Choosing Uni for Law- help!

You've only picked good ones, so I don't think it will really make a difference. Just go with how you feel after visiting them.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking, it's just the issue at the minute is that none of them (other than Nottingham) are open for visits

Just visit the city

yeah I’m planning to when it’s feasible, probably over the summer as I’m not allowed to take time off school for it

Clearly, you are unlikely to be able to visit them all.

It goes without saying that you should study the course content and structure in each of your proposed choices but, in addition, there are vast differences in the locations you have chosen and the nature of each institution. Bear in mind that, in these extraordinary times, you might not want to wander too far from home or spend three years in a part of the country that is totally unfamiliar to you.

You could start be asking yourself whether you wanted to be in a large city environment (Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow) or a campus university on the outskirts of a smaller city (Exeter, Nottingham, Warwick, York). Durham, of course, is unique. Its colleges and other buildings dominate the heart of a very small city of less than 50,000, which hosts a student population of around 20,000. The collegiate experience is its defining characteristic and you would need to be prepared for that. With regard to reputation, all your choices are highly regarded but, for Law, Durham might be seen to have the edge.

So look at the courses first, then start thinking about where you would be likely to feel happy. After all, living in Exeter and living in Glasgow are two very different prospects!

...in terms of where I want to live, I’m from london so I’m used to the “big city” environment, so I wouldn’t mind moving to another big city or even a slightly smaller town, however I don’t particularly want to be extremely remote. But yes also I need to compare the courses as currently I’m also considering doing a joint honours degree (side note: are these particularly beneficial or not really?) so I am in need of doing some more research.

Just wondering though, I really want to move away from london for uni, however, after my degree I would like to come back and work here, so could going to any of these unis possibly hinder my prospects at getting a job in a magic circle or a big london law firm?

Bearing all these points in mind, you might like to start by looking at Bristol. It's highly regarded for Law, you wouldn't need to venture too far from home and you would have the familiarity of a city environment. The straight Law degree (LLB Law, M100) asks for A*AA. There are also joint honours in Law with French, German or Spanish. Durham, for all its charms, might feel just a little remote. If you can cope with moving north, Leeds is a good insurance bet and it's only 2 to 3 hours via a frequent train service from King's Cross.

As regards joint honours degrees generally, you would be fine with one of these going forward as the new Solicitors' Qualifying Exam (SQE) can be taken by graduates in any discipline, without a conversion course as such. That said, a straight Law degree would leave you better prepared and it is possible that some Law firms might prefer candidates to have one.

https://www.lawcareers.net/Solicitors/the-solicitors-qualifying-examination

You are obviously giving this a great deal of thought and exploring all your options. At the end of the day, any of the universities you are looking at would stand you in good stead. With Glasgow, however, you would need to be sure you were studying English Law (their LLB Common Law) rather than Scottish.

Hi everyone!
I'm currently starting my UCAS application and I would kind of just like some opinions on the unis I am considering applying to (for a law degree)
The options I am strongly considering are (in no order of preference): Bristol, Durham, Nottingham and Glasgow. And then some others I'm looking at as well are: York, Leeds, Liverpool and Exeter. Are there any others I should be strongly considering (perhaps non- Russell Group)? And in general (I know it all depends on personal preference and it's hard to say) which of these options do you think are better? For reference, the A Levels I am doing are French, Psychology and English Lit. and I am predicted A*A*A. (I also did an EPQ but I won't find out the grade until August)
Thanks for the help!

I think with your predictions you should be aiming for all top unis. Liverpool is arguably less prestigious than the others and has certainly been more flexible on grades than the others in the past. I personally wouldn't think there is any advantage to Glasgow to offset the distance so I would focus on Bristol, Durham, Nottingham, York, Leeds and Exeter.

What is not clear is whether you would enjoy the small city vibe and whether you prefer campus or city unis. I would definitely make it a priority to visit the smallest city (Durham) as some people say they find Durham too small - it'a also a long way from London. Also look into the problem based learning approach at York which is different to other unis, and see if it appeals or not.

https://www.york.ac.uk/law/undergraduate/pbl/

I'm a current law student at york. If you have any questions feel free to ask

Ok, thank you!
Yes the pbl style at York is the main reason I have some doubts as I’m just not sure how well it would suit me, so I think I’m going to look into that a bit more.

