LPC Help?

[Pinter]

Hi!

Can anyone give me the best way to prepare for workshops on the LPC? I just feel as though I am wasting a large proportion of time and was hoping someone could give me some guidance as to how best to prepare?

Currently I do the following (because its online we dont physically attend the workshop)

1. Do the reading and highlight the book
2. I then make table notes using the things I highlighted in the book
3. Watch any lectures/tutorials
4. Attend the workshop

Currently I am doing my electives and its taking me an absolute age to complete all of this, almost 2 days working 9-5 and alot of my peers have suggested that I am wasting time in making the notes as I can take the book into the exam with me?

 

[IntrepidL]

Hi, I would definitely recommend taking notes. I did the LPC exam, and there is really not enough time to flick through the pages during the exam, even though the book is there.

Instead of reading through the entire textbook, I recommend tailoring your notes to the outcomes and learning objectives of each workshop first. Also, ensure you have detailed notes on the questions that are covered in the workshops since the examinations usually cover workshop materials. I would also recommend doing the specimen paper AT LEAST a week before the examinations. While doing the LPC, I found that there was a certain way which markers wanted you to answer the questions, so it's good to familiarise yourself with the specimen and the exemplar answers before the exams, so you are comfortable with how the questions are phrased and the style to adopt when answering the questions.

I think only after tailoring your notes to the outcomes of each workshop should you read and make notes on the rest of the book - just to study more efficiently.

 

[Alice G]

Hi!

Can anyone give me the best way to prepare for workshops on the LPC? I just feel as though I am wasting a large proportion of time and was hoping someone could give me some guidance as to how best to prepare?

Currently I do the following (because its online we dont physically attend the workshop)

1. Do the reading and highlight the book
2. I then make table notes using the things I highlighted in the book
3. Watch any lectures/tutorials
4. Attend the workshop

Currently I am doing my electives and its taking me an absolute age to complete all of this, almost 2 days working 9-5 and alot of my peers have suggested that I am wasting time in making the notes as I can take the book into the exam with me?

Just to add my two cents here too - we all learn and work very differently. At university, I was often holed away for longer hours than my immediate friends doing the same course - I am someone who needs to be sure of my understanding and the best ways of working for me are extensive note-taking, consolidation of notes in revision cards/spider diagrams and listening to lectures etc. I think that to be honest - if this is working for you and it is sustainable (even if very time-consuming) I think you are putting yourself in the best position to perform well for the exams. Otherwise. I would query whether you are note-taking effectively. If you are writing pages of notes for a chapter of reading then maybe you are not doing as well as you could in terms of noting the 'need to know with nice extras to also bear in mind'. It could well be that you are indeed noting everything required - just something to maybe query and think about

You sound like a really committed student - keep pushing and I am sure you will be rewarded with the end result.

 

[Pinter]

Hi, I would definitely recommend taking notes. I did the LPC exam, and there is really not enough time to flick through the pages during the exam, even though the book is there.

Instead of reading through the entire textbook, I recommend tailoring your notes to the outcomes and learning objectives of each workshop first. Also, ensure you have detailed notes on the questions that are covered in the workshops since the examinations usually cover workshop materials. I would also recommend doing the specimen paper AT LEAST a week before the examinations. While doing the LPC, I found that there was a certain way which markers wanted you to answer the questions, so it's good to familiarise yourself with the specimen and the exemplar answers before the exams, so you are comfortable with how the questions are phrased and the style to adopt when answering the questions.

I think only after tailoring your notes to the outcomes of each workshop should you read and make notes on the rest of the book - just to study more efficiently.

Hi Thanks for this!

A lot of people in my workshops dont do the reading and just skim it, for me I tend to do the reading and still struggle to answer the prep and workshop tasks which is what has made me question my method. For my core modules I had a lot of spare time but now I have accepted a role as a paralegal during my elective period and I am really struggling to prepare how I usually would and I was just looking to see if my previous method was really efficient or just more panic stations

 

[Pinter]

Just to add my two cents here too - we all learn and work very differently. At university, I was often holed away for longer hours than my immediate friends doing the same course - I am someone who needs to be sure of my understanding and the best ways of working for me are extensive note-taking, consolidation of notes in revision cards/spider diagrams and listening to lectures etc. I think that to be honest - if this is working for you and it is sustainable (even if very time-consuming) I think you are putting yourself in the best position to perform well for the exams. Otherwise. I would query whether you are note-taking effectively. If you are writing pages of notes for a chapter of reading then maybe you are not doing as well as you could in terms of noting the 'need to know with nice extras to also bear in mind'. It could well be that you are indeed noting everything required - just something to maybe query and think about

You sound like a really committed student - keep pushing and I am sure you will be rewarded with the end result.

