Best University Choices for Law

I am currently in Year 12 studying psychology, philosophy and politics and will be applying to study law in September. I am currently predicted A*AA with the A* being in politics and my GCSE grades are 876554 with and 8 in English language and a 5 in maths. I have several extenuating circumstances that can explain my lack of GCSEs and my grades. I've narrowed down my university choices for law, but I'm not sure which combination of universities would be suitable for me with my grades. I like all of them equally and I like them for different reasons; for some, I prefer the course, at others, its the diversity and student life at the university and for some it's the location and campus. The only exception to this is York, which I will be applying to because I am guaranteed a contextual offer of BBB through an access programme. I went to the open day and I honestly didn't enjoy it much, but it's a good safety choice.

My other choices are KCL, Warwick, Cambridge, Nottingham, Leeds and Bristol. Obviously Cambridge would be a long shot with my GCSE grades, but I'm hoping that the extenuating circumstances form they ask you to fill out will have enough on there to prevent my application from being significantly weakened. My personal statement is looking quite strong as of right now and I'm preparing myself for a long summer of LNAT practice. I have a chance to improve my predicted grades, but I feel like my current predictions are quite fair and accurate, however I might still try to improve them depending on how I find the summer revision and work I have to do. I'm currently eligible for contextual offers everywhere except Warwick (and obviously Cambridge), however I will soon be moving so this may change. The only places it will not change are Leeds, Bristol and York as the criteria they use is not based on postcode. I have to apply to York and I will definitely be applying to Nottingham, as it is my target university and I really like everything about it, but I'm not sure which others would be appropriate choices. KCL is a London university and oversubscribed, but I'm from London anyway so it would be a good idea to have a London option. Cambridge like I said is a long shot and the college I'm applying to (Jesus College) has quite a lot of applications for law, so I feel like I'm likely to get rejected pre-interview based on GCSEs alone. Bristol and Warwick are competitive in different ways but the way they select seems more based on the individual application and not comparison of other applications from what I've seen and read online, which could be a good thing for me. Leeds is a great university, but I have to firm their contextual offer to remain eligible for it. I think the safest option would be Leeds, Bristol, Warwick, Nottingham and York, but if I'm being more aspirational, it would be Bristol, Nottingham, York and two from Warwick, Leeds, KCL and Cambridge. I'd be grateful for any advice anyone could give me on what choices seem the most appropriate given my grades and each university's competitiveness/selection criteria for law. Again, I like all these universities equally but for different reasons, so I'm just looking for a realistic combination based on my current stats.

I also plan on attending Nottingham, UCL, KCL and Cambridge's open days and hopefully Leeds and Warwick's open days. With Bristol, I may not be able to attend their open day so I'm doing my research on their law course mainly online and I hope to visit the city at some point in the summer.

Reply 1

ExeterStudentRep

Official Rep

Hello bibachu,

I can't help but see that Exeter isn't one of your current options, but I thought I could give you a flavour of our uni and see if it could help you consider us! Exeter is a campus uni which means we have anything and everything you could possibly need on campus, from a pub, coffee shops, food shops and even a doctors. Not only this but although everything you could need is on campus, our town is about a 15 minute walk away and just a train away we have the most amazing beaches which are perfect for final term and cheeky BBQs. The beach was definitely a huge selling point for me whilst I was choosing between my options! We also have a quay which is perfect all year round and about a 30 minute walk away, its a brilliant spot for walks, a quick coffee and there is a few pubs down there! I would definitely recommend a picnic on the green too overlooking the Cathedral- which hosts our magical Christmas markets!

We also have a huge range of societies you can join at Exeter, from the likes of Quidditch soc and Swift Soc, to sports and subject societies, the list is almost endless. Plus you can even make your own society if you find enough people that would want to join- how cool! Have a look a our extensive list here: https://my.exeterguild.com/

More about law though, take a look at our course here:https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/?utm_source=studentroom&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=uoe-acquisition-enquiry !

I would recommend looking at the optional modules available at Exeter, because lots of unis have different option, for example we have Philosophy of Law, Islamic Law and Society, Gender, Sexuality and Law to name but a few.

You can also have a chat with our current law students, here if you wanted hear their experiences! https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/life/ask-a-student/?utm_source=studentroom&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=uoe-acquisition-enquiry

Best wishes,
Sophie, University of Exeter Student Ambassador