The Student Room Group

how to get a 1st in law at oxbridge?

Hi everyone, I've trawled the websites of both the Cambridge and Oxford law faculties, looking for the breakdown on how to get a 1st in the BA in Law tripos and/or the BA in Jurisprudence. I'm intrigued by the fact that a consistently higher percentage of Oxford lawyers graduate with 1sts (http://www.ox.ac.uk/gazette/univstats/) than Cambridge lawyers, and was wondering whether this was down to the fact that perhaps cambridge require higher average marks to get a 1st in your law tripos?

Could any current lawyers at Oxbridge let me know what exactly is required to get a 1st? For example, at Oxford what average mark do you need in your finals, and how many 1sts do you need in individual papers to get a 1st overall? Likewise at Cambridge how many firsts do you need out of the five exams you sit every year to get a 1st overall for your law tripos, and what average mark do you need for a 1st overall?

Ta!
Reply 1
ICQ

Could any current lawyers at Oxbridge let me know what exactly is required to get a 1st? For example, at Oxford what average mark do you need in your finals, and how many 1sts do you need in individual papers to get a 1st overall? Likewise at Cambridge how many firsts do you need out of the five exams you sit every year to get a 1st overall for your law tripos, and what average mark do you need for a 1st overall?
Ta!


Oxford law finalists sit 9 papers. To get a first they need to get firsts in 4 papers and 2.1s in the remaining 5. Individual paper marks don't (generally) matter.
You need to work like a trojan.

My sister got a 2:1 in Law at oxbridge and said to get a first you need to pretty much be a hermit.
Reply 3
mja
Oxford law finalists sit 9 papers. To get a first they need to get firsts in 4 papers and 2.1s in the remaining 5. Individual paper marks don't (generally) matter.


thanks so much! that's v useful. any cantabrians care to offer info on requirements for a 1st in law in your tripos?
Reply 4
Just get over 70% in the exams I guess.
Reply 5
ebam_uk
Just get over 70% in the exams I guess.


It's not that simple. I was expecting a current undergrad to come along with more up-to-date knowledge, but since they haven't I'll try to think back a few years...

Assuming it hasn't changed, students in part II (final year) sit 5 papers. If you get 140+ in 3 of them and 120+ in 2 then you get a first, regardless of average mark.

I think that you also get a first if you average 140, even if you don't meet the 3 plus 2 requirement (e.g. 137, 138, 139, 142, 144) - but I'm not so sure about this.

NB that Cambridge undergraduate degrees are not classed. So law students have overall results for part IA, part IB and part II, but no class for the whole degree. The classing conventions for part IB are the same as for part II. For part IA they are analagous, but not identical as students sit only four papers.
Reply 6
mja
It's not that simple. I was expecting a current undergrad to come along with more up-to-date knowledge, but since they haven't I'll try to think back a few years...

Assuming it hasn't changed, students in part II (final year) sit 5 papers. If you get 140+ in 3 of them and 120+ in 2 then you get a first, regardless of average mark.

I think that you also get a first if you average 140, even if you don't meet the 3 plus 2 requirement (e.g. 137, 138, 139, 142, 144) - but I'm not so sure about this.

NB that Cambridge undergraduate degrees are not classed. So law students have overall results for part IA, part IB and part II, but no class for the whole degree. The classing conventions for part IB are the same as for part II. For part IA they are analagous, but not identical as students sit only four papers.


thanks that's so helpful. but i'm still a bit confused. what is 140/120 meant to mean? does 140 correlate to 70 ie a 1st, and 120 to a 60 ie a 2:1? if so then that makes sense. essentially if you get 1sts in 3/5 and at least 2:1's in the other 2/5 then you get a 1st overall for that part of your tripos, right?
Reply 7
ICQ
thanks that's so helpful. but i'm still a bit confused. what is 140/120 meant to mean? does 140 correlate to 70 ie a 1st, and 120 to a 60 ie a 2:1? if so then that makes sense. essentially if you get 1sts in 3/5 and at least 2:1's in the other 2/5 then you get a 1st overall for that part of your tripos, right?


Yes, that's right. The Cambridge law faculty generally marks out of 200, so 140 is a first, 120 a 2.i etc.
Reply 8
mja
Yes, that's right. The Cambridge law faculty generally marks out of 200, so 140 is a first, 120 a 2.i etc.

interesting. i wonder which system is more challenging. cambridge you need a first on 60% of your ten papers in part 1b and 2 which you sit in two consecutive years, whereas in oxford you need a 1st on 44% of your 9 papers, but you have to sit them all in one go...
Well, i dunno about Oxford but it is extremely hard to get a first in Cambridge; in my college, the last time someone did it was 2/3 years ago...
ICQ
interesting. i wonder which system is more challenging. cambridge you need a first on 60% of your ten papers in part 1b and 2 which you sit in two consecutive years, whereas in oxford you need a 1st on 44% of your 9 papers, but you have to sit them all in one go...


It's kind of meaningless to quantify without taking into account the differences in marking...

like theoretically for example it might be easier to get a 1st overall in cambs, but it might be harder to get a 1st in individual papers...
Reply 11
fruitcorner
It's kind of meaningless to quantify without taking into account the differences in marking...

like theoretically for example it might be easier to get a 1st overall in cambs, but it might be harder to get a 1st in individual papers...


fair point...
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