Studying law?

To become a solicitor, barrister etc you don’t have to take a law degree, it just means an extra year doing to crucial law parts, you could take a degree in history and go down that route or the solicitor barrister route. It’s not 100% “you have to go to a top law uni” because as long as you have good grades that’s all that matters however with law it not necessarily about what you know but who you know so doing a law degree may give you contacts and people high up the imaginary law podium. I’m not sure about other careers (apart from solicitor or barrister ) with a law degree however most likely a law degree looks perfect.

I am currently in my final year of a psychology degree, and I would strongly advise against studying it. It is a rather useless degree. Universities try to charm you into believing that you will become a psychologist, however as it is a protected title you can only use it after having completed a Doctorate or a PhD. Effectively, with a BSc Psychology you cannot do anything, aside from pursuing further education. If you want to pursue a career in clinical psychology, that's great, however please remember it is very competitive and you need to complete a BSc, an MSc, then a year or two years of experience as an assistant psychologist (which is either unpaid, or at a minimum wage), before you have a realistic chance of getting into a doctorate programme, which is paid for and you get a salary.

Also with business, I have a CertHE (completed first year of business studies before enrolling into psychology) and that was a waste of my time. Yes, I have gained some transferable skills, but on the whole it wasn't something that I'd recommend.

Remember that there are thousands of students applying and studying business and psychology, it really is a rather mediocre degree to have. This is unless you have a career path planned and you know which degrees to take on.

I would recommend law over both of these, it is much more of a vocational course and although you are not a lawyer (solicitor, barrister) after graduating, it leads to far better opportunities.

I'm also a year 12 so I'm not quite an credible source but hopefully this helps you. It's totally normal to not know what you want to do as a job but it's great that you're thinking about it and you are considering law as a degree you could possibly do. Law might be a well-rewarded career for you but there's a difference learning it academically and practicing as a qualifying lawyer; this means even if you might not like law as a degree (as it's a bit daunting), you can still be a qualified lawyer with another degree like History, if you wish to do it as a degree after some exposure to it. Also, you have to think about what you could be in the legal section, which predominantly solicitor and barrister: if you want to be a solicitor, theres a new exam where any degree is qualified without GDL anymore, expect Law will help you with the SQE1 part but you can still learn it without a law degree; if you want to be a barrister, you would need to do a GDL if you dont do a qualifying law degree and there's many things you have consider in becoming a barrister, which i suggest researching if you wish to pursue it.

Tbh not really because as long as you get a first/2:1 that'll be alright; the reason why prestige is such a key factor when students apply for it because of the university's connections and opportunities that are available to them, in order to strengthen your application. Your degree grades only gets you through the step of the door, if you get what i mean; it's more about your overall application so experience and what you've done during your time at uni and after is what gets you a training contract or pupillage or job - this is why those, who be a paralegal for a bit, have more of a chance securing a pupillage. Even if you dont go to these top unis for law you mention, you can still be able to get a job in the legal section but you still have to consider the fact its over saturated so expect it might be difficult. However, you can still do other jobs with a law degree; you'll have a good advantage of getting a job because like you'll have a lot of options since you have a degree to your name.

Wow that is very good to know, I am really impressed with how much you know about this if your also in year 12 as I didnt know most of this, I will definetely look into how the exams work now for it and the "SQE1" and "GDL" so I know more, thanks for replying

The obsession with the Russell Group on this website is ridiculous. They’re a self declared research group, that’s all.

Yes and No....They are self selected but can only be part of that group because they are research intensive unis and a large percentage of that research has been judged to be of an excellent standard.

It's not like any uni could produce that same amount and quality of research and call themselves Russell Group or they would all be doing it

However, I do agree that people are overly obsessed by the RG label not just on TSR but in schools also

Lots of good advice above. I am a lawyer and it is really interesting well paid career. I read law at university but my daughters who didn't converted after (although that does/did mean you have to study an extra law whether that is for the new SQE1 exam or currently the GDL).

Go to the best university you can and try to get good A level results - a lot of the best firms will want AAB in good subjects and a 2/1 in your degree (history degree probably in your case or law degree - I loved my law degree by the way but half lawyers do not read law so is up to you). Also look at lists of where newly hired trainee lawyers went to university to get an idea of which universities seem to improve your chances.

i think the reason you prefer history over law is because you haven't studied law yet. do you like politics, philosophy and sociology? are you interested in knowing how law gets made, the evolution of law in society and who holds actual power?

not saying don't do history, but before you commit yourself to three years and thousands of pounds, i would go down to your local bookshop and open a book on law or legal textbook. see if any of it interests you and if you can see yourself doing it.

you need to go to the best uni you can, independent of your degree. if you're worried about getting a law degree from a non-RG or lower ranked uni, you should have the same worry with a history degree. not saying that to make you worried; just trying to put things in perceptive

Does it really matter about getting into the Russel Group universities for law? Could not going to one of these top Law uni's mean I will come out of Uni with significant debt and no hope of a job that utilises the law degree?

Hi I'm going to be studying law at university and I did my research before picking this course so I'll answer these questions.

Does it matter about getting into RG unis for law?
Yes if you want to work in the magic circle, these are the TOP law firms (with the nice salaries ). It doesn't matter what university you go to for any other law firm, but going to a good university certainly makes the employer look over your application a little longer. HOWEVER, I want to stress that going to a good uni, at best, only gets your foot in the door. I would stress that doing lots of work experience, extra curriculars, acing your interviews etc is far, far more valuable - it will seperate you from the rest of the competition.

Could not going to one of these top Law uni's mean I will come out of Uni with significant debt and no hope of a job that utilises the law degree?
Again, going to a top law uni is a small, almost insignificant piece of the puzzle. You need to be able to show the employer that you have a vast array of skills that will fit their firm. You could be a cambridge graduate... but if you haven't done anything outside of studying throughout your law degree, haven't networked, no skills, haven't taken apart in anything, and can't even speak in the interview... you will not be getting the job. A cambridge graduate certainly gets looked at a little longer because of the ''brand'' but the skills are what is going to get you the job. This goes for any degree, really. Any more questions just ask.

Thanks for replying, your right that i have not studied law yet, I do like politics and I like history, at A-level, but at the moment I viewed it as not that useful (coming from a lack of knowledge here) unless you want to be a teacher of history, but I do not like it that much as to do it at Uni but if what people are saying is true and that it would help to do a degree in both history and law then maybe that is the route i will take if it improves my chances of doing well.