Are these a levels good for law
I’m going to do economics biology and geography. I know lots of people say to do english lit or history but although I got high in lit I didn’t enjoy it and history I didn’t take at gcse level. Others say it’s just about the grades basically meaning they wouldn’t take someone who had history over me if we had the same grades. Can I do these a levels and is law really just about the grades.
Original post by Deisosospiw
I’m going to do economics biology and geography. I know lots of people say to do english lit or history but although I got high in lit I didn’t enjoy it and history I didn’t take at gcse level. Others say it’s just about the grades basically meaning they wouldn’t take someone who had history over me if we had the same grades. Can I do these a levels and is law really just about the grades.
Law really isn't just about the grades (well, for most unis worth your time, anyway). It's also about your suitability to study it. Any interviews you do (especially if you're thinking Oxbridge) as well as any admissions tests or anyone reading your personal statement are all looking for you to be driven and focused on Law, and know that Law is for you. The last thing they want is a student who is going to start the degree to "try Law out", will see how it goes, and leaves after 5 weeks. Because they can't give that place to anyone else then.
Some universities *might* wish to see some essay-based subjects in your A Levels as they will be using similar skills to a law degree in terms of reading and writing and ways of studying. But the majority I imagine will not state a preference.
I hope this helps and I hope that somebody with better law knowledge than me can come and offer some more comprehensive advice.
Original post by 04MR17
Law really isn't just about the grades (well, for most unis worth your time, anyway). It's also about your suitability to study it. Any interviews you do (especially if you're thinking Oxbridge) as well as any admissions tests or anyone reading your personal statement are all looking for you to be driven and focused on Law, and know that Law is for you. The last thing they want is a student who is going to start the degree to "try Law out", will see how it goes, and leaves after 5 weeks. Because they can't give that place to anyone else then.
Some universities *might* wish to see some essay-based subjects in your A Levels as they will be using similar skills to a law degree in terms of reading and writing and ways of studying. But the majority I imagine will not state a preference.
I hope this helps and I hope that somebody with better law knowledge than me can come and offer some more comprehensive advice.
Some universities *might* wish to see some essay-based subjects in your A Levels as they will be using similar skills to a law degree in terms of reading and writing and ways of studying. But the majority I imagine will not state a preference.
I hope this helps and I hope that somebody with better law knowledge than me can come and offer some more comprehensive advice.
Thanks a lot this reply really helped. However isn’t geography and economics considered essay based subjects. Also in a level biology paper 3 u write a 20 mark essay .
Original post by Deisosospiw
Thanks a lot this reply really helped. However isn’t geography and economics considered essay based subjects. Also in a level biology paper 3 u write a 20 mark essay .
Geography certainly won't be, and I'm not too familiar with economics but I imagine you'd need a calculator at some point? That's not essay based. There may be some long answers involved in some of the exams but it's not really the same thing.
To give you a flavour, my A Level English Literature had 2 exams: each were about 3 hours long, and we had 3 questions to write.
It's not a big drawback for you, you just need to demonstrate that you know what you're getting into with a law degree, and what you're getting into is a lot of words.
Original post by Deisosospiw
I’m going to do economics biology and geography. I know lots of people say to do english lit or history but although I got high in lit I didn’t enjoy it and history I didn’t take at gcse level. Others say it’s just about the grades basically meaning they wouldn’t take someone who had history over me if we had the same grades. Can I do these a levels and is law really just about the grades.
It's true that the most common A level subjects that people have before starting a Law degree are History followed by English Lit, but that does not mean that you should choose those subjects if they are not your strongest. All the best unis will be asking for As and Bs at A levels, so you have to pick the subjects that you think you can achieve the higest grades in. Some Law schools may state that they have a preference for an essay based subject, but the main thing is grades and most really don't care about your subject combination apart from not liking too many practical subjects like Art or Drama.
Where you are getting conflicting advice, the best thing is to check uni websites directly. As an example, this is one taken from Nottingham uni, which has a well respected Law school.
https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ugstudy/course/Law-LLB
Original post by Deisosospiw
I’m going to do economics biology and geography. I know lots of people say to do english lit or history but although I got high in lit I didn’t enjoy it and history I didn’t take at gcse level. Others say it’s just about the grades basically meaning they wouldn’t take someone who had history over me if we had the same grades. Can I do these a levels and is law really just about the grades.
Geography is probably a more suitable subject I have a friend who studies law and took geography but she did also take English literature. Essays that you do in biology don’t necessarily demonstrate the same skills as those required in a law degree whilst English lit and history essays to purely for the fact that you have to research and read around the subject and the coursework is around 3,000-4,000 words (obviously depending on the exam board) which is similar to the amount in law assignments. These subjects also require you to form an argument and discuss them within class so there are practical benefits to history and English. If you don't enjoy English then don't take it because it will honestly be a waste. For history I didn’t do it for GCSEs either and I coped with it well and got into Uni to study Law. So maybe look into history and ask your school if it would be possible to be allowed onto the course. My school looked at my English Grades and geography grade at GCSEs. Economics is good because later on in sixth form you may decide to do a combination degree for example law and economics. About law being about the grades it depends what uni you are looking at some unis require you to do an LNAT test and take into account your score for this + plus your grades. When I was looking at unis most of them asked for AAB in any subject excluding critical thinking and general studies. But also remember that you have to prove to them why you deserve to be on their law course. So if you decided to take economics geography and biology try and go to debate clubs which will help you with skills such as forming arguments and public speaking that biology may not provide you with. Or doing an EPQ to help you with the essay skills. So basically try and find activities to help you in areas that your subjects might not cover, these will also provide useful if you have to go to interviews as they are good talking points and within your personal statement. Hope this helps hun, also if you have any questions about law or a levels, personal statements just message me xx
Your subjects are fine.
