How I got a 50 raw in Legal Studies (2022)

chemistry1111

hey congrats on the score, just wanted to know when did you start doing practice exams, how far out from actual exam? for legal studies this year was all the content assessed or just certain parts

successismygoal

chemistry1111

Hey!

Regarding practice exams, I started doing them....maybe 1 or 2 in the holidays before term 4 and the rest were throughout term 4. In terms of quantity, I feel like I should've done more, but I did between 12-15 (can't exactly remember). I think its very important to learn from the practice exams that you do, rather than spamming practice exams, which is why I handed every single practice exam I did to my teacher to mark the responses I felt I was weak in. That way, I was able to gain an understanding on how to approach similar questions in the future.

I didn't just do practice exams though...

For content revision, my teacher gave us practice questions testing every dot point in the study design from past VCAA exams/other sources, so I chipped away at these (untimed) on my laptop whenever I had time. I was initially overwhelmed with how many exam revision resources there are available, but remember thinking that I should choose the ones I think are best going to prepare me. So if there is any topic throughout the year you are weaker at, revise that topic more than the others.

Regarding the exam, my teacher and I were both surprised how different the exam was compared to past years! I think its fair to say that it did not test all the content throughout the year, but most of it. Some concepts that had only appeared a few times in past were a lot more popular in our exam! There were some topics which I thought would definitely come up, but didn't come up at all, and other topics I had discussed with my teacher that might come up, and did come up! So it's definitely best to prepare for everything.

Hope this helps!

chemistry1111

can someone explain about precedent to me? how it works? the basics what we should know? about how it becomes common law

S200

mozzie I didn't even do legal, much less get a straight 50, however... I would recommend reading the VCAA assessment guide on your subject. That will tell you what you are being assessed against, giving you some framework to build out on.

chemistry1111 Not sure if you already covered precedent, but its pretty much a decision that has been made in a previous case that can become the basis of a later ruling.
i.e; Mabo v QLD established that the Indigenous population had rights to the land under their own culture and customs, which then became precedent for many further cases.

would we say that judges use precedent as a reference for future cases

Its more that a decision made today will form the precedent (or part of) for future decisions. Just one of the reasons that Law is so important under our Constitution; if they don't get it right today it opens up loopholes down the track.

successismygoal

chemistry1111

I agree with S200 . Also might be helpful to know the benefits and limitation of courts making precedent, e.g. benefit: common law principles that align with social values can be applied to similar cases where the material facts are similar
limitation: Parliament, as the supreme law making body can abolish those precedents...elaborate on how that is ineffective/a weakness to effective law making, a principle of justice, etc (depending on what the question is asking).

Yes, judges use precedent as a reference if it is binding precedent. For persuasive precedent, they do not have to, though I have heard they are usually (not always) influenced by those precedents.

chemistry1111

would we say that judges use precedent as a reference for future cases

mozzie

successismygoal hey, when you said to change the way you think to the way VCAA wants you to think what does that entail? What tips would you give when answering the exam questions?

successismygoal

mozzie
Great question! In a nutshell, it means having a confident understanding of exactly what the question is asking. So essentially when you read the question, 'alarm bells' should be ringing when you see the key words. What information can you recall about those words and their relationship/relevance to the question? Then move to the command term, and start planning a response. Might be a good idea to plan this during reading time.
Understanding how many points to make for the given amount of marks is also really good to ensure you are not wasting time. E.g. for a 4 mark 'Explain' question, I have seen responses that make 4 arguments. Unless you explain them really well in about a sentence and move on, that is unnecessary. I would strongly advocate that 2 arguments explained well is better and more time efficient than 4 that aren't unpacked much.
Hope that helps

Arjuna

Do you tutor?

successismygoal

Arjuna

No, not until next week when I finish exams, sorry! But I have sold copies of my notes and practice questions which I am happy to sell you as well 🙂 let me know!

mozzie

successismygoal thank you! I feel a bit more prepared for legal after this

successismygoal

mozzie
Glad to hear 😄 Good luck!

chemistry1111

what vlrc is everyone using?

girlmeetsvce

successismygoal hii congrats!! Thanks a lot for your super-detailed advice. If you dodn't mind, could you please share your structure for the command terms? It is something I struggle a lot with; so even if I know the content I tend to mess up on answering exam questions

successismygoal

girlmeetsvce
Hello! You're welcome 😃

Its going to be difficult if I write out the structures for each of the many command terms. This is something I find works best when I teach my students gradually rather than all at once in a document, and will be a lot easier if I teach it to you rather than put it in a document. Though a document which can help that has already been released is the VCAA command terms document: https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/assessment/vce-assessment/Pages/GlossaryofCommandTerms.aspx

Note that this document is not made just for legal, but for other subjects too, so again its difficult for me to verbally say which ones are good and which ones need modification for legal. E.g. A discuss prompt in bio or chem is HUGELY different to a discuss prompt in legal.

That being said, I have written a 10 marker guide on how I approached the 10 marker in my 3/4 VCAA exam and scored highly, and am selling it if you like. It goes into a lot of detail on the 'Discuss the extent to which' structure, which is what my 10 marker was (And very likely what your 10 marker will be).

Hope this helps!

dino

that would rly help me too if u could thanks