BPP LPC help. 3Days?

Jane Smith

Legendary Member
Sep 2, 2020
229
206
Hope it all went well today for everyone in the last core subjects exam today.

Paper 1 BLP was apparently harder than yesterday's first BLP exam and the twins said you had to think more. Hopefully they have still done okay.

The twins said afterwards that there may have been a reference to a sum of £13k and £15k when only one figure was meant, but did not think it affected the answer so probably does not matter. It may have been a typo in the paper. So one of my two did write in his answer - assuming that £13k should have been £15k (or the other way round - I cannot remember exactly what they just told me). The other twin noticed it too but did not comment on the discrepancy in the answer. Or may be the twins were just wrong about the typo in the paper. It certainly did not sound important.

Now I can take my house off "silent mode" until the next set of exams.
 
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h1

Esteemed Member
Oct 12, 2020
83
266
Hope it all went well today for everyone in the last core subjects exam today.

Paper 1 BLP was apparently harder than yesterday's first BLP exam and the twins said you had to think more. Hopefully they have still done okay.

The twins said afterwards that there may have been a reference to a sum of £13k and £15k when only one figure was meant, but did not think it affected the answer so probably does not matter. It may have been a typo in the paper. So one of my two did write in his answer - assuming that £13k should have been £15k (or the other way round - I cannot remember exactly what they just told me). The other twin noticed it too but did not comment on the discrepancy in the answer. Or may be the twins were just wrong about the typo in the paper. It certainly did not sound important.

Now I can take my house off "silent mode" until the next set of exams.
Thanks! Yes there was £18,000 in the facts and then £15,000 in the question. I just went on the assumption of £18k and did not mention the discrepancy.
 

Kubed

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Junior Lawyer 49
  • Nov 25, 2020
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    Hi everyone,

    Hope your exams have gone well! I'm due to start the LPC in September. The general advice I've seen suggests that I don't need to worry about doing any/too much prep before I start aside from any pre-course tasks that I'll no doubt get access to ahead of my course.

    However, is there anything anyone would recommend reading up on (or reviewing from the GDL)? Any resources that you can recommend?

    My TC offer is dependant upon achieving a commendation so I really want to give myself as much of a head start as possible.

    Thanks in advance.
     

    Jane Smith

    Legendary Member
    Sep 2, 2020
    229
    206
    I am just an interfering lawyer mother with twins on the LPC so not sure of the best resources to read but it is very good you are keen and want to read materials in advance. My twins found business L&P easier this year because they did company law the year before on the GDL so if you have done any company law before it might be worth re-reading your notes.

    h1, on the discrepancy that is what one of my twins did - not mention it. He did worry there was some kind of financial limit in legislation that meant that the difference mattered but his twin,when they were comparing notes after, reminded him the level of threshold of which he was thinking was £10k so a £13k and £15k difference would not matter anyway. Anyway people can have a rest now and most of next week (except when they are getting on with the 4 hours accounts preparation for the week after next).

    I summarised this coming skills' term for the twins and in case of interest to others my very rough notes (which may not be 100% accurate) are below and it is all on the Hub anyway under the various topic/subject headings:-
    Small group sessions (SGS) - in these 4 listed below only (wills is self taught and I think there was a legal research and writing session last term). There are about seven SGSs in total from about 31 Jan to the end of the skills term so, as so few, it seems worth making sure people attend them all.

    Accounts

    Interviewing

    Conduct

    Advocacy


    Then exams in the following 4 in about usual half term week /mid Feb :-

    1. Legal research - answer over a 2 day period

    2. Writing - answer over a 2 day period

    3. Wills 10 MCQs. Week to do it in and takes 90 mins. Self study.

    4. Advocacy . Must upload your recording well in time. They also issue 2 weeks before some materials to study. FOUR MINUTES OF THE CANDIDATE TALKING IS THE EXERCISE. Also there is a week to do a special test of their P. software.

    Then mocks in Interviewing and in Conduct in the week off before those exams. Then later the exams below:

    5. Professional Conduct. Proctored exam

    6. Solicitors' Accounts . Written answer and MCQs. No soft copies in exam.

    7. Interviewing 20 minutes, online using Teams. Take print outs only into session. Few days before told the time of your session and tutor watches you during it and gives feedback. Recording held then by BPP.


    So that is 7 exams as above from mid Feb week to about week of 8 March, but I suspect from when my two daughters did this it will be less pressured than all those core subjects of last term and the recent exams.
     