Original post by Deisosospiw
I’m going to do economics biology and geography. I know lots of people say to do english lit or history but although I got high in lit I didn’t enjoy it and history I didn’t take at gcse level. Others say it’s just about the grades basically meaning they wouldn’t take someone who had history over me if we had the same grades. Can I do these a levels and is law really just about the grade
History is a really good subject the content is very interesting and as far as I've been told you dont need to have taken history GCSE to do history a level(or at least in my school you don't)
Original post by Deanna R
Geography is probably a more suitable subject I have a friend who studies law and took geography but she did also take English literature. Essays that you do in biology don’t necessarily demonstrate the same skills as those required in a law degree whilst English lit and history essays to purely for the fact that you have to research and read around the subject and the coursework is around 3,000-4,000 words (obviously depending on the exam board) which is similar to the amount in law assignments. These subjects also require you to form an argument and discuss them within class so there are practical benefits to history and English. If you don't enjoy English then don't take it because it will honestly be a waste. For history I didn’t do it for GCSEs either and I coped with it well and got into Uni to study Law. So maybe look into history and ask your school if it would be possible to be allowed onto the course. My school looked at my English Grades and geography grade at GCSEs. Economics is good because later on in sixth form you may decide to do a combination degree for example law and economics. About law being about the grades it depends what uni you are looking at some unis require you to do an LNAT test and take into account your score for this + plus your grades. When I was looking at unis most of them asked for AAB in any subject excluding critical thinking and general studies. But also remember that you have to prove to them why you deserve to be on their law course. So if you decided to take economics geography and biology try and go to debate clubs which will help you with skills such as forming arguments and public speaking that biology may not provide you with. Or doing an EPQ to help you with the essay skills. So basically try and find activities to help you in areas that your subjects might not cover, these will also provide useful if you have to go to interviews as they are good talking points and within your personal statement. Hope this helps hun, also if you have any questions about law or a levels, personal statements just message me xx
THanks this was really helpful. Is economics an essay based subject tho and thanks if I do have questionsin the future I will message you there’s nothing i want to become more then a lawyer. Also I cud still argue the point of there being essays in those exams though to show my skills rights ?
Original post by Deisosospiw
THanks this was really helpful. Is economics an essay based subject tho and thanks if I do have questionsin the future I will message you there’s nothing i want to become more then a lawyer. Also I cud still argue the point of there being essays in those exams though to show my skills rights ?
I’m not to sure about economics because I didn’t take it maybe ask your subject teacher or look at the course details online. You can still argue that you have done essays in those subjects but for biology it might be a stretch!
Most top Unis do only look at grades not subjects - you could be doing three science subjects and you would still be considered. So, you need to pick three subjects where you are most confident about getting very high grades.
Essay writing skills are valuable and so is the ability to read text/present an argument. For this reason, taking at least one essay-based subject like History, Politics, English etc is worthwhile.
Unis that require LNAT will tend to regard that as more important than your PS, and many Unis are now not reading PS for many subjects not just Law. So, you need to concentrate on getting a high LNAT score if you intend to apply to these Unis (https://lnat.ac.uk/what-is-lnat/do-i-need-to-sit-the-test/).
Bristol, as one example, no longer reads PS for Law. They score applications with these weightings - GCSE 20% | A-Level predictions 40% | LNAT 40%, and make offers to the highest scorers. They do not ask for specific A level subjects. More info here : http://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/2020/law/
Essay writing skills are valuable and so is the ability to read text/present an argument. For this reason, taking at least one essay-based subject like History, Politics, English etc is worthwhile.
Unis that require LNAT will tend to regard that as more important than your PS, and many Unis are now not reading PS for many subjects not just Law. So, you need to concentrate on getting a high LNAT score if you intend to apply to these Unis (https://lnat.ac.uk/what-is-lnat/do-i-need-to-sit-the-test/).
Bristol, as one example, no longer reads PS for Law. They score applications with these weightings - GCSE 20% | A-Level predictions 40% | LNAT 40%, and make offers to the highest scorers. They do not ask for specific A level subjects. More info here : http://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/2020/law/
Okay from reading everything I’m going Ron change my subjects in a week or two to geography economics and politics. Politics because it’s an essay based subject. Is that good and isn’t politics hard
Original post by Deisosospiw
Okay from reading everything I’m going Ron change my subjects in a week or two to geography economics and politics. Politics because it’s an essay based subject. Is that good and isn’t politics hard
Your subjects are fine as is. You will not be discriminated against based on your subjects, no law university seems to have required subjects. If you want to do politics do it, but don’t do it because it’s more essay-based.
I wrote that before and got ignored
Original post by Aaryra
I wrote that before and got ignored
So did I and also got ignored. Maybe I was too long winded but you were nice and succinct
I do economics, politics, maths and English lit but I want to switch English lit because I can't do it. going to switch to religious studies. is this suitable for law at oxbridge
Original post by seraphim19
I do economics, politics, maths and English lit but I want to switch English lit because I can't do it. going to switch to religious studies. is this suitable for law at oxbridge
You could’ve googled this but yes.
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