7 Mistakes Law Students Make In UK Law Exams

Exams can sometimes seem like a chore and quite unnecessary. You learn some stuff to write it down on a piece of paper. Where’s the practical knowledge? How will you know actually to use that knowledge? 

While those questions are valid and knowing how and when to apply your knowledge is important, it also cannot be denied that exams are also important. This is especially true if you are a law student.

Exams are a high-pressure and stressful environment. People surround you, most of them seemingly flying through the exam; sometimes, when someone asks for an extra answering sheet or hands in their exam early, it makes one lose confidence in themselves. In addition to that, being under the piercing and intimidating eye of the invigilator, one can say that taking an exam is good practice for fighting a case in court. 

Students also want to show that they have learned and know the laws, and thus, they want to get good grades in their exams. However, even if they work hard to get good grades, almost every student makes a few mistakes. It’s always better to play safe and know the mistakes so you can avoid them. Here is a list of the 7 most common mistakes students make in law exam help Online.

1. Ignoring the Latest Legal Updates & Changes

When preparing for your exams, what do you do? Do you go through your books and online materials? Read notes from class? Study resource material is given to you by your teacher? Do you think that’s enough?

In most cases, yes. However, as a law student, you should not just be aware of events and policies that took place in the past; you should also be connected to the modern world and aware of any changes that might have been made recently. 

You see, laws aren’t written in stone; they can change according to the climate of the society and era. You should skim through legal journals and regularly check online for any changes that might have been made. 

2. Not Reading Question Properly

While this might sound obvious, students are often in a hurry to research or answer the question. Meanwhile, they might not even have understood the question properly. Sometimes, you may just glance at the question or by just reading a few words; you may come to a premature conclusion about what the question is asking of you.

If that happens, then it doesn’t matter how hard you’ve worked on it or how well you have written the answer. It won’t matter because you haven’t answered what the teacher is looking for. It’s like asking someone, “Where do you live?” and then answering, “My favorite color is blue”. Your answer may be correct, but it’s not what you were asked.

To avoid making such a common mistake in law essay that would make you kick yourself in the future, you should read the question carefully. It may also help if you underline or circle the important words like evaluate, describe, etc. Also, highlighting phrases that may provide you with keywords or some idea of what the question is about can be helpful.

3. Not Researching

If you have understood the question properly, then you need to get started on answering the question. One of the most important steps in writing an answer that will give you high marks is researching your topic well.

The first place to start is probably your lecture notes. Your teacher is probably the one who has set up the exam question, and therefore, they must have mentioned the topic in lectures as well. They might have also mentioned some other resources that you can use. If you have a textbook, then use it as it might contain information not given during the lecture or additional resources.

If you don’t do research well, then it will show in your exam as it may come off as not well written. You may not have good theories or arguments, which will make the answer shallow. Another thing to keep in mind is to use multiple resources because if you rely too heavily on one resource, then the teacher might assume that you didn’t understand the topic well or that you hadn’t done the necessary research.

4. Writing What You Want to and Not What You Need To

UK law students

Has this ever happened to you? You revise and learn something so well that you know you will ace it in the exam, but as luck would have it, your question has nothing to do with it. This may lead you to write an essay you want to rather than the one you need to.

This is because you may want to show off what you know, and thus, you try to shoehorn your topic into the answer, even If it doesn’t make sense. This will just elongate the answer and cause you to lose marks as it’s not relevant.

I know it’s frustrating, but being frustrated is better than losing senseless marks. However, you should also keep in mind that what you have learned is not wasted and will more likely come into use at one time or another. Just remember to read the question, understand it, and then write the answer with the correct and necessary content.

5. Not Planning

When writing an answer, it is important to make it coherent and have your point come across. You have to keep in mind that you won’t be there, so your writing will be the talking. This means that your answer content, writing style, and answer structure should be almost perfect.

This is why planning is important: if you simply dive into writing the answer, it isn’t possible to pay proper attention to the aforementioned things. By outlining, you can write down the key points and main ideas that need to be covered. You can link them to one another and ensure the flow of the passage while also making notes on how to write certain things.

Another thing you can do is write down a word count you want to spend on each point, which will allow you to reach your word count and not have to reduce the word count in the end, which will just add to your frustration of not ending soon.

6. Understanding Don’t Memorize

As law students, you would have to learn about many policies and definitions and the meaning of terms. But learning them is not enough. You also need to understand them and know how to apply them in real life. That is what separates the good students from the excellent students. 

Memorizing terms is important, but you should also know how and where to use them. This is where it might be helpful to relate these terminologies to practical situations and see how they fit in them. 

To know that you fully understand something, it is better to explain it to another person and see if they understand it. Einstein said it best, “You do not understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.”

So, if you can explain to your grandmother what a civil contract or legal contract is, then you’ve probably understood those things quite well.

7. Poor Time Management

During their exams, students sometimes write a few great answers, and they feel very good, that is, until they see the clock and see that they have spent most of their time answering just one or two questions and that more than half of their exam is left! This leads to rushed answers or sometimes even the inability to write answers!

I know that science says that days on Earth are getting shorter by 0.07 milliseconds per day; I wish we could use that as an excuse for not answering a question or giving rushed answers. But in reality, we cannot.

Students need to understand that time stops for no one, and they need to allocate enough time for each topic. See what’s more important and then give them the necessary time. 

Get UK Law Exam Help

As we have mentioned before, Law exams are very tough and pressure-inducing. You also have to be updated with the present law and policies and aware of past events. This may be difficult and daunting, and you may not have understood many things in your lectures. 

Some students may not be good Law writers, or they might not know how to do research. In such cases, students of law in the UK and abroad can use law exams to help. They help you study for your exam, understand policies, and even help you answer your exams. These people are professionals and experts, so they are aware of what the teachers want and can get you good grades.

Conclusion

Those mentioned above are a few things you can do to get good grades in your law examinations. Remember to be confident in your answer and study well. Give it your all, hope for the best, and get help if you feel overwhelmed.