What are some good super curriculers for Law for when applying to Oxbridge?
If anyone has or had some experience with this please let me know
Reply 1
Read books about the law and the Constitution, for example The Rule of Law by Tom Bingham, The Secret Barrister, the British Constitution by Bagehot, Jonathan Sumption's essays, and John Locke's Second Treatise of Civil Government.
Read the Economist and the FT Weekend.
Maybe enter essay competitions with legal or current affairs topics, and perhaps also debating or mooting events.
See if you can obtain work experience at a law firm or in a set of barristers' chambers. Go to criminal and civil courts to watch cases.
NB, don't worry if you can't obtain work experience - there are not many work experience spaces for pre-university students.
Good luck!
Read the Economist and the FT Weekend.
Maybe enter essay competitions with legal or current affairs topics, and perhaps also debating or mooting events.
See if you can obtain work experience at a law firm or in a set of barristers' chambers. Go to criminal and civil courts to watch cases.
NB, don't worry if you can't obtain work experience - there are not many work experience spaces for pre-university students.
Good luck!
(edited 11 months ago)
Reply 2
I do law at Oxford and the only supercurriculars I had on my personal statements were books I'd read (The Rule of Law by Tom Bingham, and Understanding Criminal Law), an Open University course I'd done on EU law (literally took like an hour and I could massively big it up lol, and my EPQ on human rights law. You don't need anything super flashy like shadowing a barrister or extensive work experience, they understand that most students won't have access to that, they're just looking for the way you think/write about your wider reading and how that shows your passion for the subject.
Reply 3
Original post by Username123ab
I do law at Oxford and the only supercurriculars I had on my personal statements were books I'd read (The Rule of Law by Tom Bingham, and Understanding Criminal Law), an Open University course I'd done on EU law (literally took like an hour and I could massively big it up lol, and my EPQ on human rights law. You don't need anything super flashy like shadowing a barrister or extensive work experience, they understand that most students won't have access to that, they're just looking for the way you think/write about your wider reading and how that shows your passion for the subject.
What grades did you get?
Reply 4
Original post by anonymousakhi
What grades did you get?
GCSEs I got 9999999998, A levels I got A*A*A
Reply 5
Original post by Username123ab
GCSEs I got 9999999998, A levels I got A*A*A
Damn😭 my dreams are over
Reply 6
Original post by Username123ab
GCSEs I got 9999999998, A levels I got A*A*A
Do you know anyone that had low grades?
Reply 7
Original post by anonymousakhi
Do you know anyone that had low grades?
Depends what you mean by low grades, Oxford say they look for mostly 8s and 9s in GCSEs (but place far less emphasis on GCSEs than A levels/personal statement/LNAT/interview, and the standard A level offer for law is AAA.
Reply 8
My daughter obtained a place at Oxford in the 2023/24 offer round. She applied after completing the IB. In her personal statement she wrote about (1) environmental law, and (2) juries. She referred to Tom Bingham, and to the environmental cases then pending in the ECtHR in Strasbourg, and mentioned that she had spent a week in a barristers' chambers and had also watched a high profile criminal trial about protest.
She was interviewed about a statute and about a tort case.
She was interviewed about a statute and about a tort case.
Original post by anonymousakhi
If anyone has or had some experience with this please let me know
Nearly every sixth form in the country has a Oxford/Cambridge college assigned to it; try to get on their experience programme.
Good free Moocs to do over the summer :
Exploring Law: Studying Law at University - Online Course - FutureLearn
Jurisprudence Course: The Philosophy of Law - Online Law Courses - FutureLearn
Incarceration: Are prisons a suitable punishment? - FutureLearn Course
Critical Thinking at University - Online Course (futurelearn.com)
Also, excellent podcasts from BBC's Law in Action :
BBC Radio 4 - Law in Action - Available now
Exploring Law: Studying Law at University - Online Course - FutureLearn
Jurisprudence Course: The Philosophy of Law - Online Law Courses - FutureLearn
Incarceration: Are prisons a suitable punishment? - FutureLearn Course
Critical Thinking at University - Online Course (futurelearn.com)
Also, excellent podcasts from BBC's Law in Action :
BBC Radio 4 - Law in Action - Available now
Everyone reads The Rule of Law. It's the equivalent of starting your PS with "From an early age...."
I personally don't believe that PSs can really make you stand out that much, but if you want to show you're well read or to lay the foundation for being interviewed, I think people should go small picture and niche with something they actually know or care about that makes them look invested, rather than reading the same book that everyone else has read.
Going heavy with law books makes you look pretentious and makes it easy to get caught out. You're risking being questioned on a topic by an world leading scholar on a subject that you've only read one book about. I would say - find the area of law that actually does interest you - and read around the subject - not into it. So if you are into IP, really really read into one or two cases that have been popularised - like the Ed Sheeran plagiarism case. It's accessible and something you can understand and relate to without making yourself look stupid. If you must read these popular law books, I'd go with Richard Susskind - he was talking about AI replacing lawyers decades ago and nobody really listened to him. Now I presume he's charging hand over fist for consultancy and speaking.
I personally don't believe that PSs can really make you stand out that much, but if you want to show you're well read or to lay the foundation for being interviewed, I think people should go small picture and niche with something they actually know or care about that makes them look invested, rather than reading the same book that everyone else has read.
Going heavy with law books makes you look pretentious and makes it easy to get caught out. You're risking being questioned on a topic by an world leading scholar on a subject that you've only read one book about. I would say - find the area of law that actually does interest you - and read around the subject - not into it. So if you are into IP, really really read into one or two cases that have been popularised - like the Ed Sheeran plagiarism case. It's accessible and something you can understand and relate to without making yourself look stupid. If you must read these popular law books, I'd go with Richard Susskind - he was talking about AI replacing lawyers decades ago and nobody really listened to him. Now I presume he's charging hand over fist for consultancy and speaking.
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