The Student Room Group

how to better my university application

so i'm a year 12 planning on applying to all Russel Group universities (maybe one safety) but my GCSE grades were maybe a little mediocre compared to other applicants (998876655) and in my last school mock i got A*BB in my subjects (to be fair i was just marks off getting two a's because i can get quite lazy in my schoolwork at times)
and I want advice on what to do to make me a stand out applicant.

So far i have participated in the Cambridge Peter Cane legal reasoning essay competition and received a 'commended' grade and got invited to the online workshop. I've secured a week's work experience at a solicitor's firm and plan on asking to do more if I can (maybe like 2-3 months).

Can anyone offer some good advice on more I can do to make my application stronger?
I know it's quite early to be worrying about this but I'd rather get most of this stuff done in Year 12 and spend the majority of Year 13 actually getting the grades.

Thanks in advance
Reply 1
Tbh most russell group unis dont really care much about your gcse (apart from oxbridge) - just make sure you get good grades for your alevels and you will be fine
Reply 2
Original post by kamdi_anamdi
so i'm a year 12 planning on applying to all Russel Group universities (maybe one safety) but my GCSE grades were maybe a little mediocre compared to other applicants (998876655) and in my last school mock i got A*BB in my subjects (to be fair i was just marks off getting two a's because i can get quite lazy in my schoolwork at times)
and I want advice on what to do to make me a stand out applicant.
So far i have participated in the Cambridge Peter Cane legal reasoning essay competition and received a 'commended' grade and got invited to the online workshop. I've secured a week's work experience at a solicitor's firm and plan on asking to do more if I can (maybe like 2-3 months).
Can anyone offer some good advice on more I can do to make my application stronger?
I know it's quite early to be worrying about this but I'd rather get most of this stuff done in Year 12 and spend the majority of Year 13 actually getting the grades.
Thanks in advance


don’t worry abt GCSE’s unless you’re going for med or oxbridge! I have rlly mid GCSE’s (avg of 6 I think) and I’ve had offers for law from 3 Russel groups unis so far (waiting on one more) and the one I got rejected from was bc of my LNAT (a test exclusive to law nothing to do w my GCSEs) so I rlly wouldn’t let it worry you. Experience is rlly rlly useful esp for ur PS, start reading around the degree u want to do (if u know yet) and making notes of things that interest you; start the personal statement also!!! I had my second draft done by the summer holidays and it made a stressful application season easier. Also as much as you can try and stay consistent with revision, even if it’s just consistently making revision resources bc A- levels are tough and the sheer amount of content can get incredibly overwhelming in year 13, even more so if you’re worrying abt having to revisit all of your year 12 stuff. Best of luck!
Reply 3
Original post by user111788
don’t worry abt GCSE’s unless you’re going for med or oxbridge! I have rlly mid GCSE’s (avg of 6 I think) and I’ve had offers for law from 3 Russel groups unis so far (waiting on one more) and the one I got rejected from was bc of my LNAT (a test exclusive to law nothing to do w my GCSEs) so I rlly wouldn’t let it worry you. Experience is rlly rlly useful esp for ur PS, start reading around the degree u want to do (if u know yet) and making notes of things that interest you; start the personal statement also!!! I had my second draft done by the summer holidays and it made a stressful application season easier. Also as much as you can try and stay consistent with revision, even if it’s just consistently making revision resources bc A- levels are tough and the sheer amount of content can get incredibly overwhelming in year 13, even more so if you’re worrying abt having to revisit all of your year 12 stuff. Best of luck!


meant to say start the PS early*
Reply 4
Original post by kamdi_anamdi
so i'm a year 12 planning on applying to all Russel Group universities (maybe one safety) but my GCSE grades were maybe a little mediocre compared to other applicants (998876655) and in my last school mock i got A*BB in my subjects (to be fair i was just marks off getting two a's because i can get quite lazy in my schoolwork at times)
and I want advice on what to do to make me a stand out applicant.
So far i have participated in the Cambridge Peter Cane legal reasoning essay competition and received a 'commended' grade and got invited to the online workshop. I've secured a week's work experience at a solicitor's firm and plan on asking to do more if I can (maybe like 2-3 months).
Can anyone offer some good advice on more I can do to make my application stronger?
I know it's quite early to be worrying about this but I'd rather get most of this stuff done in Year 12 and spend the majority of Year 13 actually getting the grades.
Thanks in advance


Also work experience doesn’t have to be in person, unis recognise how difficult it is to get work experience and there’s sooo many good options online just make sure you’re always looking out for them! Podcasts are also super helpful for ur ps
Reply 5
Original post by user111788
don’t worry abt GCSE’s unless you’re going for med or oxbridge! I have rlly mid GCSE’s (avg of 6 I think) and I’ve had offers for law from 3 Russel groups unis so far (waiting on one more) and the one I got rejected from was bc of my LNAT (a test exclusive to law nothing to do w my GCSEs) so I rlly wouldn’t let it worry you. Experience is rlly rlly useful esp for ur PS, start reading around the degree u want to do (if u know yet) and making notes of things that interest you; start the personal statement also!!! I had my second draft done by the summer holidays and it made a stressful application season easier. Also as much as you can try and stay consistent with revision, even if it’s just consistently making revision resources bc A- levels are tough and the sheer amount of content can get incredibly overwhelming in year 13, even more so if you’re worrying abt having to revisit all of your year 12 stuff. Best of luck!

thanks for the advice :smile:
Reply 6
If you are applying for Law, Unis will want to see your academic engagement with the subject - work experience and essay competitions are actually unnecessary for this sort of subject.

Useful resources for Law Personal Statements - listen to some of these BBC Law in Action podcasts and pick two or three topics that really interest you. to discuss briefly in your PS - BBC Radio 4 - Law in Action - Available now This shows your awareness of current issues within the Law and that you have started to think 'beyond A levels'. Its also worth doing at least one of these (free) online Moocs over the summer :
Jurisprudence Course: The Philosophy of Law - Online Law Courses - FutureLearn
From Crime to Punishment - Online Course - FutureLearn

This is a useful guide from one Oxford college about how to incorporate this sort of stuff into your PS - good for all Unis - Guide-to-Super-curriculars.pdf (ox.ac.uk)

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