FE1 Exam Thread (Read 1st post!) NOTICE: YOU MAY SWAP EXAM GRIDS

thestar

Thanks for your reply.

Troels Hartmann

thestar wrote: »

So basically its not that expensive to sit these exams?

I think it's pretty expensive by any yardstick.

€105 a pop - that's €840 in total, presuming you pass them all at the first attempt.

Then there's books, materials, manuals - none of which will be cheap.

And if you're doing a prep course thats a serious expense - you're looking at a couple grand.

It's a very expensive business, and a money-making racket for the Law Society.

wannabegard

We'll lads. I have a non law degree but I did to a masters in human rights last year. I'm considering taking three fe1s next April. As I did eu law in college I'm definitely going to take that to get it out of the way. What other research should I
Be doing. I'm not in any rush to get a traineeship as I think I should do a couple exams first. I have a criminal/constitutional background but should I do topics that I haven't covered at all first? Thankd

TMJK

Finally come to terms with the fact I've to do Company again 😬 It will be like pulling teeth.
Does anyone have past-papers / Examiner's Reports they could email me? It would be a huge help, and hopefully get me over the line with this exam, finally!! Thanks

Kimberley93

Hi, I am planning on sitting four FE1S this October is anyone else? How are people preparing for them?

NathalieCS

Kimberley93 wrote: »

Hi, I am planning on sitting four FE1S this October is anyone else? How are people preparing for them?

Hi, I have just decided to sit 3 of them.
I actually had them all in 2008 but never went for an apprenticeship so need to sit them all again!
I have the old Grffith College handbooks but need to get updated ones!
What about you? how are you going to prepare for them?

Troels Hartmann

The March 2015 exam reports are available on the LS website now.

I honestly cannot wait to read the EU one!

smeal

Troels Hartmann wrote: »

The March 2015 exam reports are available on the LS website now.

I honestly cannot wait to read the EU one!

Where can you see them?:)

Troels Hartmann

smeal wrote: »

Where can you see them?:)

You have to pay for the pleasure. They can be ordered off the FE1 section of the website for €6, the proceeds of which go into the bottomless pit of money generated by the Law Society's GE1 money-making racket

sunshine and showers

Troels Hartmann wrote: »

The March 2015 exam reports are available on the LS website now.

I honestly cannot wait to read the EU one!

Would love a brief summary of it when you do!

Dsalmon91

This is a bit off topic but am looking for some career advice. Finished my law degree a year ago now in DCU and got a 2.2 (made a meal of my dissertation and it cost me dearly in regards to my final grade). Sat the Fe-1s in the last sitting and got the dreaded passed 2 out of 4 exams. I have really struggled on the job front over the past year between traineeships to just plain legal clerk/legal assistant jobs...only have got 2 interviews in past year and lost out on lack of experience in both. My main question is here is that I am considering doing an LLM in Law in DCU next year to hopefully help enchance my prospective job opportunities in the future and also widen my horizon in the type of jobs i would be suitably qualified for, not sure if solicitor is for me rather something else of a legal nature. i do plan to continue working away on the fe-1s. i was just wondering does anyone have any advice on whether doing an LLM is a good idea or not. Thanks

smeal

Dsalmon91 wrote: »

This is a bit off topic but am looking for some career advice. Finished my law degree a year ago now in DCU and got a 2.2 (made a meal of my dissertation and it cost me dearly in regards to my final grade). Sat the Fe-1s in the last sitting and got the dreaded passed 2 out of 4 exams. I have really struggled on the job front over the past year between traineeships to just plain legal clerk/legal assistant jobs...only have got 2 interviews in past year and lost out on lack of experience in both. My main question is here is that I am considering doing an LLM in Law in DCU next year to hopefully help enchance my prospective job opportunities in the future and also widen my horizon in the type of jobs i would be suitably qualified for, not sure if solicitor is for me rather something else of a legal nature. i do plan to continue working away on the fe-1s. i was just wondering does anyone have any advice on whether doing an LLM is a good idea or not. Thanks

Hi Dsalmon91. I would definitely recommend doing the Masters if you really think you'd be interested in doing one and you can afford it of course.

