Is Law a hard degree??

Hey,

I’ve applied to study a Law LLB this September at uni, and as I’ve been reading up online about it more, I keep continuously finding people saying ‘law is such a hard degree, everyone thinks it’s easy when they apply but it’s not’ etc etc.

Just wondering though, why actually is that? Is it the amount you have to remember? Or something else??

Thanks!!

Firstly ask yourself why you are doing law? a good degree? your friends doing it? you are passionate and interested by the law?? etc

Law is not hard, like anything the more you put in the more you get out. There is alot of reading and cases to remember but the more time you spend doing the work the easier it is and if you enjoy it then it'll take you to a whole new level.

Like everything if you firstly enjoy what you are doing then doing all the reading/assignments etc is easy because you enjoy it and therefore the natural by product of this is success.

Any questions just give me a shout, ive just finished my first year of a law degree

Thank you for your reply!

Honestly, I have always had a natural interest in Law (I completed an EPQ focused on American Law), I’ve just never studied it before in school, so that makes me a bit worried about what to expect in general...

I’m guessing you must’ve really enjoyed your first year then by the sounds of it?

But I suppose my main concern is what are the exams like? I’ve always naturally been good at essay based exams and I’m guessing this is what the written ones are like, so hopefully that should help me?!

Also if you don’t mind me asking, what A levels did you take to get into Law? I took History, Chemistry and English Language, and I’m just wondering if you think these subjects will benefit me a bit in terms of skills necessary (obviously apart from chemistry which is completely different!).

It's easier than most people think, actually. The hard part starts after you get your degree, lol. Lots, lots of competition when it comes to obtaining a training contract. Don't bother with LPC if you don't secure a training contract beforehand.
And yeah, you mostly have written exams, plus a couple of presentations.

Oh really? I haven’t thought that far ahead yet admittedly aha, but I’ll bear that in mind about the training contract, thank you!!

Oh I see, would you say you enjoyed it though?

I think it's largely considered "hard" because of the amount of independent study, which obviously requires a level of self discipline and motivation that quite often people aged 18/19 simply don't possess yet.

Which university are you hoping to go to OP?

Medical law and Criminal law modules were fun. The rest was kinda meh (property law was THE WORST, I slept through 80% of our lectures, no joke), but still bearable. Knowing the law can be extremely useful in every day life.

Oh right I see - not trying to ‘blow my own trumpet’ or whatever but I do think I’m quite disciplined with work, and I often did revise and work for my A Levels so hopefully that shouldn’t be too much of an issue for me? I also prefer independent study quite a lot honestly aha

My first choice at the moment is the University of Law mainly because it’s the closest to my home and my parents have told me I have to live at home during uni :/

Oh cool. One of my friends is in her second year at UoL in Manchester and she enjoys it.

Thank you for your reply!

Honestly, I have always had a natural interest in Law (I completed an EPQ focused on American Law), I’ve just never studied it before in school, so that makes me a bit worried about what to expect in general...

I’m guessing you must’ve really enjoyed your first year then by the sounds of it?

But I suppose my main concern is what are the exams like? I’ve always naturally been good at essay based exams and I’m guessing this is what the written ones are like, so hopefully that should help me?!

Also if you don’t mind me asking, what A levels did you take to get into Law? I took History, Chemistry and English Language, and I’m just wondering if you think these subjects will benefit me a bit in terms of skills necessary (obviously apart from chemistry which is completely different!).

Law is not as hard as medicine and engineering or maths and physics, so you should not have too hard a time to get the degree. Of course, you need to be good at memorisation.

Having an interest is going to help massively, i didnt really know what to full expect but I enjoyed reading and learning about the law so definitely knew it would meet some part of my expectations.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first year, Ive worked hard to get to a level where i want to be at.

Unfortunately, my first year had no exams only coursework/assignments. exams are the same in all areas, learn a boat load of information and just regurgitate.

Not sure it will help you but I took is History, English Language and Physics, i say this because I am 28 and 10 years since i completed them. History and english language definitely will help you.

Fairly easy to get a 2:1, as long as you put some decent work in and are not stupid. Its dryness makes it difficult to go through the materials and I would say this is law's main issue. A good portion of it is very complicated and requires a keen eye to detail, but bare contract and criminal are jokes they are so simple. When you come to take modules in advanced contract, e.g. insurance, then this is where you are going to deal with complexity and do real independent black-latter law analysis.

A lot harder to get the top grades.

Law is not as hard as medicine and engineering or maths and physics, so you should not have too hard a time to get the degree. Of course, you need to be good at memorisation.

It is hard. I did LLB Law.

I wouldn't do it unless you are passionate about law, or if you want to be a solicitor/barrister/legal executive. I say that, because it has the lowest 1st class degree rate of all degrees. Therefore, unless you need a qualifying law degree, you should do whatever most interests you.

Half of the degree is remembering and applying case law, the other half is more normative (such as whether or not laws on theft are fit for purpose, or whether or not there should be a duty to act on good faith in contract law).