Book buying - what to watch out for

The Open University used to send copies of the core textbooks to Law students prior to the start of the module (and may still do so on some other subjects; I've heard mixed reports). They've since switched to using Law Trove which gives online access to the text of a much wider range of books from Oxford University Press. But many students find it easier to read from physical paper books and will seek to obtain new or second hand copies of the core textbooks for modules. And at other universities, especially those with physical seminars, the situation can differ and physical copies may be essential.

It may seem tempting to rush out and buy a full set of Law books at the start of a course. They may even seem to be good gifts for someone else. But, as I hope to explain, this can be counterproductive. Book buying is a complicated affair best handled over the whole of the course.

If you're thinking of giving a textbook as a gift, be aware that there isn't one standard set of textbooks across the country. Each university chooses its own set of books. In some areas of Law one book is so dominant that it is very widely used but in others there's a range of potential core textbooks and many different choices are made. Also for gift-givers even if you read Law at the same university previously do not assume the same book will still be used, even if a new edition has recently been published.

Law is a field where things change quickly and there is a high turnover of editions. As I've previously discussed, many books go through new editions every few years, sometimes as quickly as every year for statute books. The textbooks and casebooks that are core on the Open University degree haven't turned over quite as fast, but of the eight I either used or would have used on Level 1 and Level 2 modules, no less than six already have new editions out. A full set of the eleven books used on non-SQE modules purchased in 2022 for someone taking Law part-time over the next six years would have seen at least five superseded by new editions by the time the relevant module started and at least another five superseded by the end of the degree (the sole exception at the moment is Peace & Stevens' Trusts and Equitable Obligations, most recent edition 2022). Someone studying full-time might be luckier with the turnover but if they'd started in 2025 then at least four books would have newer editions by the time they reached the relevant module and another two had new editions published so close to the start of the year that the previous books might have been used.

And that's even before one makes their optional module choice final. No one student is going to need all eleven books. Books on Business and Employment Law or Evidence Law are not going to be much help if one ends up taking Family Law and International, Environmental and Space Law instead.

So it's best for the student to control the buying and to do so spread out across the degree, only obtaining the latest editions close to starting the relevant module. With that in mind, here are a few tips.

Double check both which books you need access to and which editions. Not only are there multiple editions out there (some of which use very similar covers - looking especially at you EU Law: Text, Cases, and Materials), but there are a number of similar titled books by the same author(s) such as Poole's Casebook on Contract Law and Poole's Textbook on Contract Law, both now by Merkin and Saintier. That one has definitely caught a few people out. Look up the book on the publisher's website (for the OU this is usually Oxford University Press's Academic section) to see if there's a new edition out this year and double check whether the brand-new edition will be used or the previous one. Sometimes a new edition published in the summer is deemed too soon for use in modules in the immediate next academic year (and the position can differ for modules starting in September/October with those starting in January/February). If the older edition is listed, try sending an email to see if you can get definite confirmation whether that's up-to-date or not.

High street bookshops will be unlikely to have most of the books on the course lists and/or mentioned on this blog on their shelves. These are specialist books with a limited lifespan and general demand is limited. The main exceptions tend to be Law dictionaries and longer life opinion pieces such as The Rule of Law by Lord Bingham of Cornhill or Justice: What's the right thing to do? by Michael J. Sandel. All of these I've often found in high street bookshops.

Larger bookshops in city centres and/or near universities may have some of the textbooks on shelves (in central London I've certainly seen a good many at both Foyles on Charing Cross Road and Waterstones on Gower Street) but don't expect to find absolutely all the ones you need there, especially if the bookshop is nearer other universities whose own Law courses prescribe different textbooks.

Ordering online is the best way forward but remember to compare prices. Also look out for discount codes that are sometimes provided through universities. And make sure the order goes to an easy-to-reach address or a good collection point.

