King's Inn's full-time course

bahhoweya

Hi guys,
just wondering if any past pupils could give a bit of information about the full time course! I have been offered a place and have a few questions, I would really appreciate if anyone could answer them!

Are all the exams at the end of the year, or are there some at Christmas as in college?
If there are some at Christmas, do they take place usually before or after Christmas?
I notice that on the academic calender the term breaks are quite long, what is the workload like during these times? Is there alot of projects etc to be completed during this time?
I currently have a part-time job, approx 12 hours a week, would it be plausible to hope to keep this up throughout the year?
What is a typical week like? Would you spend alot of time outside class hours in Kings Inns, or would it primarily be independent study which could be completed at home?

Not typical questions I know, but these were the only ones I could not source answers for by myself, so any help would be great!

Thanks in advance

Potus

bahhoweya wrote: »

Hi guys,
just wondering if any past pupils could give a bit of information about the full time course! I have been offered a place and have a few questions, I would really appreciate if anyone could answer them!

Are all the exams at the end of the year, or are there some at Christmas as in college?
If there are some at Christmas, do they take place usually before or after Christmas?
I notice that on the academic calender the term breaks are quite long, what is the workload like during these times? Is there alot of projects etc to be completed during this time?
I currently have a part-time job, approx 12 hours a week, would it be plausible to hope to keep this up throughout the year?
What is a typical week like? Would you spend alot of time outside class hours in Kings Inns, or would it primarily be independent study which could be completed at home?

Not typical questions I know, but these were the only ones I could not source answers for by myself, so any help would be great!

Thanks in advance

Congrats on getting offered a place. best of luck with it.

As far as i remember (did the full-time in 2006) there are mock exams in December (before Christmas). They are the same format as the exams you will be sitting in April-May, which are your finals.

Basically you do not need to do any academic study for these exams per se as its assumed you now know the law behind the issues.

It's more how you present your case as if in Court.

There are many different subjects covered during the year, but they are basically split into two categories Criminal Procedure and Civil Procedure. The exams are doing a mock negotiation or a mock High Court Bail application or a mock submission seeking time to enlarge service of statement of claims or defence etc. (Don't panic, you will go thriough all these in the classes)

On this point, classes are staggered to start at 9 - 11a.m. or 11-1 p.m or thereabouts. then again starting at 1 - 3 p.m. or 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. So if you opt to start class at the 9 am start you're in class til 11 and back again at 1 til 3p.m. (You can't chop and change times. You choose at the outset and are slotted into a class group). During the breaks in class you will be preparing documents etc. They will go through all this in the early part of the course so again don't panic.

In relation to you part-time job, plenty of the people in my year successfully held down part-time jobs. But a word of warning, be prepared for some late nights trying to prepare papers for class next day. i was often up til after 2 am. However, class mates will be an invaluable help to each other. My class were the best for helping each other out. MAKE SURE to have all paper work ready for the next day's class. Excuses for non-preparation do not go down well with the Dean.

I'm sure you'll find your pace after a few weeks and know what you have to do and how much time you need to give.

The dining nights are really good and allow you to feel part of the place and chill out for the night. You'll be told more about these when you start. Think you do 5 dining nights in 1st term and 5 in the 2nd term.

Basically it's a tough year but really great to do it. You'll make some great friends and hopefully come away with the BL qualification. The very best of luck with it, and if you need more info, i'll reply.

Potus

By the way if the anybody can offer clarification on the academic year as it now exists or need to correct anything i have said, please feel free. But i think it has not changed substantially since i went through the Kings Inns.

bahhoweya

bahhoweya wrote: »

Are all the exams at the end of the year, or are there some at Christmas as in college?

There are assessments at Christmas designed to get you used to the unusual format of the Inns exams. These do not count towards your overall mark.

bahhoweya wrote: »

If there are some at Christmas, do they take place usually before or after Christmas?

Before.

bahhoweya wrote: »

I notice that on the academic calender the term breaks are quite long, what is the workload like during these times? Is there alot of projects etc to be completed during this time?

With the exception of the Christmas break most of the term breaks do coincide with large workloads. To be honest though the workload is quite large most of the time and a large amount of independent research and class preparation is required.

bahhoweya wrote: »

I currently have a part-time job, approx 12 hours a week, would it be plausible to hope to keep this up throughout the year?

What is a typical week like? Would you spend alot of time outside class hours in Kings Inns, or would it primarily be independent study which could be completed at home?

Part time jobs can be maintained but you should be aware that the more time you can devote to your studies the better. Particularly when it comes to the larger pieces of opinion writing or legal research.

Quite often you will have pieces of drafting to do both between classes and overnight in preparation for the next session. These pieces of work will often form a basis for the next session and completing them properly will give you an advantage at all stages of the course.

panda_cub

Congrats bahhoweya


Anyone doing the modular course?

bahhoweya

Thanks a million guys!

And Congratulations to you too panda, all that summer-study paid off!