It would give you an extra year to build on your grades and CV, avail of college career advice, decide what area of law you'd like to focus on and ultimately it'll give you extra time to be able to partake on internships/ build up the cv with other extra curricular activities. Granted, whatever mistakes you made on your undergrad dissertation could not be repeated again as your Masters thesis is likely to make up a whopper percentage of your overall result. You'd really need to take a step back and acknowledge what those mistakes were and how you're going to approach tackling another thesis.

It probably wouldn't be a great idea to try the FE1s while you're studying for your Masters especially if you're looking to coming out of the Masters with top grades. I know one or two people who did a Masters to make up for their undergrad grades and it's definitely a great idea.

In terms of what Masters you're going do, I would say it's worth researching programmes in other colleges as well and applying to keep your options open. Is a general Masters really what you want to or are you interested in a specific area of law i.e. commercial law (the LLM in UCD is a great one). A Masters is a lot of money and commitment and can shape your CV/job applications as a whole so make sure you choose the one that's right for you as opposed to just doing one for the sake of it.

effinnblindin

I've a question for you all. I am working full time as a legal executive for the next year but hope to do the FE1s in two sittings this October and March. Is it possible to pass the FE1s in two goes while working full time or am I mad even to consider it?? Thanks.

dashdoll

Hi,

Just looking for some advice re the Tort Fe1 exam.

I havent looked at the syllabus or manuals or anything yet, considering it for the next sitting but not sure if Il have time.

Is it one of the more difficult exams? Pretty much just wondering if its a huge course to cover for the fe1s or if there is much you can leave out/ any banker qs etc as not sure if il have time for another subject as doing Company, Contract and EU already.

Thanks in advance!

notabasicb

effinnblindin wrote: »

I've a question for you all. I am working full time as a legal executive for the next year but hope to do the FE1s in two sittings this October and March. Is it possible to pass the FE1s in two goes while working full time or am I mad even to consider it?? Thanks.

Of course it's possible but whether you'll succeed will all depend on how much you already know, exam technique, how effective a studier you are, other commitments & whether you are willing to study in mornings, evenings and weekends.

Really you're the only one who decides whether you pass or not.

If the post was just looking for some moral support then - keep the head down, stay focused, have faith and study hard! oh and try get the week off before each session to get your head in the game.

FEar1

Hello all. Just finished reading the Examiner's Report from that b*****d of an EU exam in March. The main points are as follows:

1. 71% pass rate
2. No mention of any complaints received, as expected
3. Heavily stressed the amount of internal choice available within the exam (through the medium of italics and underline)
4. Heavily stressed that he had warned before that he would be asking more specific questions to curb the trend of reproducing grind school notes and to be "assured about the candidates's knowledge and understanding of the area actually being examined"
5. Slight improvement in case note question
6. Not one person attempted Q2(B) - don't have the paper to hand so can't recall which one this was specifically
7. Didn't penalise people who argued their point well in freedom of movements three-part internal choice question because he accepts "there was some confusion in some answers about which freedom was at issue"
8. ""For avoidance of doubt", Stability Treaty of 2012 became examinable in March 2013 sittings, after it was permitted to be ratified by referendum in Ireland on the 31st May 2012, particularly as regards its relationship with economic and monetary policy.
9. Candidates need to be familiar with changes introduced by Lisbon Treaty and the case-law concerned with implementing these changes. This includes the provisions of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, which Lisbon made binding.

In not so few words, he said get f****d and learn more things.

Hunchback

FEar1 wrote: »

Hello all. Just finished reading the Examiner's Report from that b*****d of an EU exam in March. The main points are as follows:

1. 71% pass rate
2. No mention of any complaints received, as expected
3. Heavily stressed the amount of internal choice available within the exam (through the medium of italics and underline)
4. Heavily stressed that he had warned before that he would be asking more specific questions to curb the trend of reproducing grind school notes and to be "assured about the candidates's knowledge and understanding of the area actually being examined"
5. Slight improvement in case note question
6. Not one person attempted Q2(B) - don't have the paper to hand so can't recall which one this was specifically
7. Didn't penalise people who argued their point well in freedom of movements three-part internal choice question because he accepts "there was some confusion in some answers about which freedom was at issue"
8. ""For avoidance of doubt", Stability Treaty of 2012 became examinable in March 2013 sittings, after it was permitted to be ratified by referendum in Ireland on the 31st May 2012, particularly as regards its relationship with economic and monetary policy.
9. Candidates need to be familiar with changes introduced by Lisbon Treaty and the case-law concerned with implementing these changes. This includes the provisions of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, which Lisbon made binding.

