Ten steps to GDL success

Katie Scuoler asks veterans of the Graduate Diploma in Law for their tips on how to survive the course

The Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) offers an avenue into the legal profession for non-law graduates. Sometimes referred to by its historical title of the Common Professional Exam (CPE), the GDL can be studied either as a one-year full-time course or a two-year part-time course. The GDL is an intensive foundation covering seven core areas of law, and with the addition of legal theory and skills modules, there is no escaping the fact that the GDL is a tough year. With the Central Application Board stating that students should allow 45 hours a week for lectures, tutorials, private study and research, the work load can come as shock to some students.

Try taking on these tips compiled from the experiences of GDL veterans on how best to negotiate the course:

1. Keep up with the workload

The GDL moves at a fast pace, so you need to keep on top of your subjects. The course operates on a tight schedule, making it difficult to find the time to regain any lost ground at a later date. The GDL is not a course in which you can coast throughout the year and hope to pull it together in time for the final exams. Most institutions allow very limited time for revision before the onslaught of final exams begins. This means that come exam time you need to have done the groundwork because there is no time to return to basics. Essentially, do the work when it is set, don't let it pile up and don't get left behind.

2. Pace yourself

Keep up with the workload, but pace yourself. You will repeatedly hear that the GDL is a marathon and not a sprint. Keep the momentum up throughout the year but at the same time don't burn out. When studying law from scratch, you could spend an infinite amount of time on any one topic. A better strategy is to allocate a fixed amount of time to your tutorial preparation (for example, four hours) and then not exceed this. This way you'll get through the work and will be able to balance the course with a social life.

3. Answer the problem questions in preparation for tutorials

Don't spend so long reading through your notes or textbook that you run out of time to address the problems set. While you need to know the law, you also have to be able to apply the law to a fact pattern. Most of the GDL is assessed using problem scenarios, and invariably assessments follow a similar format to tutorial problems.

There are knacks to answering problem questions that differ between subjects. By specifically focusing preparation and revision time on the problem questions set, you shouldn't get caught out come final exams.

4. Become a master of organisation

This extends to all aspects of your life. Set aside time in your schedule to do the work for each subject and stick to it. This will prevent you from dragging out the preparation for one subject to the detriment of another. Many students treat the GDL as a nine to five job, allowing them their evenings of freedom.

Allocate time in your timetable for training contract applications and pro bono activities because otherwise it is easy for such things to fall by the wayside. Keep your files in order, use highlighters, tabs, dividers, put away your notes and buy a diary. Make it as easy for yourself as you can.

5. Get the basics right

At the beginning of the course it is especially easy to become bogged down in the subtleties and nuances of smaller cases. Don't lose sight of the bigger picture. When looking at a topic, identify the key cases and statutes followed by the main exceptions or anomalies. And then really nail these. It is far easier to slot in the higher level marks when you have the basics in place. This is especially true in criminal law and trusts and equity, where students often make fundamental errors on the basics principles of law. There are always marks for stating the basics correctly.

6. Consolidate, consolidate, consolidate

This can be tricky in the early days when you're not accustomed to studying law, but consolidating your notes will pay dividends come exam time and provides you with good building blocks for the rest of the course. Find a method that works for you. Family tree-type diagrams are particularly useful, setting out the legal structure with supporting case law. This way you can trace the answer to a problem question through. For other people, stripping each topic down to an A4 page works well. Also, try to do any consolidation exercises available to you (or at least do them at revision time).

7. Make friends with your statute books from the outset

Particularly in European Community law and contract law, much of what you need to know is laid out for you in your statute book. With some strategic underlining, highlighting and tabbing you will have the answer in front of you come exam time. (Remembering, of course, to adhere to any rules governing statute book annotation.)

8. Don't get disheartened

If at the beginning your grades aren't as you would have hoped, don't despair. For most people the GDL is fundamentally different to their first degrees. There is a skill to writing ‘legal speak' and this takes some time to grasp. Legal writing can prove particularly alien to arts graduates who have spent three years cultivating a wonderfully elaborate turn of phrase.

9. Ignore the clever clogs

There will always be someone who can rattle off the name of all the cases, the dissenting judge in this, that and the other and frankly, make you feel stupid. Don't be perturbed by such individuals.

The key to success on the GDL is understanding the significance and applicability of each case. Make sure you know how to use what you know correctly. Pinpoint what it was about a case that led to it being decided a particular way: was it something particular about the facts of the case? A policy decision? Has it since been overruled? What did this judge say that differed from that judge? Then apply the case precisely to the problem scenario you have.

10. Pay attention at the beginning of the course

The information contained in modules such as ‘English legal lethod' is central to understanding the English legal system. Don't dismiss these introductory lectures. A solid understanding of the court structure and the appeal route is a big advantage, particularly in the trusts and equity and criminal courses. Also, pay attention in any introductory research method sessions - this knowledge is invaluable when it comes to doing your individual assignment later in the course.

11. Focus on doing training contract applications in the first term

If you're looking for a training contract, focus on doing so in the first term. At most institutions the assessments and work pile up in the second term, so if you're applying for training contracts try to do as many of your applications as possible early on.

12. Give in to the geekiness

However much you think you will not turn into a ‘legal eagle', or ‘law bore', you will. So when you find yourself chuckling at R v Collins [1972] or praising Lord Denning's poetic exposition in Miller v Jackson [1977], drop the facade and surrender to your inner geek.

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