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I cannot believe I am just over one year through my Legal Practice Course (LPC) course. Back in mid-January 2022, I sat my last core exam in business law and practice and it feels such a relief to say that I have now sat all my core modules!

Since then, I delved straight into studying for my solicitors accounts and legal research skills exams. In this LCN blog post, I discuss snippets of wisdom (and somewhat reassurance) that I wish I had known from the beginning of my course.

Preparation for lessons

On induction, I know that many of my peers (myself included) felt overwhelmed and a little anxious by the total amount of hours you’re encouraged to spend on each lesson. For my friends who are currently starting the LPC, I encourage them to remain calm and do their best.  

Sometimes, you might not be able to do all the preparation for your lessons (life throws many curveballs) especially if you’re working alongside study. Just try and do as much as you can and if there are tasks you haven’t completed…try not to worry. The best advice I had was to always attend your lessons as you can still learn something, while figuring it all out.

Revision

I returned to study after a few years, and it had been a while since undertaking exams. Strange to say but I worried that I had forgotten how to revise. During my first module, I tried various revision techniques to get back into the swing of things. Now after a few exams, here is what works for me:

• Print your solutions to your lesson activities as you go along. Every Sunday evening, I try to do this as this saves time during exam season and makes you feel prepared at the end of the module.
• Use your solutions as your revision notes rather than re-writing them out. I used to love writing my notes, but I must be cautious with managing my upper body pain. I realised my solutions told me everything I needed to know. Therefore, I now make small notes on the side of the text to indicate what information I need from the document.
• If you like listening to podcasts while walking, try listening to your online lectures. It’s a great way to absorb the information while doing something different.
• Tabbing your revision/exam notes using different colours for subtopics is incredibly helpful in exams. It helps you find your notes quickly. Also, there are some brilliant random tabs out there, using an array of cat tabs helped to lighten my mood during civil litigation!

If you’re a fan of podcasts, check out the LawCareers.Net Podcast.

Online teaching

When applying for my course, I applied for in-person teaching. Initially, I was anxious that I wouldn’t learn as well or that sitting exams online would be to my detriment. I was of the belief that I would return to in-person teaching as soon as the centres opened.

After being offered to return to in-person teaching, I remained online! I absolutely love learning from home as the flexibility works so well for my learning and managing my disability. Of course, it would be great to meet my tutors in person.

However, I’m enjoying learning online and enjoy the fact that I can shut down my laptop and enjoy my Saturday evening instantly rather than face a two-hour commute.

My biggest recommendation would be to not be afraid to ask questions in your online lessons.

Contact your personal Tutor

I have built a great relationship with my personal tutor who has been invaluable during this course. My tutor has been there to answer any questions regarding disability support, module-specific or general questions about the course.

I would strongly advise meeting with your tutor as it’s brilliant to have that one point of call – especially on an online course.