Law degree at City University London

If you study law at this university, what is it like? Is it hard? How many exams do you have? How many lectures do you have a week?

ALSO, what is the uni like, the people, the atmosphere, the social scene...?

Reply 1

AnonEm

Original post by noddycherry1

Hi I just finished second year exams for law at City University. First year is easier than second year (in my opinion) but both are doable if you put your mind to it. My advice to you is take uni seriously. In first year I had four exams in May (Contract, Criminal, Constitutional & Administrative law, English Legal System), I also recall having a (compulsory) mock exam in January for one of the modules (Criminal). There's also a compulsory mooting exercise in January for first years as part of the Legal Method module. The Legal Method module consists of coursework and mooting, which is done in the first term, and then English Legal System is taught in the second term which has an end of year exam.

There are about 4 two-hour lectures a week, one for each module. There are also tutorials that you have for each module once every fortnight. You will find some lecturers helpful, and some who aren't so much, but you can talk to all of them, they're a nice bunch. You'll have a personal tutor who you could speak to about any worries or anything.

Uni life is different for everyone. I met some very nice people in my first year. I can't comment too much on the social scene though. The uni itself is quite nice, and it's under some development right now at the main building.

Hope I helped :smile:

(edited 7 years ago)

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Reply 2

rbgpwer

Original post by noddycherry1

Hello - I have just finished my third year at The City Law School and been a student representative

1) Exams and Content

The key is to take the whole thing seriously from the start and just learn. They won't expect from you more than reading, learning and putting some effort on it. If that is the case, you will succeed. Most people who failed was because they were not interested, or left it too late and did not have time to catch up.

In first and second year you will study core LLB modules

Criminal Year (first year)
Constitutional and administrative law (first year)
Contract Law (first year)
English Legal System (first year)
Legal Methods (Research, Mooting)

Tort Law (second year)
EU Law (second year)
Land (or Property) Law (second year)
Equity and Trusts (second year)

In third year, it is electives only, there are around 30, 35. You can choose from 4 to 8 modules. Some run all year round, some are half term only, so shorter. So having 8 small modules won't be harder than having 4 full-year modules.
In first and second year you will have to sit all exams, and this will constitute your grades. In third year, many of the electives modules are coursework only assessed, or assessed through presentations. You also have the opportunity to take a Dissertation, but this is a choice only, of course if you take it you will have less taught modules.

People usually struggle in second year, and do very well in third year. There are various reasons to this. First year is not easy but is easier in order to let student accomodate to university. I honestly do not believe that in second year lecturers are much stricter than in first, maybe a bit, but the modules in second year are harder, longer, and more complex. So many students stuggle with this change.
In third year, most of us do very well, with very high average grades because students tend to choose electives they are interested in, and therefore are more motivated to do well. Furthermore, tbh I think half-year modules (that run in term 1 or term 2) are easier and much shorter because they run over a very limited time. As the content was not as extensive as full year modules, student tend to do very well in exams as it is easier to cover it.

In first year we were 320 students
In second year 250
Third year about 200.

2) Lectures

Expect a 2 hours lecture for each module and a 1h tutorial every two weeks for each module. This makes no more than 10 hours a week, not much. However, be careful because there is some work to do separately to cover everything and actually understand what you've been told in lectures, and this takes time.

3) People, atmosphere, social scene

This is very subjective. I don't want to depress you but I find (and many of my friends do) that law students are a lot more study focused than other students from the University. Many law students are locals, not that many internationals (compared with other departments), they already have an established social life, and since City is not a campus University, many do not participate in the actual social life in there. Many student have been to the same school in the past and stick together. It is sad but true. I felt really alone as an international student in first year, but it gets better with time, I made good friends in second and third year. The other inconvenient is that we were 320 people in first year and it was pretty hard to get to make new acquitenances.

However, take what I said with caution, I would add this:
- This was my cohort. I do believe that people come in different shapes and minds and therefore, your cohort may be betterr. I heard about amazing cohorts in some other courses. We cannot generalise.
- The key is to make the first move, try to go towards people, insist, and you will find interesting individuals
- City University is a big place, I made loads of friends from the computing department for example, you are not restricted to law students. You have the University Bar where there are events organised or where you can simply hang out. There are also societies with some that counts an impressive number of members.
City is located between Angel and Farringdon/Barbican, it is a vibrant area with loads of pubs, restaurant and even a shopping centre, therefore good opportunities to make friends, socialise and have fun.

Reply 3

asil11

How do they split the students up into smaller groups 20-30 from the lectures

Reply 4

rbgpwer

Original post by asil11

How do they split the students up into smaller groups 20-30 from the lectures

By alphabetical order. Tutorials are in groups of 15-20.

Reply 5

arch0wnz

Does this course go into clearing?

Reply 6

rbgpwer

Original post by arch0wnz

Does this course go into clearing?

Normally yes

Reply 7

1775339

As a seminar tutor myself I can say that the groups for core modules are 16 students.

Reply 8

asil11

Hello does anyone know how many students will be on the law course in total and is it more than 200 students.

Reply 9

rbgpwer

Original post by asil11

Hello does anyone know how many students will be on the law course in total and is it more than 200 students.

Around 320 in first year but the number will dramatically drop in second year as many student drop out or fail.

Reply 10

Ck1994

Hello,
I wanted to ask beforehand, I am looking forward to study Law at City Law School. Therefore, I will be starting in September and I was wondering am I able to catch up on a lesson online maybe if I miss a day. I have an issue regarding removal of my wisdom teeth and for that I am required to miss a day as I am meant to relax for 24 hours.
Thankyou.