The Student Room Group

1st year undergraduate law results durham uni

everyone!

so I got my first year results for Durham as follows:

Tort: 55%
EU: 61%
Contract: 68%
I&S: 60%
UK Con: 66%
English law and legal method: 63%

I understand these are predominantly 2:1's but I'm concerned with the growing nature of 2:1 classifications, are these really worth the paper there wrote on?
Why do you say "are these really worth the paper there wrote on" ?
Reply 2
Original post by Pythian
Why do you say "are these really worth the paper there wrote on" ?


sorry it may have came across in a different way than intended.

my main concern is that I fully understand the competitiveness of the legal profession, I guess a better way to word it is will these grades hold merit and am I just unnecessarily putting more strain on them than I need be. if that makes sense 🙂
Original post by AaronMock
everyone!

so I got my first year results for Durham as follows:

Tort: 55%
EU: 61%
Contract: 68%
I&S: 60%
UK Con: 66%
English law and legal method: 63%

I understand these are predominantly 2:1's but I'm concerned with the growing nature of 2:1 classifications, are these really worth the paper there wrote on?


Original post by AaronMock
sorry it may have came across in a different way than intended.

my main concern is that I fully understand the competitiveness of the legal profession, I guess a better way to word it is will these grades hold merit and am I just unnecessarily putting more strain on them than I need be. if that makes sense 🙂


Your year is over and there's nothing you can do about your grades now (hopefully I don't sound at all pessimistic!). It all kind of depends on what career you're seeking to pursue. Since you're only in first year, a 2.1 is a great point to be at. Something higher in tort would have been great, but by no means should it prove detrimental to future applications, unless of course you're seeking to pursue a competitive area of the Bar, for example, which tend to focus a lot on academics. Even then, it shouldn't be fatal at all in itself.

Your grades are good! Focus on applying for work experience now. You've got what you need, which is a 2.1, including some solid/high ones!

If you want advice for next year, use your feedback. Read it, understand it, and apply it in essays next year.
Usually first year counts very little towards your final degree classification, if at all, so I'd suggest checking your programme specification to see if it will even impact your final classification. In any case law tends to have a lower 1st class rate than most other degrees so you should be fine.

Whatever EU law and I&S is seem a little on the lower side but I gather you normally only do one module in EU law on law degrees so you can probably just forget about it now. The tort result is a 2:2 and I gather might be relevant to other later law options so think carefully when picking your options in future years to avoid any in that vein I guess, to maximise your results.

However the degree is just a tick box as far as solicitor training goes, if you have the 2:1 or above you tick that box and then your performance in interview, psychometric assessments, and how extensive and how relevant your work experience is will be the main thing. For being a barrister I gather a 1st is really your aim though.


Spoiler

(edited 1 year ago)
Reply 5
Original post by hopeful-lawyer
Your year is over and there's nothing you can do about your grades now (hopefully I don't sound at all pessimistic!). It all kind of depends on what career you're seeking to pursue. Since you're only in first year, a 2.1 is a great point to be at. Something higher in tort would have been great, but by no means should it prove detrimental to future applications, unless of course you're seeking to pursue a competitive area of the Bar, for example, which tend to focus a lot on academics. Even then, it shouldn't be fatal at all in itself.

Your grades are good! Focus on applying for work experience now. You've got what you need, which is a 2.1, including some solid/high ones!

If you want advice for next year, use your feedback. Read it, understand it, and apply it in essays next year.


thank you I will bare all of this in mind. I personally think I'll be going down the solicitor route as I prefer the idea of job security and a consistent workload. Thank you so much I feel better about it now i think iv just been unnecessarily worrying. Thanks again 🙂
Reply 6
Original post by artful_lounger
Usually first year counts very little towards your final degree classification, if at all, so I'd suggest checking your programme specification to see if it will even impact your final classification. In any case law tends to have a lower 1st class rate than most other degrees so you should be fine.

