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A levels for doing a degree in Law? Becoming a solicitor with disabilities? Help!

Hi everyone. I posted something similar but got no real answers...probably due to posting it in the incorrect forum but oh well! Hopefully you guys can help me. :smile:

I'm a British citizen, I'm 19 years old and have been diagnosed with several disabilities ('invisible' disabilities) since the age of 5.I did the absolute worst you could expect someone at GCSE's.

I only got a C in English (was predicted at least a B) and my Maths was so terrible I'm actually going to be resitting it soon.

I want to resit my English because I'm confident I could get at least a B. I also want to take History, German and Psychology OR Law.

The reason I want to do my GCSE's is because I want to study at University in Law (European and International) My 'dream' I suppose you could call it is to become a solicitor that works within the EU. (Specifically Czech Republic or Germany)

I'm extremely passionate about getting to my dream career. I know it's a competitive job market but not impossible, right?

But there's another problem. I have several 'invisible' disabilities. I contacted the nationalcareersservice and they were useless. The person I was talking to said that because of my disabilities I wouldn't be able to become a solicitor! What rubbish is that? I was so upset and worried I ended up calling someone at SRA and asking them if that was true and they said that my disability will not effect me becoming a solicitor and that there is help out there for solicitors with disabilities.

So that was a relief, but I'm struggling to find any support/advice centers with this ): So if you guys have any advice I would be over the moon.

My next issue is that because I have no A levels I feel as that'll effect my career and education in the long run. One of the Unis I'm looking to go to (Sheffield) said that they would accept applicants who took a access to higher education course within law or social science. A local college offers an access course in social science which I've applied for.

However apart of me is wondering if I should do A levels instead? I feel as if future employers will see that I only did an access course and won't give me a second glance because of my lack of A levels

So I don't know what would be better! If there's no risk of not doing A levels I'll definitely consider just doing the access course but will my options of unis be smaller because of this?

So here are some questions (Ontop of my previous questions)

- Has anyone successfully became a solcitor with no A levels?

- Does anyone have any Universities that accept an access course in Law (International and Europe) which offer one year abroad? (Specifically the Czech Republic or Germany)

- Would it be possible for me to take GCSE's in subjects I've never sat before? i'm going to be self studying but will I be denied since I never took the subjects before?

- If known, what universities are best known with having their students with disabilities gain a successful career in their chosen field?

I've been trying hard to find this information myself but it seems very scarce. I really don't want to give up on this career, even if it seems impossible to some. I'm very passionate about this and hope you guys can give me any advice.

Thanks for reading!

(If needed I will disclose my disabilities)
-Has anyone successfully became a solcitor with no A levels?

Yes but this was probably back in the day so you're in a far better position to take A Levels (and more importantly, you need strong grades in them, minimum AAB).

- Does anyone have any Universities that accept an access course in Law (International and Europe) which offer one year abroad? (Specifically the Czech Republic or Germany)

I'm sure most universities offer a year abroad but the destinations may differ and you also need to have achieved a certain threshold mark in your first year of uni in order to be considered for a year abroad

- Would it be possible for me to take GCSE's in subjects I've never sat before? i'm going to be self studying but will I be denied since I never took the subjects before?

Take GCSEs whilst at university or whilst doing A Levels? The latter is common. The former, not so much.

- If known, what universities are best known with having their students with disabilities gain a successful career in their chosen field?

This is will depend on people and their own personal experiences. This might be somewhat useful:

Word of caution though: a legal career (as a solicitor/barrister) is getting incredibly harder; you need to really excel academically in order to be on par with other people. Ideally you should aim for top 20/Russell Group universities. Law firms (if you want to become a solicitor) do not discriminate if you're disabled (in fact, some encourage disabled graduates to apply for their trainee schemes). All they care about are excellent academics and extra-curricular activities to some degree (pro-bono work, legal work experience etc).

