Graduate standards in law: background and aims

(Transcript of a section of the Graduate standards in law report, 1997)

Law departments have traditionally felt distinctive and have often felt less than comfortable with pressures within their own institution, such as modularisation, which some have perceived as disregarding the specific nature of the discipline.

For a course to be recognised as a qualifying law degree, it must satisfy the requirements laid down by the Law Society and the Bar Council. In 1996 the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Legal Education (ACLEC)‘s First report on legal education and training proposed a new approach.

The professions have been concerned about standards in the expanded university sector and in 1997 ACLEC established a working group on standards in legal education. All subject associations have seen the need to have a common response in relation to the professions and to ACLEC. The project thus meets agendas specific to law, as well as more broadly in the higher education sector.

The project aimed:

• to produce a statement of level descriptors in law which is useful in the assessment of students and the review of courses
• to generate discussion on specific statement of standards appropriate to undergraduate and graduate study of core legal subjects (not specialist masters programmes) and attempt to obtain a level of consensus
• to obtain feedback from experienced external examiners on the usefulness of such an exercise and the usefulness of meetings of externals to discuss standards issues
• to produce a report which can be fed back to subject associations and to QAA for further action.

Last Modified: 30 June 2010