FE1 Exam Thread (Mod Warning: NO ADS)

legalsmeagle

Got 54 in Equity praise the lord thats my last!!!
Bye Bye FE1's ,well done to all

matiz

Oh maaaan, I passed 2 and failed 2. Grrrrr....

Anyone else disappointed with their Criminal exam results? I came out of that exam fairly happy and confident that I had passed. Turns out I got 40%.....

Atticus Lynch

Hey guys,

Just thought I said I'd agree with the idea that the marking of papers seems to vary massively from paper to paper and from subject to subject.

Like I thought criminal went awful for me, I only spent 2 hours in there like bluffing as much as I could because I had a semi-break down the night before. And yet I somehow passed.

Then with contract I thought I did very well and got only 1 percent more than criminal.

So it just seems quite random.

Thanks to this forum for all the help throughout the time, il be back come January for four more!

Lorraine 25

Are the results only available online today or are they out in the post also?

Atticus Lynch

Lorraine 25 wrote: »

Are the results only available online today or are they out in the post also?

I think they were posted today but we prob won't receive the letters until Monday, I didn't either.

http://www.lawsociety.ie/pages/special_pages/Login/?ReturnUrl=%2fPages%2fPublic-Becoming-a-Solicitor-CMS%2fIrish-Applicants-Solicitor%2fFE-1-Exam%2fFE1-Examination-Results%2f

is the correct link.

law11

matiz wrote: »

Oh maaaan, I passed 2 and failed 2. Grrrrr....

Anyone else disappointed with their Criminal exam results? I came out of that exam fairly happy and confident that I had passed. Turns out I got 40%.....

Hi Matiz, you're not alone with that one I was most confident about my criminal and yet failed at 42%. I was sure it had been a better paper than the others I had taken. Getting it rechecked but I don't hold much hope of coming up 8%. I'm left with no choice but to try for 8 next time unfortunately. My biggest mistake was taking on 3 to pass and having pretty much a ghost 4th subject due to time issues.

Congrats to all who passed

matiz

law11 wrote: »

Hi Matiz, you're not alone with that one I was most confident about my criminal and yet failed at 42%. I was sure it had been a better paper than the others I had taken. Getting it rechecked but I don't hold much hope of coming up 8%. I'm left with no choice but to try for 8 next time unfortunately. My biggest mistake was taking on 3 to pass and having pretty much a ghost 4th subject due to time issues.

Congrats to all who passed

I'm going to get mine rechecked too, I've posted off the application form already. I'd say it will take a major miracle to find 10% in there, but I'll be kicking myself if I don't....

Oh and heartiest congrats to all who passed

MoneyMilo

Hey guys, I got my 3 out of 4 so very relieved. Gonna sign up for EU and Constitutional Prep Courses now.

Who do people think are the best lecturers between city colleges and indo colleges for EU and Const? I'd do griffith if a lecturer there is especially good.

Thanks

LawNerd2011

Law11 - Why are you left with no choice but to do all 8? In the same boat as you re the ghost 4th. In hindsight, it was a foolish decision. I guess I just have to learn from my mistake

evercloserunion

Finally got them, passed all four, absolutely delighted. Funnily enough I was half expecting to fail criminal, turns out it was my highest (joint with equity) very weird.

BroadwayBound

I didn't intend on a ghost fourth but ran out of time and now here I am!

To anyone who has ever been in this position before, would you advise taking up a 5th subject? Im thinking of adding one to my list of Company, Equity, Contract and Criminal.

Also, when did you start studying again? I'm thinking January but if I take up another I might start next week.

Thanks in advance!

Banana-rama

MoneyMilo wrote: »

Hey guys, I got my 3 out of 4 so very relieved. Gonna sign up for EU and Constitutional Prep Courses now.

Who do people think are the best lecturers between city colleges and indo colleges for EU and Const? I'd do griffith if a lecturer there is especially good.

