How to choose the right law school for you

Choosing the right university of law is a daunting task for many students. It is recommended that a student wishing to embark upon a legal education should give themselves plenty of time to research the right location, institution and course. There are so many options in modern Britain, so this period of time – the run up to the beginning of a university course, can be very stressful. The chosen university of law should be able to cater for the student’s academic and extra – curricular needs. Does the student excel at sport? If so, the student may wish to choose a university of law that excels within both areas. Every university of law will be different in their expectations in terms of asking, or entry grades. Some institutions, including Oxford and Cambridge are very competitive academically, and others may take other factors into account.

Again, an individual university of law should specify the “ins and outs” of their selection process in their course prospectus, and the student considering an application will be able to gain some perspective on whether an application is worthwhile. For example, entry to the Cambridge University law programme requires the prospective student to undertake an interview and an examination, in addition to getting certain grades. Some universities provide the Bar Vocational Course and the Legal Practice Course as well as undergraduate law programmes. An individual university of law may give preference to current students in the progression onto these courses, so for example BPP College of Professional Studies runs an LLB, and they give their own LLB students preferential consideration for the LPC course. Such provisions vary depending upon the university of law. Prospective students should consult the prospectuses available from every institution, by requesting a copy by telephone or email, or downloading it from the internet.

Prospective students should also note that the Law Society evaluates and rates the individual LPC programmes, with the Bar Council carrying out reviews of the BVC. Results are published and a university of law that has scored highly will usually mention this in their prospectus. Specifically, in terms of choosing a university of law in order to pursue a professional qualification in law such as the BVC or LPC, a student may wish to research what facilities are generally available. For example, some BVC courses offer more individual face-to-face teaching, more classes, more dedicated law facilities such as mock court-rooms, video facilities and small, silent-study areas. A university of law will generally advertise the good points, but student should beware of the detail that is not mentioned – as it is often the case that universities, and providers of courses are “selling themselves” and may just focus on the good points!

Important considerations

Good institutions will usually have a good careers department. There is a lot of variation between the providers of legal education, so again a little prior research is needed. A university of law may even have a dedicated law careers services, such as the one provided by BBP law school in London. Details will appear on websites, and promotional literature. The teaching provision within a university of law will also be highly important to the individual student, and prospective students should have a look at the individual profiles of staff members of the law school (these will usually be published on the internet). The university of law should further have a dedicated student representative body, and a good place to start to research this is the student’s union at each individual institution. Other factors, such as the location of the university of law may also be important to prospective students. Does the student wish to move away from home? Are they willing to relocate? Have they thought about travel and living expenses? These are important considerations. Each university of law may provide alternative methods of course delivery. A university of law may provide the option of distance learning, or flexible study such as the provision of some lectures via the internet or on DVDs. These are designed so that a student can choose the right university of law for them, with a plethora of options available. Some institutions combine their law courses with other subjects, and this is usually done at undergraduate level, so for example a student may be able to choose law with French, law with politics or another subject. Combinations are also available at postgraduate level, although the BVC and the LPC are always contained within a single course. A good university of law must have good facilities such as libraries, electronic resources, study space and other facilities, such as a sports centre. Again, the quality of such facilities will be different for every institution and individual students should check with each university of law that catches their eye! A good idea will often be to speak to a past student. A student may also wish to consider costs of entry to the various facilities, e.g. for a swim.

Regulation of law schools

A UK university of law is evaluated by a regulatory body, every five years as part of the Research Assessment Exercise. University Departments such as Chemistry, Law, English and Business (to identify just a few) are given a score out of 5, and these grades may be starred.

The top RAE scoring university of law is not rated on this system. Rather, there are five candidates who occupy the top position (5*) These are Cambridge, Keele, The London School of Economics, London City University and Durham University. In each case, the university as a provider of legal education is one of the best institutions in Britain. Other regulation exercises are carried out by newspapers such as The Sunday Times. The Times publishes a Top 100 Guide to Universities in the UK system, and this guide may be helpfully consulted by a prospective law student interested in a given university of law. Students will be able to view the university of law of their choice and see a complete breakdown of the facilities on offer.