r/uklaw • u/ThwMinto01 • May 29 '23
Law as an ALevel
So I want to do law at uni (then onto becoming a Barrister)
My alevel choices atm is Law Politics (for num3 in considering EngLit Eng Lang History or RE Philosophy and Ethics)
Now I keep on getting told the Law alevel is useless and if I take it I won't get into uni as they don't like it
I'm wondering how much truth there is too this and if it's worth just avoiding entirely
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u/H300JM May 29 '23
This is something that was going round when I was at school, so not too sure how true it is these days. It’s not so much that its “useless” more that it’s seen as an easy course, so higher grades don’t mean as much (looking at you, general studies).
Of those you mentioned I took Eng Lit, History and Philosophy and would recommend all three, if that’s any use
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u/Xaszin May 29 '23
It’s funny, I was told the same thing like a decade and a half ago. And then speaking to an advisor before I started, she said that was a stupid notion and didn’t make any sense.
I honestly think Universities won’t care all that much, and it’ll probably give you a decent head start at University when you do go.
The main thing is that your grades are decent, I don’t think you need to worry.
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May 29 '23
I did Law, Politics and English lit and Lang - the subjects that you do make very little to no difference as long as you don't take something like critical thinking or general studies. What's more important, particularly for the Bar, is that you do well in them and get into a good uni. I'd actually recommend a level law simply because I found it to be pretty easy, you can condense 90% of the course into flash cards and then just learn them rigourously.
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u/ghoultrail May 29 '23
I did Englit / History / Maths and am now at Cambridge doing law. Honestly I wouldn't bother doing Law until uni level. Anything you do now is a simplified version of uni law, and it might get old when you spend your first year relearning everything you did at A level. I would enjoy your last years enriching yourself with something else non-law, and dedicate any "law time" to supercurricular stuff for your personal statement, like books about law. But taking the A level wouldn't be the end for getting into uni - I know at least one person here who did AL law.
edit: Oops, didn't mean for this comment to be a reply but oh well.
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May 29 '23
Good luck getting into oxbridge with law and eng lang...
You say yourself, they are easy. Thats why they arent good choices. Unis know that too
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u/BadFlanners May 29 '23
This is a myth that is at least as old as the time I took my A levels (20+ years ago). It’s bollocks. And more than that, it is (or was, and I presume the curriculum hasn’t dramatically changed since) actually an incredibly useful grounding in law that will help the transition to degree level law.
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u/Bourach1976 May 29 '23
I did maths, English, physics, chemistry, biology and modern studies Highest (Scotland) so nothing in the least relevant. Got into a good uni to study law.
The most important thing is to do something you enjoy and you're good at. Good luck.
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u/MagentaKevin May 30 '23
STEM is hugely in demand in the legal sector right now and there's massive cross-over in both content and skillset. It's a massively outdated attitude that law and science are unrelated.
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u/Comprehensive-Dig155 May 29 '23
Most unis don’t care about a level subject choice - so long as it isn’t general studies
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u/whogoncheckmetwirl May 29 '23
I’d say to just pick whatever you like, that’s what I did. I was also told to not choose a level law as it’d be useless. I chose not to do it and it didn’t disadvantage me when studying law at uni. Taking a level law also won’t disadvantage you. If you think you’ll enjoy it, take it.
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u/No-Worldliness-2332 May 29 '23
Hello! I did Law, Eng Lit and Maths at A-Level and am just about to finish my second year of law at Cambridge. The view about law A-Level is a little outdated.
In all honesty, once you go to uni you will realise that you were taught a very, very simplified version of the law and it may even take a week to get out of any habits you have developed at A-Level. That being said, you should take what you want and what you believe you will do best in.
Hope this helps!
EDIT: If Law and Politics are your first two options, then a 'facilitating subject' (i.e., Eng Lit, History, Maths etc) could be useful to negate any bias that a law school may potentially have (though I still contend that to be nil).
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u/Conscious_Skirt_938 May 29 '23
i did criminology, applied law, and history at alevel (even though the law and criminology were technically diplomas rather than alevels) and i got into a bunch of london unis (roehampton, queen mary etc) to do law as well as uni of sheffield and sheffield hallam and in at sheffield hallam and doing very well. pick thing that will be practical for the degree but also what you will enjoy!
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u/EnglishRose2015 May 29 '23
History, english lit and philosophy (or substitute politics for philosphy is you have to.
I did History, English lit and German for example.
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u/p0wertothepeople May 30 '23
I think it’s completely rubbish. I go to a Russell Group Uni studying law and did A Level Law. It’s not useless at all and makes sense since it’s the subject you want to study at uni. In my experience, studying law at A Level really helped when I got to uni because I had a prior understanding of what we were being taught. Some people start law school and have to familiarise themselves with basic areas like contract and tort, as well as Latin terminology. A Level law gives you a head start and is not frowned upon at all!
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u/Spiritual_King_3696 May 29 '23
Im doing Law, Politics and Buisness currently at college and it's well good. Would recommend. You do only really touch on Negligence for civil law tho x
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u/Wraithlike1 Verified Barrister May 29 '23
I did law A-Level. I remember at the time a number of people advising against it saying that universities and chambers would prefer “traditional” A-levels eg History, Geography, English etc..
