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

Mayo91

What I will say is you are right dont learn 15 cases that illustrate same point, but at the same time try learn off as many as possible. I got through all exams first time, and I did learn like 200 cases per subject. That may just be me, but thats how I know most people do it. Know it all that you're learning and cut out wasteful topics.

Mesutozil

Mayo91 wrote: »

What I will say is you are right dont learn 15 cases that illustrate same point, but at the same time try learn off as many as possible. I got through all exams first time, and I did learn like 200 cases per subject. That may just be me, but thats how I know most people do it. Know it all that you're learning and cut out wasteful topics.

Kinda agree with this. I got through the exams by knowing the basics behind each topic and then a ton of cases to illustrate these basics. The examiners tot up their marks through a ticking process so I'm presuming every time you note down a related case you get a tick.

bluntspoon

Mayo91 wrote: »

What I will say is you are right dont learn 15 cases that illustrate same point, but at the same time try learn off as many as possible. I got through all exams first time, and I did learn like 200 cases per subject. That may just be me, but thats how I know most people do it. Know it all that you're learning and cut out wasteful topics.

Oh I definitely learned over 200 cases per subject! I was talking about individual topics. Like there's no point learning 100 cases about easements. You'll just never use them.

tommyq94

Does anyone know what the average pass rate is for the FE-1 exams?

I'd also be interested to know the amount of people that take these exams who don't have any previous legal education.

If anyone has any idea I would appreciate it, or if anyone has also managed to get their marked exam paper returned to them?

lawless11

Congratulations everyone who got what they wanted & commiserations for the few failed exams... Power to you make it up in the next session!

It is a bit off topic as a question - but might as well ask here as it's closely connected anyway!

You know how some law firms have set times in the year to start with them after your fe-1 are done, turns up I was a bit stupid during my application and picked dates I thought would be great but in reality not really. I'm due to start my traineeship during 2019 and my first bit of fe-1s will be next October. This leaves me with 2 sittings and a start in September 2019 directly at Blackhall (I thought I could start in April, naive me haven't realised the results of the fe-1s are long to wait for...). So pretty tight.

Also, I have heard contradictory information about when you are starting in September, saying that it basically chops off a rotation from you - which is not ideal, but some other say it does not really matter. My question is, should I aim to start in September 2019 provided I survive the fe1s in two sittings, or should I think about trying to defer to January 2020 (with potentially a spare sitting if I fail, the full number of rotations but maybe unnecessarily deferring the traineeship)?

Any opinions/experiences would be appreciated! Thanks.

XxMCRxBabyxX

lawless11 wrote: »

Congratulations everyone who got what they wanted & commiserations for the few failed exams... Power to you make it up in the next session!

It is a bit off topic as a question - but might as well ask here as it's closely connected anyway!

You know how some law firms have set times in the year to start with them after your fe-1 are done, turns up I was a bit stupid during my application and picked dates I thought would be great but in reality not really. I'm due to start my traineeship during 2019 and my first bit of fe-1s will be next October. This leaves me with 2 sittings and a start in September 2019 directly at Blackhall (I thought I could start in April, naive me haven't realised the results of the fe-1s are long to wait for...). So pretty tight.

Also, I have heard contradictory information about when you are starting in September, saying that it basically chops off a rotation from you - which is not ideal, but some other say it does not really matter. My question is, should I aim to start in September 2019 provided I survive the fe1s in two sittings, or should I think about trying to defer to January 2020 (with potentially a spare sitting if I fail, the full number of rotations but maybe unnecessarily deferring the traineeship)?

Any opinions/experiences would be appreciated! Thanks.

Your start date shouldn't affect the account of rotations you have, you'll just have an extra rotation after Blackhall before qualification as opposed to a pre- Blackhall rotation (based on how my firm do it anyway). Remember that you can only count four months pre-Blackhall as well.

It might be worth taking the extra sitting as the FE1s are so unpredictable and it also gives you more freedom with what exams you sit and how many you sit at a time.

Mesutozil

lawless11 wrote: »

Congratulations everyone who got what they wanted & commiserations for the few failed exams... Power to you make it up in the next session!

It is a bit off topic as a question - but might as well ask here as it's closely connected anyway!

You know how some law firms have set times in the year to start with them after your fe-1 are done, turns up I was a bit stupid during my application and picked dates I thought would be great but in reality not really. I'm due to start my traineeship during 2019 and my first bit of fe-1s will be next October. This leaves me with 2 sittings and a start in September 2019 directly at Blackhall (I thought I could start in April, naive me haven't realised the results of the fe-1s are long to wait for...). So pretty tight.

Also, I have heard contradictory information about when you are starting in September, saying that it basically chops off a rotation from you - which is not ideal, but some other say it does not really matter. My question is, should I aim to start in September 2019 provided I survive the fe1s in two sittings, or should I think about trying to defer to January 2020 (with potentially a spare sitting if I fail, the full number of rotations but maybe unnecessarily deferring the traineeship)?

