FE1 Exam Thread (Read 1st post!) NOTE: YOU MAY SWAP EXAM GRIDS

channing90 · 29-03-2020 1:19pm

iamanengine wrote: »

True enough but in the hopes that my training contract won't be thrown out the window I'm choosing to remain positive

I am finding it hard to remain positive with me being someone who needs to secure a contract having completed 6 fe1s

lawgrad15 · 29-03-2020 1:20pm

Will there not be a significant increase in litigation based work though e.g. contract breaches etc?

iamanengine · 29-03-2020 1:28pm

channing90 wrote: »

I am finding it hard to remain positive with me being someone who needs to secure a contract having completed 6 fe1s

I'm not in a great position myself. I secured a training contract with 0 FE1s done and only 2 sittings to get all 8. I passed 3 out of 4 in the first sitting, leaving me to pass 5 in the recent sitting, still have to do Tort and EU. If I don't pass the 5 exams, with this corona induced recession, it will be bye bye training contract. I think there was a chance I would have got it extended if I didn't get the 5, but now, not a chance.

Have to keep trucking on, I'm just back to the books today though

nmurphy1441 · 29-03-2020 1:52pm

mydogwentroof wrote: »

When will results for the March sitting be out and when the duck should I start studying for the Tort re-sit?

Tip away at tort for the next few weeks now that you have the time! That’s what I’m doing. You won’t regret it when it comes around! I couldn’t see that much of a delay in the results been published but that’s just a personal opinion!

Coulter97 · 29-03-2020 7:28pm

I mean people with training contracts are nervous, imagine doing the FE-1's and not having a TC lined up in this climate with a global depression looming. Back in 2008, in the UK, accepted TC's were getting shredded left, right and center. Nightmare.

At least Tesco is hiring.

biglawhead420 · 29-03-2020 8:34pm

Yeah, I agree. It is very hard to know. There still is a fair bit of slack in certain Dublin law firms anyway. Friends of mine/my parents, have said even if there was 0 or slightly negative growth, many firms would still need the trainees.

Don't forget also, especially in the case of good trainees, they only cost the firm circa 45,000 and can do most of the same work as NQs.

Definitely a bad time to be finishing your training contract though.

Beano7760 · 30-03-2020 10:55am

Apologies, I'm kinda jumping in here.

I'm nearly finished my FE1 and had planned on getting a grant through Susi to help pay for PPC I. I was looking through the criteria and spotted this "A student who already holds a masters degree at level 9 is ineligible for funding for the Professional Practice Course unless that masters degree is in law".

I'm gutted as I can forget about getting funding through Susi if that's the case. I don't fit the criteria.

I've put lots of work into doing these exams and not it appears for nothing. There's no way I'm taking out a loan to cover it, would cripple me financially.

Does anyone know : is there a way of overcoming this?

Any clarification appreciated.
Thank you.

spygirl · 30-03-2020 11:52am

Do you already have a level 9 and when did you obtain it?

Emmaslaw17 · 30-03-2020 6:07pm

What do people think about all of this in terms of the circumstances which the papers are being marked? Being marked at home under pressure by the pandemic is surely an extenuating circumstance in which the law Society should have regard? If not to recognise the impact on all of us, surely it'll be considered where examiners are marking us at home. What do people think about us raising this issue with law Society??

HappyKitten62 · 30-03-2020 6:12pm

Emmaslaw17 wrote: »

What do people think about all of this in terms of the circumstances which the papers are being marked? Being marked at home under pressure by the pandemic is surely an extenuating circumstance in which the law Society should have regard? If not to recognise the impact on all of us, surely it'll be considered where examiners are marking us at home. What do people think about us raising this issue with law Society??

I don’t know. The pandemic didn’t impact until near the very end of the exams, and students had the option of whether to sit the last two or not.

LawBoy2018 · 31-03-2020 3:59pm

For anyone with a training contract, I wouldn't be worried tbh. The legal industry has never been stronger in Ireland and the extra competition from newcomers will only strengthen the hands of future trainees. They wouldn't be foolish enough to throw away talent that they already had locked in.

