Law

I’m considering my options and law seems interesting, however I know absolutely nothing about it. Could someone please enlighten me? What do solicitors do? How do you get accepted into law? What does it take? Etc. thank you!

Hi there

I am a current law student at the University of Kent, hopefully I can give you an insight into studying law.
For a career in law, the most widely known are barristers and solicitors. Barrister are usually the ones that attend court and litigate for their client, whereas solicitors are more often involved with drafting documents etc. in office firms, however they do sometimes attend court as the roles are more flexible nowadays. I would recommend having a read up on what the career is like before making a decision.

For a law degree, you can take any combination of A levels. The focus should be on attaining high grades, so choosing subjects that you are good at can be really useful. This is because Universities that are more prestigous often want students with higher grades. Some A levels that are recommended for law include: A level law, English or history. These are often essay based subjects, which can help you prepare adequately for a law degree. (However, they are not compulsory.)

Law can be quite strenuous as it is a highly competitive sector. So trying to get into a prestigious University will be quite important. Many law firms prefer students who are from good Universities, so do aim for higher marks during your A levels. Studying law can be quite stressful but it can also be enjoyable. For myself, it mainly depends on the topic that we are studying (this varies a lot, so I would recommending what different Universities offer- for example family law and company law will be drastically different). Law definitely involves a lot of reading (which can sometimes be quite complex) of cases, legislations, academic journals etc. Given the workload, it is really important to gain independent organisation and studying skills (which you will develop throughout the course).

I hope this gives a bit of an insight into what law is like. If you have any specific questions, I will be happy to answer them.
Chloe
University of Kent Student Rep