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URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/other/journals/WebJCLI/1999/issue2/aclec7.html
Cite as: Draft Benchmark Standards
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Draft
BENCHMARK STANDARDS FOR LAW DEGREE IN ENGLAND, WALES & NORTHERN IRELAND:
WORKING DRAFT FOR PILOTS
(Version November 1998)
TEXT FOR EMPLOYERS AND GENERAL PUBLIC
This Statement is set at the bottom of the third class honours degree. It sets out what an employer, student or funder can reasonably expect to be the minimum achievement of a graduate with an honours Bachelors degree in Law or Legal Studies..
The Statement covers all university education in law and legal studies. It is not limited to qualifying law degrees.
PURPOSE
This document sets out the minimum achievement which a student should demonstrate before s/he is awarded an honours degree in Law. The vast majority of students will perform significantly better in many aspects. To find out a more accurate picture of the profile of students from a particular university or higher education institution, you are advised to consult the statements of standards produced by it, e.g. in its published Programme Specification..
TO WHICH DEGREES DOES THIS STATEMENT APPLY?
This statement applies only to those students who have studied at least 180 credits(1) of legal subjects as part of their programme of study. In relation to other students, you should refer to the Benchmark Statement which the institution states is the most appropriate to their programme of study.
LEVELS OF ACHIEVEMENT
The standards set out in the next section are a minimum level of performance required to pass an honours degree in any institution. A student at the very bottom of the Honours class will have satisfactorily demonstrated achievement in each area of performance on a sufficient number of occasions or over a sufficient range of activities to give confidence that they have the ability or skill which is claimed for graduates in law. Each institution will have its own method of determining what is appropriate evidence of this achievement, but the external examiner system and the Academic Reviewer system established by the Quality Assurance Agency monitor adherence to these minimum standards.
AREAS OF PERFORMANCE
Any student graduating in Law must show achievement in all of the following areas of performance, thereby demonstrating substantially all of the abilities and competences identified in each area of performance.
Subject-specific abilities
1. Knowledge: A student should demonstrate a basic knowledge and understanding of the principal features of the legal system(s) studied, viz. s/he
- should be able to demonstrate knowledge of a substantial range of major concepts, values, principles and rules of that system;
- should be able to explain the main legal institutions and procedures of that system;
- should be able to demonstrate the study in depth and in context of some substantive areas of the legal system(2).
2. Application and problem-solving: A student should demonstrate a basic ability to apply her or his knowledge to a situation of limited complexity in order to provide arguable conclusions for concrete problems (actual or hypothetical).
3. Sources and research: A student should demonstrate a basic ability
- to identify accurately the issue(s) which require researching
- to identify and retrieve up-to-date legal information, using paper and electronic sources;
- to use primary and secondary legal sources relevant to the topic under study.
General transferable intellectual skills
4. Analysis, synthesis, critical judgement and evaluation: A student should demonstrate a basic ability
- to recognise and rank items and issues in terms of relevance and importance;
- to bring together information and materials from a variety of different sources;
- to produce a synthesis of relevant doctrinal and policy issues in relation to a topic;
- to make a critical judgement of the merits of particular arguments;
- to present and make a reasoned choice between alternative solutions.
5. Autonomy and ability to learn: A student should demonstrate a basic ability, with limited guidance
- to act independently in planning and undertaking tasks in areas of law which she or he has already studied;
- to be able to undertake independent research in areas of law which he or she has not previously studied starting from standard legal information sources;
- to reflect on his or her own learning, and to seek and make use of feedback.
Key skills
6. Communication and Literacy: Both orally and in writing, a student should demonstrate a basic ability
- to understand and use the English language (or, where appropriate, Welsh language) proficiently in relation to legal matters;
- to present knowledge or an argument in a way which is comprehensible to others and which is directed at their concerns;
- to read and discuss legal materials which are written in technical and complex language.
7. Other key skills: numeracy, information technology and teamwork: A student should demonstrate a basic ability
- where relevant and as the basis for an argument, to use, present and evaluate information provided in numerical or statistical form;
- to produce a word-processed essay or other text and to present such work in an appropriate form;
- able to use the World-wide web and e-mail;
- to use some electronic information retrieval systems.
- to work in groups as a participant who contributes effectively to the group's task.
(1) Credits: A programme of study is divided into 120 credits per level. For a full-time student, these 120 credits will be studied in a single year. On a traditional, three-year, full-time degree programme, a student would study a total of 360 credits worth of courses. On a four year scheme, the total would be 480 credits.
(2) The breadth and depth of coverage will vary according to the amount of law studied by the student in his or her programme..