XyzLawyer123 · 31-03-2020 7:36pm

LawBoy2018 wrote: »

For anyone with a training contract, I wouldn't be worried tbh. The legal industry has never been stronger in Ireland and the extra competition from newcomers will only strengthen the hands of future trainees. They wouldn't be foolish enough to throw away talent that they already had locked in.

Trainee solicitors are not premier league footballers and the legal industry isn’t nearly as strong as you are suggesting. WIP disappears very quickly and advisors are the last to be paid. There will be deferrals , it is not beyond the realms of possibility that there will be rescissions (it happened before) , and more likely , deferrals will go on sufficiently long that candidates voluntarily lose interest and take jobs down the chain , in different sectors , and in different jurisdictions.

LawBoy2018 · 31-03-2020 9:34pm

XyzLawyer123 wrote: »

Trainee solicitors are not premier league footballers and the legal industry isn’t nearly as strong as you are suggesting. WIP disappears very quickly and advisors are the last to be paid. There will be deferrals , it is not beyond the realms of possibility that there will be rescissions (it happened before) , and more likely , deferrals will go on sufficiently long that candidates voluntarily lose interest and take jobs down the chain , in different sectors , and in different jurisdictions.

The current situation is completely different to that of 08. Why would there be recissions? An economic downturn = a boost in litigation, insolvency, dispute resolution, etc. The market for paralegals will definitely dry up, but future trainees have nothing to worry about imo. My firm has confirmed that starting dates have been pushed back, but everyone will be attending blackhall as planned. No need for the fear mongering..

XyzLawyer123 · 31-03-2020 10:00pm

LawBoy2018 wrote: »

The current situation is completely different to that of 08. Why would there be recissions? An economic downturn = a boost in litigation, insolvency, dispute resolution, etc. The market for paralegals will definitely dry up, but future trainees have nothing to worry about imo. My firm has confirmed that starting dates have been pushed back, but everyone will be attending blackhall as planned. No need for the fear mongering..

Situation could well be worse than 2008 and add to that Brexit uncertainty which is all but forgotten at the moment. That is the prediction of the WTO. The ESRI latest prediction is a GDP fall of 7.1%, the fall was 8.5% in 2008/2009.

A boost in litigation activity, which is typically at a discounted rate, does not offset the downturn in M&A, finance and other areas that are the core of a major firm.

biglawhead420 · 31-03-2020 10:29pm

There will definitely be less fees coming in.

That said, the bigger firms are a lot less reliant on M&A and commercial property than they were in 2008. Also in 2008 a lot of the sackings / rescinding were for solicitors in the worst affected areas. These were entirely propped up by a bubble. The increased hiring of say 5/10 solicitors in those areas mentioned above were nothing compared to the 10s being sacked in others.

In reality none of use really know until the quarantine is lifted and the economy responds to its shock paddling.

XyzLawyer123 · 31-03-2020 11:04pm

biglawhead420 wrote: »

There will definitely be less fees coming in.

That said, the bigger firms are a lot less reliant on M&A and commercial property than they were in 2008. Also in 2008 a lot of the sackings / rescinding were for solicitors in the worst affected areas. These were entirely propped up by a bubble. The increased hiring of say 5/10 solicitors in those areas mentioned above were nothing compared to the 10s being sacked in others.

In reality none of use really know until the quarantine is lifted and the economy responds to its shock paddling.

Big firms are less reliant on M&A and commercial property? What do you think they are doing now?

Louis Litt · 01-04-2020 9:35am

Has anyone who is planning to sit Tort and EU for the first time at the re-sit started study? Presume there has been no update as to when these will take place. Struggling to face back into the study again

lawgrad15 · 01-04-2020 9:50am

Louis Litt wrote: »

Has anyone who is planning to sit Tort and EU for the first time at the re-sit started study? Presume there has been no update as to when these will take place. Struggling to face back into the study again

I was due to sit tort last month. I haven't started studying for it again yet. For me, it's always so much more difficult to study when there is no date set for the exam. Leaves me way less concentrated.

ahhhhhFE1s · 01-04-2020 12:19pm

Beano7760 wrote: »

Apologies, I'm kinda jumping in here.