Thanks

Two words for you....Brendan Foley! (Passed Const first time and got a grind for EU - passed first time too).

moonbino

Banana-rama wrote: »

MoneyMilo wrote: »

Hey guys, I got my 3 out of 4 so very relieved. Gonna sign up for EU and Constitutional Prep Courses now.

Who do people think are the best lecturers between city colleges and indo colleges for EU and Const? I'd do griffith if a lecturer there is especially good.

Thanks

Two words for you....Brendan Foley! (Passed Const first time and got a grind for EU - passed first time too).

Ya, I hear he's very good. At City Colleges myself but not doing Constitution yet. The manuals are great by the way. They don't look as intimidating as the others. Concise and straight to the point. All the best!

valleyoftheunos

BroadwayBound wrote: »

I didn't intend on a ghost fourth but ran out of time and now here I am!

To anyone who has ever been in this position before, would you advise taking up a 5th subject? Im thinking of adding one to my list of Company, Equity, Contract and Criminal.

Also, when did you start studying again? I'm thinking January but if I take up another I might start next week.

Thanks in advance!

I'd advise against picking up a fifth for most people, it just ads to your workload and doesn't really improve your chances of passing three.

I'd also advise against focusing on three only, properly attempting four subjects means you can have one bad paper and still come away with a return for all your efforts.

JCJCJC

Caoileann wrote: »

JC, would you recommend I picked up a 5th subject? My subjects were company, equity, criminal and contract.

Im tempted to either pick up property, or to drop a subject and take property in its place. Or, just stick with the same subjects.

Any advise appreciated I'm heartbroken at this moment in time

Well the first advice is spend as much time as you can with the people you like most for the next few days, and you'll get over the blues quickly and start coping again. Stay away from hooch and late nights for the same few days. On the other question, there's no mathematically certain answer really. Since you have equity and contract, tort would be the easiest fit because it compliments the others. Without knowing you and your full circumstances I am really reluctant to be definitive on advice. For example, if you are a recent high-acheiving law graduate or post-grad, or not, etc all plays into the equation. I did criminal in college in 2003, only did a GCD one-day on it since then, studied for a rushed three weeks before the october sittings and passed it by a whisker this time. Some people remember every detail of everything they did in college, some crammed for their college exams and have forgotten everything and most of us probably fall somewhere in between. If your marks this time were in the forties, it shouldn't take much additional effort to get to fifty and you might have the spare capacity for an additional subject. Exam technique is vital and doing old questions gets you into the groove of the examiners' style, it's a pita but you must do it. Even if you only doodle a draft answer structure with open-book help, you start to see how a good comprehensive reply might look.
I got professional help with memory, concentration and motivation from a clinical hypnotherapist and it seemed to be of benefit to me anyway.
All this exam-sitting and rechecking lark costs money too, you shouldn't commit to them lightly. Try studying five from now to the exam deadline in Feb and see how you feel then. I personally have found the GCD one-day courses to be a great help, Im presently enrolled for their distance-learning EU course so I'll see how it goes. I've passed my six so far with one-days.

Chin up, don't let it get you down.

JC

JCJCJC

BroadwayBound wrote: »

I didn't intend on a ghost fourth
QUOTE]

That's a great term for the sit 4 / pass 3 situation - Ghost Fourth! I love it!

JC

corkgirl88

Finally passed all exams. It has been a tough year but it is great to have them all finished. This thread has been such a great help. Best of luck to everyone facing into exams in March.

hero82

finally passed all 8 fe1s.thanks so much to everyone on this..it was a great support.best of luck to all dont give up.its so worth the feeling im experiencing today.!!

edelmull

Finally got all 8. For what it's worth;

To anyone who didn't get the results they wanted, try not to be to disheartened! I think it's very clear from this forum that these exams are certainly not straight forward. Everyone struggles at some stage. You will get there in the end and it is true what they say - its actually worth it in the end. So persevere!

This forum has been useful to me so thanks for that!

boomtown84

These exams are really gettin to me now!
Thought tort was a definite pass and got 43%.
Came out of property raging and didn't even answer 5 q's and got 55%.
Gonna get a recheck for tort....got EU and Const left.haven't studied either before..anyone recommend a lecturer for both?