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    h1

    Esteemed Member
    Oct 12, 2020
    83
    266
    Hi everyone,

    Hope your exams have gone well! I'm due to start the LPC in September. The general advice I've seen suggests that I don't need to worry about doing any/too much prep before I start aside from any pre-course tasks that I'll no doubt get access to ahead of my course.

    However, is there anything anyone would recommend reading up on (or reviewing from the GDL)? Any resources that you can recommend?

    My TC offer is dependant upon achieving a commendation so I really want to give myself as much of a head start as possible.

    Thanks in advance.
    I've found the LawAnswered book really helpful as someone that did the LLB and did no company topics (but the book covers all core practice areas and skills). It is expensive though.
     
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    Jane Smith

    Legendary Member
    Sep 2, 2020
    229
    206
    Yes, Law Answered I have heard mentioned too. I think my twins have obtained Liam Porritt's LPC notes https://liamporritt.com/law-notes which they found useful (from what I see at a distance as a parent in the house).

    On company law it was never part of the GDL until BPP's last year's PGDL which my twins took. I chose company law as a module during my LLB (a very long time ago) which helped when I did my Solicitors Finals (the course before the LPC came in).

    The LPC this academic year for BPP and presumably next is allowing students a choice of online or in person exams. Most of my posts above have been about technical issues of online proctored (webcam) exams. My conculsion is that they have worked very well and any issues have been worked out quickly. So for a new candidate I expect BPP will try to keep that option for later years too. University of Law by the way is having everyone do in person exams this academic year. It will be interesting to see if they give any statistics out about how many of BPP London LPC students pick online and how many in person exams this academic year and if there are differences in the marks (first results out end of April 2022 for this year) - you can type online but it can take longer to scroll up and down to look at materials on the one screen you are allowed to have open and you are not allowed to print out the exam paper (although you can take anything else you like on paper into the exam) which I would certainly find very frustrating as when in a rush I often do print clients' documents and emails out so I have things spread out around me on my desk. So there are certainly pros and cons. My twins have friends in their BPP Group doing exams in person and others online. My sons picked online. This year BPP asked people to choose near the start of September term as they were probably having to work out what exam halls they may need to book in advance etc. As my son's PGDL online exams went fine mine stuck with that. I think for them it was the right choice and they type very fast.
     
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    Jane Smith

    Legendary Member
    Sep 2, 2020
    229
    206
    I will shut up in a minute but just noticed a BPP Announcement on the Hub about the timetables now being visible for everyone now (they had not been for all). We checked those and one SGS in my twins' case is no longer there they had been having one on 2 Feb of a same subject the week after. So if anyone did put the dates in their diaries in December as we did double check again as there may be something to remove. So if looks like mine have one SGS in week of 31 Jan (not two) and 3 the week after and two 2 weeks after that.
     

    Jane Smith

    Legendary Member
    Sep 2, 2020
    229
    206
    Thanks so much @Jane Smith :)

    Just wondering how did everyone do for the PCR/Writing mocks? Can't help but notice that the marking is a little bit strict and also scarce in feedback?
    Both twins passed writing and failed the practical research mock which is bit surprising as they usually pass things. I don't post their marks in general but this is just a mock etc. Hopefully they will do better in the real thing.
    This is useful for those wondering about the consequences of failing any of these skills exams this term - you can still keep your distinction or merit etc even if you have to resit a skills exam although you must of course pass on your resit or re-resit. Below from the LPC handbook

    "Notes:

    1. All Course Skills and Other Core Modules must be passed within the three available attempts to pass the LPC overall but do not have to be passed at first attempt to obtain a commendation or a distinction.

    2. The aggregated, weighted percentage mark is the average mark the candidate obtains across all the Core Practice Area and the three Vocational Elective programme modules (with each module weighted in proportion to the number of credits attributed to it)."
     

    Jane Smith

    Legendary Member
    Sep 2, 2020
    229
    206
    There are two announcements on the hub quite recently about the forthcoming exams next week (skills subjects) - dated 9th and 10th Feb. A few random points from that are:
    - they say you should have received an email around 14 Jan with Panopto software link and account user name (BPP email address) and your own password needed for Advocacy. One of my sons had an email Jan 2021 (not 2022) from the PGDL (not LPC) with his Panopto account details from 12 months ago.
    - Secondly the test submission deadline (to test the software) is tomorrow 9am - this is for testing the software and his twin says he did not have the softeare but managed a test recording today (so perhaps his laptop already still have the software on and his account from the year before on the PGDL).
    - The advocacy scenario is available from 9am tomorrow Friday 11 Feb to look at.