I'm nearly finished my FE1 and had planned on getting a grant through Susi to help pay for PPC I. I was looking through the criteria and spotted this "A student who already holds a masters degree at level 9 is ineligible for funding for the Professional Practice Course unless that masters degree is in law".

I'm gutted as I can forget about getting funding through Susi if that's the case. I don't fit the criteria.

I've put lots of work into doing these exams and not it appears for nothing. There's no way I'm taking out a loan to cover it, would cripple me financially.

Does anyone know : is there a way of overcoming this?

Any clarification appreciated.
Thank you.

Have you thought about applying for the Access Programme?? If you have any assistance at college level particularly access this will greatly assist you in securing that funding but they accept applications even if you haven't so might be something to think about! believe there is also a bursary scheme but you can only apply or find out how much they award you when your are already in PPC1 so a bit more unpredictable- have a look at funding available https://www.lawsociety.ie/Public/Become-a-Solicitor/fe1-funding/

In relation to SUSI itself, I would ring and confirm that you definitely don't might the criteria as it might not always be as clear as you think! Good luck

lawDani · 01-04-2020 12:47pm

nmurphy1441 wrote: »

There is a lot in tort but it can be handy enough to pick up! You either love it or hate it. Personally I enjoyed it. I’ve never ever looked at EU but I’m going to sit it during the extra sitting! Study it for the next few months but I think it’s worth a go! Trying to sit the two from scratch could be very tough, just all depends how long we have!

Yeah I guess that’s all I can do. I’ll get both materials and just go from there when we have more of a timeframe I’ll judge it more. I think il like tort as working in a law firm introduces litigation and damages....
we can try suss EU together ha. Have you all material?

nmurphy1441 · 01-04-2020 2:51pm

lawDani wrote: »

Yeah I guess that’s all I can do. I’ll get both materials and just go from there when we have more of a timeframe I’ll judge it more. I think il like tort as working in a law firm introduces litigation and damages....
we can try suss EU together ha. Have you all material?

Sourced EU material from adverts.ie. Ended up getting manual, tabbed legislation, exams and reports. Very happy with it! Not as bad as I thought it was going to be so far but I’m not that deep into it yet! I find Tort isn’t as bad as it’s made out to be, there’s just a hell of a lot of topics!

Fe119 · 01-04-2020 3:23pm

I'm looking to buy EU Legislation from someone second hand for the exam in the summer. If someone is willing to post it I can include payment for that too!

Fe119 · 02-04-2020 4:08pm

channing90 wrote: »

I need tort too preferably sample answers but I could send you Eu stuff alri.

Hi there, I'm starting EU from scratch now in the hope of sitting it in July/Aug. I've passed Tort so I can swap you what I have for your EU stuff?

Twinings2016 · 02-04-2020 5:07pm

Does anyone have an up to date exam grid for EU??

And also any advice as to the most important topics re. exam?

Thank you!!

biglawhead420 · 02-04-2020 7:11pm

Do we have any ideas as to when they’ll be on???

shaunadennyham · 02-04-2020 7:46pm

biglawhead420 wrote: »

Do we have any ideas as to when they’ll be on???

Ah here would you cop on how can they possibility confirm when the exams will be on when the country is essentially in lockdown? If they gave an indication of when it will be on and they had to change it people would be up in arms. They'll reschedule it as soon as this pandemic has abated. We'll be given notice. Relax

mydogwentroof · 02-04-2020 9:46pm

shaunadennyham wrote: »

Ah here would you cop on how can they possibility confirm when the exams will be on when the country is essentially in lockdown? If they gave an indication of when it will be on and they had to change it people would be up in arms. They'll reschedule it as soon as this pandemic has abated. We'll be given notice. Relax

Chill ...

channing90 · 02-04-2020 10:41pm

mydogwentroof wrote: »

Chill ...

