Does first year count in LLB?

I know it does not count, I am just curious to find out why and if all universitys are doing this aswell for the first year. It is pretty pointless to study hard for the first year if it does not give you proper credit for it although you obviously have to pass to get into year 2.

try to get a 2.2 pref a 2.1 in ure 1st year.

Presumably you have to pass the core modules for the degree to be qualifying?

This applies to the majority of law degrees if you are looking to be a solicitor/barrister:

- You need to PASS the Law Society and Bar Council's 7 'qualifying' modules - Crime, Contract, Constitutional (or Public), European, Property, Tort and Trusts
- In general the pass mark is 40%
- Your degree classification will usually be calculated on the basis of your 2nd and 3rd years (universities vary in how they do this)
- If you spend the 3rd year abroad this will normally not count for your degree classification but you do need to pass it in order to receive your LLB in Law+ European Legal Studies etc...

I cannot emphasise enough the importance of doing your best in the first year though. Many people I know have found poor first year results to be a barrier to them being considered by law firms and chambers.

Overall... just do your best all the time and no one can ask any more of you

Students marks progress as they learn, universities would not want to hold a crappy preliminary classification in LLB 1 against someone. At Oxford all the undergrads take exams at the end of year 3. This gives them a heavy work load come exam time but at least by then they have reached their full learning potential at LLB level. I remember at Hull for psychology a random 5% for the first year counted, strange.

whilst the 1st yr doesn't count in most unis, if you want to apply for vac schemes, summer placements, mini pupillage's in that summer between 1st and 2nd yr, you will get nowhere when all you have to show so far is a 40% pass rate, try to get a 2.2 pref a 2.1 in ure 1st year.

Also remember a lot of core qualifying modules are covered in your first year, if you just scrape a pass on these modules equally will get you nowhere fast as firms could look upon as pretty incompetent to be fair.

Yes you can turn it around and do very well come end of ure second yr (nod to lewis) and things work out ok but try not to be in that situation in the first place.

Well surely it would be preferable to get a First in Year 1 but I see where you're coming from...

I see where people are coming from to always try your best and get the best grade you can but it equals to nothing.

Most law firms do not accept year 1 students for summer placements, it is mostly 2nd year or above.

How would law firms know how you did in level 1?

Considering the 2nd year and 3rd is the ones that only matter, there is not anything to turn around as those are the marks that will only count.

I see where people are coming from to always try your best and get the best grade you can but it equals to nothing.

I get a bit annoyed when my contract lecturer says "don't worry about your results in your contract coursework" (which we haven't got back yet - still), "it doesn't count towards your final degree classification anyway" - as if it's ok to do badly.... Totally defeats the principle of applying yourself in my personal opinion.

This was backed up recently when the comparative law lecturer pointed out that if you actually choose to USE your degree, most firms will ask to see a transcript of your results - FOR ALL MODULES IN ALL YEARS. Although it does NOT count toward your final degree classification - it will undoubtedly have a bearing on how you are perceived.

if you go back to my point of doing up to 3 or 4 of the core modules in yr1 alone, many law firms i can imagine will want to know how you did in those, as they did not contribute to your degree, and if all you can say is "well i scraped a pass" it won't hold you in good stead will it.

A lot of ground work is covered in your first yr and if you do pretty poorly (3rd/pass) then it surely won't help you in the next two years with study methods and previous notes you already have.

and quite a few law firms will do vac schemes for people between 1st and 2nd yr, same with mini-pupillage's, they just may take on a more informal style name wise.

Exactly, mine has said the same. It just makes you feel like if it really does not matter then why bother. I never did contract coursework, we had to do a 3 hr exam.

That's the first time I have heard about law firms asking for transcripts. If that is the case then why do the universities make out it is no big deal?