Whatever EU law and I&S is seem a little on the lower side but I gather you normally only do one module in EU law on law degrees so you can probably just forget about it now. The tort result is a 2:2 and I gather might be relevant to other later law options so think carefully when picking your options in future years to avoid any in that vein I guess, to maximise your results.

However the degree is just a tick box as far as solicitor training goes, if you have the 2:1 or above you tick that box and then your performance in interview, psychometric assessments, and how extensive and how relevant your work experience is will be the main thing. For being a barrister I gather a 1st is really your aim though.


Spoiler



Thank you for your post. I'm aiming to go down the solicitor route so it's good to know that I'm atleast working around the level that they will be looking at.
Original post by AaronMock
sorry it may have came across in a different way than intended.

my main concern is that I fully understand the competitiveness of the legal profession, I guess a better way to word it is will these grades hold merit and am I just unnecessarily putting more strain on them than I need be. if that makes sense 🙂


I see. The legal profession is extremely competitive. It's good that you're focused on that. Speaking for myself, I am going down the bar route. I see in one of the comments you want to become a solicitor.

I have a few thoughts:

(1) You have to decide where you want to go in year 2 and year 3. Ask yourself whether you want to a first and then whether you're prepared to put the work in.

(2) If you wish to get a first, you need to make a make a huge jump in terms everything you do. Firstly, your critical analysis. You need to approach the law within a wider context and beyond merely describing it. Secondly, the ability to draw on a deeper and broader legal understanding that is outside any textbook. Quite often, there are whole dimensions and academic debates that a normal bog-standard textbook would never include. That's because academic textbooks are designed for the average student. If you wish to be superb, then you have to become independently-minded and a bit of a scholar looking and doing your own research. You need to develop your own point of view and perspective informed from broader reading. Lastly, (3) you need to have a prose style - devoid of any spelling or grammatical mistakes - that elevates work to a certain level.

I recently wrote a post here about firsts which you might find interesting.
Reply 8
Original post by Pythian
I see. The legal profession is extremely competitive. It's good that you're focused on that. Speaking for myself, I am going down the bar route. I see in one of the comments you want to become a solicitor.

I have a few thoughts:

(1) You have to decide where you want to go in year 2 and year 3. Ask yourself whether you want to a first and then whether you're prepared to put the work in.

(2) If you wish to get a first, you need to make a make a huge jump in terms everything you do. Firstly, your critical analysis. You need to approach the law within a wider context and beyond merely describing it. Secondly, the ability to draw on a deeper and broader legal understanding that is outside any textbook. Quite often, there are whole dimensions and academic debates that a normal bog-standard textbook would never include. That's because academic textbooks are designed for the average student. If you wish to be superb, then you have to become independently-minded and a bit of a scholar looking and doing your own research. You need to develop your own point of view and perspective informed from broader reading. Lastly, (3) you need to have a prose style - devoid of any spelling or grammatical mistakes - that elevates work to a certain level.

I recently wrote a post here about firsts which you might find interesting.


Brilliant thank you for your help. I will take what you have said on board. Specifically in relation to critical analysis and wider range of academic literature as I have noticed through exam feedback that it's the essay questions that have been slightly lower, predominantly within formative, summstive and essay questions I have been getting firsts in my problem questions. I will also take a look at your post, thank you again 🙂
Original post by AaronMock
Brilliant thank you for your help. I will take what you have said on board. Specifically in relation to critical analysis and wider range of academic literature as I have noticed through exam feedback that it's the essay questions that have been slightly lower, predominantly within formative, summstive and essay questions I have been getting firsts in my problem questions. I will also take a look at your post, thank you again 🙂

You're welcome :smile:
Yes essays were my weekness in law. Lots of 65:68 for them and could get 72/75 for problems. Luckily my final exams were 75% problems for most papers.
Reply 11
Original post by Catherine1973
Yes essays were my weekness in law. Lots of 65:68 for them and could get 72/75 for problems. Luckily my final exams were 75% problems for most papers.


yes iv found this to be the same. Problem questions I ace but I struggle more with essays

Quick Reply

Latest