I predict August at the earliest, just throwing it out there based on nothing but my own guess work.

HappyKitten62 · 02-04-2020 11:34pm

channing90 wrote: »

I predict August at the earliest, just throwing it out there based on nothing but my own guess work.

I think August would be far too late for Blackhall. But we can’t possibly know. No point in speculating. We’ll be given plenty of notice.

channing90 · 02-04-2020 11:40pm

HappyKitten62 wrote: »

I think August would be far too late for Blackhall. But we can’t possibly know. No point in speculating. We’ll be given plenty of notice.

There’s going to be no mass gatherings for months, a vaccine is needed for normal life to resume again.

HappyKitten62 · 02-04-2020 11:43pm

channing90 wrote: »

There’s going to be no mass gatherings for months, a vaccine is needed for normal life to resume again.

I don’t know about that. We will have to wait and see. Restrictions have been lifted in other countries after three months. I’m not speculating anymore as it only adds to the worry. Good luck.

Coulter97 · 03-04-2020 12:18am

channing90 wrote: »

There’s going to be no mass gatherings for months, a vaccine is needed for normal life to resume again.

We won't be in lockdown or anything close for longer than 2 months. It's not economically sustainable. Social distancing measures will remain and so will the ban on mass gatherings but by and large people will be told to go back to work during summer.

spygirl · 03-04-2020 11:44am

PPC1 resits are happening via Moodle. Saw it on the law Society website. Wonder will something similar occur for other exams if this continues.

Legalmate · 03-04-2020 12:01pm

spygirl wrote: »

PPC1 resits are happening via Moodle. Saw it on the law Society website. Wonder will something similar occur for other exams if this continues.

Have you got a link to that announcement?

Louis Litt · 03-04-2020 12:46pm

spygirl wrote: »

PPC1 resits are happening via Moodle. Saw it on the law Society website. Wonder will something similar occur for other exams if this continues.

Correct me if i'm wrong but aren't they open book anyway?

Coulter97 · 03-04-2020 3:10pm

I have a friend with a TC in 2023 and he's worried about cancellation/deferment because of the economic crisis. Is that likely or possible?

shaunadennyham · 03-04-2020 4:37pm

Coulter97 wrote: »

I have a friend with a TC in 2023 and he's worried about cancellation/deferment because of the economic crisis. Is that likely or possible?

Sure how is anyone supposed to know - if she gets her FE1s between now and then who knows what'll happen - nobody has a crystal ball

Mod
This forum is for legal discussion, so Coulter07 has a reasonable query.

lawstudentirl · 03-04-2020 9:16pm

Coulter97 wrote: »

I have a friend with a TC in 2023 and he's worried about cancellation/deferment because of the economic crisis. Is that likely or possible?

I really wouldn’t worry if I were him. If anyone will be affected it’s those with start dates now/soon. Even if there are smaller intakes in 2023, the intake obviously isn’t full yet so people like your friend who already have a contract will be grand, it’d just be harder to get one if you don’t.

I know it’s easier said than done but really try not to be stressing out about a job that isn’t for 3 years. Plenty things in the nearer future to be stressing about!

channing90 · 03-04-2020 10:46pm

Anyone with any idea on any online courses to do during this time to upskill that would be useful for getting a traineeship etc

Coulter97 · 03-04-2020 11:46pm

lawstudentirl wrote: »

I really wouldn’t worry if I were him. If anyone will be affected it’s those with start dates now/soon. Even if there are smaller intakes in 2023, the intake obviously isn’t full yet so people like your friend who already have a contract will be grand, it’d just be harder to get one if you don’t.

I know it’s easier said than done but really try not to be stressing out about a job that isn’t for 3 years. Plenty things in the nearer future to be stressing about!

