Record numbers apply to study law at uni
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University admissions statistics have revealed that more students than ever before have applied to study law courses.
The figures published by admissions service UCAS showed that no fewer than 83,000 applicants have applied to university or college to study law this year, an overall increase of 5.6 per cent since 2009.
This makes law one of the most popular subjects for students entering further education yet again, coming just below nursing and psychology, which ranked first and second respectively.
Figures from UCAS have also shown another record year for applicants to higher education across the board for the fourth year running.
As of 22 January 2010 there were 570,556 applicants, a rise of 106,389 or 22.9 per cent from 2009.
The statistics may cause concern to the Law Society, which launched a campaign to warn students to think twice about embarking on a career as a lawyer last year.
The information campaign kick-started in July 2009 is targeting university and secondary school students and contains information about the cost of legal training as well as the shrinking number of training contracts on offer.
Meanwhile, research by Incomes Data Services (IDS) has shown that there were around 44 applications for each graduate vacancy in 2009 but this year the total is expected to be even higher as a backlog of unemployed graduates make further attempts to find jobs.
The news comes after chancellor Alistair Darling has pledged to create 20,000 new university places to cope with the surge in demand.
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Readers' comments (11)
IHateBPP | 24-Mar-2010 5:54 pm
Not all of them will going on to become lawyers or even want to, a huge amount of people from law courses drop out in their first few weeks.
Still, it's a bit too many people studying a course that can limit your prospects on graduation as many employers don't realise a law graduate doesn't always want to be a lawyer.
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LawyerNot2B | 25-Mar-2010 11:34 am
I agree that just because someone studies law it doesn't mean that they will become a lawyer.
On the same token doing a law degree in no way guarantees a successful career in law. So anyone embarking on such a route needs to be realistic as well as prepared to put in plenty of hard work.
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Anonymous | 25-Mar-2010 3:57 pm
It always worries me when I hear things like this, so many students think , yes I know its hard but I am bound to be alright if I follow the steps. When the reality is very far from it. It is very difficult to get work experience alone unless( in my opinion )you know someone or you have achieved A grade in everything for GCSE/ALevel and a strong 2.1/first from a red brick university,never mind a training contract. Then there is the £10,000 LPC to pay for. The whole system needs changing and students need to have their eyes wide open.
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Anonymous | 29-Mar-2010 2:59 pm
This isn't really much of a surprise. Although these distilled statistics make interesting reading for law students, it's got to be similar for students reading most undergraduate disciplines at present. I.e. too many students are studying at higher education level and not enough jobs are available. Whether you look at Economic graduates chasing positions with banks or accountancy firms; English graduates hunting opportunities in journalism or publishing; scientists and engineers after work at regional or global tech companies... to say that its looking competitive these days is merely euphemistic.
Those students with their eyes open to this problem should be fine if they take university at least semi-seriously; but it seems there'll be a lost generation of all sorts from a variety of disciplines at the doors of plenty of employment sectors.
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Anonymous | 29-Mar-2010 4:18 pm
What? How depressing. There are not enough legal jobs to go around, the market is saturated and the law schools are unregulated re admission numbers so they up their numbers and make as much cash as possible. They should be forced to close their doors. Sorry but this is a scam. Enticing studens on a course when there are no realistic employment prospects for many of them.
Why not keep a lid on admission numbers like the BMA does re medicine, this ensures that the profession does not become saturated and that Doctors wages are not diluted through over saturation of the market.
And BTW, please, please, let these students know that law is NOT a guaranteed path to security and a high paying job. Please print what the average lawyer on the high street earns and not what the magic circle firms pay. Yes The Lawyer i'm talking to you! This is misleading students! Its all a con.
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Bitter | 30-Mar-2010 11:04 am
yes agree with anon above. The layman thinks that all lawyers are well paid and prosperous, this is a myth and people watch too much TV. There is no job security, its not even well paid anymore, underpaid drudgery, lets go and stack shelves, less hassle and more interesting.
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Anonymous | 30-Mar-2010 8:45 pm
I honestly feel sorry for some of the law graduates, some of them are trying so hard in order to securea training contract when the reality is that there are hardly any avaliable. Furthermore, I agree it is very very difficult in order to become a lawyer, its too expensive, you need excellent grades, work experience which you can never get! Its depressing to say the least. I think universities should actually close the doors for law graduates at the moment, far too much competition and no chance of getting employed. Furthemore, I think it is totally unfair that people from other courses can actually pusue a career in law whereas those stuggling to study for an LLB are faced with competition from people from other fields. Surely, LLB students should be favoured.
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Tim Rickard | 1-Apr-2010 2:36 pm
Particularly agree with the last comment above. I also believe that it is unfair that so many students studying for a degree that is not the LLB can transfer to do law. It opens up the market in a huge way, hugely increasing the competition for LLB graduates- graduates who have shown the commitment to study a particularly difficult course for three years.
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Anonymous | 15-May-2010 10:05 pm
Law can cover alot of areas, and graduates do not necessarily need to work in courts or as solicitors, there is also a need for lawyers in companies.
Even if students transfer from another degree onto an LLB at the end of the course they will still require to pass exams to practice.
I've just enrolled on a Law course at http://www.bpplawschool.com/
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Anonymous | 9-Feb-2012 10:27 pm
I'm in year 11 and considering taking law at A-level and then going on into uni to study law, I'm not a straight A student but not doing too bad. I know people who have masters degrees and have ended up working in a driving range because there is just not enough work. However I am doing really well in iMedia and computing so would that be better than going into law at the moment? Any suggestions on what to do?
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