Our Lawyering Skills Programme provides practical skills and experiential learning that you can choose to study at Kent Law School, all of which serve to enhance your employability and prepare you for a successful career. These co-curricular activities give you the opportunity to build your confidence and to learn “by doing”.
And it’s an excellent way for you to apply what you learn in the class room – the simulated scenarios that you’re given help develop your research, writing and oral presentation skills.
Whether or not you want to enter the legal profession, these modules equip you with the ability to think, to solve problems and to come up with creative solutions to issues that seem intractable and to become be effective communicators.
We you’ll have the opportunity to take one, if not more, of these co-curricular activities during your degree at Kent Law School.
Lawyering Skills is the collective term we use at Kent for the practical skills programme we offer. Our Lawyering Skills programme, which is in addition to the skills students gain from their academic studies generally, is offered on a co-curricular basis. It is a comprehensive list of skills training offered by our academic staff, many of whom have spent time in practice. Although many other institutions offer undergraduates a couple of modules in skills training, Kent is pretty unique in offering a breadth of opportunity all under the direction of skilled academic practitioners.
Although the title suggests that the skills training is for budding lawyers, in fact the skills are completely transferable. Students who opt to take these modules become more confident and resilient as compared to their contemporaries.
We offer 5 lawyering skills modules as part of our programme at Kent. Client Interviewing, Mediation, Mock Trial Advocacy, Mooting and Negotiation. In addition, we offer a unique opportunity for students to attend court as part of our Student Outdoor Clerk Scheme (SOCS).
Being able to interview a client, take instructions and offer initial advice is a key lawyering skill. Client Interviewing is assessed later in a student’s career journey as part of their bar studies or as part of the Solicitors’ Qualifying Examinations (SQE). Students who have undertaken our client interviewing module have gone on to represent the law school in national and international competitions.
It is very unusual for undergraduate students to undertake training in first instance advocacy. Normally this training is the preserve of graduate students at Bar School or on solicitors’ practice courses. In the Mock Trial Advocacy module students are trained how to conduct examination in chief and cross examination of witnesses. At the end of the module they present a simulated Crown Court trial before a jury of first year law students. Students who have undertaken this module have gone on to compete in the BPP Advocate of the Year competition. In 2024, a final year Kent student won a £5000 scholarship after coming second in the country and performing at the Old Bailey. Students who undertake this module often do well when applying for scholarships from the Inns of Court to undertake the Bar Course after their undergraduate studies.
A core skill of any professional is the ability to negotiate. Whether students want to enter the legal profession or not, negotiating occurs in all areas aspects of working life.
On our negotiation module students get the opportunity to learn a variety of negotiation techniques through different role-play activities. Negotiation is another skill that is later assessed on the Bar Course and throughout the SQE. Students who undertake our negotiation module will be better prepared for whatever awaits them in the world of work. Kent students have had the opportunity to enter numerous negotiation competitions and have come first on many occasions.
