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Minimum grades for Law at a RG uni?

What are the lowest grades you've heard of people getting into any RG unis for law?

Through clearing or initial application.

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BBB generally.
AAB/ABB I can’t remember the ABB was from tho
Guess it depends on the university. In my mind the RG can be split up into three groups, top, Oxbridge and the TLAs (UCL, ICL, LSE, KCL) which will probably want no less than AAA. Then middle, Bristol, Nott, Exeter Birmingham who will likely want AAA-AAB. Then bottom (Queens, Liverpool, Cardiff who will be more in the AAB-ABB range.

Or just look up on the websites since some (mid-bottom especially) will let you in with a grade lower than the typical offer?
Reply 4
Ah this data you linked seems very useful. Looking at document 10 then, 34 people managed to get into Bristol with ABB when the course is A*AA. Would this then be safe to assume that everyone that got in with those grades were accepted through contextual offers?
Reply 5
Ah alright cheers, taking the data into account it's looking like it might be a scramble on results day to try and get into liverpool aha :s-smilie: I suppose with all that in mind the only thing to do from here is try and achieve the grades.

On a separate note, would it be unheard of for someone to go to Liverpool for example and obtain a training contract at a decent London firm (assuming they meet the A level and degree classification requirement)? Whilst I appreciate the competition is fierce, it's portrayed as though on here that if you don't go to Oxbridge/LSE you've got no chance...
Reply 6
Original post by LAWLAWLAW111
A poster above did quite a good breakdown on the types of RG uni. Whilst any RG uni is generally better than a non-RG university there are still differences within the RG itself.

To answer your question; it is not unheard of for a Liverpool grad to get a TC at a "decent London firm" but yes at like US firms it probably is quite heavily dominated by Oxbridge.

The RG can also be split into 3 as mentioned above (this doesnt mean the teaching is better it is more about prestige etc)

Tier 1: Probably Oxbridge, LSE, UCL, KCL

Tier 2: Bristol, Durham, Exeter, Uni of Sheffield, Uni of Notts, Uni of Manc, Warwick, Uni of Bham

Tier 3: Everything else

Liverpool has let its standards go over recent years; probably the easiest to get into as it takes quite a large amount of students. Whether law firms have picked up on this is a different question.

Ahh alright thanks for the answer. I don't think I would look into going to America and practicing Law, so presuming any sort of RG would be enough to at least get a foot in the door for most London firms that'd be enough for me.

My reason for asking is, I wouldn't see it worthwhile going to uni to study law (at somewhere like Liverpool or something similar) to end up doing a job that I could have got without the degree. The end goal would be to obtain a training contract somewhere (ideally London, potentially MC) so didn't want to waste my time/money if I wasn't able to do so.
Reply 7
My friend needed ABB for liverpool and they let her in with BCC on results day which was a shock tbh
Reply 8
Original post by LAWLAWLAW111
No. There are a host of US firms which offer TCs in this country. One could argue that they are infact the most prestigious TCs on the market, although I am unsure how MC trainees would feel about that. US firms generally pay greater (almost 50k more) than the top MC pay packet, hours are said to be similar (you get shafted at both so might aswell rack up a higher cheque)

It is good you are asking, too many people just do law in hope they will land a TC somewhere and are under the illusion that no firm cares about university, if they didnt they wouldnt be asking in their application and they wouldnt be attending a select universities law fair. Put simply getting a TC is hard but going to a reputable university makes it a tad bit easier and you need all the factors on your side to secure a TC due to the competition. That said a university name is not going to get you through the door on its own; you need good grades and good UCAS points to be considered.

People will tell you "university does not matter" but I implore you to go a do a quick linkedin search; "future trainee at Linklaters" or any MC firm of your choice, go down the list and see the universities their trainees attended and youll see a large chunk if not all are RG uni students. But of course that is not to say that NO non-rg student has ever done it as they have however, its still a minority.