That's what I was thinking. Firms always need trainees. And chances are by 2023 the economy will be up and roaring again.

rightytighty · 04-04-2020 11:47am

channing90 wrote: »

Anyone with any idea on any online courses to do during this time to upskill that would be useful for getting a traineeship etc

The law society run a free online course around this time every year, a certificate of sorts. Last year it was media and entertainment law. It usually starts around May I think.

XyzLawyer123 · 04-04-2020 4:24pm

Coulter97 wrote: »

That's what I was thinking. Firms always need trainees. And chances are by 2023 the economy will be up and roaring again.

Anyone who manages to get themselves into a firm over the next short while will do fine as they will come out qualified in 3 years when things should be ok again.

Conversely, it is a terrible time to be qualifying as you can expect retention rates will plummet. Firms won’t need many NQs. Similarly, massive pay cuts are expected. Cuts of 20% have already been implemented in some large firms and this is phase 1.

It is absolutely true firms will always need trainees. However, not necessarily in the number or over the timescale previously anticipated.

leavingcert17 · 05-04-2020 1:09pm

Do we know any date for results yet? I’m looking for a traineeship currently hoping to start the December hybrid course? Any advice on how to get a traineeship outside of Dublin, in particular the west of Ireland ? I’ve been emailing firms but no luck

Lallers96 · 05-04-2020 2:34pm

Hi, sorry if this is the wrong thread but I'm new to boards.ie.

I studied Corporate Law in NUIG and graduated last November. I was taking time off to save money and now I'm seriously thinking of taking the FE1 exams in Autumn, after having time off to come down from the stress of college. I just have a couple of questions that I'd like to ask people who have FE1 exam knowledge, or are in a similar situation to me.

From my research I gather that the standard required of candidates is higher in these FE1 exams, compared to college. I have ordered and read the exam papers for the last 3 years and while the questions seem similarly worded and detailed but there is 5 questions out of 8 to be answered in 3 hours - so I assume that I am correct that the standard to get high marks is higher than college? Especially given the pass rate is 50%, rather than 40%. (Hopefully I won't have to worry about that)

Secondly, and I am sure that nobody can give me a concrete answer since nobody can be certain in these uncertain times, but I imagine that the FE1 exams will go ahead as per previous years in October 2020? What are your thoughts?

Third question is just out of curiosity as I want to plan to pass all 8 exams by March next year, when do you get your results should you take the exams in October?

And finally I want to give a short background into my situation and ask if you guys feel I am prepared or not, and if I need to take action to become prepared then any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I feel like I am ready now after taking time off college to tackle these exams. I am working (well I will be again, once this COVID pandemic passes) part-time to pay bills, and I have past exam papers & examiners reports for the last 3 years (I find repeating old questions the best form of study - practice makes perfect). I think that I will take 4 exams in my first sitting, Tort, Constitutional, EU Law, and Company Law - as I studied those in college and feel like 5 would be too much in one go.

I have the EU Legislation book that you can bring with you to the exam. I have Tully's book for Tort Law that I bought back in 2015 in 1st year (not the recommended reading, but a supplementary one). I have nothing for Constitutional Law, unless an auld copy of the constitution counts

. I have 2 Nutshell books (condensed down study books) for EU Law and Company Law respectively.

- Should I buy more books? The recommended books come to almost €1,000 for those 4 subjects I mentioned

I *could* afford them but it would cost me a month's wages. Here's a more detailed look at the prices:
- McMahon (Tort recommended reading) is €228 cheapest
- Kelly (Constitutional) is €263 cheapest
- Craig & DeBurca (EU) is €46
- Bloomsbury Professionals Companies Act 2014 is €84
- Courtney (Company's recommended reading) is €218

So that adds up to €839. Honest answer, is it worth the money? Could you manage these exams without all these books, could I get by with the books I already have?

