By Samar Alam
So, you’ve found out you have to resit an LPC exam. Firstly, don’t panic, these things happen. Take a bit of time to feel whatever emotion it brings to the surface, and then realise that it is now beyond your control, and you can’t dwell on things out of your control for too long.
Let’s focus on what is in your control.
Reflect on what went wrong
Be honest with yourself – did you do the most you could have done? Perhaps you didn’t start revision early enough, or you didn’t make the best notes, maybe you didn’t do all the practice assessments. Whatever your downfall was, think about why that was and how you can change it now to make sure you can reach your potential.
Create a plan of action
Use your learnings from the reflection to create a plan of action. What will you do differently to last time? How will you schedule this new plan into your timetable? Create a plan as it sets out your intention and makes you more accountable for your time.
Ask for feedback
You can usually request feedback for the exam you have failed. Make sure to get this, and if you can, book a meeting with your tutor to discuss the feedback. This can be really helpful overall and also with the previous two steps. It allows you to understand which topics you did understand and which ones you need to focus your revision on this time. If you don’t do this, you run the risk of repeating the same mistakes as last time as you’re not sure where the gaps in your knowledge are.
Revisit everything
Okay so this might seem boring because, well, revision isn’t the most exciting thing in the world. BUT it’s important to revisit everything even if you feel you know areas well. Treat this like you’re sitting the exam for the first time but you’re more equipped because you know which areas you should focus on due to the feedback you’ve received. Don’t use the feedback to just look over those areas because you never know how you will be tested on topics and sometimes, your answers could have been guesswork.
Go over everything and don’t leave things to chance.
Law Tuition
If you’re really unsure of where you went wrong or you need help in applying exam technique, you might want to consider getting private law tuition. This could be really beneficial for resits where you thought you did your best and don’t know what more you can do.
Have a read of the blog post on whether to get a tutor *here*.
Lastly, you might be feeling down about this but it’s all part of the journey and well within your control to sort out this time around to ensure you pass.
Good luck with your resit!