To add on, opportunities like being a campus ambassador for the top firms are usually open to RG unis and from time to time they'll also include Leicester but not all the time
Reply 9
Original post by LAWLAWLAW111
No. There are a host of US firms which offer TCs in this country. One could argue that they are infact the most prestigious TCs on the market, although I am unsure how MC trainees would feel about that. US firms generally pay greater (almost 50k more) than the top MC pay packet, hours are said to be similar (you get shafted at both so might aswell rack up a higher cheque)

It is good you are asking, too many people just do law in hope they will land a TC somewhere and are under the illusion that no firm cares about university, if they didnt they wouldnt be asking in their application and they wouldnt be attending a select universities law fair. Put simply getting a TC is hard but going to a reputable university makes it a tad bit easier and you need all the factors on your side to secure a TC due to the competition. That said a university name is not going to get you through the door on its own; you need good grades and good UCAS points to be considered.

People will tell you "university does not matter" but I implore you to go a do a quick linkedin search; "future trainee at Linklaters" or any MC firm of your choice, go down the list and see the universities their trainees attended and youll see a large chunk if not all are RG uni students. But of course that is not to say that NO non-rg student has ever done it as they have however, its still a minority.

Ahh right, that's my bad I misunderstood what you meant by 'US firms' however I completely get your point now. Obviously being a bit earlier into the application process there are lots of things I'll need to understand - but this is a good start so thanks for all your help.

But yeah, of course there will be some bias when selecting candidates (which I believe is fair to maintain prestige and high standards), but I was just wondering to the extent of which it went. If I were to go university though I would like to think I'd put a lot of effort in trying to build up a strong CV by joining the Law society and trying to find leadership roles in other societies just because of how competitive it can be to find a success route into Law.

I'll have a look at LinkedIn now though - should be interesting to see the reality of it.
Reply 10
Original post by Kali.kb
My friend needed ABB for liverpool and they let her in with BCC on results day which was a shock tbh

This is interesting. Is that for a straight Law (M100) degree?
Original post by JoeD01
This is interesting. Is that for a straight Law (M100) degree?

Yes! As much as I love my friend and wish her all success, I do think that it wasnt fair that she got in yet I have another friend who got ACC (was very close to ABB in terms of marks) yet got rejected
Reply 12
Original post by Kali.kb
Yes! As much as I love my friend and wish her all success, I do think that it wasnt fair that she got in yet I have another friend who got ACC (was very close to ABB in terms of marks) yet got rejected

Hmm, yeah that is strange and quite unfair. With that in mind then, I suppose somewhere like Leicester which isn't a RG may hold higher prestige if this is something they do regularly? In another way I suppose it gives me slightly more hope when results day comes around...
Original post by JoeD01
Hmm, yeah that is strange and quite unfair. With that in mind then, I suppose somewhere like Leicester which isn't a RG may hold higher prestige if this is something they do regularly? In another way I suppose it gives me slightly more hope when results day comes around...

Leicester is still a good uni! I personally think Leicester, UEA and Kent are some of the best non-RG unis for law. Bare in mind also, the BCC girl had liverpool as her firm with no insurance whilst the ACC girl had liverpool as her insurance and she had a much better uni as her firm.

Clearing on results day this year (I spent ages looking because I was scared I wasn't going to get AAB or above and my plan was to retake if end up getting ABB or doing politics and economics instead) Newcastle and Nottingam were so popular for law in clearing. The was an Instagram chat for Law at Durham offer holders and around 5 people got in (this was before Instagram put more of a limit on the group chat number so there was actually a large amount of people on the chat.) Everyone else missed their offers and got in to Nottingham and Newcastle through clearing.

A few other good unis were in clearing also, Exeter was in clearing but only for law with business at the Peryn campus, Queen's Belfast, Sheffield also but Sheffield was very smart and at first came out with the standard grades and then slowly decreased them the closer it got to the end of their clearing cycle. Bristol was in early clearing for law but if I'm right it was only for international students and their grades didn't budge. Liverpool was taking BBB and above in all their courses in early clearing at first but then on results day that changed and all their law courses weren't there so I'm assuming they were full.
(edited 4 years ago)
Reply 14
Original post by Kali.kb
Leicester is still a good uni! I personally think Leicester, UEA and Kent are some of the best non-RG unis for law. Bare in mind also, the BCC girl had liverpool as her firm with no insurance whilst the ACC girl had liverpool as her insurance and she had a much better uni as her firm.

