Law

Here you will find all you need to know to start your new passion; Law. The subject offers lots of opportunities to develop an understanding of how the Law works in your everyday life but also provides stimulating debates and interactive sessions where you decide on the sentencing of a defendant or the value in maintaining a jury system for Criminal Trials.

Our visit to London offers true context to the workings of a Criminal Court as we sit in the public gallery at the ‘Old Bailey’ as well as venturing into the Supreme Court of Justice and sitting in the seats of some of the most powerful judges in the world.

Students from September 2017 will be studying a broad range of legal topics including: Criminal Law, Contract Law, Tort Law, EU Law alongside English Legal System and Method including aspects such as Delegated Legislation, the Judiciary and the Civil and Criminal Court System amongst others. Conceptual topics such the relationship between the Law and Morality and Justice will be debated and discussed in this course.  Several of these topics are core topics for the Law LLB qualification, which many students choose to progress to in higher education.


Course Description and Content:

Law A Level is a subject which is widely recognised as being truly academic, encourages critical thinking skills, problem solving, creative writing and reasoning. For students who enjoy Humanities and English subjects, Law is a good choice. However, students who have completed maths and science based A levels have also proven very successful in law, due to the clinical approach to which the subject lends itself.

There has been speculation in the press that Universities do not “like” Law A level however; this does not match with my experience or the independent study which AQA carried out.  Please follow this link for the study: http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/AQA-2160-W-UNI-LAW.PDF.

Students will be introduced to areas of law such as Contract, Tort and Crime and will gain an understanding of English Legal System and Method. Students starting on or after September 2017 will undertake the new linear qualification and will study the respective topics for two years, undertaking three examination papers at the end of the course. We offer this programme as a two-year course only, there is no option to study Law as an AS here.

There is no coursework for Law A level, it is 100% exam and there are three papers, which are worth 33% each.

The approach to these papers will be an expectation of pre-reading and independent study throughout the course, as directed by the Programme Leader. Due to the number of topics studied in the programme and the summative assessment taking place at the end of two years, many topics will be revisited with new topics, where clear links exist. There are regular formative assessments throughout this course including at mock exam at the end of Year 12 which is significant to decide the students predicted grades for Universities or Employers. Additional weekly support is offered once a week, year-round, to all Law students.


Paper 1

The Nature of Law and the English Legal System (25%) and Criminal Law (75%)

This paper includes: The nature of law relating to legal and other rules; civil/criminal distinction and sources, statutory interpretation and Judicial precedent, the criminal courts and lay people, legal personnel including the roles of barristers, solicitors and legal executives; regulation, the judiciary: types of judge, the role of judges in criminal court, access to justice and funding in criminal system. Law and society is also explored here in the contexts of fault and justice.

Principles of criminal law and theory, strict liability and offences against the person, including fatal offences, theft, robbery, general defences and attempts.


Paper 2

The Nature of Law and the English Legal System (25%) and Tort Law (75%)

This paper includes: The Nature of law relating to legal and other rules; civil/criminal distinction and sources, parliamentary law making, law reform. The civil courts and other forms of dispute resolution, the judiciary: types of judge including the role of judges in civil courts, access to justice and funding in civil system will be explored. Law and society relating to fault based liability as a concept and the relationship between Law and morality will also be discussed within this section.

Principles of tortious liability and theory including negligence, occupier’s liability, nuisance, Rylands v Fletcher, pure economic loss, psychiatric Injury, vicarious liability and defences and remedies in tort.


Paper 3

The Nature of Law and the English Legal System (25%) and Contract Law (75%)

This paper includes: The nature of law relating to legal and other rules; civil/criminal distinction and sources, the rule of law, delegated legislation, European Union, the judiciary: types of judge. Including the role of judges in civil courts (contract), independence of the judiciary, access to justice and funding in civil system (contract). Law and society will be explored in relation to balancing conflicting interests, law and justice, law and morality.

Principles and theory of contract law including the essential requirements for a contract, Consumer Rights, contract terms including exclusion clauses, vitiating factors, discharge and remedies.


Scheme of Assessment:

Paper 1: 100% Exam: 2hrs. This Paper is worth 100 marks.
Paper 2: 100% Exam: 2 hrs. This Paper is worth 100 marks.
Paper 3: 100% Exam: 2hrs. This Paper is worth 100 marks.
A combination of multiple choice, short answer and extended writing questions.


Resources:

All students are provided with a set text, firefly access to relevant materials including direction to pre- learning reading and activities which will be required throughout the course.

Our chosen specification (AQA 7162)) ensures a wide coverage and good range of areas of Law which will prepare students well for further study of Law.  We are committed to providing a varied, comprehensive and quality experience for our A-Level students. Information on the role of Solicitors and Barristers is covered in this course, however further careers advice can be sought from our Careers Advice Service, located in the Library. Every year a significant number of students go on to undertake Law or Law related courses on completion of Law A level at Walton High.

If you would like to access further information about the course and its full specification please click on the following weblink: http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/law/as-and-a-level/law-7162