BARBRI’s Emily Allen discusses the perks of flexible learning, the importance of downtime and the challenges of exam prep
“There’s no limit to how many questions you should ask,” says Emily Allen, senior tutor at BARBRI. “I had one student who posted one hundred queries on our online platform all in one day. We answered all of them.”
Allen began her career as a criminal barrister before realising that her vocation lay outside of practice. She started teaching the LLB and GDL in 2008 and now has over 14 years’ experience in legal education. She joined BARBRI in 2021 where she now prepares students to sit part one of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). “Getting into law is really challenging, as we all know,” she tells me, explaining her motivation for moving into teaching. “Helping people who are going through the process is really satisfying; it’s nice to help people on their journeys.”
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) rolled out the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) in September 2021 in an effort to address some of these challenges that aspiring solicitors face. “One of the great things about the SQE is that it’s designed to open access to this career,” Allen says. However, she admits that this new exam brings with it challenges of its own, “In terms of the psychology of it all, it’s a bit of a battering sitting this exam.” The SQE requires candidates to swot up on 16 course modules which are all tested in two five-hour mega-exams. Allen acknowledges the difficulty of this, refuting claims that these exams constitute a “dumbing down” of legal education, “Actually, getting through this exam with 360 questions on 16 different modules all within two days and where the percentage pass rate is likely to be in the fifties. That’s really challenging.” Candidates need to answer just over half of the questions correct in order to pass.
Allen goes on to explain how this can affect students’ motivation in the exam room:
“As you sit the test you are very aware of the fact that you’re getting loads of questions wrong,” she says. “It’s really important to remember that even if you get one in three questions wrong, you’re doing really well. When students leave the exam, even the best performing candidates often feel as if they’ve failed.”
These “psychologically much tougher” exams are something that the BARBRI SQE1 takes into account. “Prepping students for exam day is a large part of the prep course,” Allen tells me. “At BARBRI we have learning coaches and performance coaches that students can have as many appointments with as they want,” she explains. Allen herself is a learning coach, “I have some students who will book in with me every week to have a check-in and talk through any worries they have that week. I don’t answer legal questions in these sessions, it’s all about pastoral and wellbeing support.” Students in need of emotional bolstering can choose between appointments with a learning coach like Allen or a BARBRI performance coach, “these are trained coaches, rather than qualified lawyers.” This is an important way that the course brings connection into online learning, Allen explains, “Students don’t feel isolated because we have these opportunities for one-on-one appointments. It’s available to anyone and they can have as much as they want. I think that’s pretty special.”
I am curious to hear Allen’s advice for students who are preparing for the SQE1 as we speak. “You cannot cram for this exam,” she answers. Acknowledging that sometimes this advice is easier said than done, she admits, “I am someone who crammed for my law exams when I did the GDL. But I could cram for that format of exam. It’s just not an option for SQE1 because there’s so much content for two days’ work of assessment.” She recommends “being organised and finding a way to get through the content one way or another. Don’t beat yourself up when you fall behind but re-engage with the material and make sure you get to the end.”
So, what would Allen’s advice be for students who are worried that they have fallen behind already? “The first thing to is to acknowledge that it’s very normal to fall behind,” she responds “it’s not a failure in any way; life happens. The key is getting back into the swing of things.” Allen goes on to explain how the BARBRI prep course is designed to accommodate students’ changing needs through their online Personal Study Plan (PSP). “Once you’ve signed up to a course, lots of things could happen,” she says, “You might get ill, you might start a job, you might take on new care responsibilities, all of this will affect your study.” She adds, “If you have fallen significantly behind, my advice would be to adjust your PSP. It will increase the number of study hours you need to do between now and the exam so you are no longer behind.” Don’t catastrophise, instead focus on what your next steps are is Allen’s advice, “getting students to see that it’s not as bad as they thought is often all they need to get back on track,” she says.
While students make their way through the course content, Allen is keen to stress the importance of relaxation and downtime. “It’s important to block out study time in your diary. Not just so you can get the work done but also, perhaps more importantly, so that you can see where your free time is,” she explains. “The risk is that students are always either studying, or if they’re not studying, they’re feeling really guilty because they feel like they should be studying. This can be really draining and demotivating.” To keep your spirits up, Allen recommends “being kind to yourself, being realistic and giving yourself the freedom to enjoy your down time.”
BARBRI’s fully remote offering lets students decide for themselves how they do this. Allen describes the course as “super flexible” and tells me, “It’s really easy to integrate studying at BARBRI into otherwise busy lives, and lots of our students do have very busy lives. It fits because you can choose how you make it fit.” BARBRI sets students up on their online platform where they can find all the learning materials for the course and practice exam questions. Lectures are available offline so students can listen on their morning commute or even during a flight! “Because you can study from anywhere and learn in bitesize chunks, our exercises tend to be only of half an hour or so, it is really easy to combine this study with other obligations,” Allen tells me.
Despite the flexibility that online learning has to offer, Allen is aware of the fact that some students might balk at the idea of a fully remote course. “One of the reasons people hesitate about online learning is that they’re worried they might feel isolated and unsupported,” she acknowledges, but is keen to emphasise that “studying online doesn’t have to be lonely.” BARBRI have thought of this as well, it seems, “We have systems in place to help students form study groups. If they want to go away and study together in-person, they can do that too,” Allen says. She also mentions the live sessions that are on offer at BARBRI, including group strategy sessions and live online law clinics, which give students the chance to connect, “you really can personalise your experience,” she finishes.
Emily Allen will be speaking at ‘SQE success strategies: tailoring prep to your individual needs — with BARBRI’, a virtual student event taking THIS AFTERNOON (Wednesday, 25 September). Apply for one of the final few places.
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