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask me about applying to Law at uni (I did but then withdrew to do History)
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 2
Original post by orphan_black
-Has anyone successfully became a solcitor with no A levels?

Yes but this was probably back in the day so you're in a far better position to take A Levels (and more importantly, you need strong grades in them, minimum AAB).

- Does anyone have any Universities that accept an access course in Law (International and Europe) which offer one year abroad? (Specifically the Czech Republic or Germany)

I'm sure most universities offer a year abroad but the destinations may differ and you also need to have achieved a certain threshold mark in your first year of uni in order to be considered for a year abroad

- Would it be possible for me to take GCSE's in subjects I've never sat before? i'm going to be self studying but will I be denied since I never took the subjects before?

Take GCSEs whilst at university or whilst doing A Levels? The latter is common. The former, not so much.

- If known, what universities are best known with having their students with disabilities gain a successful career in their chosen field?

This is will depend on people and their own personal experiences. This might be somewhat useful:


Word of caution though: a legal career (as a solicitor/barrister) is getting incredibly harder; you need to really excel academically in order to be on par with other people. Ideally you should aim for top 20/Russell Group universities. Law firms (if you want to become a solicitor) do not discriminate if you're disabled (in fact, some encourage disabled graduates to apply for their trainee schemes). All they care about are excellent academics and extra-curricular activities to some degree (pro-bono work, legal work experience etc).

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask me about applying to Law at uni (I did but then withdrew to do History)

Thanks for the quick reply!

I'm hearing more and more about how a legal career is difficult and I'm starting to worry that because of this I won't be able to make a career. That isn't to say I'm not willing to work hard but I'm worried I'll have VERY little advantage compared to those without disabilities and those who go to Russle Unis.

That being said, I do want to still pursue this as a career. But I'm starting to think if I should outstretch my options a bit...do you have any recommendations for jobs similar to this? I've tried looking before but couldn't find much. any advice is greatly appreciated!

In regards to A levels I was considering taking them once I finish my GCSE's again. Would that be the best way to go about getting into Uni? I'll probably be 22/23 at that time.
Reply 3
EDIT: I'd still like to do Law at University! I do want a career in law if that helps (For advice on jobs similar). Hopefully being able translate or the likes, thanks :smile:
Original post by cielstis
Thanks for the quick reply!

I'm hearing more and more about how a legal career is difficult and I'm starting to worry that because of this I won't be able to make a career. That isn't to say I'm not willing to work hard but I'm worried I'll have VERY little advantage compared to those without disabilities and those who go to Russle Unis.

That being said, I do want to still pursue this as a career. But I'm starting to think if I should outstretch my options a bit...do you have any recommendations for jobs similar to this? I've tried looking before but couldn't find much. any advice is greatly appreciated!

In regards to A levels I was considering taking them once I finish my GCSE's again. Would that be the best way to go about getting into Uni? I'll probably be 22/23 at that time.


I definitely still think you should pursue a Law degree because it's so flexible and prestigious. You can get into almost anything with a Law degree. You never know, you could possibly become a solicitor/barrister if that's meant to be. But if that's not for you, the rise of start-ups means that small businesses are looking for people with a legal training so a Law degree will definitely not be to waste. Why not try and look for combined Law degrees e.g. Law with Business Management etc? Just to make yourself stand out? That'd be useful too just in case you find that a legal career isn't for you.

And yes definitely, take the traditional route and get your A Levels. They'll be useful in other jobs too. Don't get me wrong you can still get into uni through Access courses but you'll definitely be disadvantaged when applying for jobs. Have you tried looking for legal apprenticeships? Those are slowly on the rise too: http://www.allaboutlaw.co.uk/law-jobs/law-apprenticeships
Reply 5
Original post by orphan_black
I definitely still think you should pursue a Law degree because it's so flexible and prestigious. You can get into almost anything with a Law degree. You never know, you could possibly become a solicitor/barrister if that's meant to be. But if that's not for you, the rise of start-ups means that small businesses are looking for people with a legal training so a Law degree will definitely not be to waste. Why not try and look for combined Law degrees e.g. Law with Business Management etc? Just to make yourself stand out? That'd be useful too just in case you find that a legal career isn't for you.

