Can I get a job at a top law firm with no a levels but a 1st from Uni of Nottingham?
So I did an Access to HE course in order to get my offer from Uni of Nottingham. I know a lot of law firms automatically filter out candidates based on A levels, which would technically filter me out as I only have a BTEC from over a year ago and the Access course which I'm doing now to get into uni. Can I make up for this by getting a 1st from Uni of Nottingham (bearing in mind this is a target uni for top law firms), or will I still be at a big disadvantage compared to students with good A levels?
It depends on your academic performance throughout your access course and additionally throughout your degree. If you perform to an excellent standard of access achieving distinctions in all assignments with the exception of 2 merits, then this would be beneficial. Additionally, if you studied law as an access course and achieved a first or even a 2:1 as a degree, then this would be sufficient for a job at a law firm. What are your results thus far for access?
Original post by mma_jd
So I did an Access to HE course in order to get my offer from Uni of Nottingham. I know a lot of law firms automatically filter out candidates based on A levels, which would technically filter me out as I only have a BTEC from over a year ago and the Access course which I'm doing now to get into uni. Can I make up for this by getting a 1st from Uni of Nottingham (bearing in mind this is a target uni for top law firms), or will I still be at a big disadvantage compared to students with good A levels?
You need to make sure your 1st year results are as absolutely good as they can be and don't push the boat out too far on freshers. It's all going to be about how you do in terms of securing vacation schemes, and the only thing you'll be able to show them are your 1st year exams.
Original post by ItsJcesar
It depends on your academic performance throughout your access course and additionally throughout your degree. If you perform to an excellent standard of access achieving distinctions in all assignments with the exception of 2 merits, then this would be beneficial. Additionally, if you studied law as an access course and achieved a first or even a 2:1 as a degree, then this would be sufficient for a job at a law firm. What are your results thus far for access?
So far 6 distinctions and I’m really aiming for all 45 distinctions. However even if I do achieve this, it will still be looked down upon compared to a levels right?
There are target unis though lol, notice how unis such as oxbridge and a few top Russel groups show up way more on here: https://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/where-to-start/newsletter/law-firms-preferred-universities
I mean I just feel like it's a pretty logical conclusion to say that unis which are most represented in big law firms are also going to be the unis which those firms target. You say prestige doesn't influence how represented a uni will be at law firms, I simply disagree. Of course no law firm is going to come out and say this, mainly because it would stir up accusations of "elitism". So since no law firm is going to come right out and say this, you can't ever "prove" it, but it's clearly the case. There are 'non-prestigious' universities with much higher student populations than some of those universities on the list (for example NTU has more students than Uni of Bristol) and yet they seem completely unrepresented in law firm graduate statistics. I feel like this disproves your argument of "the prestigious unis show up more often because law firms get more applicants from them", because if that's the case then where are all the law graduates from non-represented unis applying to? The fact that they can have higher student populations and yet not even show up on graduate statistics shows a clear link and I simply feel it leads to a logical conclusion that uni prestige does in fact matter and target unis do in fact exist.
For the record, I know there's more factors which influence your chance of landing a good job at a top law firm than just your uni, such as your experience (and I plan to get summer internships where I can for this sort of stuff), but I'm just making the point that there are very clearly unis which law firms prefer to recruit graduates from. If you really wanna tell me that you think someone graduating from Oxford Uni doesn't give them an edge over someone applying from let's say London Met, then we have nothing left to discuss because we won't see eye to eye.
For the record, I know there's more factors which influence your chance of landing a good job at a top law firm than just your uni, such as your experience (and I plan to get summer internships where I can for this sort of stuff), but I'm just making the point that there are very clearly unis which law firms prefer to recruit graduates from. If you really wanna tell me that you think someone graduating from Oxford Uni doesn't give them an edge over someone applying from let's say London Met, then we have nothing left to discuss because we won't see eye to eye.
(edited 3 years ago)
So you do acknowledge that there are target universities such as Oxbridge then? I never said going to Nottingham means I should be guaranteed a TC, neither did I say it's the top uni. However in the source I cited it does come in at number 4 with 6% of magic circle hires coming from UoN. In my original point I literally made the small point, in brackets, that Uni of Nottingham does seem to be considered as one of the better unis for law (again, not the best and I'm well aware that Oxbridge carries more prestige).