Any opinions/experiences would be appreciated! Thanks.

That sounds pretty normal what you've done. You should be fine

Tony_TwoLegs

lawless11 wrote: »

Congratulations everyone who got what they wanted & commiserations for the few failed exams... Power to you make it up in the next session!

It is a bit off topic as a question - but might as well ask here as it's closely connected anyway!

You know how some law firms have set times in the year to start with them after your fe-1 are done, turns up I was a bit stupid during my application and picked dates I thought would be great but in reality not really. I'm due to start my traineeship during 2019 and my first bit of fe-1s will be next October. This leaves me with 2 sittings and a start in September 2019 directly at Blackhall (I thought I could start in April, naive me haven't realised the results of the fe-1s are long to wait for...). So pretty tight.

Also, I have heard contradictory information about when you are starting in September, saying that it basically chops off a rotation from you - which is not ideal, but some other say it does not really matter. My question is, should I aim to start in September 2019 provided I survive the fe1s in two sittings, or should I think about trying to defer to January 2020 (with potentially a spare sitting if I fail, the full number of rotations but maybe unnecessarily deferring the traineeship)?

Any opinions/experiences would be appreciated! Thanks.

Two sittings is doable but you'd wanna get the head down.
If you're in no rush, pick 2020.
You can't defer until Jan 2020. I think the earliest will be April/ May 2020.
If they'll let you defer, do it. Save up a few quid. Travel. Enjoy yourself while you can.

Tony_TwoLegs

tommyq94 wrote: »

Does anyone know what the average pass rate is for the FE-1 exams?

I'd also be interested to know the amount of people that take these exams who don't have any previous legal education.

If anyone has any idea I would appreciate it, or if anyone has also managed to get their marked exam paper returned to them?

The pass rate varies per subject.
If you're not a law graduate, I think you need do a course with the LS first before you sit them.
I'd 'budget' 3 sittings.
As for getting your paper back off the LS..... Not a chance!!
I don't know re non-law Vs law graduates. It might be harder to get a training contract though, so do your research/prep before you jump in to the heartache.

lawless11

Tony_TwoLegs wrote: »

Two sittings is doable but you'd wanna get the head down.
If you're in no rush, pick 2020.
You can't defer until Jan 2020. I think the earliest will be April/ May 2020.
If they'll let you defer, do it. Save up a few quid. Travel. Enjoy yourself while you can.

I'm not in a rush per se, but not crawling in money so a soon-enough start would be good for that (I'll travel while on annual leave when I'll have the funds :rolleyes:...). And oddly enough, my law firm does propose either January, April or September. I don't know how it works out then!
Still undecided to be honest also because some say that in-office experience prior to Blackhall is better, while some say it does not matter that much... as always .

Thank you all for your answers.

Tony_TwoLegs

lawless11 wrote: »

Tony_TwoLegs wrote: »

Two sittings is doable but you'd wanna get the head down.
If you're in no rush, pick 2020.
You can't defer until Jan 2020. I think the earliest will be April/ May 2020.
If they'll let you defer, do it. Save up a few quid. Travel. Enjoy yourself while you can.

I'm not in a rush per se, but not crawling in money so a soon-enough start would be good for that (I'll travel while on annual leave when I'll have the funds :rolleyes:...). And oddly enough, my law firm does propose either January, April or September. I don't know how it works out then!
Still undecided to be honest also because some say that in-office experience prior to Blackhall is better, while some say it does not matter that much... as always .

Thank you all for your answers.

You can count a max of 4 months prior to Blackhall towards you Traineeship. So, starting in April is optimal.
Enter BH in 2019 with 4 months experience and you'll be signed off Xmas 2021.
TBH I wouldn't bother going in, in Jan. Unless you're penniless. Enjoy the 3 months. Travel on a shoestring if you must.

Tommybojangles

does anyone have the October exam dates to hand?

demarche

Tommybojangles wrote: »

does anyone have the October exam dates to hand?

Tues 2 Oct - Tort
Wed 3 Oct - Company
Thurs 4 Oct - Constitutional
Fri 5 Oct - Contract

Mon 8 Oct - Criminal
Tues 9 Oct - Property
Wed 10 Oct - EU
Thurs 11 Oct - Equity

demarche

Could anyone recommend the best prep course lecturers for EU and Company?

Heart Shaped Box

demarche wrote: »

Tues 2 Oct - Tort
Wed 3 Oct - Company
Thurs 4 Oct - Constitutional
Fri 5 Oct - Contract

Mon 8 Oct - Criminal
Tues 9 Oct - Property
Wed 10 Oct - EU
Thurs 11 Oct - Equity

Can I ask where you got these dates from - I might be blind, but I can't find the dates of the next sitting or a form to apply anywhere on the Law Society website yet!