And yes definitely, take the traditional route and get your A Levels. They'll be useful in other jobs too. Don't get me wrong you can still get into uni through Access courses but you'll definitely be disadvantaged when applying for jobs. Have you tried looking for legal apprenticeships? Those are slowly on the rise too: http://www.allaboutlaw.co.uk/law-jobs/law-apprenticeships


I'd like to do a degree in law with a language if that's even possible! You don't happen to know what that degree would be called do you? Or which direction I should look in? ^_^

It's reassuring to know that getting a law degree won't be a waste, I'm very passionate about law and learning so I'm glad I'll be able to sustain myself while waiting to get myself into my dream career.

I've just emailed a college which does adult A levels, hopefully they'll reply soon. It's an hour train ride away so I'm wondering if I'd be able to get a student discount for travel?

Do you know how many times you'd attend to do A levels? Let's just say I decide to do History, German, Law...maybe English? What's the average time I'd be spending at the college? Would I go everyday or?

Thanks for all your help :smile:
Original post by cielstis
I'd like to do a degree in law with a language if that's even possible! You don't happen to know what that degree would be called do you? Or which direction I should look in? ^_^

It's reassuring to know that getting a law degree won't be a waste, I'm very passionate about law and learning so I'm glad I'll be able to sustain myself while waiting to get myself into my dream career.

I've just emailed a college which does adult A levels, hopefully they'll reply soon. It's an hour train ride away so I'm wondering if I'd be able to get a student discount for travel?

Do you know how many times you'd attend to do A levels? Let's just say I decide to do History, German, Law...maybe English? What's the average time I'd be spending at the college? Would I go everyday or?

Thanks for all your help :smile:
That would just be a combined Law degree. You can use the UCAS Search function and type in "Law" and the other subject you want to combine Law with (so a language in your case). Check this link out: http://search.ucas.com/search/providers?Vac=1&AvailableIn=2017&Query=Law&IsFeatherProcessed=True&Page=1&flt9=2%7C3%7C4%7C6

Those are all the combined/joint Law degrees in the country :smile:

And that's amazing to hear! As for A Levels, I was a full-time student at 6th form so I attended every day but I'm sure you can apply for some bursary of some sorts for travel costs. I think doing A-Levels in a college might be more flexible?

In terms of A Levels, I think that's a good combination, especially History, English Language/Literature and German (they're facilitating subjects i.e. subjects "respected by universities"). Have you thought about doing a science subject like Biology? If you're good at sciences, I'd recommend doing two humanities and one science A Level (just so the workload is different). Good luck!
Reply 7
Original post by orphan_black
That would just be a combined Law degree. You can use the UCAS Search function and type in "Law" and the other subject you want to combine Law with (so a language in your case). Check this link out: http://search.ucas.com/search/providers?Vac=1&AvailableIn=2017&Query=Law&IsFeatherProcessed=True&Page=1&flt9=2%7C3%7C4%7C6

Those are all the combined/joint Law degrees in the country :smile:

And that's amazing to hear! As for A Levels, I was a full-time student at 6th form so I attended every day but I'm sure you can apply for some bursary of some sorts for travel costs. I think doing A-Levels in a college might be more flexible?

In terms of A Levels, I think that's a good combination, especially History, English Language/Literature and German (they're facilitating subjects i.e. subjects "respected by universities":wink:. Have you thought about doing a science subject like Biology? If you're good at sciences, I'd recommend doing two humanities and one science A Level (just so the workload is different). Good luck!


