The Student Room Group

Advice on applying to Law with A*AD

Hey, so I’m in Year 13 and predicted A*AD, and I recently sat my final set of mocks and ended up with an E in psychology. This was meant to be my last chance to bring my predicted up, and I completely flopped. My teacher might let me do a December resit to try and improve it, but its not guaranteed. I really wanted to apply for Law LLB, and my original uni choices were City Uni, Sheffield, Nottingham, Southampton, and Leeds (or Queen's Uni Belfast). I’m also eligible for contextual offers, but I don’t want to rely fully on that since it’s not a guarantee. To be honest, I think part of the reason I do so badly is because I barely put effort into Psychology and mainly focused on my other two subjects (Criminology and Sociology) and kind of neglected it. But I genuinely believe I can bring it up to at least a B by the end of A-Levels if I stay consistent and put the work in from now.

I know Law is one of those subjects where the uni you go to really matters for career prospects, especially because I really want to work in London at a Magic Circle law firm or any other top law firm (I know kinda unrealstic but still), so I want to make sure I’m being smart about where I apply. I also know there are other routes into law, like doing Criminology and then a Law conversion, but honestly, I’d prefer to go straight into an LLB Law degree if possible.
Please if I could get your opinons and advise on this, I would be very gratful.

Reply 1

Original post
by NA08
Hey, so I’m in Year 13 and predicted A*AD, and I recently sat my final set of mocks and ended up with an E in psychology. This was meant to be my last chance to bring my predicted up, and I completely flopped. My teacher might let me do a December resit to try and improve it, but its not guaranteed. I really wanted to apply for Law LLB, and my original uni choices were City Uni, Sheffield, Nottingham, Southampton, and Leeds (or Queen's Uni Belfast). I’m also eligible for contextual offers, but I don’t want to rely fully on that since it’s not a guarantee. To be honest, I think part of the reason I do so badly is because I barely put effort into Psychology and mainly focused on my other two subjects (Criminology and Sociology) and kind of neglected it. But I genuinely believe I can bring it up to at least a B by the end of A-Levels if I stay consistent and put the work in from now.
I know Law is one of those subjects where the uni you go to really matters for career prospects, especially because I really want to work in London at a Magic Circle law firm or any other top law firm (I know kinda unrealstic but still), so I want to make sure I’m being smart about where I apply. I also know there are other routes into law, like doing Criminology and then a Law conversion, but honestly, I’d prefer to go straight into an LLB Law degree if possible.
Please if I could get your opinons and advise on this, I would be very gratful.

To be honest, the grade D is detrimental. Maybe you need to push up by 2 grades for offers from your target unis. You may also think of some less competitive unis as back-ups/insurance. Good luck.
(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 2

Original post
by cksiu
To be honest, the grade D is detrimental. Maybe you need to push up by 2 grades for offers from your target unis. You may also think of some less competitive unis as back-ups/insurance. Good luck.

okay, thank you x

Reply 3

Repeat them...

Reply 4

Yeah you need get that D upped. Preferably to a B if possible.

You should be able to get it upped to a C at least.

With A*AC and eligibility for a contextual offer, you should be considered by certain ‘low level’ RG unis.

Look at the specific contextual requirement for each uni as all unis differ in their approach.

Newcastle has a generous contextual offer of BBB. Exeter also has ABB.

Liverpool, Cardiff, Sheffield and Southampton may also consider you regardless of if you qualify for their contextual offer

If you want to be a solicitor at a top firm, most law firms have an a level requirement (usually between ABB-AAA). If this is your aim, you are going need to get top grades regardless of what your predicated grades are.
Original post
by NA08
Hey, so I’m in Year 13 and predicted A*AD, and I recently sat my final set of mocks and ended up with an E in psychology. This was meant to be my last chance to bring my predicted up, and I completely flopped. My teacher might let me do a December resit to try and improve it, but its not guaranteed. I really wanted to apply for Law LLB, and my original uni choices were City Uni, Sheffield, Nottingham, Southampton, and Leeds (or Queen's Uni Belfast). I’m also eligible for contextual offers, but I don’t want to rely fully on that since it’s not a guarantee. To be honest, I think part of the reason I do so badly is because I barely put effort into Psychology and mainly focused on my other two subjects (Criminology and Sociology) and kind of neglected it. But I genuinely believe I can bring it up to at least a B by the end of A-Levels if I stay consistent and put the work in from now.
I know Law is one of those subjects where the uni you go to really matters for career prospects, especially because I really want to work in London at a Magic Circle law firm or any other top law firm (I know kinda unrealstic but still), so I want to make sure I’m being smart about where I apply. I also know there are other routes into law, like doing Criminology and then a Law conversion, but honestly, I’d prefer to go straight into an LLB Law degree if possible.
Please if I could get your opinons and advise on this, I would be very gratful.

Hello,

I would definitely try to work on improving that grade to set yourself up with the best chance of success! You are right that it is good not to rely completely on the prospect of contextual offers. Doing a criminology degree and then a law conversion course would not disadvantage you in applications since most firms take on about an even split of law and non-law graduates, but if you enjoy law and do not want to spend an extra year studying, then I would focus on boosting those grades and going for the LLB!

Although not all firms have A-level requirements, quite a few top firms will do. They tend to be at a minimum of ABB. Again, lower grades would not preclude you from being able to pursue a career in law, but working hard to improve the D would make things easier if you aim for top firms.

Layla
SQE LLM student

Reply 6

Original post
by LawStudent456
Yeah you need get that D upped. Preferably to a B if possible.
You should be able to get it upped to a C at least.
With A*AC and eligibility for a contextual offer, you should be considered by certain ‘low level’ RG unis.
Look at the specific contextual requirement for each uni as all unis differ in their approach.
Newcastle has a generous contextual offer of BBB. Exeter also has ABB.
Liverpool, Cardiff, Sheffield and Southampton may also consider you regardless of if you qualify for their contextual offer
If you want to be a solicitor at a top firm, most law firms have an a level requirement (usually between ABB-AAA). If this is your aim, you are going need to get top grades regardless of what your predicated grades are.

okay thank you so much

Reply 7

Pls I need help

Reply 8

Original post
by Baynita
Pls I need help

Hello, so basically I asked my psychology teacher to resit my mock and she has allowed me to so my best adivce would be literally ask your teacher(s) to resit it and go to your head of year to see if they can help you too

Reply 9

Am new pls I don't know how it works

Reply 10

Original post
by Baynita
Am new pls I don't know how it works

Literally all you have to do is ask yuor subject teacher to resit your exam :smile:

Quick Reply

How The Student Room is moderated

To keep The Student Room safe for everyone, we moderate posts that are added to the site.