LLB first year tips

Hi there @gregregregreg, congratulations on securing an offer at University.

I am also a Law LLB student. For the University of Kent, our first year results do not count towards our overall grades. However, this may differ for your University, so perhaps checking out your University's website is a good starting point.

For advice, I recommend getting to grips with the University's website early on: where you can access material, lecture recordings, your timetable, etc. Learning this now means less stress once University starts, and you will be on top of the workload.

Another thing that I found important was to list out all the coursework and exam deadlines, so you can plan your time wisely. This will be helpful, as Law students can have a lot of workload to manage, learning time management will be quite useful too.

I hope this helps. Good luck with University this September!
Chloe
-University of Kent Student Rep

Thank you!

Hey I'm split between Aston and UOB for law. I have a short while (like, a day) to decide. What do you think I should do? Also, may I ask why you chose UOB for law? Was it just because of the Russell group title?

Because UoB is the better university. I wanted to stick to the midlands, and so had picks from warwick, nottingham, uob and ended up choosing UoB as a firm and Aston as an insurance.

The RG title is still slightly important if you want to go into the career (although this is changing over time) but at the end of the day UoB is larger and to be honest it just looks nicer and has better facilities all round as a university. The fact it is also a 'prestigious' uni means it has slightly better law societies also.

I had high grades so I went with a university that wanted high grades really. I got A*A*A and I didn't want to do all that to go to a course in a uni which requires ABB - sounds dumb I know.

Hi all, I'm starting LLB Law at UoB in September and I plan on doing the best I possibly can from the get-go; so any tips would be much appreciated. I'm currently reading Letters To a Law Student to help but I'm sure people on here have experiences not explained in the book.

Also I plan on possibly doing a masters for Law at Oxbridge 3 years down the line, so any tips I can consider now would also be good (other than "get a first").

A major question I have is how much does the first year count towards the overall grade?

Thanks!

Understandable. Congratulations on the grades! I'm still deciding before I make my final decision as I feel like I'm stressing a lot over ifs and buts 😓

Hi @gregregregreg,

Most universities do not have their first year counting towards the final degree mark but of course, this does change depending on the institution so best to check with your uni. Also, it is important to remember that when applying to law firms or chambers in the future, they often ask not just for your end degree mark but for a breakdown of all years and sometimes all modules meaning you definitely have the right approach doing the best you can from the get go!

One of the most important things to do is to ensure that you do all of the work fully including all of the prep and you give each task enough time so that nothing is rushed. If you are thorough with your work your understanding from the start will be better and more knowledge will be retained which not only helps in assessment season but also for future application in the legal field. I also think it is important that you do not over work yourself as you will likely burn out if you try to take on too much. Remember, being successful in your working life requires a balanced social life including time to simply sit and do very little.

Good luck at university! I am sure you will have a great time

Sophie