Law Student 2000: prelude to the finale

Law Student 2000 is a UKCLE funded project looking at the aspirations of students at over 40 law schools in England. In this article from the Autumn 2003 issue of Directions Mike Cuthbert (University of Northampton) brings us up to date with the student cohort, which has now graduated, and looks at progress towards meeting the issues highlighted by the project.

The students who were the focus of Law Student 2000 have now graduated. When they started their studies 92% said they intended to pursue a career in the legal profession, however we know from national statistics that less than 40% of law graduates actually do this. Although the group returning the final year questionnaires for the project were still very positive about a law career, nearly two thirds had not applied for a training contract or pupillage.

The big problem for graduates is the level of debt they take with them when they receive their degree certificate. This project has seen a ‘debt creep’ – students have said that they anticipate a higher level of debt on graduation the nearer they get to that event. If we exclude the possibility of declaring oneself bankrupt, this debt has to be repaid to the Student Loan Company or bank. How long will this take? 23% of students thought that it would take them four to eight years to repay their debts. Another 25% were less optimistic and put the figure at eight to 12 years. Not a comforting thought if they are thinking about what career path to follow.

The amount of additional debt our graduates will incur if they proceed to the Legal Practice Course or the Bar Vocational Course could amount to another £15-25,000, if living expenses are included. Are we maintaining an elite because of this level of expense? Obviously we want a legal profession that reflects society, but we also want one based on merit. Faced with levels of debt that are above the average level of unsecured household debt, is it not reasonable to expect a graduate of 21-22 years of age to look to non-legal careers?

The students were asked to give the main reasons why they were not seeking a career in the legal profession. Generally the responses can be expressed as cost + competition = risk. The cost element has been examined above. Competition is the number of students chasing the limited number of training contract or pupillage opportunities. Students accept that these must be made on merit, however information from other studies has highlighted the importance given in selection procedures to an individual’s A level results and the university they are attending. Students have to consider the risk factor. Will they succeed?

What can we do as law teachers? 87% of those who answered the questionnaire said that if they had to choose again, knowing the level of debt they would incur, they would still take a degree in law, so it is not the experience of studying law that deters students from entering the profession. Costs are outside our control, but can we do anything to influence the competition element? Can we do anything to reduce the risk? Perhaps we need to explain more to our new students about what they can do to improve their CVs. Better links with the local legal community would help with this, as would good e-mail communication with our students via e-mail for those opportunities that arise at short notice. In other words we need to start banging the drum earlier and more often to help our students.

It is encouraging to see that the Bar Council at least is seeking to be proactive in recruitment. Their recent consultation report on funding entry to the Bar recognises the issues facing legal education and makes some important suggestions as to the future. The fact that the Bar Council is spending £11.7 million to fund entrants emerges as an interesting detail.

Although the fat lady may be preparing to sing the final chorus of the Law Student 2000 project, it is good to see that she has sisters waiting in the wings to deliver the next performance. Both the Law Society and the Bar Council have taken action to ensure that they collect data on the issues identified by the project, and most law schools now collect data on their students as part of their annual monitoring. All this information should assist in developing and delivering a strategy that will help us to maintain quality – crucial in the environment of the white paper on higher education and with the emergence of ‘Tesco Law’!

Last Modified: 4 June 2010