Second hand copies are fine providing they are the edition you need. Make sure to look around, not just on regular sites like Amazon and eBay but also on sites like Vinted where many students offer their no-longer-needed books. You can even find books offered on social media groups but exercise caution about the buyer. As always, check carefully that you're buying the correct edition. Some books are much easier to find at cheap second hand prices (or deep discounted new editions) than others so the more you can save on one book the more you can put towards another.

Good luck buying!

(Photograph my own.)

What are the different types of law book?

(Be warned. A lot of the links on this post may rot quickly.)

There's a lot of reading in Law. Much is done online these days and indeed the Open University now uses a subscription to Law Trove rather than bulk buying physical copies of core textbooks then sending them out to students. (I am not sure what the policies are for other subjects.) So what are the differences between the books?

Statute books

Although the OU doesn't use these, instead relying on online databases, they are some of the best known law books out there. A statute book contains the current legislation in an area of law, primarily the statutes as currently in force but sometimes also other key texts such as international treaties. By far the best known are Blackstone's Statutes. These books are often used in physical seminars, allowing students to access and discuss the current legislation immediately.

However, be warned that these books date very quickly and are updated at an incredible speed. At one stage Blackstone's issued new volumes for specific academic years, though lately they've gone back to numbering each edition instead. The numbers can range wildly - at the time of writing this post Blackstone's Statutes on Medical Law is on its eleventh edition whilst Blackstone's Statutes on Contract, Tort & Restitution and Blackstone's EU Treaties & Legislation are both on their thirty-sixth editions. (And I will not be surprised if those numbers have increased by the time you read this, but I'm not going to be perpetually updating this post.)

Because of this high turnover buying older editions second hand can be a mixed blessing. The prices often plummet quickly. However, some second hand booksellers won't even touch them and older editions won't always have the current law as amended in them.

Case books

A case book is primarily built around the texts of key judgments in an area of law, often accompanied by commentary. Currently, there's one of these used as the core text for an OU module, Poole's Casebook on Contract Law.

Again these are books that are often updated, though not as rapidly as statute books. I used the 16th edition of Poole which was still going three years after publication.

Textbooks

This is a relatively general term for the bulk of the core books in use. Each textbook provides a general overview of an area of law. Again these are frequently updated. In my time with the OU textbooks have ranged from second editions (e.g. Lamont's Family Law) to sixteenth editions (e.g. Smith & Wood's Employment Law).

Note also that many of the longer running textbooks have had multiple authors over the years and in some cases the original author's names are preserved in the title (e.g. Pearce & Stevens' Trusts and Equitable Obligations which is now by Barr and Picton) even though it has been a good number of years and editions since they last contributed themselves.

Dictionaries

There's a lot of specialist terminology in Law and a good legal dictionary is invaluable. I use A Dictionary of Law which, for reasons known to them, has the slightly different title "Oxford Dictionary of Law" on the cover and spine. Now in its tenth edition, it's also available online. The OU is one of many institutions with a subscription to the Oxford Reference website where students can access the contents. Other Law dictionaries are also available.

There are also dictionaries for many other subjects and these can prove useful for specific modules or even specific assignments. For instance A Dictionary of Business and Management may help students studying Business Law.

Exam help books

There are a number of these around but as all of my degree so far is assessed by coursework it's hard to comment on these.

Popular guides to Law

There are a number of guides to particular areas of law on the mass market. These books are primarily aimed at the public and are not especially academic. Whilst they can provide a general introduction to a specific subject, it is best to avoid referencing them.

Other books

Various other books of use might come up, whether histories, polemics, philosophical texts, biographies and others. Invariably these are a wide range and it's not possible to do them justice here. Unlike many of the other books discussed in this post, these don't tend to go through so many editions and so have a longer shelf life; some of them are also more likely to be found in high street bookshops. Two from my own shelf that stand out are The Rule of Law by Lord Bingham of Cornhill and Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? by Michael J. Sandel. And of course there are many, many others.

(All photographs my own.)

What are Postgraduate Certificates and Diplomas?