Thanks so much!! Are there any unis there that stand out to you? Like the ones that are known to be good? (Russle uni ect)

I'd be fine with that honestly. Just a matter of traveling there and back. But hopefully that can be sorted ^_^

I'm glad! I used to be good at science, specifically biology (Animals/human ect) so I might look into that. I was actually advised to take a science GCSE too and they do on at my local college so I'll send them an email

Your help is honestly god sent! I couldn't be more thankful
hey, i dont mean to rain on your bonfire but i think the guy above is getting your hopes up too high quite honestly. As for becoming a lawyer, unless you go to Oxbridge its usually incredibly hard even if you have gone to a russell group university. Getting into a decent firm would require a 2.1, a huge amount of extra curriculars, stellar GCSEs and great A levels too in facilitating subjects usually. TO become a barrister is even harder, pupillages training contracts etc are so incredibly hard to get nowadays so if you're saying your GCSEs are atrocious, what do you mean? To be honest I think not doing A levels or the IB is a kind of non-starter for becoming a lawyer or can anyone correct me ??

As for doing a foreign language with Law, that is asking for trouble unless you're native. Most of those in your course will be natives so your Germa or whatever you wanted to do will need to be pretty hot potatoes to get in (I'm guessing youd have an interview) and even then unless you think you'll go to Germany I'm not so sure how worthwhile it is.

I'm not trying to be horrible but as a law student, actually Law with German Law student I'm just saying it as I know it to be. I would say retake some core GCSEs and aim for As, not even Bs, do A levels and get outstanding ones too and go from there. By the way i did similar a levels to what youre thinking of, german, economics and history and thats a good basis for getting into law.
Original post by cielstis
Thanks so much!! Are there any unis there that stand out to you? Like the ones that are known to be good? (Russle uni ect)

I'd be fine with that honestly. Just a matter of traveling there and back. But hopefully that can be sorted ^_^

I'm glad! I used to be good at science, specifically biology (Animals/human ect) so I might look into that. I was actually advised to take a science GCSE too and they do on at my local college so I'll send them an email

Your help is honestly god sent! I couldn't be more thankful

Well definitely aim for any of these universities: Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London School of Economics, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Sheffield, Southampton, UCL and Warwick.

And @JNDSAN, I'm not giving OP false hope (hell, read my first message lol) but a legal career certainly isn't impossible and unlike other professions, technology isn't coming to take over legal jobs. There are so many access schemes for minorities (disabled people, BME, people with a low-income) and by the time OP will be at university, things can have changed for the better. OP wants to study a Law degree because they find it interesting, surely that's all that matters. Different job prospects may arise whilst they are at uni.
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 10
Original post by JNDSAN
hey, i dont mean to rain on your bonfire but i think the guy above is getting your hopes up too high quite honestly. As for becoming a lawyer, unless you go to Oxbridge its usually incredibly hard even if you have gone to a russell group university. Getting into a decent firm would require a 2.1, a huge amount of extra curriculars, stellar GCSEs and great A levels too in facilitating subjects usually. TO become a barrister is even harder, pupillages training contracts etc are so incredibly hard to get nowadays so if you're saying your GCSEs are atrocious, what do you mean? To be honest I think not doing A levels or the IB is a kind of non-starter for becoming a lawyer or can anyone correct me ??

As for doing a foreign language with Law, that is asking for trouble unless you're native. Most of those in your course will be natives so your Germa or whatever you wanted to do will need to be pretty hot potatoes to get in (I'm guessing youd have an interview) and even then unless you think you'll go to Germany I'm not so sure how worthwhile it is.

I'm not trying to be horrible but as a law student, actually Law with German Law student I'm just saying it as I know it to be. I would say retake some core GCSEs and aim for As, not even Bs, do A levels and get outstanding ones too and go from there. By the way i did similar a levels to what youre thinking of, german, economics and history and thats a good basis for getting into law.


I'm aware it's a difficult career :smile: it'll be extra hard considering my disabilities but that doesn't mean it'll be impossible!

