Welcome to your undergraduate virtual open day

"Hello and welcome to our virtual law open day. My name is Dave and I am responsible for student admissions in the Law School. I am a Professor with expertise in law and policy around housing, land and the sociology of law. I teach these subjects to some of our undergraduate and postgraduate students. I am also a practising barrister and Deputy District Judge.

I am absolutely passionate about sharing my knowledge and ideas with our law students at Bristol, and helping them to understand how law works (or sometimes doesn't work or has unintended effects) in its wider social context. Housing law has been at the sharp end of responses to the Covid crisis – whether it has been housing street homeless people, stopping all court-based possession work, through to facilitating virtual courtrooms. It has been a really exciting time to be thinking about all of these issues, and their impacts on society. I can’t wait for the new teaching year to start to share my understandings and debate some of the emerging dilemmas with our students. At the moment, a big question in my area is how properly can possession proceedings begin again?

I encourage students to come to university with lots of energy, enthusiasm and an open mind. They should be prepared to question and critique the law, and think about the way it operates in society. A broader understanding of how law works and strong critical legal skills will be important to you in your future career - whether you decide to work in or around the law or pursue a completely different path."

"Hello, I'm Jo and I'm the Law School Employability Adviser. I work with Law students to help them get to where they want to be on graduation, be that a career in the law or something completely different. We offer a wide range of support for students looking to explore their career options and develop the skills they will need. Support includes, amongst other things, one-to-one careers support, workshops, mentoring schemes and opportunities to meet with people already working in a wide range of roles. We work hard to ensure that students are exposed to a wide range of career opportunities both within and outside of the legal profession. 

Students can come and see me with any career related queries they may have. Students may have a clear idea of what they want to achieve and just need a bit of help working out their next steps or they may have no idea, I'm here to help them work out what their next steps might be whatever the circumstances.

Whatever career you are thinking about pursuing I would recommend that you stay open minded and interested. Studying at the University of Bristol will present you with many opportunities to develop both academically and personally. Make the most of those opportunities and stay open minded and informed about what you want to do when you graduate. We are here to support you whatever your aspirations."

"Hi, I’m Grace and I decided to apply for the LLB Law at Bristol after having attended the Sutton Trust Summer School during my time at sixth form. I was quickly impressed by the challenging yet intellectually stimulating nature of the degree. When finalising where I wanted to study for university, I was determined to apply to an institution that ranked well academically and would push me to achieve my full potential. Bristol stood out to me instantly and presented an environment that offers fantastic career opportunities and generates well-rounded graduates.

I have been involved in various extra-curricular activities while being at university. I am a member of the Bar Society which has allowed me to make friends and build connections both within the legal sector and outside of law. Through this society, I had the opportunity to submit an essay in my first year for the Western Circuit Women’s Forum essay competition which commemorated International Women’s Day and I placed as a runner-up. I have also taken part in debates with the Law Without Borders Society and this helped me to become more confident with public speaking and reaffirm my interest in human rights. I am a member of the African Caribbean Society where I have taken part in different events that align with my hobbies. There are many different societies at Bristol and extra-curricular activities one can get involved in, which further enrich the experience of studying at Bristol. 

The opportunity to tailor the course around your interests has been my favourite part of the course. From my first year, I thoroughly enjoyed the Constitutional Rights module which allowed me to gain an insight into human rights and motivated me to choose modules like Medical Law and Family Law in my second year that explored this further. I have also been able to explore passions such as philosophy through the Jurisprudence module that provided more depth to my knowledge of philosophical concepts such as legal positivism and natural law that I was aware of through my studies at A-Level.

My favourite part of living in Bristol has to be the fact that Bristol has offered me a home away from home. I am originally from London and I often tell my friends back in London that there are many similarities between Bristol and London, in particular how the city is extremely lively and there is so much to do. There is a strong sense of community at Bristol and being able to attend the Bristol branch of my church has also kept me grounded in many ways and I have also relied on that community.

My advice to prospective students would be to stay open-minded and not have a pre-conceived understanding of what studying law is like. I would also suggest that it is important to start exploring your interests before coming to University. It is absolutely fine not to have it all mapped out; however, starting will prove to be useful in the future. Also, aside from studying for a law degree, it is important to view university as a time for personal development, there will be lots of time to explore different passions and make life-long memories that will enhance your university experience."

"Hi, I'm Modupe and I applied to Bristol because it is a world-renowned, leading university in a beautiful and vibrant city. I knew studying here would provide me with an array of opportunities and I would be taught by world-leading academics. 

My favourite part of the course has been studying optional units such as "Rich Law Poor Law" and "Race and Law", which are unique units to the Law School. They have provided me with the tools to critique and question the law beyond legislation and cases. Studying them has been an eye-opening experience and made me feel more confident using my legal knowledge to implement positive change in the future.

I regularly attended University of Bristol Law CLub (UBLC) events and was the Diversity and Inclusion Officer in my second year. I was also on the African Carribbean Society (ACS) sub-committee and regularly attended ACS events during my time at university. Lastly, I did kickboxing and was a Trip Co-ordinator for the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) in my final year. While I cannot choose which one I found most rewarding, UBLC was a great way of meeting other students interested in going into commercial law and meeting people in the profession. ACS was a great way of meeting other students from a similar cultural background and establish a supportive network. Being a Trip Co-ordinator allowed me to continue my Erasmus experience in Bristol after a year abroad in Spain, and kick-boxing was a great escape from my studies! 

I am going to take a gap year but after that, I hope to get a Training Contract and work as a solicitor in the City."