Welcome to the study guide for Legal Studies! Legal Studies is an incredibly interesting subject, which focuses on the interaction between society and the Australian Legal System, exploring the role and development of laws in reference to current issues in society. I hope that this guide allows you to complete this subject to the best of your ability and to help you prepare for all your internal and external assessments.
Guide
How to get a 90+ in Legal Studies: advice from a high-achieving student
By Rachael - 10 minute readIn this guide, Rachael goes through her top tips and tricks for getting a 90+ in Legal Studies.
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Introduction
How to prepare for your IAs
In Legal Studies, you will have three IAs, which altogether are worth 75% of your grade. Therefore, it is incredibly important to obtain as many marks from those as you can! This will relieve the stress of your external exam. The breakdown of this is: a Combination Exam (IA1) worth 25%, an Inquiry Report (IA2) worth 25% and an Argumentative Essay (IA3), also worth 25%.
Paying attention in class/notetaking
Legal Studies is a heavily content-based subject; therefore, it is incredibly important to pay attention. Learning about the Australian Legal System can be daunting at the beginning, as there is a lot of new terms and legislation that you may not be familiar with. If you are ever confused, it is really important to ask your teacher questions; that is what they are there for!
When taking notes in class, it is suggested to jot down the most important points about your topics and writing down definitions of important terms. When I was in year 12, our class made mind maps on large poster paper and hung them around the room top familiarize ourselves with the content and is a great way to visually summarise your notes. When referring to Conventions/Acts, it is a great idea to highlight the important articles, as these can be referred to in your IAs.
Read the syllabus on what is contained within your assignments
The syllabus is your bible for Legal Studies and for all of your subjects! It contains all of the information of your assessments and what each IA contains. It involves a description of the assessment, the objectives that will be tested and the specifications of the exam. I would 100% recommend keeping a copy of your syllabus to refer to and printing out the relevant sections for your IAs to keep with you when preparing for them.
Proofread your assignments
It is incredibly easy to feel the need to hand in an assignment straight after completing it, however, chances are that there are unintentional grammatical errors as a result from pulling an all-nighter! For Legal Studies, reference to legislation, conventions etc. is a must. Therefore, making sure that all of their dates and the information used in your assignment are accurate and referenced properly is super important, as marks can be deducted for these issues. It is also important to proofread your work and read it out loud! This allows you to see if your assignment flows and it may be helpful to get a parent or friend to proofread your assignment too, as they could pick up issues that you wouldn’t.
Analyse QCAA sample assessment pieces or your previous assignments
The QCAA sample assessment pieces are your golden ticket to passing your assignments! They are colour annotated to the different sections of criterion and are a great way to see what works well in an assignment, and to see what that student missed in their assignment. As the assessment pieces in year 12 mask the pieces you completed in year 11, it is recommended to go over your past assessments, your grades and to focus on where you lost marks.
Combination exam
The combination exam contains 6-8 short response items and one extended response referring to an unseen stimulus. For the short answer questions, I would recommend going through all the theory learned before the exam and referring it back to the syllabus dot points. Making flashcards and studying with peers in the class is a great way for you to learn from each other and recognise your strengths and weaknesses in the content.
For the extended response section, there are many important things to consider. I would recommend reading the question properly and highlighting what the point of the question is to ensure that your response is targeting the point of the question. After this, take the time to analyse the stimulus that you have been given (as sometimes you don’t need to use all of it). A brief plan should be made to keep your thoughts on track and it is important to ensure that you stay within the word limit when writing your response.
Inquiry report
The inquiry report is an assessment based on an area of law reform within a dynamic society. Your teacher will guide you on topics that can be chosen for this piece. Basically, your inquiry report has a very similar format to the extended response section of your internal/external exams. You must include an introduction, nature and scope, viewpoints of stakeholders (it is better to have a positive and negative viewpoint), legal alternatives, a recommendation and conclusion. This assessment piece requires a lot of time, effort and most importantly, planning! If you begin with a solid plan and follow the QCAA sample assessment guide, along with any notes that your teacher has provided for you, you are on the right track!
Argumentative essay
The argumentative essay requires you to investigate a contemporary internal human rights issue in Australia. As well, this is a very similar format to the inquiry report including analysing the stakeholders viewpoints and evaluating the legal alternatives that can come from it. For this assessment piece, it is important to really focus on being persuasive and choosing the best recommendation that could aid in improving the legal issue.
How to revise for exams
Your external exam contributes to 25% of your grade, so it is very important to try your absolute best! There is loads of content to learn for this assessment and there are many techniques that can be used to study.
Write syllabus dot points
I believe that the most effective way to consolidate your knowledge is to ensure you are studying from the syllabus dot points. Majority of the questions on your exam will be based on the syllabus points. While I was studying, I would write down a
syllabus point, dot point everything I already know about it and then check it against my notes I have written throughout the year.
Stay consistent with study throughout the year
Keeping consistent with your studying throughout the year definitely makes it a lot easier to consolidate your knowledge for the end of year exam. I would recommend at the end of every week to review the work completed and type a document of the most important points that you have learned in that week. Keep these stored in a folder and when it comes to exam time, you already have some study notes prepared, yay!
Create your own exam questions
As I have already mentioned, most of the exam questions are based on the syllabus objectives. Therefore, it is a great idea to make questions based on the syllabus points. An effective study method is for yourself and a friend to make separate
questions, then exchange your questions to test yourself.
