FE1 Exam Thread (Read 1st post!) No trading

Missed company again for the second time, but I got 46 this time which is better than the last time. Does anyone know if its worth the recheck?

How do we download/ review our March FE1 scripts?

I got 47 in property and I thought I did so well in that exam. Is it worth rechecking? 😭

Hi Folks -

I’ve spent a lot of time in this boards forum over the last couple of years and people have been wonderful in sharing resources and tips as well as general positivity to help both me and others get through these exams.

I am happy to say that after today’s results I likely won’t be back. On a final note I wanted to provide similar words which were shared with me after previous sittings. These are tough exams, they are stress inducing, they’ll keep you up at night and on top of those things most of you will be expected to go and do all the other daily things like go to work and college.

The exams are not a complete measure of your character or your ability, they only reflect a few minor attributes in what I believe makes a well rounded legal professional. So take some time, be fair to yourself, reflect on all you have achieved so far, and then when you’re ready, get back on the horse. I know how difficult it is to have a bad day when it seems like everyone else is having a good one, but your time will come.

It’s just a case of when, not if.

has anyone done 5 in one sitting? I'm after failing company so I have 5 left to do before my training contract starts in April 2023. I could sit in March 2023 but I wouldn't have the results til after starting tc and if I failed I'd have to drop out and wait another year - assuming firm would be okay with that. Getting pretty stressed now, so any advice would be appreciated. I'm studying for a masters at the moment, until July, after which I'll be free to study full time.

Passed Company with 50% (completely shocked as I was sure I had failed) and 56% in EU.

I went up from 46 to 50 in contract before.

what are the chances the next set will be online?

Hey I was in a similar position last sitting, last exam, and was shocked to get 44 in Company. I got 63 in this sitting. I think you really get punished for things you don’t include or think to talk about more so than other exams where you might leave out something important but still get good marks for what you do include. You really need to refer to the examiner reports when preparing.

I used his book mostly for this sitting instead of relying on the manual. Not sure if you answered any of these, but for topics like S31, S38 and S158, the manual I had anyway, didn’t have enough to pass those questions.

I don’t have my script yet but happy to share if you want to exchange emails in DMs.

Congratulations to everyone who received their results today!

Does anyone know what the contract and constitutional markers are like? I was convinced I passed these two but got 36 & 42. On the other hand, I thought I failed criminal and got 64%. It doesn’t make sense I’m so devastated. Is this worth a recheck? Thanks in advance.

I’m wondering this too… if anyone has any thoughts/experience

That would be great, thanks very much, though given that score I'm not sure how I could ever expect to pass. I can't imagine how that score was calculated honestly. It's less than 7 points a question so given that I answered all 5 it's comfortably failing every question or getting a couple of zeros and barely scraping the others. I'll need some time to recover and prepare for spending all my free time memorizing exactly what he wants and vomiting it out.

Thanks so much!

I'm sorry to hear that. If there is one bit of advice I could give for company it is do out past exam questions. I typed out sample answers for loads of frequently occurring questions and I found that four of them came up this sitting. Got 70 this sitting which I was shocked at. The same types of questions come up often with company and the examiner details exactly what they're looking for in the reports. They're one of the best examiners for giving detailed reports. I'd say keep your head up and build on the knowledge that you already have for the next sitting. Good luck!

I couldn't agree more. Its just learning off an answer rather than understanding which is clearly not something that is desirable for someone pursuing a career in law. But hey, it your last one. Best of luck with it.

I agree with this! You can definitely come up - I came up 19%. Last sitting I got 6/20 in two questions and I never scored that low before. He definitely is particularly harsh, but it’s your last one so you’ll be able to totally focus on it and kill it!

You may have already done this but if not, get your hands on Courtney's book, The Law of Companies. I learned off loads of quotes/extracts and stuck them in everywhere. I also took from Keane/Hutchinson and tired to add in other sources where possible.

Have left criminal and EU until my last sitting and need to pass them to start traineeship. Have passed other 6 first time round (3 and 3) so just wondering when people plan on starting studying (trying to go travelling stress free 😂)

It literally wrote out exam answers from for every single exam answer with examiner report for company and learned them off for the likely chapters. Answered 4 Qs well and 1 ok ish because i was running low on time.Got 58 in the end. It's a stupid way to learn and nearly cost me in another exam where i only got the 50! I wouldnt bother with tutorial groups or anything, get Courtneys book and reports and fingers crossed that youll get over the line!

Any idea on when the October timetable will be out?

I’ll get onto the FE1 section myself so too!

Thanks, I'll try get a 7th-hand copy off someone else who wants to pass his exam since they are presumably the only people who read it.

It's pretty incredible if this how the exam is set, and it seems it is. I answer problem questions as if I were advising a client, and this is what the other examiners are looking for and what makes sense. What this examiner seems to be looking for is for you to memorize an 8-page academic waffle answer taken from his reports that no client would ever listen to or care less about, and furiously type/write it out in hopes of getting most of it down in half an hour.

Very sorry to hear that, but at the same time misery loves company (!). At least this indicates it may not be all down to us. Feel free to DM me about strategies for jumping through whatever hoops are required. I was thinking of taking the Lawschool exam review course, just pre-recorded videos but they say they focus on the past papers which is what seems to be required. I haven't taken any prep courses and was fine with all the other exams.

I am pretty bitter about this honestly, I work full-time in another area of law with vulnerable clients and extra time currently spent trying to help them out will now need to be spent rote learning company law questions I will never use and that won't even improve my understanding of company law.

Out of all the fe1's to date I did find the company exam the hardest. I felt like the Directors Q especially was really on to purposely trick us (it was probably badly done as let's be honest we weren't expecting the exact same Q word for word 3 papers in a row).

His last examiners report noted under 50% passed the October exam. I will give him credit, he does state verbatim in his examiners reports how he wants you to answer a question down to the list of cases. (I think that's why he's can be a hard marker because in his eyes he's giving you the answers with his detailed reports and repetition of Qs).

So I'd recommend to get the past papers and corresponding examiners reports, write down what he wants and pad out with quotes from his book.

I did exactly that and condensed things down to as small as I could (1-2 pages per topic). I should still have them (as I was sure id failed) if any use to you I can try dig them out.

Can also confirm Dublin City library has his book and Keane on Company Law

Has anyone received their refund for the March sittings? I filled in the paperwork with LS just don't know when money was due back. Thanks.

Haven’t got anything back yet. Been nearly two months since applied. Have you tried calling? Be nice to get back.