How to Write a UK Law Essay

Writing essay-style assignments in UK law can be a challenge because it's different from writing answers to problem-style questions, which most law students prefer. Problem-style questions require you to explain and apply specific sections and cases to solve the issues mentioned in the scenario. Essay-style assignments, on the other hand, ask you to present an opinion about a particular area of law, which can be much harder than simply finding the right cases or statute sections and applying them to the scenario. This is why many students make common basic mistakes when answering essay-style questions in law. Those mistakes often lower their grades and prevent them from getting a first. If you're one of those students, then let's see how you can avoid that.

Recognise your question

​First things first. Be sure you fully understand the assignment question before you begin writing your essay. I don't just mean understanding the topic and knowing what the question is about. Instead, you need to know what type of essay-style question is being asked and know how to answer it.

​If you are dealing with an essay-style question, then you are likely to have to answer one of those three types: general essay question, specific essay question or quotation essay question. Unfortunately, there is no mention of this in guidebooks or lectures, which is why many students struggle with it. Luckily for you, in my Essay Writing Course I go through those three types of essay-style questions and explain step-by-step how to recognise and approach each of them.
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But just briefly, general essay questions ask you to evaluate a particular area of UK law without specifying what issues you should focus on. Specific essay questions ask you to identify a particular area of law and specify which particular issue you should focus on. Quotation essay questions ask you to comment on an opinion related to an area of law or an issue within that area.

Decide on your central argument

The central argument is the key to writing a first class law essay. It is the main opinion you are going to present in your essay about a specific area of law, summarised in one sentence. There are two ways of how you can formulate a winning central argument. Firstly, your central argument can support one side of the argument. For example: “This essay will demonstrate that replacing the Human Rights Act 1998 with a British Bill of Rights would be beneficial for the UK’s legal system”. Alternatively, your central argument can make the reader understand that you will be arguing both sides of the debate. For example: “This essay will assess whether replacing the Human Rights Act 1998 with a British Bill of Rights would be beneficial for the UK’s legal system”.

Both ways of formulating a central argument are correct. Also, even if you choose the first type of central argument which focuses mostly on one side of the debate, you can still include in your essay arguments from the other side. But you will have to show why those arguments are not valid. It is also good practice to separate each argument into a new paragraph, so that the reader can follow your thinking pattern better. Finally, all the points and arguments you will be making throughout your essay should either support or disprove the central argument. If they are not related to the central argument at all, then you shouldn’t include them in your essay, because they are most probably not relevant.

Identify 3-4 headings within your essay

Another great strategy for writing a first class UK law essay-style assignment is to split the arguments supporting your central argument in the main body of your essay into 3 to 4 different categories. Those categories can then be given headings, so that the reader is able to better follow your reasoning. This is going to help present the essay in a more coherent and digestible way. However, you should always keep in mind not to steer away from the main argument. Each heading should clearly support or disprove the central argument.

You also need to be able to back up the arguments you are making in support of the central argument with the right cases, statute sections and journal articles. Here, one of the biggest problems that law students face is knowing how many of each of those to include in each essay heading. If you often wonder about that, then my Essay Generator will solve that problem for you.

Plan cases & statute sections for each heading

The next thing you need to make sure of if you want to write first class essays on UK law is using the right cases and statute sections. Firstly, you should make sure that every single heading in your essay refers to at least some cases and/or statute sections. Secondly, you should include enough cases and statute sections to support your arguments, but not too many (so that it becomes impossible to actually discuss them properly). Thirdly, the cases and statute sections that you will be including in your headings should be from the area of UK law that you are writing your essay on, and they should relate to the specific issues you are discussing in the heading.
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You should also include in the footnotes a full and adequate citation for each case you mention. If you decide to discuss the facts of the case, you should keep it very brief - one or two short sentences are usually enough. If you mention a statute section, then make sure that it is still in place and hasn’t been revoked by a later statute. Moreover, you should also be able to write the essay with a clear understanding of the law and with adequate legal analysis. This means that every point you make must always be supported by law. Objectivity is critical in writing UK law essays. There is not much space here for writing about your personal experiences.

Final word

As I mentioned at the beginning, writing an essay-style UK law assignment can be a challenge if you don’t have a plan and are not really sure how to approach it. But if you follow the advice mentioned in this article, you can definitely learn how to easily write first class law essays every single time. Good luck with the writing process!

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