Afternoon, everyone!
Happy New Year everyone!
So exams are around the corner so let's get back to basics. This is for my law students whose exams contain problem questions. Let's go over how to answer a problem question. This post will be incredibly general so be wary of what is expected of you from your relevant module or criteria to make sure you pick up all the marks.
1) Read your question and highlight all the key variables. Usually, the last paragraph will give you an idea of what the examiner is expecting you to answer. Make a big mental note of this to make sure you are not putting down way more than you need to. Having this in your head will help you tailor your answer better. The key question is what does your client actually want to know?
2) When writing, introduce what the client wants advice on so that the examiner knows that you have understood exactly what the question is asking you to do. A simple one to two lines will be sufficient.
3) Is there a particular format to the question that you are meant to follow? Are you meant to go through the statute in a particular way or apply the law in a particular way? If there is, then that will be your structure. Remember to always start with stating the law then applying the law to your facts and concluding. This will help you with answering the question without hypothesising or theorising way more than you need and it will keep you organised.
4) Do you need to think outside the box about alternatives? When I was doing my family law module, we studied divorce and they expect us to talk about other reasons for divorce that can be applied to the facts as well as any other advice that the client will need to be aware of such as cohabitation. Have a good understanding of what is expected of you to know so that you are not just writing a ton of tangential unnecessary information.
5) Look at the marks and spend your time accordingly. If it's worth 4 marks, you shouldn't be spending any more than 5 minutes on answering the question. The marks will also help you understand how much detail they are expecting in the answer. This will make sure you are not spending more time than necessary.
6) Be clear and precise. Make sure every sentence you put down is necessary and important to gain the marks. Make sure you are not regurgitating the facts of the question or case law. Make sure your application is precise and makes sense.
Good luck with all your exams and I hope things go splendidly! Take care of yourselves during this stressful period too! I will see you in my next post!
Sincerely Sinthu
Happy New Year everyone!
So exams are around the corner so let's get back to basics. This is for my law students whose exams contain problem questions. Let's go over how to answer a problem question. This post will be incredibly general so be wary of what is expected of you from your relevant module or criteria to make sure you pick up all the marks.
1) Read your question and highlight all the key variables. Usually, the last paragraph will give you an idea of what the examiner is expecting you to answer. Make a big mental note of this to make sure you are not putting down way more than you need to. Having this in your head will help you tailor your answer better. The key question is what does your client actually want to know?
2) When writing, introduce what the client wants advice on so that the examiner knows that you have understood exactly what the question is asking you to do. A simple one to two lines will be sufficient.
3) Is there a particular format to the question that you are meant to follow? Are you meant to go through the statute in a particular way or apply the law in a particular way? If there is, then that will be your structure. Remember to always start with stating the law then applying the law to your facts and concluding. This will help you with answering the question without hypothesising or theorising way more than you need and it will keep you organised.
4) Do you need to think outside the box about alternatives? When I was doing my family law module, we studied divorce and they expect us to talk about other reasons for divorce that can be applied to the facts as well as any other advice that the client will need to be aware of such as cohabitation. Have a good understanding of what is expected of you to know so that you are not just writing a ton of tangential unnecessary information.
5) Look at the marks and spend your time accordingly. If it's worth 4 marks, you shouldn't be spending any more than 5 minutes on answering the question. The marks will also help you understand how much detail they are expecting in the answer. This will make sure you are not spending more time than necessary.
6) Be clear and precise. Make sure every sentence you put down is necessary and important to gain the marks. Make sure you are not regurgitating the facts of the question or case law. Make sure your application is precise and makes sense.
Good luck with all your exams and I hope things go splendidly! Take care of yourselves during this stressful period too! I will see you in my next post!
Sincerely Sinthu
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