Cheers,
Rob... in tears!

jrocco

I sat the last set of FE1's not having done an undergrad in Law and not having sat an exam in 10 years.

I did think I did better than I got.
Company 40
Contract 44
Criminal 45
Equity 30

1. Is it worth having the top three rechecked or is it a push?
2. In March would it be worth sitting 5 to up the chances of a passing 3?

thanks

moonbino

boomtown84 wrote: »

These exams are really gettin to me now!
Thought tort was a definite pass and got 43%.
Came out of property raging and didn't even answer 5 q's and got 55%.
Gonna get a recheck for tort....got EU and Const left.haven't studied either before..anyone recommend a lecturer for both?

Cheers,
Rob... in tears!

Brendan Foley, City Colleges.

JCJCJC

jrocco wrote: »

I sat the last set of FE1's not having done an undergrad in Law and not having sat an exam in 10 years.

I did think I did better than I got.
Company 40
Contract 44
Criminal 45
Equity 30

1. Is it worth having the top three rechecked or is it a push?
2. In March would it be worth sitting 5 to up the chances of a passing 3?

thanks

You are depending on the 40 getting to 50 really. Compared to six months delay, ultimate delay in getting to BP, if you can afford to gamble the three fees then do.
Re Q2, what prep are you doing? are you studying from books on your own, or doing a prep-school course? No disrespect, but whatever you have done to date seems to be insufficient, so something has to change substantially to start getting the 50+'s on your scoresheet. There would seem to be little point in doing five until you get study technique, exam technique and quantum of knowledge to the point where you're meeting the FE1 standard reliably and repeatedly.
Is your handwriting clear and legible even after three intense hours, is your general visual presentation of your knowledge acceptably good,well-structured paragraphs, ruled lines as required etc?
Why did you think you did better - just being curious - what are you calibrating your answers against? If you haven't seen sample answers from the prep colleges you should try to see them, they are an eye-opener on the standard of answer expected in these exams. If your answers were that good, then it's hard to see how four examiners failed your papers - again, absolutely no offence or disrespect to you, just trying to analyse what you've said with your questions in mind.
JC

Mojo22

Hi guys
Have passed 5 of the exams so three left in March. Am delighted
Really disappointed with Equity. Thought I did a really good paper & fairely confident I had passed but only got 43%. Did anybody else find that??
Didnt do a good EU Paper but managed to pass. The marking is so random.

Mojo22

BroadwayBound wrote: »

I didn't intend on a ghost fourth but ran out of time and now here I am!

To anyone who has ever been in this position before, would you advise taking up a 5th subject? Im thinking of adding one to my list of Company, Equity, Contract and Criminal.

Also, when did you start studying again? I'm thinking January but if I take up another I might start next week.

Thanks in advance!

Hi.
If you start studying soon maybe take up a 5th subject. Doing 5 exams will increase your chance of passing three. It gives u that extra cushion in case 2 exams do not go well. I think Property law is the easiest subject from the ones u have left. It is easy to get a good grade in it.

colonel1

Mojo22 wrote: »

BroadwayBound wrote: »

I didn't intend on a ghost fourth but ran out of time and now here I am!

To anyone who has ever been in this position before, would you advise taking up a 5th subject? Im thinking of adding one to my list of Company, Equity, Contract and Criminal.

Also, when did you start studying again? I'm thinking January but if I take up another I might start next week.

Thanks in advance!

Hi.
If you start studying soon maybe take up a 5th subject. Doing 5 exams will increase your chance of passing three. It gives u that extra cushion in case 2 exams do not go well. I think Property law is the easiest subject from the ones u have left. It is easy to get a good grade in it.

I would suggest that you stick to your 4 topics as you have already made notes on these, rather than taking on a new subject. Get a copy of the examiner's report for the last sitting and see where u might have gone wrong. Good luck!

jrocco

JCJCJC wrote: »

jrocco wrote: »

I sat the last set of FE1's not having done an undergrad in Law and not having sat an exam in 10 years.

