FE1 Prep Courses

--homeslice--

Hi all, I'm a final year law student and planning to sit my first set of FE1s in October. I've been trying to gauge the best prep course out there, i.e. Griffith, Independent or City, by trawling through the threads here but found that some of the most in-depth comments on this subject are almost 5 years old... probably not the most reliable picture of the field today!

I'm basically just wondering who has the best manuals, what lecturers are the best for certain subjects, whether it would be worth going between the 3 to 'cherry pick' essentially the best ones, what groupings of 4 would you pick if you were given the opportunity to re-do the exams and whether the costs of the courses are reflective of their quality; I saw that City are the cheapest and don't know whether that is merely a competitive feature of the course or are they just not as good as the other 2? Apologies if that's not the case, just wanting to see what everyone has to say!

NoQuarter

Why, if you are in final year law, are you even considering the prep courses? Havent you just done all the subjects sure. The prep courses dont work miracles, they just go over the same stuff you have just learned. Just buy second hand manuals and learn them cover to cover! You'd be mad to spend the money on the prep courses straight after a law degree!

As for groupings; look at the exam timetables and perhaps pick subjects with a gap day in between as it makes all the difference. Contract and equity has some overlap too so worth doing together.

Procrastastudy

NoQuarter wrote: »

Why, if you are in final year law, are you even considering the prep courses? Havent you just done all the subjects sure. The prep courses dont work miracles, they just go over the same stuff you have just learned. Just buy second hand manuals and learn them cover to cover! You'd be mad to spend the money on the prep courses straight after a law degree!

As for groupings; look at the exam timetables and perhaps pick subjects with a gap day in between as it makes all the difference. Contract and equity has some overlap too so worth doing together.

+1 and Land Law?

chops018

NoQuarter wrote: »

Why, if you are in final year law, are you even considering the prep courses? Havent you just done all the subjects sure. The prep courses dont work miracles, they just go over the same stuff you have just learned. Just buy second hand manuals and learn them cover to cover! You'd be mad to spend the money on the prep courses straight after a law degree!

As for groupings; look at the exam timetables and perhaps pick subjects with a gap day in between as it makes all the difference. Contract and equity has some overlap too so worth doing together.

+1.

Procrastastudy wrote: »

+1 and Land Law?

Property Law is actually one of the easiest FE1's in my opinion. Two guaranteed succession questions every sitting, learn that topic off and you're laughing.

Procrastastudy

chops018 wrote: »

+1.



Property Law is actually one of the easiest FE1's in my opinion. Two guaranteed succession questions every sitting, learn that topic off and you're laughing.

Nice one - just got a first on LL in my undergrad. I've no Idea how as I didn't go to half the lecturers but did teach myself succession law. (Nice topic - ready act, wrote it down - yeah okay it's not quite THAT easy but not far off!)

Does it overlap with equity though? Trusts of land and all that.

chops018

Procrastastudy wrote: »

Nice one - just got a first on LL in my undergrad. I've no Idea how as I didn't go to half the lecturers but did teach myself succession law. (Nice topic - ready act, wrote it down - yeah okay it's not quite THAT easy but not far off!)

Does it overlap with equity though? Trusts of land and all that.

Some people may disagree but I don't think it hugely overlaps. They are both different approaches in most respects. Equity and Contract definitively do though as you have probably already noticed or heard; the remedies are almost the exact same. Fair play on the first.

valleyoftheunos

Procrastastudy wrote: »

Nice one - just got a first on LL in my undergrad. I've no Idea how as I didn't go to half the lecturers but did teach myself succession law. (Nice topic - ready act, wrote it down - yeah okay it's not quite THAT easy but not far off!)

Does it overlap with equity though? Trusts of land and all that.

Property is one of the straightforward FE-1s, 2 Qs on succession (and there are only really 4 available Qs to be asked in Succession Law.) which leaves you needing 3 Qs from a very manageable group of topics which are rarely mixed with each other.

Equity is relevant to the Property exam but I didn't find there to be much cross over.

TMJK

Just a side question- is DBS Adv Diploma in Legal Studies any use in preparing for the FE1s? Does anyone know?

Procrastastudy

TMJK wrote: »

Just a side question- is DBS Adv Diploma in Legal Studies any use in preparing for the FE1s? Does anyone know?

I wouldn't have thought any more than a prep course or simply reading the manuals.

TMJK

I mean like I know Griffith, City College and Independent College are the big established FE1 preparatory courses but I never hear anything about DBS's evening course and was wondering if anybody had - do they have good notes, lecturers, generally prepare you for the FE1s

Procrastastudy

TMJK wrote: »

I never hear anything about DBS's evening course and was wondering if anybody had - do they have good notes, lecturers, generally prepare you for the FE1s

Academic law which that course sounds like, doesn't bear as much resemblance to procedural law as one might expect. If it's the FE1s you want to prep for I'd do an FE-1 course imo.

