Why strong Legal Studies students still lose marks

Most students who come to tutoring in Term 3 of Year 12 are not short of content. They have the notes, they have done the reading, and they can talk about the topic confidently. They are sitting on 70 per cent because of how they write, not what they know.

1. Describing when the question asked you to evaluate

An evaluative question asks for a judgement supported by evidence. A description of the criminal trial process, however accurate, cannot reach the top mark range because it never makes a judgement. The correction is mechanical: every body paragraph ends with a sentence that states how effective the law is and why, using a consistent framework rather than improvised opinion.

2. Evidence that is listed rather than used

Naming a case and a piece of legislation is not the same as using them. Evidence earns marks when it proves the point in the sentence immediately before it. If a case could be deleted without changing the argument, it is decoration.

3. Media that is five years old

Contemporary means contemporary. Markers notice when the most recent media reference in an essay predates the student starting Year 11. Keeping a running document of articles, reports and law reform commission recommendations across the year solves this in ten minutes a week.

4. Introductions that warm up instead of arguing

An introduction should state the judgement in the first two sentences. Anything spent defining justice in general terms is time the marker spends waiting for the answer.

An effective law delivers justice and reflects the values and needs of society. If your paragraph does not test that claim, it is not evaluation.

Fixing these four things is usually worth more than another month of content revision. They are technique problems, and technique can be taught explicitly and practised.