I will be buying the Bloomsbury Act book, and probably as well to get Craig & DeBurca since it's cheap but the rest is extremely expensive. I remember doing just fine in college without any books, as I couldn't afford them to be honest, but as I mentioned the standard is surely higher and maybe I do need them. What's your advice? Are the 4 subjects I've chosen the best, or is there anyone who can advise me on the best course of action?

If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be great. I don't know anyone who is taking the FE1 exams, or even has in the past so I came here hoping for some direction.

Jeremiah25 · 05-04-2020 3:11pm

Lallers96 wrote: »

Hi, sorry if this is the wrong thread but I'm new to boards.ie.

I studied Corporate Law in NUIG and graduated last November. I was taking time off to save money and now I'm seriously thinking of taking the FE1 exams in Autumn, after having time off to come down from the stress of college. I just have a couple of questions that I'd like to ask people who have FE1 exam knowledge, or are in a similar situation to me.

From my research I gather that the standard required of candidates is higher in these FE1 exams, compared to college. I have ordered and read the exam papers for the last 3 years and while the questions seem similarly worded and detailed but there is 5 questions out of 8 to be answered in 3 hours - so I assume that I am correct that the standard to get high marks is higher than college? Especially given the pass rate is 50%, rather than 40%. (Hopefully I won't have to worry about that)

Secondly, and I am sure that nobody can give me a concrete answer since nobody can be certain in these uncertain times, but I imagine that the FE1 exams will go ahead as per previous years in October 2020? What are your thoughts?

Third question is just out of curiosity as I want to plan to pass all 8 exams by March next year, when do you get your results should you take the exams in October?

And finally I want to give a short background into my situation and ask if you guys feel I am prepared or not, and if I need to take action to become prepared then any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I feel like I am ready now after taking time off college to tackle these exams. I am working (well I will be again, once this COVID pandemic passes) part-time to pay bills, and I have past exam papers & examiners reports for the last 3 years (I find repeating old questions the best form of study - practice makes perfect). I think that I will take 4 exams in my first sitting, Tort, Constitutional, EU Law, and Company Law - as I studied those in college and feel like 5 would be too much in one go.

I have the EU Legislation book that you can bring with you to the exam. I have Tully's book for Tort Law that I bought back in 2015 in 1st year (not the recommended reading, but a supplementary one). I have nothing for Constitutional Law, unless an auld copy of the constitution counts . I have 2 Nutshell books (condensed down study books) for EU Law and Company Law respectively.

- Should I buy more books? The recommended books come to almost €1,000 for those 4 subjects I mentioned I *could* afford them but it would cost me a month's wages. Here's a more detailed look at the prices:
- McMahon (Tort recommended reading) is €228 cheapest
- Kelly (Constitutional) is €263 cheapest
- Craig & DeBurca (EU) is €46
- Bloomsbury Professionals Companies Act 2014 is €84
- Courtney (Company's recommended reading) is €218

So that adds up to €839. Honest answer, is it worth the money? Could you manage these exams without all these books, could I get by with the books I already have?

I will be buying the Bloomsbury Act book, and probably as well to get Craig & DeBurca since it's cheap but the rest is extremely expensive. I remember doing just fine in college without any books, as I couldn't afford them to be honest, but as I mentioned the standard is surely higher and maybe I do need them. What's your advice? Are the 4 subjects I've chosen the best, or is there anyone who can advise me on the best course of action?

If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be great. I don't know anyone who is taking the FE1 exams, or even has in the past so I came here hoping for some direction.

Welcome to the madness...

1. Yep standard is higher, 5 questions to be answered in 3 hours. Some examiners require a higher degree of detail (are harder markers) than others, It is very often the case that numerous topics are combined in one question so a broad knowledge of the subject is requried. Not like the old college exams where you could learn off 3 topics and get through the exam!

2. Impossible to tell given the current climate. If I was to guess, fingers crossed, all this will have died down somewhat by then.

3. Results generally come out 6 weeks after the last exam has taken place so there's ample time to plan/prepare for the next round.

