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If you’re like many law students, you’re currently in limbo between the end of second year and waiting to start the final year of your undergraduate degree. So, what should you do to prepare for your last year and the modules that you’ve chosen?  

Prepare for teaching styles 

As for any form of educator, each lecturer will have their own form of teaching, and will do so in the style they find most effective and best suits their style. If you’re at a smaller university, it's likely that some of your third-year lecturers may have already led a module in which you've previously taken part. What I've found to be helpful in these situations is to go back and revisit the work completed with said lecturer. As I've done 12 modules (with some modules having lecturers that I'd previously been taught by) in the time I've spent at university, having to skip between differing styles can be a challenge. I've found that going back to revisit this previous work has helped me to prepare for new modules with tutors.  

Do some pre-reading 

Listen, I totally get it: no one wants to do the pre-reading, but unfortunately it is very helpful! When you’re heading into a new module with a lot of new and different concepts, it's important to get that solid base knowledge to prepare for the months ahead, especially with the importance of third year exams. I’m going to be taking medical law next year and, like many students in the same position, I've absolutely no idea about anything to do with medical law. There are numerous resources available for any module to help prepare you. Whether you’re an old head who has a grand textbook collection, or prefer online resources such as this very website, there are various options for every law student. 

Chill out 

A cop out answer? Maybe. However, it's a very valid one. Third year is notoriously the most stressful; it's of course the final year of your undergraduate course and at many universities counts the most towards the end result of your degree. It's for this very reason that you should make the most of not having to deal with the stresses and hard work that comes with this final year.

Following the conclusion of the third year, if you’re following the route of completing the Solicitor Qualifying Exam (SQE), you might straight into a legal job (eg, paralegal) or training programme in order to get your qualifying work experience. Alongside this you'll of course have to take the SQE assessments, and then hopefully go straight into yet another legal job. All of this is to say that this is more than likely going to be the last significant break from the law that you ever have, and as many people who've been working in law for most of their life will tell you: make the most of it.