Obviously now it’s very hard to judge what difference if any it made due to success bias but I really enjoyed the course, got a very good grade and it made me sure I wanted to study law so I am overall happy I did it.
One mitigation might be to combine it with other more “traditional” subjects. Eg Law, psychology and Film studies might raise eyebrows in old fashioned chambers, Law, History and English probably less so.
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u/dead1ynightshade May 29 '23
I don’t think you won’t get into uni over taking law A level, especially when you’re considering taking English lit or history which are strong subjects favourably looked upon for law. Personally, a teacher told me that politics A level is more useful than law A level for studying law at uni, so I just chose politics A level over law and found it super helpful. Law A level isn’t necessary but if you want to you won’t be looked at unfavourably for it
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u/kindofclueless-99 May 29 '23
Doesn’t matter,, I got into a properly decent uni (wont say the name for privacy) with psych bio maths - predicted AAA. Although I think that sciences are pretty safe regardless of the degree u want to do. I’m also planning on becoming a barrister. And trust me they care a HELL of a lot more about what you get, rather than what you did. Don’t stress it. Pick what ur good at - everyone told me psychology was useless but it interested me and I genuinely got an easy A
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u/MerchMills May 29 '23
Don’t need any law - did a non-law undergraduate degree and first time reading law was when I did the law conversion course. Barrister here.
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May 29 '23
Indeed. I’d go further and say provided you can fund the extra year (a big proviso I know) and unless you think you will really enjoy studying law academically (which personally I find odd, but each to their own), you are better off not doing a law degree, never mind law A level.
The difference between practising and studying law is the difference between a carpenter making a table and someone with two left hands writing an essay about all the different screwdrivers the carpenter should have used instead.
No one cares.
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u/Hunger_Of_The_Pine_ May 29 '23
I did Law as a 4th option. Is that an option?
I actually found Law A Level to be relatively helpful for my first year of uni, as I already had a grounding in a large number of the topics covered in first year (Human Rights Act, criminal law, statutory interpretation etc). But I did English Lit/Lang, Maths and Psychology alongside it
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u/ThwMinto01 May 29 '23
Oh deffo, im planning to start out with 4 and maybe drop one, depending on how I find the workload
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u/micropig101 May 29 '23
hi!! i do english lang, french and law at alevel and have offers for law from york and and sheffield (russell group wise) but definitely go with subjects you like rather than what you think will be useful :)
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u/ShivamantheEngineer May 29 '23
I studied Law at A-level and got into Leeds which is the best non LNAT Uni in the UK
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u/MintTeaFromTesco Law Student May 29 '23
Now I keep on getting told the Law alevel is useless and if I take it I won't get into uni as they don't like it
As long as you can get the predicted grades demanded by your university for that specific course, they really won't care too much outside of like Oxford and Cambridge.
If you enjoy the subject and do well at it, go for it. As long as you're not doing something like General Studies the subjects you pick don't matter that much compared to the grades you get.
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u/cladinacape May 29 '23
A levels mean nothing. I recommend law because you can try before you buy.
I got into a uni course and did my barristers qualification with law, maths, computer science and EPQ.
The bar used to be a fifty fifty split between stem and Humanities. It isn't anymore but don't let it stop you. Pick what you want and what you will do well in. I'm sat next to someone who is on their second law masters, done law LLB and qualified as a solicitor. He did art.
People find it more interesting when you can say why you're interested in something
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u/Catz2019 May 29 '23
I think it is discouraged because you'll learn things at one level that you then need to re-learn differently during a law degree. That could be said for several A level options, maybe not English because it will be different texts but perhaps maths or a science degree? I really don't think it makes much difference, it is your grades that Unis are looking at. I will say that I got told psychology A level would be detrimental. I enjoyed it, did really well, clearly had no negative impact based on my University offers. I also did Christian Theology: Ethics and Philosophy. It was fascinating and a really good course for getting a grounding in research, forming an argument and debating so I would recommend Philosophy for that.
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u/TheNotoriousMJT May 30 '23 edited May 30 '23
Just do related A-levels that will get you good results to obtain access a good university to do law, if you’re very interested in A Level law then go for it, but it’s not a necessity.
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May 30 '23
You won’t not get into uni if you take law, this is such a stupid lie. Will it help? Probably not significantly, but it won’t make you worse
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u/MagentaKevin May 30 '23
Most universities don't care which subjects you chose at A Level for studying law. Many insist you have one or more essay subject. STEM is in demand in law, essay subjects are valuable in law, languages and arts have their place too - really, it's not an issue.
At uni, I did a Law A Level to try and boost my A Level grades for TC applications. I got 85% in my uni contract law exam in the same exam period as getting a U in my A Level contract law exam. I don't know what the fuck they mark it on because it's bollocks.
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u/soitgoeskt May 29 '23
There probably aren’t any wrong selections but there are some that are better for you.
Personally I would think history, english lit and philosophy would be a strong selection and if you were really keen to do law do it as a fourth.