I'm not a native speaker but I do have quite a few native speakers of german who are willing to help me. Not to mention I always found learning languages quite easy for me (And AFAIK German is one of the easier languages for native speakers to learn)

Even if I don't pursue becoming a solicitor, I'm very set on at least pursuing a career with my language skills ^_^ I was actually also considering doing something health related. (Example: Working as a nurse in an EU country to help with other nurses and those who do not speak the native language ect(Hopefully that makes sense)

I'm going to have a LOT of time to think on what I'd like to do since I'm going to be doing A levels and the likes, so i'm not jumping in headfirst :smile:

Are you a native speaker of german? Why did you pick that degree in particular?

Thanks for the reply ^_^
Reply 11
Original post by orphan_black
Well definitely aim for any of these universities: Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London School of Economics, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Sheffield, Southampton, UCL and Warwick.

And @JNDSAN, I'm not giving OP false hope (hell, read my first message lol) but a legal career certainly isn't impossible and unlike other professions, technology isn't coming to take over legal jobs. There are so many access schemes for minorities (disabled people, BME, people with a low-income) and by the time OP will be at university, things can have changed for the better. OP wants to study a Law degree because they find it interesting, surely that's all that matters. Different job prospects may arise whilst they are at uni.


Thank you! A good few of those Unis are ones I was already interested in, so that's a relief ^_^

I never saw you as giving me false hope, but you've made me feel as though I DO have a chance which is something I really appreciate. I understand it's a difficult career and I know it's going to require a lot of work but regardless even if I don't decide to go with being a solicitor, it's reassuring to know that getting a degree in law wouldn't be useless no matter what I decide.

I'm not going to give up though and I still have a few years before I can go to Uni, so things may change ^_^ I still appreciate all the advice.

(I know you weren't replying to me but thought I'd give my two scents regardless :smile:
Original post by cielstis
Thank you! A good few of those Unis are ones I was already interested in, so that's a relief ^_^

I never saw you as giving me false hope, but you've made me feel as though I DO have a chance which is something I really appreciate. I understand it's a difficult career and I know it's going to require a lot of work but regardless even if I don't decide to go with being a solicitor, it's reassuring to know that getting a degree in law wouldn't be useless no matter what I decide.

I'm not going to give up though and I still have a few years before I can go to Uni, so things may change ^_^ I still appreciate all the advice.

(I know you weren't replying to me but thought I'd give my two scents regardless :smile:


Happy to know I've instilled some confidence in someone haha! Best of luck with everything!
Good luck and dont give up, just realise its very competitive and you will have to prove you are even better with your disabilities.
Most courses will have options to study international law, although its not quite as straightforward a subject in practice.

You first have to establish you can get the grades then take it from there.
Original post by cielstis
I'm aware it's a difficult career :smile: it'll be extra hard considering my disabilities but that doesn't mean it'll be impossible!

I'm not a native speaker but I do have quite a few native speakers of german who are willing to help me. Not to mention I always found learning languages quite easy for me (And AFAIK German is one of the easier languages for native speakers to learn)

Even if I don't pursue becoming a solicitor, I'm very set on at least pursuing a career with my language skills ^_^ I was actually also considering doing something health related. (Example: Working as a nurse in an EU country to help with other nurses and those who do not speak the native language ect(Hopefully that makes sense)

I'm going to have a LOT of time to think on what I'd like to do since I'm going to be doing A levels and the likes, so i'm not jumping in headfirst :smile:

Are you a native speaker of german? Why did you pick that degree in particular?

Thanks for the reply ^_^



No im not actually native german, i just always really liked the language then did well at gcse, did it at a level and did well and thought i wanted to become properly fluent and i thought it would add a different dimension to my law degree so im doing it at UCL now.

Bear in mind, gcse and even a level german is one thing but then being sat in a room with natives talking about technicalities of the german constitution is something else!

If law/german is the general direction youre going in then then feel free to write to me and ask about personal statements, interviews, german work, lnat or whatever, Good luck!

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