Is law school graded on a curve in England?


Sara Jane

I live in the US and every law school grades on a “curve.” Is that how your grades in England in the llb and llm programs are?

For those that don’t know, being graded on a curve means your not graded based on your own merit. Your exams are compared to everyone else and only a limited amount of A, B and C’s can be given. It usually means some people will have to fail, ya know the bell curve thing. Small amount or students get the top grades, small amount fail and most get average grades like B’s and C’s. Most colleges here in undergrad don’t grade on a curve..except maybe engineering.

I live in the US and every law school grades on a “curve.” Is that how your grades in England in the llb and llm programs are?

For those that don’t know, being graded on a curve means your not graded based on your own merit. Your exams are compared to everyone else and only a limited amount of A, B and C’s can be given. It usually means some people will have to fail, ya know the bell curve thing. Small amount or students get the top grades, small amount fail and most get average grades like B’s and C’s. Most colleges here in undergrad don’t grade on a curve..except maybe engineering.
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jwpetterch...

No, the law schools in the U.K. don’t usually grade on a curve, although some may. That being said, the grade distribution probably looks a lot like a curve by default because the grading is so rigorous. Also, most schools don’t really teach legal writing at all (or at least very well). Very few people, especially in law, graduate with first class honours degrees. Probably half of math and econ grads finish with first class degrees.


I live in the US and every law school grades on a “curve.” Is that how your grades in England in the llb and llm programs are?

For those that don’t know, being graded on a curve means your not graded based on your own merit. Your exams are compared to everyone else and only a limited amount of A, B and C’s can be given. It usually means some people will have to fail, ya know the bell curve thing. Small amount or students get the top grades, small amount fail and most get average grades like B’s and C’s. Most colleges here in undergrad don’t grade on a curve..except maybe engineering.

No, the law schools in the U.K. don’t usually grade on a curve, although some may. That being said, the grade distribution probably looks a lot like a curve by default because the grading is so rigorous. Also, most schools don’t really teach legal writing at all (or at least very well). Very few people, especially in law, graduate with first class honours degrees. Probably half of math and econ grads finish with first class degrees.<br><br><br>[quote]I live in the US and every law school grades on a “curve.” Is that how your grades in England in the llb and llm programs are?

For those that don’t know, being graded on a curve means your not graded based on your own merit. Your exams are compared to everyone else and only a limited amount of A, B and C’s can be given. It usually means some people will have to fail, ya know the bell curve thing. Small amount or students get the top grades, small amount fail and most get average grades like B’s and C’s. Most colleges here in undergrad don’t grade on a curve..except maybe engineering. [/quote]
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Sara Jane

No, the law schools in the U.K. don’t usually grade on a curve, although some may. That being said, the grade distribution probably looks a lot like a curve by default because the grading is so rigorous. Also, most schools don’t really teach legal writing at all (or at least very well). Very few people, especially in law, graduate with first class honours degrees. Probably half of math and econ grads finish with first class degrees.


I live in the US and every law school grades on a “curve.” Is that how your grades in England in the llb and llm programs are?



For those that don’t know, being graded on a curve means your not graded based on your own merit. Your exams are compared to everyone else and only a limited amount of A, B and C’s can be given. It usually means some people will have to fail, ya know the bell curve thing. Small amount or students get the top grades, small amount fail and most get average grades like B’s and C’s. Most colleges here in undergrad don’t grade on a curve..except maybe engineering.


 1f62f Wow, so what happens to the students that barely pass or have very average grades? Are they still able to get an llm after the llb? Would their low grades hinder them when finding a job? Are there any kind of qualifying exams for these programs?

