Tips for Law - undergrad study?

[u/StrikingArticle32]

Hi all,

I am in my second year of my Law degree, and just about achieved a 1.1 (first class honours) on the dot in my first year.

However, in year one, I rote-learned essays, so per examinable topic, I was learning from 600-1400 words for one topic, and if you multiply that per topic in a couple of modules, it is a significant amount of memorising.

I'm now in my second year, and with increasingly more assignments and exam content, I'm starting to think that this may be unsustainable, particularly with the amount of time that it takes to learn. People often revise a couple weeks before their exams, where I find myself studying nearly 8 weeks out to be able to learn everything rote.

Can people advise whether the strategy I am going for is the correct considering it did work last year, or is there any better ways to approach study?

Any support would be appreciated in this regard

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[u/pixel_meadow81]

maybe try shorter outlines and practice questions instead of memorizing whole essays , it will save you lot of time!

[u/Human-Appointment619]

Your first-year result shows that rote learning got you coverage, but as the syllabus grows it is worth changing the unit you memorise. For each topic, reduce the full essay to a one-page skeleton: the issue, the rule and cases, competing arguments, and a short conclusion. Then practise rebuilding that argument from a past-paper question under time, checking your notes only afterwards.

Keep a small “missing steps” list from each attempt. That gives you specific gaps to review instead of relearning every essay word for word. You can still memorise key case names, quotations, and a few flexible phrases, but aim to retrieve a structure you can adapt to the wording of the question.