I’ve got two 2000 word essays due in less than 2 days but I’m prob gonna get a 3rd or something bc of the referencing I’ve prob missed😭😭😭picking Law after doing science alevels was not the move man should’ve stuck to biomed.

At most universities first year doesn't contribute at all to your final degree classification. (Which uni are you at?)

Reply 2

notoriouscake

OP

3

I’m at Keele right now

Reply 3

DataVenia

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post by notoriouscake

I’m at Keele right now

OK, so Keele are the same as most uni in ignoring year 1 marks.

See Section 1.3.2 in Regulation D2: Progression and Classification Rules (for undergraduate students commencing first year from September 2022 onwards):

"1.3.2 Your weighted average module mark and degree classification are determined as follows:
Step 1: A Level 5 average module mark will be calculated, based upon the marks you obtain from your Level 5 modules.

Step 2: A Level 6 average module mark will then be calculated, based upon the marks you obtain from your Level 6 modules.
Step 3: A weighted average module mark will be calculated, based upon the sum of one third of your Level 5 average module mark and two thirds of your Level 6 average module mark.
Step 4: This weighted average module mark will be rounded to the nearest integer (with marks of 0.5 or above rounded up) and will be used to determine your degree classification, as follows:
...etc."

So Level 4 (i.e. first year) does not impact your final degree classification.

Original post by notoriouscake

Hi, how much weighting do first year grades hold on your final grades? I wanna apply for vac schemes and other programmes during second year but I feel like my grades will hinder me. Also, WHY does referencing mark you down so much????? I dropped from a 2:2 to a 2:1 on my first essay and I’ve got two 2000 word essays due in less than 2 days but I’m prob gonna get a 3rd or something bc of the referencing I’ve prob missed😭😭😭picking Law after doing science alevels was not the move man should’ve stuck to biomed.

Hi there

I echo the post above that most Universities do not take first year results into the final grade for law.
I understand that referencing can cause a lot of trouble for students, and it is true that you can be deducted a lot of marks for things such as not being in the word count or referencing.

There are some really good websites that can help you with referencing. I usually use: https://www.mybib.com/#/ for oscola referencing. This helps me save time, however it is important to double check the references yourself afterwards to make sure they are correct. References are really important as they can cap your mark significantly, so make sure to start your essay early, leaving yourself enough time for referencing.

I also picked law after doing science and maths for A levels and found first year quite challenging, but it does get better. I would recommend going through assignment feedback and adopting them in your future essays.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in law, keep going! :smile:

Although vacation schemes are difficult to get into, you are always able to get work experience by volunteering at law clinics or doing summer volunteering at local law firms. These are also good for boosting your CV. :smile:

I hope this helps.
Chloe
University of Kent Student Rep