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At the Law School of the University of Buckingham, we have embedded work experience into our LLB degree programme, ensuring graduates have real-life industry experience to draw upon when applying for jobs in the legal sector.
All enrolled students have the opportunity to work in our Law Clinic (run in partnership with Aylesbury Vale Citizens Advice) and engage with our Street Legal scheme. Feedback from our students is hugely positive, as it gives them access to experiences that they would not otherwise have had.
Not only do our Law Clinic and Street Legal scheme benefit our students by enhancing their learning experience and giving them skills crucial to their career prospects, but they also add value to the community. One user of the Law Clinic said, “The Law clinic team were great and the information the students gave me was very helpful.” We’re very proud to be able to offer this service to local people.
Annie McDermott, who studied LLB Law with Spanish at Buckingham from January 2019 and graduated with first-class honours in December 2020, shares her experience.
An aspect of life at the university that I was especially excited to engage in was the Street Legal programme, which allows students the opportunity to get invaluable industry experience in various legal placements. I was lucky enough to be chosen for two of these placements: one shadowing Judge Mayo and Judge Fowler at the Northampton Crown Court, and a mini-pupillage at New Square Chambers.
Outside of the Street Legal programme, there were also many internal events and experiences that I was able to engage with, including advocacy masterclasses with Ivan Lawrence QC, a lecture by barrister Peter Marcus, and workshops on topics such as mooting, negotiation, public speaking, CV writing and interview skills. These resources allowed me to greatly improve skills that will prove essential as I further my legal career.
Buckingham is the home of the two-year degree and is one of the few universities in the UK to have a January entry point. This is great for anyone who takes up an offer to study elsewhere in September but then decides to transfer. I still graduated six months earlier than my peers, who were undertaking traditional three-year degrees at other universities.
My initial attraction to join the University of Buckingham stemmed from a combination of the ability to start my academic year in January, while studying for my degree at an accelerated rate of two years. As I was transferring from my previous university in New Zealand, this both coincided perfectly with the end of my previous academic year and allowed me to save valuable time in pursuit of my LLB degree.
I achieved first-class results in Tort Law, Land Law, Commercial Law and Spanish. As a result of my performance, I received the prize for Best Performance in each of the aforementioned law modules, and the 2019 MFL Prize for Spanish 7. This is an achievement that I am incredibly proud of, and one I would not have accomplished were it not for the support of my lecturers and the passion with which they taught their subjects.
I am currently working as a legal intern at BNP Paribas – a position that I was made aware of solely due to it being promoted to us by one of our lecturers. I am very grateful for this opportunity, as it has allowed me to expand my career horizons to areas of the law in which I had no prior experience and has given me the opportunity to network with notable figures at a major international bank.
My time at Buckingham Law School was an incredibly rewarding experience, where I was able to meet some wonderful people and create life-long memories.
If you would like more information about studying LLB Law at the University of Buckingham, you can visit our website: www.buckingham.ac.uk/study-law/ or contact us by telephone: +44 (0) 1280 820227.
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