Yes this is a blog by a Bachelor's student and primarily focused on undergraduate study, at least currently. But having explained What are Certificates and Diplomas of Higher Education? it would be remiss to not cover the postgraduate equivalents as well.

These operate much the same way. A Postgraduate Certificate (abbreviated PG Cert) is an award that indicates a student has completed and been assessed for study up to the equivalent of the first third of a Master's degree (60 credits at Level M in the jargon). A Postgraduate Diploma (abbreviated PG Dip) is a similar award that indicates a student has completed and been assessed for study up to the equivalent of the second third of a Master's degree (120 credits at Level M).

(Unlike the undergraduate equivalents, the Postgraduate Certificates and Postgraduate Diplomas sit at the same level as Master's degrees on all the frameworks used in the United Kingdom. They are awards at Level 7 on the Regulated Qualifications Framework used in England and Northern Ireland and the Credit and Qualifications Framework for Wales or Level 11 on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework.)

And again these function either as shorter qualifications in their own right or intermediate qualifications for students who have yet to complete a full Master's degree.

By far the best known postgraduate non-degree award may also be the most confusing one, namely the Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) for teachers. At present the only one the Open University offers is the Postgraduate Certificate in Education in Wales, only available to students in Wales. A glance at PGCE programmes across multiple universities show they appear to generally require 60 academic credits at Level M, so they do now match the name, but in addition have other requirements, often credits for the practical training element or, as in the OU's case, additional credits at a lower level. There is also the Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE), most common in Scotland, but this has a less confusing name.

Whereas there are other non-degree awards called certificates or diplomas at undergraduate level, the Open University is very consistent with the naming of its taught postgraduate awards and so everything is either a PG Cert, a PG Dip or a Master's degree.

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What are Certificates and Diplomas of Higher Education?

Degrees are not the only qualifications universities offer. There are also many other awards. At the Open University the most prominent at undergraduate level are Certificates of Higher Education and Diplomas of Higher Education. But just what are they?

Quite simply a Certificate of Higher Education (abbreviated CertHE) is an award that indicates a student has completed and been assessed for study up to the equivalent of the first year of a three-year full-time Bachelor's degree (120 credits at Level 1 in the jargon). A Diploma of Higher Education (abbreviated DipHE) is a similar award that indicates a student has completed and been assessed for study up to the equivalent of the second year of a three-year full-time Bachelor's degree (120 credits at Level 2).

(In the language of the various frameworks for qualifications used in the United Kingdom, they are awards at Levels 4 and 5 respectively on the Regulated Qualifications Framework used in England and Northern Ireland and the Credit and Qualifications Framework for Wales or at Levels 7 and 8 respectively on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework.)

They are achieved in one of two ways. They can be studied for as short qualifications in their own right with dedicated outlines and modules. Or they are awarded to students who have completed the first and/or second full-time (equivalent) year of university.

Some universities award them to students who leave early. But the Open University also makes them available to ongoing students who've completed a level or the equivalent of a full-time year. As most OU students are studying at a slower rate and many do interrupt their studies, it will be a long time before they receive a degree. The Certificates and Diplomas help to fill this gap by providing formal recognition for study already undertaken. For some students they are the first qualification certificates they have ever received and are much appreciated.

A quick note that these are not the only non-degree awards available from the OU. I'll discuss postgraduate awards another day. There are also currently ten undergraduate awards with either "Certificate" or "Diploma" in the name that don't easily fit into the CertHE, DipHE, Foundation Degree, Bachelor's Degree model. They have an eclectic mix of lengths and levels with the result that some of the titles are inconsistent and potentially confusing.

The only one in Law is the Professional Certificate in Legal Practice: SQE1. This contains 90 credits at Level 3 and consists of the three modules to prepare students for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination. Just to be confusing the OU has two other awards with "Professional Certificate" in their names with different requirements. The Professional Certificate in Chemistry contains 90 credits at Level 2 (plus an in-person practical 2.5 day laboratory school). Meanwhile, the Professional Certificate in Practical Statistics contains 120 credits across all of Levels 1, 2 and 3.

