Mitigating circumstances, Care leaver

[lawstudent.x]

Hello,

I am currently in my second stage of university, studying law.

My mother passed away at the beginning of my A levels. I went into care as a result. I then became a care leaver and had to live alone in temporary accommodation during year 13. I was responsible for managing finances, paying rent, food shopping and making sure I get myself to sixth form everyday.

As a result I achieved BBC in my A levels due to my circumstances. I also attend a non RG university.

I did not do extremely well in my first year, I passed the year with 51.65%. During that time, I was working between 16-32 hours per week.

During term 2 of my second year, I recently got diagnosed with dyslexia. Which means I've always had it. I also had bereavement counselling for 3 months.

I have received all my second year results, however I did not do as well as I wanted to. I did improve compared to first year. I am on track to get a 2:1, but I aspire to get a first.

My outside circumstances has affected my
performance and I am worried that I will not get a VC or TC because of my grades. I have never applied to VCs or TCs before. I hope to in my third year.

I am debating retaking the whole of my second year or just going into third year to achieve a 2:1.

I would still need to apply to TC and VC in my second year if I choose to retake. I would like to show firms that I have improved. I understand that magic circle firms are more picky with grades. I heard that they normally consider one bleep in applicants education. I have multiple bleeps.

I have been to open days, I have work experience and legal work experience after volunteering at my university law clinic.

I just do not know what to do anymore and I do not feel that confident in my career prospects now. I feel like I have come too far to quit now and I want to become a solicitor.

 

[Jessica Booker]

I wouldn’t retake your second year, I don’t think the extra year will be worth it. Instead I would focus on your final year and getting the grades you aspire to achieve.

Magic circle firms are not necessarily more picky about grades. In fact, some of them maybe more open minded than other firms. You may want to look at firms with contextualised recruitment processes as your circumstances would be significantly flagged through the questions asked.

But there are a whole host of firms outside of the MC (which only constitute 5 out of 100s of City firms). The MC firms are not the be all and end all - they are just an option.