Law Studies

Curriculum Intent

  • To give students the opportunity to explore a variety of different aspects of law.
  • To provide students with the knowledge and skills needed with a firm foundation for further study in Law, Business, Economics or Finance
  • To enable students to read and comprehend legal case studies
  • To ensure students apply the knowledge they have gathered to legal case studies
  • To develop our students into holistic learners by considering the impact each area of law can have on society.
  • To explore legal concepts in the most relevant way, through studying Statues/Legislation

  • To keep up to date with current legal affairs to enable students to develop a deeper understanding of key topics and to then apply current affairs knowledge to these key topics
  • To enable students to reflect on their strengths and areas for development in their own writing and to actively improve their work
  • To become critical thinkers through extended use of analysis and evaluation skills
  • To give students opportunities to think like lawyer/barristers, enabling them to think and evaluate far beyond the context of the classroom
  • For our students to apply the Holcombe habits and thinking tools to their every-day learning experience in Law
  • To challenge our students to work collaboratively and think independently when in lessons

Years 12 and 13

Subject Teachers: Mrs Sandhu and Mrs Mohammed

Advanced Level Law exam board: OCR

Why study Law? 

This course is designed to encourage students to develop their knowledge and understanding of how our law is made, how our legal system operates and the fundamentals behind both criminal and civil liability. Students will also gain an understanding of legal method and reasoning, develop techniques of logical reasoning and analytical skills, and solve problems by applying legal rules.

How will you be assessed? 

Students will sit three papers at the end of the two years:

Paper 1 (2 hours) a written exam – 33.3%- The Legal System and Criminal Law

Paper 2 (2 hours) a written exam – 33.3%- Law Making and Tort

Paper 3 (2 hours) a written exam – 33.3%- The Nature of Law and Contract

 

What will you study?

The Legal System and Criminal Law:

2 hour exam includes;1 x 8 mark question; 1 x 12 mark question; 3 x 20 mark questions

This unit involves looking at how our legal system works, who works within it and their roles, and how criminals are punished for their crimes. In this unit, we also learn how guilt in a criminal case is established and study a range of criminal offences from assault to murder and many in between!

Law Making and Tort:

2 hour exam includes;1 x 8 mark question; 1 x 12 mark question; 3 x 20 mark questions

This unit focuses on how our law is made and by whom. We look at the different law makers ranging from Parliament to judges and the processes they use for making and changing our law. This unit also explores the rules and principles concerning liability in civil law, including how to establish negligence, occupier’s liability, nuisance and vicarious liability.

The Nature of Law and Contract:

2 hour exam includes; 4 x 20 mark questions

This unit delves in to major themes such as how, and if, morals affect and shape our law and whether they should do so; whether our law is, and should be just; how technology is impacting our law and much more! Also in this unit, we study the law surrounding making and breaking contracts and what our rights and remedies are as citizens.

 

Year 12

Term 1Term 2Term 3Term 4Term 5Term 6
Introduction to Law

 

P1: Elements of the Legal System – Civil Courts and ADR

P2: Law-Making – Parliamentary Law making

P2: Law-Making – Delegated Legislation

P1: Elements of the Legal System – Criminal Courts

 

P1: The Legal System – Sentencing

P2: Law-Making – Judicial Precedent

P2: Law-Making – Statutory Interpretation

P1: The Legal System – Lay people (Juries)

 

P1: The Legal System – Lay People (Magistrates)

P2: Law-Making – Law Reform

P2: Tort Law – Introduction

 

P1: Access to Justice

 

P1: Criminal Law – Introduction

P2: Tort Law – Negligence

P2: Tort Law – Occupiers’ Liability

P2: Tort Law – Theory of rules

 

P2: Tort Law -Remedies

P1 – Criminal Law – Actus/Mens Rea

P1: Criminal Law – Non-fatal offences

P1: Criminal Law

 

P2: Tort Law

P3: Law and Morals

 

 

Year 13

Term 1Term 2Term 3Term 4Term 5Term 6
Re-cap over P1/P2 topics

 

P3: The Nature of Law – Law and Morality

P3: The Nature of Law – Law and Morality

P3: Contract Law – Offer and Acceptance

 

P3: Nature of Law – Law and Justice

 

 

P3: Nature of Law- Law and Society

 

P3: Contract Law – Intention

P3: Contract Law: Express/implied Terms 1

P3:Exclusion/limitation clauses

P3: Nature of Law – Law and Technology

 

 

P3: Contract Law: Mitigating Factors

P3: Contract Law: Discharge

P3: Contract Law: Remedies

 

P1: Criminal Law – Revision

 

P1: Criminal Law – Revision

P2: Tort Law – Revision

 

P2: Tort Law – Revision

P3: Criminal Law – Revision

 

P3: Criminal Law – Revision

P3: Tort Law – Revision

P3: Tort Law – Revision

Examinations

Online Learning Support

Careers

The study of law provides a strong and useful base for the further study of law at degree level. It also enables you to gain skills (analysis, critical thinking, reasoning) which would be of benefit in many other degrees. Studying Law at A level will show an employer that you can think independently and ‘on your feet’.

British Values

British Values feature in many aspects of the course that we deliver within the Law curriculum. As such, these themes appear in many topics that are studied throughout the course. As part of our A-level course, all aspects of the Legal System, how the laws of our country are made, Criminal Law and The Nature of Law cover in some depth the British values as well as the importance of these laws in determining British liberties and freedoms. The role of legislation and regulation is taught within all topics and referred to in lessons regularly by examining the impact these have on specific criminal/civil law and society as a whole.

In particular, students examine how governments can use punishment through fines etc., rules, guidelines, constraints to change the behaviour of society, e.g. minimum wage, compulsory taxes, smoking in public, wearing seatbelts/crash helmets etc. Students develop an understanding of what laws they need to follow in order to behave in an ethical manner, especially in their A2 year studying Law and Morality. When students study The Nature of Law, Contract Law and Tort Law, they analyse the impact of mutual respect, tolerance and fairness which society as a whole must abide by. They study the impact this could have on people’s lives and their reputation. The A-level curriculum leads to discussions on how different ethnic groups and religious beliefs help contribute to the overall success of the way in which the UK is run, which are key to students understanding of how every individual has a place in current society. In A-level, students examine political and legal environments which helps them to understand the effects UK and EU law can have on the English Legal System. Students learn about the impact of not following these EU and UK laws and the impact this has on the decision made in Court.