    The various deadlines for the upcoming assessments are also in the email (research/writing, wills and advocacy)

    They also give the conduct assessment date - 8 March and accounts assessment date 9 March - both proctored on Inspera. If you want to sit those two on paper instead you need to complete a survey in the notice even if you sat exams on paper in January. If you want to continue online (as my twins do) then you do not have to fill out the survey.
     
    Last edited:

    Putt5353

    Well-Known Member
    Nov 20, 2021
    22
    30
    There are two announcements on the hub quite recently about the forthcoming exams next week (skills subjects) - dated 9th and 10th Feb. A few random points from that are:
    - you should have received an email around 14 Jan with Panopto software link and account user name (BPP email address) and your own password needed for Advocacy.
    - Secondly the test submission deadline (to test the software) is tomorrow 9am - this is for testing the software.
    - The advocacy scenario is available from 9am tomorrow Friday 11 Feb to look at.

    The various deadlines for the upcoming assessments are also in the email (research/writing, wills and advocacy)

    They also give the conduct assessment date - 8 March and accounts assessment date 9 March - both proctored on Inspera. If you want to sit those two on paper instead you need to complete a survey in the notice even if you sat exams on paper in January. If you want to continue online (as my twins do) then you do not have to fill out the survey.
    Hi Jane, I can’t see the updates on the Hub, the last thing I can see under news and information is from 19th Jan and was about face coverings - am I looking in the right place?

    thanks again for your updates!
     

    Jane Smith

    Legendary Member
    Sep 2, 2020
    229
    206
    It is never easy to find. I believe it is on the Hub under "My Learning" then "Programme Information" then "Announcements" then "September 2021". In my view it would be much better if BPP also always sent these announcements by email to students at the same time. The fact you have to go in effect four clicks in at least to find the announcements specifically for the LPC is very confusing.

    I considered posting the last two of the announcements here but they are quite long and BPP might not like it I suppose. If you cannot find them on the above on the Hub just let me know on here.
     
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    Putt5353

    Well-Known Member
    Nov 20, 2021
    22
    30
    It is never easy to find. I believe it is on the Hub under "My Learning" then "Programme Information" then "Announcements" then "September 2021". In my view it would be much better if BPP also always sent these announcements by email to students at the same time. The fact you have to go in effect four clicks in at least to find the announcements specifically for the LPC is very confusing.

    I considered posting the last two of the announcements here but they are quite long and BPP might not like it I suppose. If you cannot find them on the above on the Hub just let me know on here.
    Ah amazing - thanks so much! I’ve finally found the right page, but I only have access to the Jan 2022 start announcements page, even though I’m part of the September 2021 intake . I’ll raise a student query form and see if they can fix it for me.
     

    Putt5353

    Well-Known Member
    Nov 20, 2021
    22
    30
    If you want me to email it to you just send me an anonymous email address and I can do so as sometimes it takes a while for BPP hub queries to be handled and the exams are next week.
    My tutor sent me an email with the info in this afternoon so I’m ok for now, but thanks for your help - I messaged some others in my class today and it turns out quite a few have the same issue!
     

    Jane Smith

    Legendary Member
    Sep 2, 2020
    229
    206
    Yet another announcement went up on the Hub on Friday 11th. There was nothing new about the exams in it. It did mention the Electives as follows and I only mention because it gives a few dates and mentions hard copy materials being posted (similar to the kind of materials I presume which students received in September).
    "Timetable for Electives

    Elective teaching will start in the week commencing 28 March 2022 and we are currently in the process of setting up individual timetables.
    Please note the following very important information:
    1. The timetable for elective teaching will be available two weeks before the start of teaching (please ignore anything that appears in your timetable until we notify you that it has been finalised);
    2. No amendments to your elective choices can be made. The only exception to this is if you obtain a training contract between now and the start of elective teaching and the training contract provider provides written confirmation that they require you to study particular electives;
    3. The programme team will not answer any questions relating to your electives timetable or access to the Hub for your elective subjects before the week commencing 14 March 2022.
    4. Students will be emailed an order form link for hard copy materials by the BPP Materials Team by approximately the end of February. We currently estimate that materials will be delivered to the address you supply within 5-7 working days after we have received your details. If you have not received the order form link by close of business on Friday 4 March you should email [email protected]. Please do not email before this date."
     

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