Law School Bulletin January 2026

Welcome to the January edition of our newsletter.

I hope you had a fantastic start to the New Year and, with assessments now behind you, it is a good time to start reflecting on your goals and ambitions for 2026. This can include engaging further with the life of the Law School and /or the University by seeking out new experiences. It can also mean making the most of your studies by not only preparing and attending classes but also by staying in contact with your academic tutor and by joining academic events such as the Annual Lasok Law Lecture.
In this edition, read about the human rights careers workshop, the forthcoming Law Social and your feedback and how we are responding to it.

My office door (or inbox) is open if you would like to reach out to me for any reason.

I wish you a wonderful second term.

Best wishes, 
Richard, 
Dr Richard Bowyer, Acting Head of Exeter Law School

Education Matters with David Yuratich

Hello everybody, and I hope you are enjoying Term 2 despite the weather! ☔

Getting the most out of your Term 2 modules

Most of you will recently have started new modules. This is a good time to take stock of how you have been approaching your modules and to think about how you are preparing for your classes. The more work you put into a module, the more you will get out of it. Your Option modules allow you to engage with a new area of law, one which hopefully interests you personally or which you think may relate to a future career; this can be very interesting and even exciting! So, prepare well for class and ensure you ask questions on the ELE forums about any course content that is unclear. Find more guidance in the Welcome and Welcome back talks we held in September. The slides for these are available on ELE Induction and Transition. 

Understanding assessment feedback and global release day (Mon 9 Feb)

Most of you will soon be receiving feedback on summative assessment. 
Your results will be released on Monday 9 February and feedback on Tuesday 10 February. I will be emailing you all with advice and guidance ahead of feedback release day in relation to sources of academic and pastoral support. This Uni webpage also has useful information with regards to release day.
As nearly all students will be receiving feedback on the same day there may be a delay in seeing your tutor in office hours immediately afterwards. However, there are a range of other ways you can understand your feedback and act on it without having to consult a tutor one-on-one. You can use the feedback reflection form provided to you by Senior Tutor Dr Charlie Bishop last term (on the ELE Gateway under ‘personal tutoring’). 

The most important part of feedback is to read and reflect on it: ultimately, you are the one responsible for your own work. What does the feedback say you need to do better in your next assignment? If your feedback is about knowledge and you would like some guidance, post a question in an ELE forum or drop-in session, or book into your tutor's office hour. If the marker has made a point about analysis, think about what they have said, and note how to do better next time. If you need assistance with referencing, see the resources on the library website, or book time with a RLF Fellow, or visit the Study Skills resources for assistance with structuring essays and engaging in analysis.

If you are worried or upset about your results and/or feedback do speak to us about it. You can see your tutor and also get in touch with our Pastoral Mentors who are there to offer support (see poster below). You can find Sarah and Jay's email address here.

Best wishes,
David
Dr David Yuratich, Director of Education and Student Experience

The Lasok Lecture

You can further your interest in European Law by joining the annual Lasok Lecture. Exeter Law School has held this each year since 1977. Professor Sergakis explains why you might like to come along.⬇️⬇️

This year we look forward to welcoming Agustín Reyna, Director General, BEUC - the European Consumer Organisation, which serves as the umbrella group for 44 independent consumer organisations across 31 European countries.

• 'Consumer policy in times of European competitiveness: trade-offs and opportunities'
• Wednesday 25 February, 17:00 in Queen's LT2

To register, and to join us for a drinks reception from 16:30, follow the link below.

Community Law Clinic Specialist Quality Mark renewed

The Law School's Community Law Clinic has successfully renewed its Specialist Quality Mark (SQM) accreditation, awarded by Recognising Excellence on behalf of the Legal Aid Agency. This achievement follows a rigorous external audit that confirmed the clinic continues to meet the highest standards of quality and provides excellent client care. Congratulations to the staff, students and legal volunteers whose work widens access to justice and supports the public through free, high‑quality legal assistance. 

Your Voice Matters

David regularly meets with Student Reps and with the Student Law Societies to receive feedback on your experiences. He has been asked a few common questions, so we're sharing these with everybody.

"Can I have guidance on the responsible use of AI?" 
The University library is providing training about responsible use of AI - and a range of other AI courses - again this term. You can find out more here and see the library’s extensive resources here.
Unless directed otherwise, (every assessment you receive has the relevant policy explained when you download it from ELE), there is no need to use AI. If you do wish to use AI, please ensure you first understand fully how to use it responsibly and within the University guidance. If in doubt it's best not to use it.

"How does the marking process work?"
All marks are provisional until they are confirmed by Assessment Progression and Awarding Committee (APAC) which meets in the early summer. As part of this process, external examiners from other institutions will look at samples of all marked work to confirm that the marking is fair and in line with the standards of other law schools. Your submission will also have gone through a rigorous internal process. The course convenor will have organised a 'calibration' meeting with all the markers, where a sample of papers are looked at in order to set common expectations and standards. Samples of each marker's work are then moderated, which means that the convenor or another marker on the team will have checked that the approach to marking and feedback is consistent with their own. If marks are significantly out of line with previous years, APAC has some discretion to amend marks if this is considered to be appropriate and necessary (but this is very rare and has not happened in the Law School in recent years). You can see a summary of the process here.

"What are the expectations in exams compared to coursework?"
The main differences are based on referencing requirements (see the guidance on the ELE Gateway) and the period of time you have to complete the assessment. In an exam, we know you have not had several weeks to write and prepare your answer, and we adjust our expectations accordingly. Your module convenor can explain more.

New network for American Students in the UK 

Congratulations to Arianna Zeidi, current LLM student with the Law School who has joined the founding committee of ASAN-UK (American Students Association Network – UK) as President. 

ASAN-UK is a new national organisation bringing together American students studying across universities in the UK.

The network is currently in the early stages of building the organisation and is welcoming students and alumni who would like to get involved. Follow the link below to read more about the aims of the network and how you can get involved.

Opportunities and Events 

Please keep an eye out for information about events which will be organised by the Law School in the coming months. We know from your feedback that you value the opportunity to attend student-staff events, and we had a great turnout at our last social in Term 1. This term you can expect to hear more about:
-    An ‘NSS and pizza’ event for finalists who are eligible to complete the NSS
-    A second student-staff social of the year, on Wednesday 25 February
-    An end-of-term quiz evening, hosted by David 

Don't forget to regularly visit the Opportunities page where you will find a variety of employability and career development events. Here are some of the ones currently on the site.⬇️⬇️⬇️

Human Rights Careers Workshop

Secrets to Success: Careers event

Looking to boost your commercial awareness and gain insights for training contract interviews? Come along to this event in February. It's organised by Legal Cheek and will feature lawyers and early careers team members from Ashfords, Michelmores and Trowers & Hamlins, alongside a careers expert from The University of Law (ULaw).

Secrets to Success Event
Tuesday 17 February, 16:00-18:30

Lawyers Who Care: Essay Competition 2026

Lawyers Who Care has launched its essay competition for care-experienced aspiring lawyers which is designed to open doors to the legal profession. This year’s question is: Do we need legislative change to uphold the rights of care-experienced people?

• 1st Place: £500 + one week of paid work experience or a mini-pupillage
• 2nd Place: £250 + one week of paid work experience or a mini-pupillage
• 3rd Place: £100

Entries are open now and close at 4pm on Tuesday 31 March 2026.

Study with the University of Law

Our Socials 

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER LAW SCHOOL

If you would like to see previous editions of the bulletin, they sit on our website here.  And if you have any suggestions for future editions, or would like to share a story with us, please email lawcomms@exeter.ac.uk. Fin