And so it Begins!
September 17, 2012
The First Few Weeks
September 24, 2012
For those of you who are starting the LPC this year, term may have already begun. The first week or so will be an induction period where you will be enrolled, set into tutorial groups and generally allowed to find your feet. After that though, the work starts in earnest.
Before the work starts piling up, it would be useful to look at the year ahead. Most LPC courses follow a similar structure:
- Professional Conduct (including Solicitors’ Accounts)
- Taxation
- Wills and administration of Estates
- Core Modules of Business, Property and Litigation (both Civil and Criminal)
Many people describe the LPC year as ‘intense’. This was certainly true for me; the amount of work and time required is a big jump from an undergraduate course. GDL students may have a bit of a heads up of what is to come; the conversion year is similarly work heavy.
Many people describe the LPC year as ‘intense’
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It is worth remembering at this stage is that the aim of the LPC is to pass – with as good a grade as you can achieve. It is treated as a pre-requisite for training contracts and rarely anything more. I saw a lot of fellow students risking completion of the year by almost burning out before Christmas. Only do additional work for top marks if you have the time to do so; don’t jeopardise the rest of your year for extra credit.
Getting organised from the beginning will give you a chance to be able to manage the workload. You might consider the following to help you keep on top of your work:
- forming a study group to share the work and note taking between a few friends
- have a separate note-book or pad for each core area – if you don’t have time to write them up straight away, they will at least be kept in the same place
- diarise all your key dates with a reminder the week before
- if you have the time, look ahead to the next topic area
- remember to give yourself a break!
One thing I wish I had realised earlier is that the exams are open book. The quality of the notes you take right from the word go might really make a difference on exam day. My notes at the start were not particularly organised and I found I had to re-do a large amount of my early notes so they would be useful in the exams. Putting a little extra effort in now will save you time later on!
I will be letting you know what to expect from the LPC and providing hints and tips to help you on your way, roughly following the course timetable so that hopefully all the important parts of the course are covered. I am happy to take any suggestions and answer your questions – send me an email or a tweet and I will do my best to answer your queries.
Look out for the next post and I wish you the best of luck for the up and coming year.