4. Having a law degree is a great start. In general, most people tend to sit Cons. & EU in separate sittings due to the volume of material in both. However, I set both last sitting so it is certainly doable. It's all personal preference and the topics you find most interesting.

Regarding study material, I can only offer advice on what I found to be useful. However, you can certainly get through the exams without any of the books you have mentioned above. I tended to stick to redoing past papers.

There are manuals for each subject which you can pick up on done deal/adverts which offer much better bang for your buck imo.Legislation such as the Constitution/EU/Companies Act is very useful to have in the exam.

Hope this is of some help! Any more questions feel free!

ArthurDayne · 05-04-2020 3:48pm

Lallers96 wrote: »

Hi, sorry if this is the wrong thread but I'm new to boards.ie.

I studied Corporate Law in NUIG and graduated last November. I was taking time off to save money and now I'm seriously thinking of taking the FE1 exams in Autumn, after having time off to come down from the stress of college. I just have a couple of questions that I'd like to ask people who have FE1 exam knowledge, or are in a similar situation to me.

From my research I gather that the standard required of candidates is higher in these FE1 exams, compared to college. I have ordered and read the exam papers for the last 3 years and while the questions seem similarly worded and detailed but there is 5 questions out of 8 to be answered in 3 hours - so I assume that I am correct that the standard to get high marks is higher than college? Especially given the pass rate is 50%, rather than 40%. (Hopefully I won't have to worry about that)

Secondly, and I am sure that nobody can give me a concrete answer since nobody can be certain in these uncertain times, but I imagine that the FE1 exams will go ahead as per previous years in October 2020? What are your thoughts?

Third question is just out of curiosity as I want to plan to pass all 8 exams by March next year, when do you get your results should you take the exams in October?

And finally I want to give a short background into my situation and ask if you guys feel I am prepared or not, and if I need to take action to become prepared then any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I feel like I am ready now after taking time off college to tackle these exams. I am working (well I will be again, once this COVID pandemic passes) part-time to pay bills, and I have past exam papers & examiners reports for the last 3 years (I find repeating old questions the best form of study - practice makes perfect). I think that I will take 4 exams in my first sitting, Tort, Constitutional, EU Law, and Company Law - as I studied those in college and feel like 5 would be too much in one go.

I have the EU Legislation book that you can bring with you to the exam. I have Tully's book for Tort Law that I bought back in 2015 in 1st year (not the recommended reading, but a supplementary one). I have nothing for Constitutional Law, unless an auld copy of the constitution counts . I have 2 Nutshell books (condensed down study books) for EU Law and Company Law respectively.

- Should I buy more books? The recommended books come to almost €1,000 for those 4 subjects I mentioned I *could* afford them but it would cost me a month's wages. Here's a more detailed look at the prices:
- McMahon (Tort recommended reading) is €228 cheapest
- Kelly (Constitutional) is €263 cheapest
- Craig & DeBurca (EU) is €46
- Bloomsbury Professionals Companies Act 2014 is €84
- Courtney (Company's recommended reading) is €218

So that adds up to €839. Honest answer, is it worth the money? Could you manage these exams without all these books, could I get by with the books I already have?

I will be buying the Bloomsbury Act book, and probably as well to get Craig & DeBurca since it's cheap but the rest is extremely expensive. I remember doing just fine in college without any books, as I couldn't afford them to be honest, but as I mentioned the standard is surely higher and maybe I do need them. What's your advice? Are the 4 subjects I've chosen the best, or is there anyone who can advise me on the best course of action?

If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be great. I don't know anyone who is taking the FE1 exams, or even has in the past so I came here hoping for some direction.

Most of your questions have been answered above, though on the “standard” question I would actually say that the standard is lower than that in college in terms of the level of detail required. What makes the FE1s harder isn’t so much the standard but the volume (i.e. memory retention) and the time constraints. The questions are generally fairly straightforward (in terms of the legal principles being reasonably uncomplicated), and curveballs often repeat every few sittings. Absolutely do not fork out that much for books. Get your hands on the manuals and fill in any gaps in your understanding with our good friend Google.

