Whether you are writing for homework, or in an examination, all Law, Politics, and Citizenship, essays must have a plan and display sub-headings. Using/displaying such emphasizes essay structure, which improves your grade. I mark all Laws students essays, and I will mark your work down if there is no plan and/or essay sub-headings.

 'Are Juries Fair?' (see report attached below) is a report by Professor Cheryl Thomas of UCL, which has been much featured in the press recently. This report is a valuable read for any budding lawyer.

 It has been agreed that there will be a challenge debatebetween Coopers Coburn School and Strode's College on the 30th March 2010. This debate will take place at the Old Bailey Criminal Court in London, with the winning team taking a prize being established by the Coopers Company.

We need to create a team of debaters. If you wish to be part of this team - please email me asap.

The next Debating Society Class will be in TRA-14 at 12 noon on Monday 22nd February 2010.

Debate 8th March 2010: Human rights should be respected at times of war,  conflict, and peace.

 See the following articles Courtesy of the Telegraph. Breakfast boosts concentration  plus Students brains rewired.

It seems that University applications, so far this year, have risen by 23% according to UCAS (570,556 applicants). This is against a background of there being 6,000 fewer places for 2010-11 than in 2009-10.

What is clear is that you need good quality grades if you are to obtain a place. So, my advice is that you should be taking all the steps you can to maximize your UCAS points (i.e. doing an EPQ, re-sitting an AS etc). See BBC News article.

Students who attend my extra class on a Friday at 12 noon must undertake the following work as detailed plans...   more »

Politics and History students visiting Washington in March 2010 will have the opportunity to meet with John G Roberts the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, at the US Supreme Court, in Washington.

Chief Justice Roberts met some of our students at the Opening Ceremony of the UK Supreme Court in October. He has responded to a request to meet and greet our students in the US.

Students should be advised that the Principal has agreed that staff, in the Tercentenary Building, should make it clear to students that they should not eat food in the building, sit on the floor in the corridors, sit on the floor and block the lift, pathways, doors, stairs (or under the stairs in the dark) etc.    more »

 Please follow this link for details of the UCAS Tariff. http://www.ucas.com/students/ucas_tariff/tarifftables/

What the information indicates is that an Extended Project Qualifciation A* grade is worth 70 UCAS points. This compares favourably with an AS subject grade, which is worth a maximum of 60 UCAS .   more »

It seems that a small number of AS Laws students (Law, Politics and/or Citizenship) may not have answered the correct number of questions in the January examination. If you are one of those students (or you had other problems) and wish to discuss options - please see me asap.

Congratulations to those students who passed the Extended Project Qualification. There were some excellent A and B grades, with fours students being the first in the College to be awarded an A*.   more »

Students should be aware that they need good AS/A2 grades to get into a University - since "applications are surging" Please read this BBC News article.

Why not consider doing an 'Extended Project Qualification' to boost your academic profile and UCAS points?

I am impressed by a range of quality resources called 'Issues' from a small publishing company called 'Independence'. Please follow this link for a list of titles (cost of £7.45 each). The subject areas range from: Abortion to Sport. These books could help a student doing an Extended Project.

We carry a small stock of 'Issues Books' in TRA-15 (bookshelf), but books cannot be taken from the classroom. There is a fuller supply of 'Issues Books' in the Library. There is also an 'Issues Online' facility within the Library - see the Librarian for a password.

We will shortly have some information on Tony Buzan's 'Exam Success with Mind Maps'. In the meantime, please visit http://www.examsuccessfast.com/ for some online information. Please note that you can also download a free copy of iMindmap for the iPhone.

iMindmap is a software program that is great for planning/analysing essays/projects etc. It can also be used to make notes, for revision, and to evaluate issues/topics. Using iMindmap software will improve your analytical skills. You can use iMindmap on College Computers (under Main Programs):

 Please see my Guide to the LawsBlog rules ...

Laws students have the following Christmas and New Year vacation homework.

Thank you to the Law, Citizenship, and Politics, students who submitted their Xmas Day homework on time (you now need to do the New Year Homework).

Those, students that did NOT hand in their Christmas Day homework on time now have a change in homework. You now need to PLAN and WRITE (by hand) ALL (each and every question) of the questions on the Christmas examination paper (see below). All such work needs to be handed in (along with the New Year homework) at the first Laws lesson of term.   more »

If you want to revise, there are a number of Laws lessons that are available as a Podcast/AudioBook and which can be played on a computer (via Quicktime or iTunes) or on an iPhone/iPod Touch.   more »

Students interested in Criminology are encouraged to research this topic area as part of an Extended Project Qualification. The idea is to link the research to aspects of the proposed WJEC course on Criminology which could start in September 2011.

Undertaking Criminology research via an Extended Project has the advantage of providing up to 70 UCAS points. Please see Mr Bunce, or myself, if interested.

Lord Neuberger, the Master of the Rolls, recently spoke to the Young Legal Group of the British Friends of the Hebrew University about the newly established UK Supreme Court. Recommended reading for AS Law and A2 Politics students ...   more »