Write extended responses with criteria sheet
The extended response item of the exam is 800-1000 words. Ensure you practise writing these as much as possible before your exam. Once you are finished writing a response, you can check it over with your teacher and get them to give you
feedback on what to improve. If you are given a criteria sheet for the extended response before the exam, this is a really great tool to use to come up with a plan on how you want to write your responses.
Exam Day
Pre-exam
The external exam can be a very nerve-wracking thing, but you are almost there!
The night before the exam, I would recommend to not cram all of your study, as this
can make you stressed out! You should briefly read over your notes and maybe have
a go at a few short answer questions. It is really important to get a good night’s
sleep before your exam to feel refreshed and ready to take on the exam, as you will
be sitting the exam for just over 2 hours!
How to approach the exam
Planning time
Make the most of the time you have in this planning period. In the 15 minutes that you will receive, I would spend a minute or 2 just flicking through the entirety of the exam. After this, it is the perfect opportunity to plan your extended response piece. Highlighting important information in the stimulus and briefly planning your paragraphs on the spare paper you will be given.
Decide how you want to divide your time
Everyone has different exam tactics. Some people feel the need to start from the beginning of the exam and work their way through in order, or, some like to choose the part with the most marks to do first. You just have to decide what is best for you. I would 100% recommend spending more time on the extended
response section, for example, spending anywhere between 30-40 minutes on short answer and the rest of your time on the extended response (allow time at the end for proofreading).Never leave any questions blank
I know that short answer questions can sometimes be confronting, but try not to leave any questions blank. It is better to write something rather than nothing, so I would recommend highlighting the topic point of the question and
writing down everything you know about it in the context of the question. You never know what you could get marks for!Proofread your exam
At the end of your exam, spend the last 10-15 minutes to ensure that you have answered all of the questions and to proofread your extended response. As the extended response is a large section, check for grammar errors and ensure that you have referenced any stimulus used.
Short response
For the short response questions, it is important to write down as much as you can to obtain as many marks possible! If a question is worth 5 marks, this is an indication that you should write 5 points for that question. Another way to see how much you need to write is seeing how much space they give you. I would recommend using all the lines allocated. If it helps you gather your thoughts, you can use some of your spare paper to write down points on what you can write for your short response. But make sure you don’t spend too much time doing this!
Extended response
Personally, I would start off by writing a brief introduction identifying the legal issue in the question/source material, why it is a problem, and mentioning the nature and scope. Then, I would identify the stakeholder viewpoints and their
consequences (it is really important to remember the consequences, they don’t always have to be bad). In this section, use short quotes and pieces of stimulus (analyse the stimulus, don’t simply restate it!) and refer to the source
as ‘(Stimulus 1)’ or ‘As shown in Stimulus 1’. After that, you need to state the legal alternatives, which should be derived from the stimulus material and discuss any possible implications to these alternatives. The last part of the extended response is the recommendation. Justify why your decision is the best at resolving the human rights issue in regards of the legal criteria and discuss the possible future effects, results or consequences.
Some final tips
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Start studying early
This will decrease the amount of work you need to do once it comes to preparing for
your external exam. If you have built on your knowledge throughout the year and
frequently gone over your notes, you are setting yourself up for success!
1
Keep all of your resources throughout the year
Keep all of your handouts that the teacher has given you throughout the year, such
as any example questions or case studies, as you can use these to prepare for the
types of questions you will be asked on your exam.
2
Practise your responses as if you are under exam conditions
When practising extended responses before exams, write them, don’t type! In the
exam, you have to write your responses, so ensure you are practising this. You
should also time yourself to ensure you will have enough time in the exam to write
your response.
3
Read your syllabus
Make sure you are always reading over the syllabus when you’re learning and have
assessments, as it contains everything you need to know about Legal Studies!
Enjoy Legal Studies!
Legal Studies is a really rewarding subject, as it is always important to know about
the Australian Legal System and Parliament. Although it may contain a heavy
workload, I really hope this guide was helpful and you picked up on some great tips!
Final Tips
Here are some final tips from Rachael on how to get a 90+ in Legal Studies.
Start studying early
This will decrease the amount of work you need to do once it comes to preparing for
your external exam. If you have built on your knowledge throughout the year and
frequently gone over your notes, you are setting yourself up for success!
Keep all of your resources throughout the year
Keep all of your handouts that the teacher has given you throughout the year, such
as any example questions or case studies, as you can use these to prepare for the
types of questions you will be asked on your exam.
Practise your responses as if you are under exam conditions
When practising extended responses before exams, write them, don’t type! In the
exam, you have to write your responses, so ensure you are practising this. You
should also time yourself to ensure you will have enough time in the exam to write
your response.
Read your syllabus
Make sure you are always reading over the syllabus when you’re learning and have
assessments, as it contains everything you need to know about Legal Studies!
Enjoy Legal Studies!
Legal Studies is a really rewarding subject, as it is always important to know about
the Australian Legal System and Parliament. Although it may contain a heavy
workload, I really hope this guide was helpful and you picked up on some great tips!
By Rachael
Rachael graduated with a 91+ ATAR performing well in Legal Studies, Chemistry and Math Methods. She is now studying a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honors) at James Cook University.