[Edited by Sara Jane on Sep 08, 2020]

[quote]No, the law schools in the U.K. don’t usually grade on a curve, although some may. That being said, the grade distribution probably looks a lot like a curve by default because the grading is so rigorous. Also, most schools don’t really teach legal writing at all (or at least very well). Very few people, especially in law, graduate with first class honours degrees. Probably half of math and econ grads finish with first class degrees.<br><br><br>[quote]I live in the US and every law school grades on a “curve.” Is that how your grades in England in the llb and llm programs are? <br>
<br>
For those that don’t know, being graded on a curve means your not graded based on your own merit. Your exams are compared to everyone else and only a limited amount of A, B and C’s can be given. It usually means some people will have to fail, ya know the bell curve thing. Small amount or students get the top grades, small amount fail and most get average grades like B’s and C’s. Most colleges here in undergrad don’t grade on a curve..except maybe engineering. [/quote] [/quote]<br><br>&nbsp;:hushed:&nbsp;Wow, so what happens to the students that barely pass or have very average grades? Are they still able to get an llm after the llb? Would their low grades hinder them when finding a job? Are there any kind of qualifying exams for these programs?
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jwpetterch...

Generally speaking, unless you get a first class honours degree (70+) or a strong upper second class honours degree (60+, but 65+ is preferred), you will have trouble getting a legal job and most top universities are out of the question for an LLM, although there are lower tier schools that will take lower marks for the LLMs. You’re not wholly blacklisted, you just have to work much harder to get an interview. This is kind of the same everywhere.

There is a qualifying law exam for some very highly ranked LLB programs. It is called the LNAT, but only maybe 10 schools require it and you only need to take it of you apply to two or more of these law schools, so in practice very few take it. LLMs do not generally have any entrance exams. The Oxford University BCL, the most prestigious post graduate law program, might have its own special exam, but I don’t know.



No, the law schools in the U.K. don’t usually grade on a curve, although some may. That being said, the grade distribution probably looks a lot like a curve by default because the grading is so rigorous. Also, most schools don’t really teach legal writing at all (or at least very well). Very few people, especially in law, graduate with first class honours degrees. Probably half of math and econ grads finish with first class degrees.


I live in the US and every law school grades on a “curve.” Is that how your grades in England in the llb and llm programs are?



For those that don’t know, being graded on a curve means your not graded based on your own merit. Your exams are compared to everyone else and only a limited amount of A, B and C’s can be given. It usually means some people will have to fail, ya know the bell curve thing. Small amount or students get the top grades, small amount fail and most get average grades like B’s and C’s. Most colleges here in undergrad don’t grade on a curve..except maybe engineering.


 1f62f Wow, so what happens to the students that barely pass or have very average grades? Are they still able to get an llm after the llb? Would their low grades hinder them when finding a job? Are there any kind of qualifying exams for these programs?

Generally speaking, unless you get a first class honours degree (70+) or a strong upper second class honours degree (60+, but 65+ is preferred), you will have trouble getting a legal job and most top universities are out of the question for an LLM, although there are lower tier schools that will take lower marks for the LLMs. You’re not wholly blacklisted, you just have to work much harder to get an interview. This is kind of the same everywhere.<br><br>There is a qualifying law exam for some very highly ranked LLB programs. It is called the LNAT, but only maybe 10 schools require it and you only need to take it of you apply to two or more of these law schools, so in practice very few take it. LLMs do not generally have any entrance exams. The Oxford University BCL, the most prestigious post graduate law program, might have its own special exam, but I don’t know.<br><br><br><br>[quote][quote]No, the law schools in the U.K. don’t usually grade on a curve, although some may. That being said, the grade distribution probably looks a lot like a curve by default because the grading is so rigorous. Also, most schools don’t really teach legal writing at all (or at least very well). Very few people, especially in law, graduate with first class honours degrees. Probably half of math and econ grads finish with first class degrees.<br><br><br>[quote]I live in the US and every law school grades on a “curve.” Is that how your grades in England in the llb and llm programs are? <br>
<br>
For those that don’t know, being graded on a curve means your not graded based on your own merit. Your exams are compared to everyone else and only a limited amount of A, B and C’s can be given. It usually means some people will have to fail, ya know the bell curve thing. Small amount or students get the top grades, small amount fail and most get average grades like B’s and C’s. Most colleges here in undergrad don’t grade on a curve..except maybe engineering. [/quote] [/quote]<br><br>&nbsp;:hushed:&nbsp;Wow, so what happens to the students that barely pass or have very average grades? Are they still able to get an llm after the llb? Would their low grades hinder them when finding a job? Are there any kind of qualifying exams for these programs? [/quote]
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