Careers in Law Come Ever Closer as Students Venture Outside the Classroom

As Ethan Price watches the barrister that he’s been shadowing all day drive away in her Aston Martin Vanquish, his mind’s made up: Law is for him.

Ethan’s on course for an A in his Law A Level, and is looking forward to studying it in higher education. Indeed, more of our students went on to study Law at university than any other subject, which speaks volumes for the calibre and drive of the students and the ability of our Law department, including former lawyers and solicitors, to teach and inspire in equal measure. Seeing the supercar pay-off for working hard does no harm in adding to career aspirations either.

The classroom tuition at the Sixth Form College goes hand-in-hand with a plethora of extracurricular activities that our students get involved in, and this half term week has seen five students go on placement at some of the most prestigious Barristers’ Chambers in Liverpool. Ethan headed to 7 Harrington Street Chambers, while Ava Powell-Wallis, Carl Kelly, Molly Woods and James Webster share placements at Atlantic Chambers, Exchange Chambers and Chavasse Court Chambers respectively.

The week culminates in an Advocacy training day at Manchester University on Friday, and James Webster is making the most of his opportunities: “I’m just looking forward to learning more skills, not just to add to a future career but hopefully to come out winning the Bar Mock Trial.”

The Citizenship Foundation Bar Mock Trial takes place at the Old Bailey in London in April after our student team claimed a place in the final, beating local selective and grammar schools in Merseyside and North Wales in the Chester Regional Heat. James, who is also on course for As in the summer, is one of more than a dozen students involved in the mock advocacy trial, overseen by senior circuit judges and contested by over 2000 students nationwide.

Students also attended a conference in the Pathways to the Legal Profession organised by the Liverpool Law Society, which was quite the eye-opener for former South Wirral High School student Sam Jones.

First year Sam, hoping for top grades in the summer, said: “They spelt out how it wasn’t a matter of having to study Law at uni to get into the career. There are apprenticeships available now that weren’t before and seem like a really good option. I’m seriously considering going into the profession through that route now, although I’ll still look at university too.”

To give students that insight into the university option, the Sixth Form College arranged a conference for some of the top universities in Law to come the college and answer questions and give advice on legal study. After the event, the University of Manchester Law admissions officer, Carol Barker, said: “I was very impressed with your students, who were very knowledgeable about checking university websites and attending open days, as well as asking relevant questions. It was a pleasure to attend.”

Head of Law, Paula Blakemore, came to the Sixth Form College after over 20 years as a solicitor: a career she calls ‘both interesting and lucrative’.

Paula, who was nominated for Law Teacher of the Year in 2015, said: “The students sign up for the extracurricular activities in their droves because they enjoy them. It becomes a self-perpetuating thing – when it comes to applying for university or jobs, they’ve all got lots of Law-related extracurricular for their CV which puts them in very good standing.

“If you chose to study Law at A Level then you’ll know something about the nature of the subject that you want to go into. If you’re studying it at university, then you’re committing a lot of money to it so obviously it’s worth having that knowledge before you do. Even if you don’t choose to go on to study Law, the problem-solving skills are transferrable into almost every subject.”

Ethan’s getting on the bus to get home from Liverpool now. He’s had a chance to see barristers in action after studying it in class; he’s got work to do when he gets back too, but first, he’s going to use his journey home to look up how much an Aston Martin will set him back when he gets his own gown and wig.