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How to become a solicitor

The route to becoming a solicitor has changed dramatically in recent years. And this has had a major impact on legal education.

Again this applies only to England and Wales with Scotland and Northern Ireland having their own pathways.

The old route followed a similar model to that for barristers. There was the academic stage of either a Qualifying Law Degree that included the seven Foundations of Legal Knowledge or another university degree followed by an intense law conversion course, usually the Graduate Diploma in Law. There was the vocational stage in the form of the Legal Practice Course. And there was the training stage in the form of a training contract.

However, a review in the 2010s has led to a major shake up of the whole process. To become a solicitor one now needs to take the following:

• A university degree, but it doesn't have to be in Law. (But that no doubt helps.)
• The Solicitors Qualifying Examination. This comes in two parts, testing both knowledge and skills. The exam is nationalised but many providers offer their own preparation.
• A total of two years of Qualifying Work Experience, with flexibility on where it is taken and when relative to both the degree and the SQE.

Notably there is no longer a formal requirement to have studied the Foundations of Legal Knowledge. The SQE tests Functioning Legal Knowledge (yes the acronym is identical) which covers many of the same subjects along with some others and operational knowledge.

(One of the biggest differences is that the amount of EU Law has been significantly reduced to the point that a course of study for SQE preparation, such as the solicitor route of the Open University's Bachelor of Laws degree, does not double as the full Foundations, unless one takes EU Law as an additional module.)

So far the impact on undergraduate Law degrees has been mixed. Because the barristers' route hasn't changed, most LLB degrees are still built around the Foundations of Legal Knowledge. Some universities have introduced an "integrated Master's degree" - basically a four-year degree that combines both the Bachelor's and Master's stages in a single course - called the Master's in Law (MLaw) that includes preparation for taking the SQE exams.

The Open University has taken a different approach, with different pathways at Level 3. One of them is SQE preparation in three modules (plus one option) offering a combined degree and SQE preparation together. There is also the standalone Professional Certificate in Legal Practice: SQE1 which consists of the three SQE modules by themselves.

As it's only five years since the SQE was introduced there will invariably be modifications to come. But for now this is the route to becoming a solicitor.

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How to become a barrister

Although I'm not personally aiming to become a barrister, the formal requirements continue to form the backbone of legal education up and down the country. So here's a quick overview.

First off this only directly applies to England and Wales. Northern Ireland also has barristers but I'm not sure of the exact route that needs to be taken; however going by the OU's information the academic requirements are mainly the same apart from it also being compulsory to study Evidence Law. Scotland does not have barristers. Instead, the lawyers who appear before courts are called advocates and have a separate path to qualification.

The route to become a barrister has three stages, known as the academic, vocational and training stages.

The academic stage requires either a Qualifying Law Degree that includes the seven Foundations of Legal Knowledge or another university degree followed by an intense law conversion course, usually the Graduate Diploma in Law.

The vocational stage requires a special vocational course, mainly taken at dedicated law course providers. The name is a source of confusion as the last couple of decades have seen renames, replacements and individual providers picking their own names or, worse, switching them around. So you'll hear variously of the "Bar Practice Course", the "Bar Professional Training Course", the "Bar Training Course", the "Bar Vocational Course" and so forth. There's also "Bar Vocational Studies" and the "Postgraduate Diploma in Bar Practice". It's easy to see why some use just the "Bar Course" and why others sarcastically refer to the "Bar [Whatever Middle Words Are Used This Week] Course".

The training stage involves working under the supervision of existing barristers, shadowing them and learning like an apprentice.

It's a long tough process and not everyone makes the whole distance.

The requirements of the academic stage continue to have a strong hold on the curriculums of Bachelor of Laws degrees across the country with nearly all LLB degrees still making the seven Foundations of Legal Knowledge compulsory, even for those students not aiming to become barristers. The Open University's LLB is one of the most flexible with alternative paths for those aiming to become solicitors and those seeking an academic degree in Law but not aiming for either profession.

