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The grim costs of learning the law

The Times
May 23 2000

 

New research finds that higher fees are a route to inequality. Phil Thomas and Alison Rees report

The grim costs of learning the law

Larger student numbers in higher education come at a price and students are increasingly expected to contribute to that cost. The introduction of tuition fees, the serious discussion of top-up tuition fees by the Russell Group of elite universities, the removal of mandatory LEA maintenance grants and job uncertainty on graduation present a bleak prospect to undergraduates. Law students face even grimmer prospects. They have a fourth academic year to complete for the vocational barrister or solicitor course with fees of about £6,000. For those without training contracts or pupillage, it is a gamble; at what point do you stop studying and seek alternative employment?

New research undertaken in the five law schools in Wales encompassing 550 first-year undergraduate students presents a disheartening picture. Eighty-nine per cent believe that the £1,025 tuition fee will lead to students experiencing "real poverty". A female Aberystwyth law student stated: "I know a number of people who have now chosen not to go to university simply because they believe they cannot afford it."

More than half the students indicated, within a month of entering university, that they intended to obtain part-time work. Their expected work will be low-paid and casual. Ninety-five per cent expected to work up to 20 hours a week with an average workload of 13 hours. Law is accepted as an exceptionally demanding degree course but students were torn between academic commitment and financial reality. One student from Glamorgan University stated: "I'm finding it difficult to hold a part-time job of 12 hours and trying to cope with the work of a degree. My time management is all over the place."

It is no surprise that stress levels among students are rising. However, students' academic expectations as a result of the introduction of tuition fees have risen sharply. They expect to receive value for money as the doctrine of consumerism is applied in real terms in the classroom. Sixty-eight per cent of students stated that they expect their course to offer good value for money. The students' dilemma of part-time work in turn raises academic questions.

How do we define "full-time students" when, in reality, they may be part-time, and how much academic work should be expected of them? How should law schools schedule their classes, seminars, reading and writing commitments and library hours to recognise that most students have other commitments? It is also likely that the number of home-based students will increase dramatically. Inner-city universities and those with a large travel-to-study population will become more popular while the more remote "greenfield" universities may find it increasingly difficult to recruit residential students. A balanced social mix of students will become increasingly difficult to achieve.

Currently, 68 per cent of law students at Swansea Institute live in a "family home" and half the class is classified as "mature". Seven per cent of their parents are from social class 1 and 48 per cent from social class 3. In Aberystwyth, by contrast, 95 per cent of the students are in university halls and 3 per cent are "mature" entrants; 33 per cent of their parents are from social class 1 and 22 per cent from social class 3.

The students appear to be well informed of their career prospects within the profession. Sixty per cent intend to qualify either as a solicitor or as a barrister. Two thirds of the respondents considered that obtaining a training contract would be difficult while 90 per cent of them thought a pupillage would also be difficult to achieve. Networking was considered valuable. Through family and personal contacts, students in Cardiff thought it would be easier to obtain training than did their counterparts at Glamorgan University.

The research produces clear and distinct identities for the five law schools. Swansea Institute attracts home-based, mature students who demonstrate outstanding commitment to the course and to a legal career. Nevertheless, in their second year students have some difficulty in remaining at law school; the dropout rate is 32 per cent. On the other hand, Cardiff Law School, one of the largest in the UK, overwhelmingly recruits school-leavers both at the national and international level, 85 per cent of whom live in university accommodation. The dropout rate is 5 per cent.

In essence, different law schools serve different student markets. The distinctions between various UK law schools are becoming wider and more apparent as resources, staff and students are reallocated both by the consumer market and government policy. The legal profession is seeking to broaden its social recruitment base. Paradoxically, the Government's educational policy will hinder this expansion. The role of gatekeeper to the legal world has become a political function.

• Professor Phil Thomas and Alison Rees, of Cardiff Law School, are the authors of Law Students: Investing in the Future, £25, Cardiff Law School, Box 427, Museum Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 1XD

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