I did think I did better than I got.
Company 40
Contract 44
Criminal 45
Equity 30

1. Is it worth having the top three rechecked or is it a push?
2. In March would it be worth sitting 5 to up the chances of a passing 3?

thanks

You are depending on the 40 getting to 50 really. Compared to six months delay, ultimate delay in getting to BP, if you can afford to gamble the three fees then do.
Re Q2, what prep are you doing? are you studying from books on your own, or doing a prep-school course? No disrespect, but whatever you have done to date seems to be insufficient, so something has to change substantially to start getting the 50+'s on your scoresheet. There would seem to be little point in doing five until you get study technique, exam technique and quantum of knowledge to the point where you're meeting the FE1 standard reliably and repeatedly.
Is your handwriting clear and legible even after three intense hours, is your general visual presentation of your knowledge acceptably good,well-structured paragraphs, ruled lines as required etc?
Why did you think you did better - just being curious - what are you calibrating your answers against? If you haven't seen sample answers from the prep colleges you should try to see them, they are an eye-opener on the standard of answer expected in these exams. If your answers were that good, then it's hard to see how four examiners failed your papers - again, absolutely no offence or disrespect to you, just trying to analyse what you've said with your questions in mind.
JC

No offence taken at all. Yes prep course and manuals. I have sample answers and was comparing to those. My writing is an issue, not the most beautiful, does that impact significantly?

I had been doing sample questions and was having them compared to old exams and wad doing well, I also know factually both contract and criminal I hit most major cases that were relevant to the questions.

colonel1

jrocco wrote: »

I sat the last set of FE1's not having done an undergrad in Law and not having sat an exam in 10 years.

I did think I did better than I got.
Company 40
Contract 44
Criminal 45
Equity 30

1. Is it worth having the top three rechecked or is it a push?
2. In March would it be worth sitting 5 to up the chances of a passing 3?

thanks

To be honest, getting your 3 topics rechecked is an expensive risk. Did you do 5 questions in each paper?

I wouldn't take on a fifth subject at this stage, focus on the subjects you have done already and practice exam questions. Company law is a tough paper to pass btw, though the paper was quite nice in the October sitting.

If you haven't done a prep course, perhaps the one day revision course in Griffith would be worth considering.

banterful

Hi all,

Congrats to all who passed & commiserations to anyone who like myself didn't get good news last week.

I passed 2 & failed 2 of my first set so utterly disappointed. Means I have to push back Blackhall by a year if I don't do all 8 together in March. Having started from scratch studying for the October FE1s as my degree isn't in law, I'm not sure if doing 8 in March is really a goer. I went to a prep course for this set & just used the manuals. I didn't really take advantage of doing sample answers as I concentrated mainly on taking notes which took a lot longer than expected leaving me no time to do questions before the exams, though I did look at sample answers so had a good idea of the format required.

I suppose I'm just wondering if anyone has been in this position before in regards to a training contract & possibly deferring it - & whether this is the best route rather than taking on 8 in March. My feeling is to defer Blackhall, sit the 4 I just sat again in March to make sure of them, then sit the next 4 in September. I'm wondering whether it might be a good idea to take on a 5th subject now though, as I was so close to getting 3 in October & have all my notes done for the first 4 so could perhaps afford to take on a 5th subject to at least increase my chances of getting 3/4, but hopefully get a 5th one of the way now. Then once I finish the September sitting I'd hopefully start in the firm a few months early in 2013 before Blackhall. Out of company, tort, property & EU does anyone have any tips as to which might be best to take on as a 5th subject?

Would really appreciate anyone's advice on this, especially those of you that have sat a few of the FE1s already or those that have been in this position in regards to a training contract.

Cheers for all the great advice so far on this thread.

lennylaw

Hey,

I am signing up this week for EU and Constit courses and wondering if anyone would advise one of these colleges over the other. I was initially planning to do Griffith as i have been studying from their manuals for the last four and passed but now after reading posts recommending City Colleges Constitutional lecturer im confused.

Any advise appreciated. Thanks!