Only for lawyers?
When I first started doing Law A Level I found it very difficult to get to grips with. A lot of it seemed very dry, but as the course went on, I began to see the relevance of all the facts.
We always finished off the lessons with a discussion on any cases we had seen on the news and had an opinion on. This was a useful thing to do as it related what we were learning to current events. Also, it is great as a Law student to be able to give the legal facts and explain themn when you are having discussions with your family/friends about current cases in the news.
The syllabus we followed (AQA Exam Board) was 1 year of the English Legal System, which involves judges, jury and the court system amongst other topics, and 1 year of Criminal Law.
Criminal law was definitely the most interesting part of the syllabus for me. We covered topics such as theft and murder. It's great when the teacher says "we'll be doing murder next week"! It was really interesting to learn about the law and about our rights.
Did you know, for example, that to be convicted of assault no contact has to be made? The definition of assault is causing someone fear or to feel threatened. The actual application of force is called battery in legal terms. One subject I would like to have covered (this is going to sound all wrong) is rape, but at A Level they don't study crimes of a sexual nature. In a way, I can see why this is, but it would be very interesting and useful to be informed of the law in that area.
The course that I did had no course work and was assessed by 3X3 hour exams at the end of the second year. It depends what board you are with though. I found the exams quite straightforward and interesting! But maybe I'm just weird!
Admittedly, some of the topics were difficult and uninteresting, such as European Law, but we also learned interesting things. One of them was about a case that got thrown out because the jury had used a ouija board in their hotel to give them their verdict!
To anyone considering studying Law at A Level, I would say that is it useful to anyone, not just those considering Law as a profession. Indeed, Law A Level is not necessary to do a Law degree. It is considered a good subject by universities as it involves weighing up facts and making cases for an against statements.
I worked very hard at Law and came out with an A grade at the end, which I was chuffed with. I am proof that anyone can do it!
Also, if I decide to go into Law after finishing my degree then I will always have my Law A Level to help me. You don't need a Law degree to become a lawyer (solicitor or barrister). With any degree, you can do a one year conversion course and then do the relevant training after that. I like to keep my options open-maybe I will become a lawyer, but then maybe I will become a journalist, or a teacher, or an actress. Ha ha, maybe. There are so many people studying Law nowadays, I can't help wondering if the world actually needs all that many lawyers. I suppose in our compensation crazy society though, there will always be a job for a lawyer.
Reproduced with the permission of Dooyoo UK Ltd