Law Student 2002: a profile of law students in Scotland

UKCLE project

Project leader: Jenny Hamilton, University of Strathclyde (e-mail: j.a.hamilton@strath.ac.uk)
Project summary: a study of students at six law schools in Scotland
Completion date: August 2006
UKCLE funding: £3,500 + £6,975 + £4,900

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The Law Student 2002 project, funded by UKCLE’s Nations Fund, followed a cohort of students at six law schools in Scotland (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian, Strathclyde) through their law degree. The project came under the umbrella of the Association of Law Teachers’ Legal Education Research Network (LERN). A similar project, Law Student 2000, followed a cohort of students at law schools in England and Wales.

Law Student 2002 aimed to give a picture of the expectations of the student cohort starting their degree in 2002, and to track how these changed over the course of their studies. It encompassed issues regarding debt (the starting point for Law Student 2000), as well as issues around student background, socio-economic status, schooling, what motivated students to study law and career aspirations. Six of the (then) eight law schools in Scotland agreed to take part, although one (post 1990) law school did not continue with the survey past the first year.

Summary of findings

Student background

The 2002 law student intake was predominately middle class, of Scots origin and predominately female (contrasting with the position in the 1970s, when only around 20% were female). In terms of ethnicity, the results broadly reflect a balance in line with the Scottish population (less than 3% of non-Scots origin in the 2001 census). Interestingly, over half (51%) of direct entrants into law school came from state schools, while less than a quarter (21%) came from independent schools, although almost all (80%) of those from the latter progressed to study at one of the three Ancient universities (Glasgow, Edinburgh or Aberdeen).

Judging from the 2002 cohort, law students in Scotland generally do not travel far from their home location to undertake their degrees. Their parents come mainly from the professions, management and senior administrative posts, and education. A very small number have parents in the legal profession, although approximately half have family or friends who are qualified as a solicitor or an advocate.

Influences on the decision to study law

While few students have parents in the legal profession, parents nonetheless play an important part in a student’s decision to undertake a law degree. Approximately 40% of students claimed to have come to law school having had some experience of a legal office, albeit as part of their previous schooling (ie as a school placement, usually lasting no more than one week), while 9% currently have or have had paid employment in the legal field.

Previous work experience (paid or unpaid) was an important influence for many students (36%), as was advice and information from teachers (33%) and career advisors (26%). TV and press reports were also a factor, while some cited fictional accounts of lawyers in film, literature or TV to be a factor in course choice. (There is perhaps scope for further research into the influence of the media on students’ decision to study law.)

A desire to help others was not the most important factor when choosing a law degree. Most students chose to study law due to their interest in the subject (94%), although given the rather low experiential links students have with the professions it is difficult to speculate how they developed that interest (all the more so as law/legal studies is not a Standard or Higher grade subject in schools). The following four most important factors when choosing a law degree were the perceived high regard of employers for applicants with a law degree (93%), potential income (77%), the type of work one can do with a law degree (74%), and status (72%). The desire to help others was the sixth most important factor (64%).

Finance and debt

38% of respondents perceived themselves as ‘consumers of education’, but when split into Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) funded and fee paying part time or graduate entrant there was a marked difference. We did not provide respondents with a definition of ‘consumer’, but when asked to explain why they saw themselves as consumers the most common reason given by the part time student and the graduate entrant was payment of fees.

We also looked at whether students came to university with savings, received financial support from family or intended to take out a loan. 65% indicated an intention to work part time, with over half of those indicating that they intended to work more than 10 hours per week. This raises the question of whether students working this number of hours can be considered to be full time students, or whether the distinction between full time and part time still has real meaning.

Only 15% of respondents anticipated having no debt at the end of their academic career, and of the remaining 85% over half anticipated having over £7,000 of debt. At the end of the law degree we found that 81% were indeed carrying debt, with 57% anticipating that they would be carrying over £7,000 debt as they moved into their traineeship (40% estimated debts of over £10,000), despite the prospect of earning only around £14,000 in their first year.

Future career

Most students in their first year (82%) intended to enter the legal profession. By the second year 20% of the full time students claimed they were less keen to be lawyer.

Student preferences for traineeships remained relatively constant throughout the survey, with a preference for high street firms and commercial firms over rural firms. In the first year 60% of those surveyed stated that they would consider a traineeship within a legal aid firm, but only 6% gave this as their first preference. Similarly, only 14% gave public prosecution as their first preference. By the traineeship year the commercial firm remained the most popular first choice (40%) while the legal aid firm remained at 6%.

As well as confirming anecdotal evidence about the extent of debts students incur during the course of their study, the survey results also raise interesting questions about the motivations of Scots law students. It may be that debt is driving students towards (higher paying?) commercial firms, but equally there may be issues for law schools in terms of the way students are socialised into a certain set of values and/or aspirations that over the course of their studies subtly influence subsequent career choices.

Project outputs:

• First year report (2002-03; PDF file, 27 pages) – looks at student background, the choice of a law degree, course fees, the financial implications of study and plans after graduation
• Second year report (2003-04; RTF file, 29 pages, 411 KB) – looks at issues including student debt, part time work and career aspirations
• Final report (2005-06; PDF file, 11 pages) – profiles students undertaking the Diploma in Legal Practice

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Last Modified: 4 June 2010