The trick with FE1s is not to to overthink them. People go into crazy levels of academic detail, case law bulk and memory retention techniques when really there are three things you need : the manuals; the past papers (and model answers); and the examiner reports. Forget all the €200+ recommended reading books. If you pick them up cheap somewhere, fine, but I passed my FE1s purely on those three things I mentioned, with a little delving on Google.

Make condensed notes of the manuals (takes longer than you think, but you have the time and it will make study later much easier) — hell, there is feck all else to be at right now so you could make the most of the quarantine and get stuck into that task now. Then take a look at the past papers going back say 5 years or so — what could you answer? What are the little curveballs you aren’t sure of? Identify the gaps in your knowledge and fill them in. The read the examiner reports, see what recurring themes they cover — e.g. on Cy-près questions the examiner often points out that students fail to mention / skip the first stage of identifying a valid charitable purpose as specified under the Act.

By taking a heavily past paper based approach, you will be cutting out swathes of superfluous detail that — even if it’s good to have a knowledge of and to understand — is simply not necessary for the purposes of memorising and making it harder to retain the fundamental bits which generally is all these exams cover.

iamanengine · 05-04-2020 3:56pm

Lallers96 wrote: »

- Should I buy more books? The recommended books come to almost €1,000 for those 4 subjects I mentioned I *could* afford them but it would cost me a month's wages. Here's a more detailed look at the prices:
- McMahon (Tort recommended reading) is €228 cheapest
- Kelly (Constitutional) is €263 cheapest
- Craig & DeBurca (EU) is €46
- Bloomsbury Professionals Companies Act 2014 is €84
- Courtney (Company's recommended reading) is €218

So that adds up to €839. Honest answer, is it worth the money? Could you manage these exams without all these books, could I get by with the books I already have?

I will be buying the Bloomsbury Act book, and probably as well to get Craig & DeBurca since it's cheap but the rest is extremely expensive. I remember doing just fine in college without any books, as I couldn't afford them to be honest, but as I mentioned the standard is surely higher and maybe I do need them. What's your advice? Are the 4 subjects I've chosen the best, or is there anyone who can advise me on the best course of action?

If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be great. I don't know anyone who is taking the FE1 exams, or even has in the past so I came here hoping for some direction.

Buy the manuals of one of the colleges off adverts. I found city colleges manuals to be really helpful when studying for the exams

Lallers96 · 05-04-2020 4:07pm

Thanks guys for all the advice, I really appreciate it. It seems like the best course of action is to buy the manuals off someone else. Saves me a ton of money, thank you all!

I'm assuming buying the most recent ones would be best? They seem to be priced at €50 each, does that sound right?

nmurphy1441 · 05-04-2020 7:35pm

Studying away EU myself....

How do people approach the case notes? Are there specific ones to learn off? Have they ever been repeated a few sittings later?

iamanengine · 05-04-2020 9:04pm

Lallers96 wrote: »

Thanks guys for all the advice, I really appreciate it. It seems like the best course of action is to buy the manuals off someone else. Saves me a ton of money, thank you all!

I'm assuming buying the most recent ones would be best? They seem to be priced at €50 each, does that sound right?

The more recent the better. There is a number of topics with important 2018/2019 cases so if you have an older manual you will be missing out on marks straight off the bat through no fault of your own.

€50 for a second hand manual is reasonable enough I think

nmurphy1441 wrote: »

Studying away EU myself....

How do people approach the case notes? Are there specific ones to learn off? Have they ever been repeated a few sittings later?

My method is to avoid the case note completely. I did the case note for Constitutional mind you, but I think EU is predictable enough that you don't need it, and it adds a lot of extra work. That said, the case note saved me for Constitutional, but that exam is a lot less predictable which makes it more important to prepare for it, imo.

FE1 Exam Thread (Read 1st post!) NOTE: YOU MAY SWAP EXAM GRIDS

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