What to do in first year of law university?

[LawbeginnerSeptember2025]

Hello,

I am due to start my first year of university at Exeter for law next month, what can I do to improve my CV or likelihood of getting a training contract in my first year? My knowledge regarding what I can and can’t do is very limited so any information of what to do in my first year would be highly appreciated.

 

[3000to1shoteverytime]

You won't be eligible for many (if any) vac schemes or direct training contracts as a first year student. You should look at open days or spring weeks with firms which could be referred to in later applications to such schemes/direct applications.

 

[TCPending2027]

Hello,

I am due to start my first year of university at Exeter for law next month, what can I do to improve my CV or likelihood of getting a training contract in my first year? My knowledge regarding what I can and can’t do is very limited so any information of what to do in my first year would be highly appreciated.

Hello!

Congratulations on getting into Exeter! First year is a really great time to explore without too much pressure. As 3000to1shoteverytime mentioned, there are not many first-year schemes available, so you won't necessarily have to start applying for these things straight away. I would focus on the following things (if I could go back and do it again!):

• Joining Societies - I would absolutely join the Law Society and any others that interest you. Even beyond the networking and insight events that they will run, it's so important to meet a lot of people in your first year and try out new things!
• Open Days - I would try and attend open days at firms that you feel you may be interested in, so that you are able to refine the list of firms to apply to in the following years. It will also give you experiences and insights to draw from when you do make applications eventually, and this will really strengthen your application. If you search on TCLA, there are tons of advice on how to approach Open Day applications and information on law firms to tailor your applications.
• Build Transferable Skills - if you can juggle it alongside your studies, I would get a part-time job or volunteering role to start building transferable skills. This could even be a position of responsibility in one of the societies you join - I was on the Motorsport Society Committee during university, and this always came up in interviews!
• Stay Engaged Academically - whilst it is not the end of the world if you don't achieve the grades you would like in first year, it will be really beneficial to your applications if you do have strong grades!

In short: get involved, try new things, and don't stress about TCs just yet! It is a really great sign that you are already asking these questions, and you are clearly very motivated and will do well. Speaking from my own experiences, I didn't attend any open days/insight events in my first year, and only applied for one vacation scheme in my second year; however, I have just graduated with a TC offer. Whilst it may not feel like it, you are definitely thinking ahead of the majority of students. Wishing you the best, and I hope you enjoy freshers!

 

[LawbeginnerSeptember2025]

You won't be eligible for many (if any) vac schemes or direct training contracts as a first year student. You should look at open days or spring weeks with firms which could be referred to in later applications to such schemes/direct applications.

Thank you for the information. What would be needed to get into these open days or spring weeks?

 

[LawbeginnerSeptember2025]

Hello!

Congratulations on getting into Exeter! First year is a really great time to explore without too much pressure. As 3000to1shoteverytime mentioned, there are not many first-year schemes available, so you won't necessarily have to start applying for these things straight away. I would focus on the following things (if I could go back and do it again!):

• Joining Societies - I would absolutely join the Law Society and any others that interest you. Even beyond the networking and insight events that they will run, it's so important to meet a lot of people in your first year and try out new things!
• Open Days - I would try and attend open days at firms that you feel you may be interested in, so that you are able to refine the list of firms to apply to in the following years. It will also give you experiences and insights to draw from when you do make applications eventually, and this will really strengthen your application. If you search on TCLA, there are tons of advice on how to approach Open Day applications and information on law firms to tailor your applications.
• Build Transferable Skills - if you can juggle it alongside your studies, I would get a part-time job or volunteering role to start building transferable skills. This could even be a position of responsibility in one of the societies you join - I was on the Motorsport Society Committee during university, and this always came up in interviews!
• Stay Engaged Academically - whilst it is not the end of the world if you don't achieve the grades you would like in first year, it will be really beneficial to your applications if you do have strong grades!

In short: get involved, try new things, and don't stress about TCs just yet! It is a really great sign that you are already asking these questions, and you are clearly very motivated and will do well. Speaking from my own experiences, I didn't attend any open days/insight events in my first year, and only applied for one vacation scheme in my second year; however, I have just graduated with a TC offer. Whilst it may not feel like it, you are definitely thinking ahead of the majority of students. Wishing you the best, and I hope you enjoy freshers!

Thank you so much for your reply. It was very informative and I’ll take this advice into my first year. In terms of the course itself Exeter has 4 main modules in first year which are tested with exams and coursework. Do you have any advice of how to hit the ground running and produce work at the quality needed to achieve a first? Thank you for your time.

 

[abbietc03]

Thank you so much for your reply. It was very informative and I’ll take this advice into my first year. In terms of the course itself Exeter has 4 main modules in first year which are tested with exams and coursework. Do you have any advice of how to hit the ground running and produce work at the quality needed to achieve a first? Thank you for your time.

Hey! Just thought I'd jump in here and offer my thoughts!

I know that a lot of universities have different assessments, and for reference, mine was a mix of coursework and MCQ exams (so I'm not very knowledgeable on things such as 24-hour exams, etc.), so it'll depend on how exactly you are assessed. I just graduated this year with a first, and I found that the most useful things that I have done throughout my degree were making sure that I keep on top of the work as the year goes on. I am definitely guilty of leaving things such as coursework and revision to the last minute (and I'm not suggesting this is good practice!), but it really helped me to at least understand the material I was working with so that I wasn't having to learn new concepts all within a week. In general, making sure that I actually understood the concept and didn't just remember the wording of it was really important to me, and I think it is definitely best practice, especially for exams and problem questions.

I also would say that you really do need to look at the action words in your assessments - if it's asking you to critically analyse, making sure that you are analysing the information that you are providing. So, for example, if you provide a resource/argument that supports the viewpoint of your essay, you need to make sure that you also discuss this in relation to counterarguments, and highlight why the viewpoint that you have taken is the stronger one. This is something that I really struggled with at first, but I like to think of it as having a debate within the essay.

I think it also really helps to be engaged with your seminar tutors and contribute to discussions where you can. I am someone who really dreaded getting cold-called in lectures, and it is definitely a scary thing, but I actually found that in the lectures/seminars where this happened, I would retain the information more. There is also nothing worse than a really awkward silence during a seminar, so I always used to at least give it a go if no one else said anything.

Sort of briefly building on that, absolutely get to know your lecturers! I had the same personal tutor for the first two years of my degree, and then after my placement year, he ended up being my EU law lecturer in my final year. This was definitely a topic that I thought I would really struggle with (after disliking public law), and it was really beneficial for me to know that I was comfortable asking him the 'silly questions'. He would also offer to meet up and go through a subunit if I missed a lecture/seminar due to an event/appointment, and this really helped me keep on track, and I ended up with 78% in the module.

The other main thing that I changed between my second year (average of around 70/72%) and final year (78/80%) was proofreading and rewriting my answer as I went. This may sound silly, but I always used to really struggle with proofreading because I would just miss little grammar and spelling errors, and I would honestly dread reading through it all again. However, it really helped me to start working in a sort of 'draft' system, where after I finished a first draft of my essay, I would 'proofread' it by rewriting it on a separate document and checking for mistakes as I went. It was a bit of a chaotic system as I ended up with so many drafts at the end of it, but I found this also really helped in highlighting where my work didn't read very well, and I could reword it to make it more coherent and clear.

I hope that the above makes sense (and helps!). If you have any other questions, please do feel free to ask or DM me, and I'd be happy to go through it with you