Clearing on results day this year (I spent ages looking because I was scared I wasn't going to get AAB or above and my plan was to retake if end up getting ABB or doing politics and economics instead) Newcastle and Nottingam were so popular for law in clearing. The was an Instagram chat for Law at Durham offer holders and around 5 people got in (this was before Instagram put more of a limit on the group chat number so there was actually a large amount of people on the chat.) Everyone else missed their offers and got in to Nottingham and Newcastle through clearing.

A few other good unis were in clearing also, Exeter was in clearing but only for law with business at the Peryn campus, Queen's Belfast, Sheffield also but Sheffield was very smart and at first came out with the standard grades and then slowly decreased them the closer it got to the end of their clearing cycle. Bristol was in early clearing for law but if I'm right it was only for international students and their grades didn't budge. Liverpool was taking BBB and above in all their courses in early clearing at first but then on results day that changed and all their law courses weren't there so I'm assuming they were full.

Ahh funny you mention both UEA and Kent - I held offers from both of them last year (I'm retaking this year.) It's a shame because the unis I really wanted to go to I didn't receive offers from and so I sort of stopped caring and lost all motivation (wrong attitude I know :\ )

Regarding Nottingham however, I was under the impression that they required the LNAT in order to get an offer from them and study there. Was this true in clearing too or do they take anyone without it as long as they have the grades? I'd definitely be interesting in Exeter/Durham/Bristol too but I really don't have a clue how I'll do this year so wouldn't want to shoot too high.
Original post by JoeD01
Ahh funny you mention both UEA and Kent - I held offers from both of them last year (I'm retaking this year.) It's a shame because the unis I really wanted to go to I didn't receive offers from and so I sort of stopped caring and lost all motivation (wrong attitude I know :\ )

Regarding Nottingham however, I was under the impression that they required the LNAT in order to get an offer from them and study there. Was this true in clearing too or do they take anyone without it as long as they have the grades? I'd definitely be interesting in Exeter/Durham/Bristol too but I really don't have a clue how I'll do this year so wouldn't want to shoot too high.

I'm sorry that happened to you, it's a horrible situation to be in. I was the opposite tbh, I got offers for everywhere I wanted to go to and it made me work harder but I still fell short and didnt get into my firm in the end.

Nottingham did ask for the LNAT which is why all the people who missed Durham got in as Durham wanted the LNAT so they had done it already.

I feel like out of the three you mentioned, exeter will be the easiest to get an offer from. It's harder to call between Durham and Bristol though. I got a Durham offer of AAA and missed it because I got A*AB and I had previously applied to Bristol but withdrew my application and I was kicking myself because there was a chance that I would've got a contextual offer and I would've insured it and I'd be there right now. I'm reapplying to Bristol but I'm also applying to Sheffield for Law with Chinese Law, Exeter QMUL, and Nottingham. I actually think that it's way harder applying with achieved grades than predicted tbh
Reply 16
I cant blame anybody else though really. It was a combination of working hard in year 12, achieving good grades in the mocks and being promised predicted grades (promised a predicted A in politics if a high B was achieved) to then only being predicted a B despite just missing it and getting As/high Bs all year which then led to me not getting those offers. At that point I didn't really bother trying as much/doubting uni as a whole and just got distracted really. In your case however achieving A*AB is still a massive achievement - many RGs would happily take you but I'm sorry about missing Durham. I'd be very proud with those though.

With the grades I got last year, I essentially have to gamble on adjustment because none of the unis mentioned here would even consider me lol. I know I can definitely achieve the grades I need though, especially now I'm only doing two A levels. Are you retaking this year, or just reapplying? and if you don't mind me asking, what A levels did you study?
Original post by JoeD01
I cant blame anybody else though really. It was a combination of working hard in year 12, achieving good grades in the mocks and being promised predicted grades (promised a predicted A in politics if a high B was achieved) to then only being predicted a B despite just missing it and getting As/high Bs all year which then led to me not getting those offers. At that point I didn't really bother trying as much/doubting uni as a whole and just got distracted really. In your case however achieving A*AB is still a massive achievement - many RGs would happily take you but I'm sorry about missing Durham. I'd be very proud with those though.

With the grades I got last year, I essentially have to gamble on adjustment because none of the unis mentioned here would even consider me lol. I know I can definitely achieve the grades I need though, especially now I'm only doing two A levels. Are you retaking this year, or just reapplying? and if you don't mind me asking, what A levels did you study?

