Tips For Choosing Modules!

Hello everyone! I wrote about First Year Law Modules recently, so now I will write about the module selection process for optional modules, as well as give some tips on how to choose them!

The Process:

Around March/April, normally you would receive an email from the Law Department at Warwick which will include a link to the module selection website. You will be required to choose enough modules to fill 120 CATS per year (two-term modules are 30 CATS whilst one-term modules are 15 CATS). There would be some core modules that you would have to take (for second year these would be Foundations of European Law, Contract Law, and Constitutional and Administrative Law; for third year this would be the Law of Trusts) but you can choose how to fill the rest of your 120 CATS! Here is a link to all Undergraduate Law modules available in case you want to have a look: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/current/undergraduate/materials/

External Modules:

There is also the option of choosing 30 CATS worth of outside modules for both second and third year- for instance, you could take a Language module, History module, English module, and so on! When it comes to applying for these modules, you would have to apply via the department of the external module you want to take (e.g. to take a History module I would apply via the History Department’s selection website too). Here is a link to all undergraduate modules available in case you want to explore your external module options: https://courses.warwick.ac.uk/

Tips for Module Selection:

Now that I’ve gone through the selection process, here are some of my top tips for module selection:

1. CHECK THE CONTENT/ MODULE DESCRIPTION

Before selecting a module, make sure you have really understood what you will be studying- it can be easy to assume what you will be learning based on the module name, but you would be surprised how much you can miss by not checking the actual content. Check the module description pages by searching for the Warwick module code on the internet, and check the videos left by the module team explaining what the module entails. Also remember that the way the module is taught and what content is taught can differ based on which team is delivering the module each year (for instance, there was a new team teaching International Economic Law this year, so the content was delivered in a different way).

2. CHECK THE ASSESSMENT METHOD

When planning which modules to take, I personally found it helpful to check the assessment method in order to shortlist which modules to take and when- for instance, I did not want to be taking 6 exams at the end of the year, so I chose more modules which would be assessed at the end of the term in which we are taught the content. If I really wanted to take a certain module but thought it would make revision difficult during the summer examination period, I decided to take it in my final year instead as there is only one core module assessed by a summer exam for the final year. This way, I could take all the modules I wanted and I could spread out the assessments throughout the year to try and take some pressure off from the summer examination period.

3. ASK AROUND

Finally, ask students in the years above you what they thought about certain modules- you may come across important information that is hard to get from just the module descriptions available to you! It is better to speak to people about their experiences in my opinion, since you will get more detailed explanations and opinions of modules from students who have recently completed them.

I hope that these tips prove useful when it comes to module selection! As always, if you have any questions or want my advice on something, please feel free to leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as I can!