Daniel

What do you like about your course and why?

The thing about reading law is not only that it will qualify you to go on to study to become a barrister or solicitor, that is a given; the thing most valuable is that it teaches you to generally think, read, and write to an extremely high standard, irrespective of whether the subject-matter concerns the law.  Let us take for example reading and writing. The difference in my ability to form a cogent argument and to comprehend one between my first and final year is palpably vast. As regards intellectual computation, that too has improved greatly – what was once an incomprehensible soup of words is now common parlance. 

That is what I love about my course, that we are pushed to think, read, and write to an ever increasing standard; a standard which the law inevitably necessitates. Naturally, if you desire to be pushed even further, your tutors and lecturers are always on-hand for long discussions and disputations!  

Surrey Law School truly is a place where intellect is nurtured, a genuinely outstanding institution I would recommend to anyone wishing to become a lawyer and desiring to be pushed to be their best.

What do you enjoy most about Surrey?

The most enjoyable part of my Surrey life is the ability to be able to go to the law school and, without any prior plan or invitation, begin asking my tutors questions on a variety of topics. We can spend hours discussing all manner of issues, whether that is a random question, exam feedback, or revision. The subject-matter is immaterial.  Surrey Law School genuinely relish their interactions with students, so one never feels unwelcome. The learning never stops at Surrey; what you put into your studies you get out of your studies.

What do you want to do when you graduate?

When I graduate from Surrey, after some postgraduate education, I hope to qualify as a barrister and to practice in Chancery.

What's your advice to new students?

Read the relevant judgments in full.  If you read the judgments like a novel, make notes and highlight, you will feel your brain expanding with new knowledge of the law, vocabulary, and phraseology.  These are things you cannot get out of reading a Westlaw abstract or mere headnote – breathe the judge’s reasoning and, hopefully, you will begin to think like a judge!