I'm not retaking, I was tempted to because of the B grade but I'd have to do it privately and I'm still not guaranteed an A when I retake. I'm spending my gap year reapplying, working and just doing loads of networking and work experience to strengthen my CV for a career in law (also learning to drive and plan to bring whatever car I get for uni which may be complete clownery in the end.)

I did business, politics and english lit. I got A* in business, A in politics and a B in english lit! Private message me! I might be able to help you a lot more.
Tbh I do agree with you on the non rg v rg thing. I've spoken to two of my friends recently during my gap year, one of them goes to Bristol and when I was trying to find out more before making my choice to reapply he mentioned they have had nearly 10 networking events already (however it could be overly exaggerated on his part) whilst my friend at Liverpool hasn't mentioned one. It shows the distinction between the level of Russel Groups, you could go to Liverpool and not get a training contract as they're not partnered as well as they could be with large law firms unlike other unis. I had a talk with the Dean of the Durham law school and he outlined everything he does to push students into the best position for a TC or Pupiliage (mainly TC) at the end of their studies and it was actually amazing.

Now onto the BCC girl, she had applied for them through UCAS extra and her offer was based on completely different predicted grades. Literally no extenuating circumstances, her and the ACC girl and I are all extremely close friends. Funny enough ACC girl was predicted 3 A's and BCC girl was predicted around ABB. They crossed over in a subject, ACC girl did Sociology, History and English Lit. BCC girl did Media, Sociology and English Lang and Lit combined. Very similar circumstances but I'd assume that it all came down to the fact that BCC girl firmed and ACC had it as her insurance. What will be interesting is seeing how her employability will play out over the next few years as she doesn't want to be a solicitor, she wants to be a barrister in New York but I dont know enough about the route to make a judgement on how her grades will affect it.

Also I have had such a long read of all you documents, honestly well appreciated that you've taken the time out to do all of that. I made a note of the unis for Law in clearing, Birmingham shocked a few people by being in clearing. I think what got people the most was that Cardiff wasn't there despite being there with Sheffield for very limited spaces multiples times prior. I can actually see Sheffield going into clearing again this year, same with Newcastle and the Law with Business at Exeter.
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by Kali.kb
Now onto the BCC girl, she had applied for them through UCAS extra and her offer was based on completely different predicted grades. Literally no extenuating circumstances, her and the ACC girl and I are all extremely close friends. Funny enough ACC girl was predicted 3 A's and BCC girl was predicted around ABB. They crossed over in a subject, ACC girl did Sociology, History and English Lit. BCC girl did Media, Sociology and English Lang and Lit combined. Very similar circumstances but I'd assume that it all came down to the fact that BCC girl firmed and ACC had it as her insurance. What will be interesting is seeing how her employability will play out over the next few years as she doesn't want to be a solicitor, she wants to be a barrister in New York but I dont know enough about the route to make a judgement on how her grades will affect it.

Also I have had such a long read of all you documents, honestly well appreciated that you've taken the time out to do all of that. I made a note of the unis for Law in clearing, Birmingham shocked a few people by being in clearing. I think what got people the most was that Cardiff wasn't there despite being there with Sheffield for very limited spaces multiples times prior. I can actually see Sheffield going into clearing again this year, same with Newcastle and the Law with Business at Exeter.

You have some useful information on Clearing (I don't know why this thread isn't on the Law forum actually, but I'm trying to get it moved there).

Regarding Nottingham being in Clearing, can I just check with you that they were only in early Clearing, since that is my understanding? I think the spaces were all gone by the time the A level students were eligible for Clearing. I believe the same is true of Birmingham, but please correct me if I'm wrong so I can add the correct information to my old thread on unis in Clearing 2019?

So interesting about the ACC and BCC girl and the BCC getting the offer at Liverpool - it seems that they must favour people who Firm them even over grades. I do fear for the BCC girls long term employability - in all honesty she might have been better off doing resits - but the whole system is such a minefield and I expect she was just grateful at the time to get a uni place.

Also, Cardiff did have some vacancies in Clearing at AAB (and one TSR user actually reported getting a place there with BBC). It is possible they entered Clearing "late" as opposed to early (waiting for the A level results to come out first) :dontknow:

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