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What is Graduate Entry?

Quite simply in the UK Graduate Entry (also sometimes confusingly called "Senior Status") means that a student already holds at least a Bachelor's degree and is on a shortened length programme that leads to a second degree at the same level. This can either involve not having to take the early modules completely or else taking a special condensed accelerated programme.

The most common Graduate Entry degrees are in Law and Medicine though I've also seen options for Dentistry, Economics and Veterinary Medicine amongst others at various institutions. The Open University's main graduate entry degree is the Bachelor of Laws (Honours) (graduate entry) which does not include the Level 1 modules (i.e. the equivalent of the first year of a full-time degree).

This should not be confused with a postgraduate degree which is taken at a higher level from a Bachelor's degree and (normally) requires at least a Bachelor's degree to enter. However, some institutions do not always use the terms "graduate" and "postgraduate" with this level of clarity. There are some Master's degrees that serve as conversions from one subject to another, such as the OU's Master of Science in Psychology (Conversion).

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What is an "honours degree"?

Most first degrees in the United Kingdom are described as "with Honours". It is common to see the abbreviation "(Hons)" in academic postnominals. Many people talk of degrees in two subjects as "joint honours". But it is much less common to hear what "honours" actually means. And related to this, just what is a degree without honours?

This post is only going to discuss the situation in the UK. That's common to most posts here, but it needs explicitly stating because internationally there's a lot of variation and it's going to be confusing to discuss the situation in other countries like Australia or South Africa.

Historically an honours degree indicated a higher level of achievement, usually through a more advanced course of study or taking a tougher exam, in contrast to a degree that could be labelled "ordinary", "pass" or "general". This distinction still exists but exactly what the additional achievement is varies widely.

In Scotland the distinction remains clear. The first degree takes either three years and results in an "ordinary degree" or four years and results in an "honours degree". On the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework an ordinary degree is an award at Level 9 and an honours degree is an award at Level 10.

However, the distinction doesn't exist on the Regulated Qualifications Framework used in England and Northern Ireland and the Credit and Qualifications Framework for Wales. (Aren't government websites awful?!) Both a "degree with honours" and an "ordinary degree without honours" are Level 6 qualifications. Other than the numbering (which is mainly driven by pre-university qualifications), this is the main difference in higher education between the frameworks for Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom.

(Both these level numbering systems differ from the Open University's internal Level 1, 2, 3 system that indicates the equivalence to a year of study on a full-time degree.)

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland it is now standard for all Bachelor's degrees to be offered as "with honours" and a degree without honours is usually a consolation. Looking around various official websites it seems clear that there isn't a single standard and many universities don't seem to publish an explanation at all (or if they do, they bury it on their websites). Various explanations abound online including claims that a degree without honours means:

• Only passing 300 credits instead of 360
• Scraping a pass but missing out on a third
• Repeating a year
• Not doing a dissertation

It would take a lot more research to delve into how true these are, though many Bachelor's degrees either don't have a dissertation/other independent research project or don't make it a compulsory module (including the Open University Bachelor of Laws (Honours)). A 300 credit degree would indicate taking two and a half years of full-time study or the equivalent which is awkward for most universities, structured as they are around whole years, but quite doable at part-time institutions. When the Open University began it did have an "ordinary degree" and in later years this was explicitly 300 credits, but this seems to have been dropped in recent years.

Because honours are now so standard it is increasingly common for them to not be mentioned, whether on CVs, in postnominals or other listings. This can even sometimes apply to universities themselves - for example here's the listing for Law LLB at the University of Warwick (Internet Archive version to fight potential link rot) with no mention of honours or "hons" at all.

And what does "joint honours" mean? Simply that a person is taking a degree with two subjects rather than one. It's short for "joint honours degree" but the shortened form removed the wrong word hence the confusion.

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