Was this info sent out with the results, perhaps?

Thanks!

Leraf

Heart Shaped Box wrote: »

Can I ask where you got these dates from - I might be blind, but I can't find the dates of the next sitting or a form to apply anywhere on the Law Society website yet!

Was this info sent out with the results, perhaps?

Thanks!

Dates are on the form. Form is sent with results. Might take a few days or more for the site to be updated with the newer form.

Leraf

I can email the form to anyone who wants it now, rather than waiting for the site to update. Just PM your email.

The Form has the dates of the next sitting

Heart Shaped Box

New to FE1s here - I know you can bring in legislation to some of the exams, but is it true that some of the exams are open book? If so, does this extend only to textbooks?

Tony_TwoLegs

Heart Shaped Box wrote: »

New to FE1s here - I know you can bring in legislation to some of the exams, but is it true that some of the exams are open book? If so, does this extend only to textbooks?

I've really bad news for you....
We'd all love it to be open book. Unfortunately, you need to learn the lot.

Cork2018

Hey Guys, does anyone have any recommendations for the online prep courses?..will be looking to enrol in one for EU,Tort, Property and Company. Thanks in advance!

TemptationWaits

After no law experience at all I did the online course for EU, constitutional, property, and tort with City Colleges last sitting. I would absolutely recommend them to everyone. All the lecturers were great, the online thing worked perfectly and if I wanted I could come to class in person as well. I fully intend on doing the course again for my remaining 3.

Heart Shaped Box

Cork2018 wrote: »

Hey Guys, does anyone have any recommendations for the online prep courses?..will be looking to enrol in one for EU,Tort, Property and Company. Thanks in advance!

Knew it sounded too good to be true - cheers!

Ngannou54

Any tips on paring down EU Law? It's absolutely massive! :eek:

ArthurDayne

Ngannou54 wrote: »

Any tips on paring down EU Law? It's absolutely massive! :eek:

I had a full-on freakout the night before EU and got a 60 in the end. It seems huge but it's amazing how much of it sticks. The exam is marked leniently and if you read the examiner's report you'll see the comment being repeated that those who fail usually do so because they don't answer 5 questions (i.e. seems that as long as you show that you've covered a fair bit of the module, marks will be given reasonably generously for the content of your answers).

If you start now by covering Institutions, Free Movement of Goods, Direct Effect / MS Liability that will cover you for a fair bit. You can then see what other couple of areas you might want to look at based on how you get on when looking at past papers.

Personally I left out all of Competition Law -- never even looked at it. I also didnt learn off anything for the case note question (and I think in the last exam lots of people were saying the list of cases was really different from previous years!).

tiddy_boo

If anyone can provide any advice on my situation I would really appreciate it.

Last March was my third attempt at securing the magic 3 and I actually thought I did it this time but unfortunately no luck. The worst part is that its the first time I didn't pass any of them and my mark for Equity was particularly bad! I really don't know where to go from here, I'm thinking about giving up on it altogether because 3 sittings and still being at zero is an awful feeling and I really don't know where I'm going wrong.

I usually sit Contract, Criminal, Company and Equity, with Contract usually being my best and Equity being my worst. I have gotten some grinds for any areas I'm unsure about but I haven't done a prep course or anything because the thoughts of spending more time and money only to fail is just killer! I'm working full-time and I'm not really in a position to take very much time off. If anyone has any advice or has had a similar experience trying to get their first 3 with a happy ending I'd love to hear it because I'm really down in the dumps at the moment.

L124

Probably a stupid question but on the application form it asks about prep courses. What is the purpose of this? Are you going to be marked harder if you say you have done/haven't done one?

lsheehaneire

Sorry you have been through the mill. Do you have a law degree already? If you do then it’s probably just a matter of exam technique. Nerves and anxiety also play a huge factor in these exams. I know somebody who only got the magic 3 after 5 attempts so don’t loose faith.

fe1hunzo

I'd avoid sitting equity anyways. I've passed every other one bar that so far. A lot of people seem to recommend property as one of the magic three. I have passed both EU and Constitutional and found them easier to pass than equity. Don't spread yourself too thin doing four, maybe just focus on three.

Have you bought any of the manuals from the courses? It's what I've done and I found them helpful without having to pay a couple of hundred to have someone tell me what I already know!

lsheehaneire

Can I ask why is equity so hard ? I’m starting the prep course in a few weeks 🙈

Tony_TwoLegs

lsheehaneire wrote: »

Can I ask why is equity so hard ? I’m starting the prep course in a few weeks 🙈

I think different examiners have different expectations. Equity seems to have a very high threshold.
I flew others but Equity took me 3 attempts.
In the end I deserved a PhD in it from all the study