I can only speak to undergrad but I visited GCD, DBS and Indo and I'm at GCD.

All the private colleges will bend over backwards to show you around - go and have a nosey.

valleyoftheunos

Procrastastudy wrote: »

Academic law which that course sounds like, doesn't bear as much resemblance to procedural law as one might expect. If it's the FE1s you want to prep for I'd do an FE-1 course imo.

I can only speak to undergrad but I visited GCD, DBS and Indo and I'm at GCD.

All the private colleges will bend over backwards to show you around - go and have a nosey.

There's no procedural law at FE-1 Stage, its all academic. I don't know about the DBS course but my guess is that it won't do you any harm but equally it won't really prepare you for FE-1s.

Procrastastudy

valleyoftheunos wrote: »

There's no procedural law at FE-1 Stage, its all academic. I don't know about the DBS course but my guess is that it won't do you any harm but equally it won't really prepare you for FE-1s.

Sorry to be clearer as my initial post wasn't very good what I mean to say is; you're unlikely (but I haven't sat them so stand to be corrected) to be going into the level of detail in an FE-1 exam that you would in an academic law course.

trucker

For the OP, as a final year law student I would imagine you're in a pretty strong position to sit the FE1s without spending €400 per subject on a preparatory course. My advice would be to focus on your four best subjects, get your hands on the manuals, and go for it once you pass 3 of your first 4, you can take the rest of the exams at your own pace.

(I should confess that I hope to sit my first 4 FE1 exams this Oct, and I am doing a preparatory course...but the only reason is because I am out of college 6 years...I wouldn't be doing it if I were fresh out of college!)

best of luck!

valleyoftheunos

Procrastastudy wrote: »

Sorry to be clearer as my initial post wasn't very good what I mean to say is; you're unlikely (but I haven't sat them so stand to be corrected) to be going into the level of detail in an FE-1 exam that you would in an academic law course.

An academic course should provide you with the necessary levels of detail and by and large cover most of the FE-1 Syllabus. The depth of knowledge required is much the same as a final year law degree but the FE-1s are difficult because of the breadth of knowledge that is also needed.

Topics are mixed within questions and you must answer five questions so you now have 35 minutes to produce an answer that previously you would have been allowed 45 for. On top of that the marking is utterly anonymous and I believe, quite strict.

trucker wrote: »

For the OP, as a final year law student I would imagine you're in a pretty strong position to sit the FE1s without spending €400 per subject on a preparatory course. My advice would be to focus on your four best subjects, get your hands on the manuals, and go for it once you pass 3 of your first 4, you can take the rest of the exams at your own pace.

(I should confess that I hope to sit my first 4 FE1 exams this Oct, and I am doing a preparatory course...but the only reason is because I am out of college 6 years...I wouldn't be doing it if I were fresh out of college!)

best of luck!

+1, straight out a law degree you shouldn't need to attend the Prep courses. get some materials and past papers and examiners reports and focus on answering the Questions and you should have the knowledge to get through.

KoukiKeith

I'm sitting my first four this sitting. Graduated in 2011 & did a Masters last year. I did a prep course for two subjects and while they were decent courses, I don't think I'll be bother for the next sittings. You'd be surprised how quick things flood back once you start reading the manuals/textbooks.

Recent graduate = no need for prep course.

--homeslice--

That great thanks a lot for the feedback!

Edmund Dantes

willing to purchase fe1 manuals....any ideas?

NoQuarter

Adverts.ie or the FE1 manual thread on this site somewhere. Use the search thing.

cooper1234

Just wondering same think as OP...any recommendations of which prep course is best to take would be greatly appreciated!

conmo

Sitting 4 in october, time to start studying?? I dont write everything out just bullet point the main bits and use a laptop! Any suggestions

chops018

conmo wrote: »

Sitting 4 in october, time to start studying?? I dont write everything out just bullet point the main bits and use a laptop! Any suggestions

Yeah if I was you I would start getting some study in now. Nothing strenuous to start off.. just a plan of how you aim to go about it and start familiarising yourself with the topics and the questions that appear.

It's never too early to start.. I wouldn't be going doing 8 hours a day yet though. Well, you can if you want, but we all need to have a life too.

trucker

Just wondering how the OP and others who contributed to this thread got on with the exams, and whether they attendied any prep courses?

Personally, I didnt get to sit them this October, with work commitments. I hope to refocus over the winter, but without the prep course.