Law Degree or History Degree with GDL?

I think I’ve seen you ask this elsewhere. And I reiterated that I can understand your disappointment of being offered history rather than law, but have a look at Chambers Law and you’ll see that 50% of lawyers are non law graduates. If you intend to become a solicitor then the new SQE should mean a law degree has even less bearing on you qualifying. Also I guess there’s the GDL cost to consider if you go the history route.
The skills you polish on a history degree really could stand you in good stead for a law career especially from a reputable University like KCL.
There are quite a few people now looking to take a gap year and many on here have suggested this means it’ll be very competitive again next year for law.
Another option could be looking at a combi LLB degree if KCL offer one (as they are qualifying), that might be something to ask about.
Good luck deciding.

Apologies I think I might have picked it up within a thread as yes, there seems to be a few. I’m pleased you’re feeling a bit better about it. It’s been terrible this year even for really strong candidates, because of deferrals from last year, so you’ve done well even to get the offer from such a prestigious university. But ultimately if it’s not what you want then stick in with your exams and try again. You could always accept for now then withdraw if your results are better than you’re predicted. But I’m sure a good history degree wouldn’t stop you.

Sounds like a plan. Good luck with your exams. I’ve my mocks soon & that’s bad enough.

I applied for KCL for Law, but instead I got an alternative programme, History BA. Should I do History Degree and then a GDL? Or take a gap year and apply again for Law Degree with better grades (as my predicted grades were only A*BB and I intend to do better on my summer A Level exams). Also, is GDL/History Degree as valuable as a Law Degree?

Good luck for mocks! I hope we all do good in summer, which A Levels are you doing?

At the end I will be doing History BA, they even gave me a contextual offer of ABB instead of AAA and i feel is really good opportunity, so thank you for helping me!

Yes! You sound so positive now and that’s a great offer they gave you. Well done! You’ll ace it.

As Himieka helpfully says (and I’d forgotten), if you want to do SQE you shouldn’t need to do the GDL. Ideally I’d like to go the BPTC route so at the minute I’d have to read qualifying law or do the GDL after a non law degree. Not sure my parents would be happy to stump up yet another year for GDL 😂.

I’m studying History, English Lit & Theatre Studies (TS). I’ve also just finished a law based EPQ. I was a little worried that TS was seen as a non preferred A-Level but having spoken to a few people I’ve been told that it can actually be quite beneficial for law. To be honest, my TS has as much essay/written work/analysis as my English Lit! The physical acting side of it is relatively small, which I think is often overlooked.

What about you? What do you take?

It most definitely counts as a valuable degree, especially for the solicitor route. I know people with non-law degrees who have secured more first-year schemes than law students because employers want and appreciate all degrees. Also you don't have to study the GDL before taking the SQE so that's optional for students starting degrees from Sep 2021.

-Himieka (Official DU Rep)

Thank you!

Oh wow, TS sounds so interesting yet so hard. My friend also does it and she told me she writes so many essays as well, so for sure is helpful for Law. And you also did EPQ which is amazing! I was doing Law EPQ too with some piano qualification, at the end i drop them both😂 I was doing 4 A Levels as well and I just couldn’t do it all even if I wanted to.

I started with English Language, Spanish, History and Psychology, but dropped English and continued with the other 3 A Levels (cause again, i wanted to be extra and do 4💀 but I just couldn’t.)

And for the SQE, I’m not sure if I want to be a solicitor or a barrister yet. I will think about it this summer. And about your parents, maybe you should mention the idea to see their reaction.😂 My parents thought that GDL meant I would have a degree in Law + History Degree so they were happy😂. I explained them this wasn’t the case but they still don’t mind it if at least i go to KCL (even i got another offer to actually do Law in University of Leeds).

Did you apply to uni this year?

Hii, thank you so much for replying, means a lot. This is my first time asking a question here, actually, but I also saw some people in the same situation as me here🥲. I’m not really disappointed, i’m even happy at least they didn’t straight reject me and gave me that choice, so I’m actually considering doing History and then GDL

Hey! I’m also in the same situation as you and I have received a conditional offer for the History BA at KCL. I think I will accept the offer because I absolutely love the university and I have always loved history, I just know that I want to go down the law route! I’ve done research and doing a history degree doesn’t seem to be a disadvantage at all

KCL, like most universities, has careers advisors, but it does not itself run PGDL courses. It is easy to research the routes to legal qualifications on the websites of the regulatory and professional organisations.