Again, no employer is going to come right out and say that they'd rather recruit graduates from Oxford than Bolton because it'd stir up accusations of elitism in this day and age, hence why you probably don't hear people talking about it (on top of the fact that as a trainee, it doesn't make sense for you to be involved in the recruitment process).
What I'm hearing you say is you think one of the actual reasons these unis are more represented is because the applicants from these unis (Oxbridge and RG lets say) generally have better grades pre-uni. I'd agree with this and it's a very clear link, which leads to the logical conclusion that someone from a top-tier uni is more likely to be intelligent than someone from Bolton or London Met. But I don't see how this is an argument against the idea that target unis exist; you're just stating one factor which may explain the representation of these universities. The other factors you stated, such as "work experience, confidence" have absolutely nothing to do with my previous point of UoN slightly improving my chances and aren't even factors in the 'target unis' discussion.
What I'm hearing you say is you think one of the actual reasons these unis are more represented is because the applicants from these unis (Oxbridge and RG lets say) generally have better grades pre-uni. I'd agree with this and it's a very clear link, which leads to the logical conclusion that someone from a top-tier uni is more likely to be intelligent than someone from Bolton or London Met. But I don't see how this is an argument against the idea that target unis exist; you're just stating one factor which may explain the representation of these universities. The other factors you stated, such as "work experience, confidence" have absolutely nothing to do with my previous point of UoN slightly improving my chances and aren't even factors in the 'target unis' discussion.
(edited 3 years ago)
So what point of mine are you trying to argue against then? If my initial question was 'will going to Uni of Nottingham give me some edge over other applicants' (which it wasn't, but lets pretend it was), then your answer would already be 'yes' as clearly the fact that Oxbridge and top RG applicants are more likely to get an interview DOES mean that they are more likely to land that job. What I definitely did NOT ask was whether Uni of Nottingham would give me an edge over the likes of Oxbridge or Durham. I'm well aware that Oxbridge especially have an edge, and this was never in the question for me. I simply stated that Nottingham is one of the 'target' unis because going by a few statistics and applying common sense to them, this indeed is the case. Again, I never said that I thought my uni alone would guarantee me a MC TC, I am well aware that in order to compete with Oxbridge applicants I will need to do things like getting relevant work experience and being 'confident' during my interview.
Original post by mma_jd
So far 6 distinctions and I’m really aiming for all 45 distinctions. However even if I do achieve this, it will still be looked down upon compared to a levels right?
No, it won’t be looked down upon, because you’ve achieved a degree in law at university (which your aiming to achieve a first or a 2:1)
A good way to put this into context is the university admissions process. If you had C’s in all GCSE’s but performed A*A*A* in a levels, then the university will accept you primarily on your outstanding achievement of your a levels.
Similarly, this process can be said with job offers. Of course they look at your access grades, but their overall process of recruitment will be determined by what degree you finish with, either a first or a 2:1. Obviously, achieving distinctions in all your assignments would be amazing, and then going onto finish your degree with a first would be outstanding. Therefore there would be no disadvantage to your job application, as you’ve performed excellently throughout your studies.
Original post by mma_jd
There are target unis though lol, notice how unis such as oxbridge and a few top Russel groups show up way more on here: https://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/where-to-start/newsletter/law-firms-preferred-universities
Hi, the stats you referenced are a bit outdated, there is a more recent version from 2019.
https://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/where-to-start/newsletter/law-firms-preferred-universities-2019
Nottingham is a bit lower now but it's still in a bracket with Durham/Bristol/Exeter/Warwick I'd say. Ignore the pedantic prat replying to you in this thread, clearly has unresolved issues in his personal life.
Good Unis like Notts have better students academically than the students from Unis like Bolton - on the whole and of course there are always rare exceptions. That is why they are more likely to get the training contacts, it’s not as simple as go to Notts and you will magically be targeted by lots of law firms keen to recruit you regardless of your grades and personality/experience.
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by mma_jd
So I did an Access to HE course in order to get my offer from Uni of Nottingham. I know a lot of law firms automatically filter out candidates based on A levels, which would technically filter me out as I only have a BTEC from over a year ago and the Access course which I'm doing now to get into uni. Can I make up for this by getting a 1st from Uni of Nottingham (bearing in mind this is a target uni for top law firms), or will I still be at a big disadvantage compared to students with good A levels?
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/sho....php?t=6247090
try this, it may help
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