Durham or Exeter for law

Hi I have got an offer from Durham Hildbede to read law and from Exeter to read Law and French Law (Maîtrise). Any advice or experience of either to help me choose would be very welcome.

Do you want to do Maitrise or not? It's a pretty significant difference between the 2 and should probably be the key factor in your decision, particularly if you may want to work in France one day.

Thanks for your reply ... yes, point taken, but since the Maitrise is a 4th year add-on I was really looking to compare the two 3 year LLB courses from an employability angle.
Durham appears to be rated higher in the league tables for law, but would the addition of the Maîtrise at Exeter make my CV equally attractive e.g. to London firms/Bar applications?
Does anyone have actual experience of either Durham or Exeter law courses which they would be prepared to share?

my impression of the maitrise based on friends who have completed it and friends who have dropped out of it is that it's incredibly demanding compared to the llb - certainly at my university at least. i'd therefore imagine that anyone reviewing your application (whether chambers or a firm) who is aware of its rigorous nature would be impressed if you did well. but personally i would say it's worth considering that it IS a challenging course, and i know a significant number of people at my university who changed to the llb because of this.

based on what my year's maitrise cohort ended up doing when they graduated last year, and based on a conversation with a partner, it seems appreciated by city firms. the partner i spoke to had done the maitrise and basically said that he appreciated applicants with the maitrise because he knew the effort that went into it. the maitrise cohort from my intake have all secured training contracts with big city firms or are in postgraduate study at prestigious universities (ivies, ox/cam, sorbonne). i can't think of anyone who completed the maitrise last summer who didn't do very well for themselves on graduation.

i've no idea about the impact for the bar. if you do well, it's obviously indicative of academic merit as you'll be dual-qualified. it'll also be a factor that can separate you from other candidates (which is, ultimately, the big hurdle atm as i understand - lots of exceptional candidates who have all mooted/got 1sts or high 2.1s/done minis/won prizes/pro bono etc). i imagine it may have more weight if you're looking at chambers who do international work that might require/find language skills helpful, because it'll demonstrate competency with the french language in a legal context.

my impression of the maitrise based on friends who have completed it and friends who have dropped out of it is that it's incredibly demanding compared to the llb - certainly at my university at least. i'd therefore imagine that anyone reviewing your application (whether chambers or a firm) who is aware of its rigorous nature would be impressed if you did well. but personally i would say it's worth considering that it IS a challenging course, and i know a significant number of people at my university who changed to the llb because of this.

looking at the two universities in terms of employability for the LLB only, i'd wager there's very little difference. what i am learning as a final year is that a good uni is a good uni - it's not going to open doors by itself and is merely one factor in the equation. it's more important to do well academically, to participate in ECs (eg. mooting, debating, pro bono, societies) and get work experience such as vac schemes and minis. if you're an excellent candidate, i doubt that going to exeter over durham or vice versa will be a dealbreaker (but ofc i am happy to be corrected if anyone can say otherwise - personally i see the difference as minimal in the end). neither will hold you back imo, but i am a lowly law student and therefore advise taking my views in that context others may be more qualified to comment, e.g. former maitrisers or people with experience in recruitment. perhaps it's worth asking jess from freshfields for a recruitment perspective on the maitrise and how much weight it might be given?

This gives a good general overview for the whole unis for sols: http://d1d1tdqerevjwu.cloudfront.net/resources/2013/What_is_a_good_university.pdf

This is for the Bar at page 29 (though there seems to be little advantage to anywhere that isn't called Oxford or Cambridge): http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/media/177469/bar_barometer_nov_2012_web_upload_higher_res.pdf


For the Bar I think the Maitrise might not help a huge amount, but for international law firms, particularly the MC anecdotally, it definitely seems to be an advantage judging by the graduates I know from our (Leicester's) Maitrise course. Obviously this does depend on you wanting to do international corporate law if you decide you fancy family, employment, real estate, criminal etc. it's usefulness comes down again.

There's a guy on here called Lattywatty who's at Exeter, don't know of any Durham lawyers but post in their uni forum and you might get lucky.

Ugh why did I firm Cardiff over Exeter :/

Because you'll be happier there? Thus more likely to do well academically and get involved in the extracurriculars that will help get you a TC.

Also, if you decided to stay in the area I imagine Cardiff is ideal. I think to a large extent those stats just reflect where had the most 'top' students going in age 18. If you're getting the grades for somewhere like Durham or Notts at 18 you don't automatically regress academically purely by virtue of the lecture theatre you're sat in