Law statement · Draft 1Example
Your questions
Should I say why I want to study law at Oxford specifically?
- No. One statement goes to all five of your universities, so don’t name any of them.
- Show why you want to study law. That is what every one of them is reading for.
Is my EPQ too political for a law statement?
- No. Whether judges or Parliament should decide questions of rights is core public law.
- The problem is that you haven’t said what you concluded. See Q2.
Overall
- You are reporting cases rather than arguing about them. The tutor has read Donoghue and Dudley and Stephens; what they haven’t read is what you think.
- Two of your three sections are case summaries. The EPQ is your strongest material and it gets one sentence. Reverse that balance.
- Cut every sentence that could go in anyone’s law statement. You need the characters for your own argument.
Q1. Why do you want to study this course or subject?
Paragraph 1
Your version
Law has always fascinated me because it shapes every part of our lives. Reading about Donoghue v Stevenson, where a woman found a snail in her ginger beer, I learned how one case created the law of negligence. The case began in Scotland, went to the House of Lords, and was decided three to two, with Lord Buckmaster dissenting. This showed me that judges can make law, which I found both exciting and worrying.
Suggested version
Donoghue v Stevenson was decided on facts nobody had proved: the House of Lords assumed there was a snail in the bottle and asked only whether, if there was, the manufacturer owed Mrs Donoghue a duty. Lord Atkin’s neighbour principle extended that duty to ______. This worried me because ______.
Say what worried you. That judges aren’t elected? That Stevenson couldn’t have known the rule before he was held to it? Pick one.
Notes
- Opening line cut. Every law statement starts like this and tutors skip past it.
- “Created the law of negligence” is wrong. Negligence existed before 1932. What the case did was set out a general duty of care, through Lord Atkin’s neighbour principle.
- Nobody ever proved there was a snail. The case was decided on assumed facts, which is a far better way in than the snail itself.
- Case history cut. Scotland and three to two tell the tutor nothing about you.
Paragraph 2
Your version
I then read R v Dudley and Stephens, which proved that necessity is never a defence. This made me want to study law even more.
Suggested version
______, which led me to R v Dudley and Stephens, where the court held that necessity is no defence to murder. ______.
First blank: the link from Donoghue. Second: what you think of the decision.
Notes
- Why this case? Nothing links it to Donoghue. Either make the link or choose a case that follows from your first paragraph.
- “Never” is wrong. It is no defence to murder. In Re A (Conjoined Twins) (2000) the Court of Appeal accepted necessity even though a death followed. Expect this at interview.
Q2. How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?
Your version
A-level History has taught me to analyse sources and construct arguments, skills that are essential for law. For my EPQ I researched whether the UK should adopt a written constitution, concluding that there are both advantages and disadvantages.
Suggested version
My EPQ asked whether the UK should adopt a written constitution. I argued ______, mainly because ______. The strongest objection was ______, and my answer to it was ______.
Write four or five sentences here and I’ll help you cut them down.
Notes
- History sentence cut. Every History student writes it. Keep it only if you name one source and what you argued from it.
- “Both advantages and disadvantages” could be said about anything. Tutors want your conclusion and your reason for it.
Q3. What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?
Your version
I have completed work experience at a law firm, volunteered at Citizens Advice, attended Model UN and taken a MOOC on criminal law. These experiences have confirmed my passion for law.
Suggested version
Volunteering at Citizens Advice, I helped a tenant whose ______. The law gave her ______, but ______.
One person you helped: what the law could do for them, and where it stopped.
Notes
- A list of four activities proves nothing. Keep Citizens Advice, the one where you saw the law being used.
- Last line cut. You don’t need to round things off. End on a point about law.
Reading to try
For the EPQ
Jonathan Sumption’s 2019 Reith Lectures, “Law and the Decline of Politics”, argue that courts have moved into questions that belong to Parliament. Tom Bingham’s “The Rule of Law” treats the protection of basic rights as part of the rule of law itself. Reading both gives you the objection and the answer.