The Student Room Group

English Law and French Law Maitrise 2025

Hi there,
so I’ve had quite a dilemma this year, and would love for people’s opinions.
I originally sent my UCAS application to all the five unis that offer the Maitrise.
Exeter, Leicester, Essex, QM and KCL
However whilst preparing for the LNAT I got cold feet and decided London wasn’t for me as it’s a very large city and competitive and I got cold feet about being a corporate lawyer regardless of the money. My GCSE grades weren’t good enough for QM so I let that go, just having une licence at Essex wasn’t appealing to me, and I dislike campus unis and Exeter is hardly diverse and also really far down south, so I also let it go, despite it being a goo opportunity. I got an offer for staying at home and the university of Leeds for law with French law, would I lose out by staying home? Can I still be somewhat of an international human rights lawyer? I had an interview for French and international Relations at University of London Institiute in Paris. Is there anything bad about this? Yes campus is small but you have the whole of Paris to meet others. Also I’m leaning towards being a Diplomat as I love travelling and I’m interested in human rights and sociology at school - but I’m worried doing a masters in law will just waste time when I have the opportunity to go straight into a law degree, if I decide to lean towards international human rights. York also offers this as a degree but I doubt it will go into clearing.
Any advice?
Reply 1
Original post by salan555
Hi there,
so I’ve had quite a dilemma this year, and would love for people’s opinions.
I originally sent my UCAS application to all the five unis that offer the Maitrise.
Exeter, Leicester, Essex, QM and KCL
However whilst preparing for the LNAT I got cold feet and decided London wasn’t for me as it’s a very large city and competitive and I got cold feet about being a corporate lawyer regardless of the money. My GCSE grades weren’t good enough for QM so I let that go, just having une licence at Essex wasn’t appealing to me, and I dislike campus unis and Exeter is hardly diverse and also really far down south, so I also let it go, despite it being a goo opportunity. I got an offer for staying at home and the university of Leeds for law with French law, would I lose out by staying home? Can I still be somewhat of an international human rights lawyer? I had an interview for French and international Relations at University of London Institiute in Paris. Is there anything bad about this? Yes campus is small but you have the whole of Paris to meet others. Also I’m leaning towards being a Diplomat as I love travelling and I’m interested in human rights and sociology at school - but I’m worried doing a masters in law will just waste time when I have the opportunity to go straight into a law degree, if I decide to lean towards international human rights. York also offers this as a degree but I doubt it will go into clearing.
Any advice?

firstly staying at home won't limit you academically and you can still become a fantastic diplomat! really the only thing you may be missing out on is some of the uni life but in reality it isnt much. For the masters i would say its good thinking about it now but when i asked my teacher about me personally doing a masters in law, she basically said as a lawyer you specialise anyway so unless you want to educate its not completely useless but you can still have a highly specialised career without it.
Also keep an eye on that york cause because its specific it might go into clearing. I applied for york and had no clue that was a course!
Original post by salan555
Hi there,
so I’ve had quite a dilemma this year, and would love for people’s opinions.
I originally sent my UCAS application to all the five unis that offer the Maitrise.
Exeter, Leicester, Essex, QM and KCL
However whilst preparing for the LNAT I got cold feet and decided London wasn’t for me as it’s a very large city and competitive and I got cold feet about being a corporate lawyer regardless of the money. My GCSE grades weren’t good enough for QM so I let that go, just having une licence at Essex wasn’t appealing to me, and I dislike campus unis and Exeter is hardly diverse and also really far down south, so I also let it go, despite it being a goo opportunity. I got an offer for staying at home and the university of Leeds for law with French law, would I lose out by staying home? Can I still be somewhat of an international human rights lawyer? I had an interview for French and international Relations at University of London Institiute in Paris. Is there anything bad about this? Yes campus is small but you have the whole of Paris to meet others. Also I’m leaning towards being a Diplomat as I love travelling and I’m interested in human rights and sociology at school - but I’m worried doing a masters in law will just waste time when I have the opportunity to go straight into a law degree, if I decide to lean towards international human rights. York also offers this as a degree but I doubt it will go into clearing.
Any advice?


Hello,

Firstly, it really does not matter whether you go to your home University, you need to pick somewhere where you will be happy. At the University of Leicester for instance, a significant proportion of our students (including Law students) are from Leicester or Leicestershire and although some may stay in student accommodation, many also commute.

Going to study in Paris may be a really good idea but consider the costs as it may be expensive if you were to be an international student. At the University of Leicester, the Maitrise law course involves some study in France and there are also many other opportunities to study abroad at a reduced price, you can even study in different subject areas in some circumstances.

Finally, doing a Masters is never a bad idea. This is particularly the case in a competitive industry like law as it will separate you from other applicants and you will really be able to demonstrate that you have a specialism which employers may like.

I hope this helps, if you have any further questions please do let me know.

Charlie
Law LLB Student

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