Hi Alice!

I am so with you! I constantly feel like I need to add more detail to my notes and others turn up with 1 page and here I am with a whole folder

The thing is when I was doing my core modules I had a lot of free time to burn through so extensive note taking and highlighting the whole book to stop me panicking was not an issue. More recently, I took on a role as a paralegal and I am really struggling to make the same extensive notes as before, I end up skimming the book and highlighting and making brief notes and whilst it is HUGELY beneficial in terms of saving time it has me on edge about the exam as I always feel like I will be under prepared (I, like you, dont feel ready until I have extensive notes and until I cover every possible exam scenario I feel nervous, although, this is not to suggest my method is at all the best, rather it is a huge waste of time but without it I feel a bit lost HA!

 

[Alice G]

Hi Alice!

I am so with you! I constantly feel like I need to add more detail to my notes and others turn up with 1 page and here I am with a whole folder

The thing is when I was doing my core modules I had a lot of free time to burn through so extensive note taking and highlighting the whole book to stop me panicking was not an issue. More recently, I took on a role as a paralegal and I am really struggling to make the same extensive notes as before, I end up skimming the book and highlighting and making brief notes and whilst it is HUGELY beneficial in terms of saving time it has me on edge about the exam as I always feel like I will be under prepared (I, like you, dont feel ready until I have extensive notes and until I cover every possible exam scenario I feel nervous, although, this is not to suggest my method is at all the best, rather it is a huge waste of time but without it I feel a bit lost HA!

Hi there!

Ok so I definitely understand what you mean here. With the paralegal role, are you able to reduce your hours when it is nearing revision so that you might have more time to feel better prepared? Are you also revising in such a way that you aren't trying to learn things you may not need to? I am yet to do the PGDL but know you will only typically need to revise X amount of topics as you can select your exam questions on the back of those topics or something.

I would really take an hour to read and research into different study techniques to see if there are any you haven't tried which might help. I am doing that this August when I am finished with full-time work as prep for the PGDL. I might share the things I find in the forum so keep an eye out for this too and I will try to remember to post a link here if I do

 

[Nat]

This may help.

 

[Asmee DC]

Hello!

This may seem like a silly question but I can't really find any information on it online. Is it better to hand write or type reading notes? I'm beginning the pre-module readings for the LPC and it's more effective for me to type lecture notes, however I'm not entirely sure which is better for the readings.

Thanks!

 

[lawyer foru]

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY LPC ELECTIVE NOTES PLEASE

 

[hd112211]

Just to add my two cents, having completed the LPC late last year (initially in person, but switched to distance once the pandemic hit).

Reading and taking notes is down to personal preference I think. Everyone has a slightly different best practice, so do what works for you. Do remember that there are various help guides and note packs out there which summarise the key points.

However when it comes to the open book exams, I would definitely recommend leveraging your notes as much as possible. Of course there is a lot of content within each module of the LPC so organising your notes and knowing exactly where everything is located is absolutely key.
What worked for me was to divide and label topics within a module and colour code the categories of knowledge. For example within Business Law & Practice, Board meetings, I would colour code and label the case study examples one colour, key knowledge another colour, and precedents another colour.
I then created an index of all the topics listing all the categories within for quick reference.

If you have your notes all digitally, then a index/contents page is useful with built in links to each page, making it quick and easy to search and jump to specific parts.

 

[hd112211]

Hello!

This may seem like a silly question but I can't really find any information on it online. Is it better to hand write or type reading notes? I'm beginning the pre-module readings for the LPC and it's more effective for me to type lecture notes, however I'm not entirely sure which is better for the readings.

Thanks!

I think it comes down to how comfortable you feel with hand-written notes vs digital notes when it comes to actually using them. Be it for reference during your tutorials, for revisions, or for the exams themselves.

Typing up notes has its benefits, such as referencing or searching them. However if you have a particular system for memorisation such as colour coding or mind-mapping then hand-writing them may be easier.

In short, think about how you eventually want to use the notes and perhaps that might help you decide in which format you want them. Also bear in mind that whichever way you choose, you can always print out typed up notes, and scan/digitise written notes.