And yes, personally I prefer the idea of a campus uni to a city uni (another reason I’m not considering the London unis) but I’m sort of flexible in this i suppose if I really liked the uni as a whole I’d still consider it if it was a city uni.

Oh also, random side note, does anyone know if these unis would lower offers/be impressed by an EPQ?

Hi everyone!
I'm currently starting my UCAS application and I would kind of just like some opinions on the unis I am considering applying to (for a law degree)
The options I am strongly considering are (in no order of preference): Bristol, Durham, Nottingham and Glasgow. And then some others I'm looking at as well are: York, Leeds, Liverpool and Exeter. Are there any others I should be strongly considering (perhaps non- Russell Group)? And in general (I know it all depends on personal preference and it's hard to say) which of these options do you think are better? For reference, the A Levels I am doing are French, Psychology and English Lit. and I am predicted A*A*A. (I also did an EPQ but I won't find out the grade until August)
Thanks for the help!

Hi, thank you!
Well as I mentioned in another post I was wondering what you think of the PBL style york uses?

Hi everyone!
I'm currently starting my UCAS application and I would kind of just like some opinions on the unis I am considering applying to (for a law degree)
The options I am strongly considering are (in no order of preference): Bristol, Durham, Nottingham and Glasgow. And then some others I'm looking at as well are: York, Leeds, Liverpool and Exeter. Are there any others I should be strongly considering (perhaps non- Russell Group)? And in general (I know it all depends on personal preference and it's hard to say) which of these options do you think are better? For reference, the A Levels I am doing are French, Psychology and English Lit. and I am predicted A*A*A. (I also did an EPQ but I won't find out the grade until August)
Thanks for the help!

I wouldnt choose Glasgow over English universities in your circumstances.

Firstly you need to visit Durham to ensure it is right for you. It is a very small town with colleges scattered around it. It might be for you or it wont.

Exeter again is a small city but a stunning campus university. a 2 hour train ride from London and a 15 minute walk to the campus,

Bristol is also a 2 hour journey. It is very different to Exeter. More of a city university than a campus university and most of the accommodation is off campus. Quite a big city.

Leeds is a very big city fairly easy to get to from London . The biggest city you are looking at in London.

Nottingham is an out of town campus university with good access to London.

It should be very easy to visit Bristol and Exeter on consecutive days. They are only an hour apart by train and there is a Premier Inn in Exeter outside the station. Similarly Durham, York and Leeds are quite close together. There is a Travelodge very close to Durham station. Your school shouldn't be preventing you from going on open days, The reverse should be the case. They should want you to be happy wherever you go after leaving their school and seeing universities is part of that experience. What happens if you are invited to interviews are they going to tell you that you cant go. It seems your school is one of those more interested in their results making them look good than their students futures,

Personally, I really like it. I enjoy breaking down problems with other people, in a student law firm, picking out key legal issues and coming up with an answer to the problem. It's been said that it's similar to what solicitors do on a daily basis, and you do learn highly practical skills.

There is more to York than PBL though. It completely upends the way law is taught. Instead of having separate modules for tort law, contract law, criminal law etc, that make a degree a QLD, it blends it all into 4 separate modules. Foundations in Law 1,2,3 and 4. 1 and 2 are taught in 1st year, 3 and 4 in 2nd. This leaves room to learn other things such as legal skills and legal concepts among other things.

I should warn you though that this course is not for everyone. There is a heavy focus on reflection. There is an entire module dedicated to it and other modules are also assessed through reflection. These can be extremely tedious at times and if you are not naturally reflective, you will find it extremely difficult. Furthermore, PBL is not for everyone. Whilst I haven't experienced this myself, I've heard of horror stories of firm members absolutely hating each other which can tank the entire group. Although the university is really good at sorting out situations like this.