General transferable skills: University of Nottingham

(Transcript of a section of the General transferable skills report, 1998)

Strategy and target group (academic)

The department views its primary purpose as being to educate students and to assist them in the development of their intellectual and legal skills. Although a significant proportion of its graduates proceed to the Bar Vocational Course (BVC) or the Legal Practice Course (LPC), the department is not aiming to train lawyers exclusively for future legal practice, much less to produce lawyers fully trained for legal practice.

Specific skills module or integration of skills?

The department is currently altering its approach to skills. Discrete skills modules were introduced as part of the modularisation of the degree programmes, which enabled lecturers to become familiar with the teaching of such skills and to obtain feedback from the learning experience of students. However, the department now takes the view that it is appropriate to integrate the learning and application of skills in to substantive law subjects.

Learning support

The department provides learning support in two principal contexts. First, academic tutors offer advice on techniques for examinations and other forms of assessment, and feedback is provided in respect of all assessments. Moreover, tutors endeavour to identify and provide individualised support for students with particular difficulties.

Secondly, the department’s well established personal tutor system (under which it is envisaged that a student retains the same personal tutor throughout his/her degree programme) seeks to provide for regular and continuing contact with individual students.

Specific skills

Pursuant to the strategy of the department skills training is concentrated on more general intellectual skills, albeit in a legal context, rather than on skills specific to legal practice (or any other particular career).

Thus in years 1 and 2 students are required to develop research skills, both as individuals and working in small groups, culminating in the oral and written presentation of various research projects. Research skills may be further developed and applied in optional third year modules; dissertation (a full year individual research project) and independent study (a half year individual research project).

In years 1 and 2 students are also required to participate in moots, and the best mooters over the two years proceed to the departmental mooting competition.

More general presentational skills are continually developed in the context of small group teaching. Personal skills, such as organisation, time management, adaptability and self reliance, do not constitute a formal taught element of the degree programmes, but most students naturally develop such skills as they progress through the programmes.

Last Modified: 30 June 2010