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2:2 on your first formative: Do I have any hope?

Like the question says, I got a 2:2 for my first formative essay for Public Law. I feel gutted as I thought I did a decent job. On top of that, my tutor has highlighted almost every single sentence and has made several mundane, yet rude comments.
To second years, does it get better? :frown:
Listen, public law is a difficult subject to grasp, in my view you ought to be proud of yourself for obtaining a higher grade than a pass for your first essay. This area is very complex and as broad as it is long.

2.2 (C grade) means that you can engage with the essay content however there are areas you can improve in. You have to not take the comments personally from your tutors. Some are tutors for a reason, ie they may not have been competent as legal professional. I wonder what degree grade they got?

Engage with the question and stick to it like glue. Essays have to be written in a certain type of way. Intro - what are you going to consider, relate in back to the premise of the question. Main content: what are the main arguments and by whom? What do others think. Never be afraid to challenge in essays as this is what your tutor is looking for. It doesn't matter how brilliant it sounds to you.. if you have not accurately answered the question it will result in a C or worse, a D grade/ fail. Law in any event is such a demanding subject. In law you will have to work your socks off for higher grades, it's that simple. Look, you have all the legal research facilities at your disposal. You can look at LexisNexis/ Westlaw case digest's (concisely put) for case facts and ratios (rulings), at Insight articles (Westlaw) to give you good and broad understanding of the area of law. Use legal journals and not just textbooks.

NB: post your question here...we'll all help you am sure :smile:
Reply 2
Original post by Democracy2013
Listen, public law is a difficult subject to grasp, in my view you ought to be proud of yourself for obtaining a higher grade than a pass for your first essay. This area is very complex and as broad as it is long.

2.2 (C grade) means that you can engage with the essay content however there are areas you can improve in. You have to not take the comments personally from your tutors. Some are tutors for a reason, ie they may not have been competent as legal professional. I wonder what degree grade they got?

Engage with the question and stick to it like glue. Essays have to be written in a certain type of way. Intro - what are you going to consider, relate in back to the premise of the question. Main content: what are the main arguments and by whom? What do others think. Never be afraid to challenge in essays as this is what your tutor is looking for. It doesn't matter how brilliant it sounds to you.. if you have not accurately answered the question it will result in a C or worse, a D grade/ fail. Law in any event is such a demanding subject. In law you will have to work your socks off for higher grades, it's that simple. Look, you have all the legal research facilities at your disposal. You can look at LexisNexis/ Westlaw case digest's (concisely put) for case facts and ratios (rulings), at Insight articles (Westlaw) to give you good and broad understanding of the area of law. Use legal journals and not just textbooks.

NB: post your question here...we'll all help you am sure :smile:


Ah, thank you very much! :smile:
I pondered over the comments and even though they were depressing, they did make sense. I have a 'journalistic' style and I was being too 'polemic' (That I don't agree with as I tried my best to remain neutral).
The points that you have raised are really helpful. It's just that I've never written a mechanical, straightforward essay in my entire life and doing it now feels quite weird like I'm making huge errors everywhere.
Again, I thought I shouldn't cite too much and ended up using just 12 sources for a 1000-word essay. Huge mistake.
About the tutor, trust me, this one's terrifying. It's hard to try not taking it personal when the comments are blatantly rude.
Thanks a lot for offering to help, I've PMed you.
Reply 3
Original post by EtherealElf
Like the question says, I got a 2:2 for my first formative essay for Public Law. I feel gutted as I thought I did a decent job. On top of that, my tutor has highlighted almost every single sentence and has made several mundane, yet rude comments.
To second years, does it get better? :frown:


If it helps, in my first formative I got a 3rd. Just remember the comments aren't mean for the sake of it, try and take something constructive away from it. It will probably be a good wake up call, it was for me!

I am now a trainee at a large city law firm so don't let your first formative get you down, there's so much time to improve!

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