In not so few words, he said get f****d and learn more things.

71% pass rate is pretty high though

FEar1

CKonetheonlyone wrote: »

71% pass rate is pretty high though

Based on what he considers to have been weak answers, I have no idea how I passed personally. I get the feeling that he has not marked this exam as harshly as he could have. The wording of his report suggests that candidates had taken issue with particular parts of the exam and his tone is very defensive.

thestar

When is the timetable out or is it the same every year? Would preferred to pick subjects after looking at the timetable. Thanks

sunshine and showers

thestar wrote: »

When is the timetable out or is it the same every year? Would preferred to pick subjects after looking at the timetable. Thanks

It's been out for ages. It's on the application form on the website. They run from 30th Sept - 9th Oct.

XxMCRxBabyxX

Dates are:
Wed 30 Sept - Tort
Thurs 1 Oct - Company
Fri 2 Oct - Property
Mon 5 Oct - Criminal
Tues 6 Oct - Equity
Wed 7 Oct - EU
Thurs 8 Oct - Constitutional
Fri 9 Oct - Contract

I have three in a row. It's going to be painful

j80ezgvc3p92xu

Just a quick question, I hope not too off topic. Is it legal to sell/buy A) second hand manuals from City, Independent ect and notes and sample answers from such colleges? I am a bit confused by the small print so just wondering.

dashdoll

Wondering how people rate Tort on the difficulty of FE1s scale?

Is it a wide course? / Much that can be excluded? / Any banker qs?

Thanks

thestar

XxMCRxBabyxX wrote:

Dates are: Wed 30 Sept - Tort Thurs 1 Oct - Company Fri 2 Oct - Property Mon 5 Oct - Criminal Tues 6 Oct - Equity Wed 7 Oct - EU Thurs 8 Oct - Constitutional Fri 9 Oct - Contract

Thanks for the reply but what I'm wondering is How long before each set of exams does the timetable come out? For instance would one have time to wait for the timetable to come out to decide which ones to pick? Ideally I'd like a day between each exam

XxMCRxBabyxX

Well that timetable was in the application forms that arrived with results so that's 6 weeks after the previous set.

tommyhayes1979

Hi

I need help with my FE1 exams they're happening end of sept early oct.

I'm in griffith, lecturers etc all good except I don't know the best way to learn this stuff.

Someone must have the best strategy that shows you: 1. a template how to structure your answers eg: Intro, definition, cite case law, conclusion.

2. How much to learn in each chapter, it's so vast attempting to remember it all will take too much time. How do you best break down a chapter into memorable bullet points.

Doing and understanding the prep course is one thing, having the best study strategy is by far the most important tool to pass these.

Has anyone met a tutor with a proper memory technique or any kind of learning strategy that differs from the normal read, reread make notes answer questions.

Any insights much appreciated.

Tommy

Kcookies2015

I'm new to this whole thing, just finished Law & Accounting Degree in UL & planning on sitting 5 Fe1's in October..... I began studying last week - having 3 subjects covered for the past year in college. I plan on doing all past exams papers over and over until the main cases stick.... answering in ILAC format - Issues - Law - Application - Conclusion. Hoping to have 6 good cases for each area. I'm working in a solicitors at the minute and have been for coming up on 2 years and that's the main advice i received......

Kelli

Kcookies2015

Hi. I have applied to sit 5 of them in October..... literally finish my degree so said I'd jump straight in having done 3 subjects for the past year. Started studying last week but kind of at a loss as to structuring or allocating time properly as I haven't anything done on 2 of the subjects since 2011. I am working in a solictors at the minute and received lots of notes etc from the lads back from Blackhall so I'm hoping it may be enough and a matter of reading copious amounts of crap for months hoping something will stick?

Kcookies2015

Hi. I have applied to sit 5 of them in October..... literally finished my degree so said I'd jump straight in having done 3 subjects for the past year. Started studying last week but kind of at a loss as to structuring or allocating time properly as I haven't anything done on 2 of the subjects since 2011. I am working in a solictors at the minute and received lots of notes etc from the lads back from Blackhall so I'm hoping it may be enough and a matter of reading copious amounts of crap for months hoping something will stick?

tommyhayes1979

Hi Kelli, Thanks for that. 6 cases for each area seems like a lot. How are you memorising all of them.
Tommy