港大夥倫敦大學學院 推法律雙學位課程 21 SEP 2016
(星島日報報道)香港作為國際都市,法律專業需求日趨全球化。香港大學與倫敦大學學院今年共同推出法律雙學位課程,學生可並時了解英國和香港的法制及體驗兩地教學模式,擴闊自身國際視野,完成四年課程後,將獲得兩所大學分別頒授兩個法律學士學位。首批獲得此學位課程取錄的四名學生將於本月下旬遠赴倫敦大學學院,展開首兩年學習生涯。
為了培育具國際視野的新一代法律人才,香港大學與倫敦大學學院今年度合辦四年制法律雙學位課程,欲報讀的中學文憑試考生須考獲六科至少三十六分,同時每科最少考獲第五級成績,兩院校將分別取錄五人,合共提供十個學額。獲取錄學生一、二年級將遠赴倫敦大學學院完成必修科目,一年級暑假均獲機會留英實習,而該學院首兩年學費合共約三十六萬港元,其後兩年則回到香港大學選修有興趣的範疇及進行職業實習。
港大法律學院副院長(國際事務)溫文灝表示,在法律行業趨全球化的大環境下,行業對不同文化有認識的人才需求甚切,「不少律師事務所在國際設分部,法院判案時又會同時參考其他國家法院的案例。」他續道,兩所院校各自擁有不同強項,「以歐盟法為例,英國的法律學院肯定教得比較深入,而學生回到香港後則可進一步了解內地法制。」
收生方面,他指課程着重學生對世界及身邊事物是否好奇,「特別要對閱讀有興趣,以及對學習持開放態度。」又會從學生遞交的個人陳述中了解其工作及生活經驗。即將前赴倫敦的張恩華是首批獲課程取錄學生之一,於國際文憑(IB)課程憑四十四分佳績入讀,他認為課程提供兩年海外學習經驗十分難得,加上取得學位後亦能免考本地海外轉換試(conversion exam),期望將來就業發展能橫跨兩地。
另一名獲取錄學生黃朗妍中學時就讀聖保羅男女中學,她希望將兩地學習模式融會貫通,「港大採用問題導向學習,倫敦則着重培養國際視野,日後執業時可將兩地所學法律知識相輔相成。 」
(星島日報報道)香港作為國際都市,法律專業需求日趨全球化。香港大學與倫敦大學學院今年共同推出法律雙學位課程,學生可並時了解英國和香港的法制及體驗兩地教學模式,擴闊自身國際視野,完成四年課程後,將獲得兩所大學分別頒授兩個法律學士學位。首批獲得此學位課程取錄的四名學生將於本月下旬遠赴倫敦大學學院,展開首兩年學習生涯。
為了培育具國際視野的新一代法律人才,香港大學與倫敦大學學院今年度合辦四年制法律雙學位課程,欲報讀的中學文憑試考生須考獲六科至少三十六分,同時每科最少考獲第五級成績,兩院校將分別取錄五人,合共提供十個學額。獲取錄學生一、二年級將遠赴倫敦大學學院完成必修科目,一年級暑假均獲機會留英實習,而該學院首兩年學費合共約三十六萬港元,其後兩年則回到香港大學選修有興趣的範疇及進行職業實習。
港大法律學院副院長(國際事務)溫文灝表示,在法律行業趨全球化的大環境下,行業對不同文化有認識的人才需求甚切,「不少律師事務所在國際設分部,法院判案時又會同時參考其他國家法院的案例。」他續道,兩所院校各自擁有不同強項,「以歐盟法為例,英國的法律學院肯定教得比較深入,而學生回到香港後則可進一步了解內地法制。」
收生方面,他指課程着重學生對世界及身邊事物是否好奇,「特別要對閱讀有興趣,以及對學習持開放態度。」又會從學生遞交的個人陳述中了解其工作及生活經驗。即將前赴倫敦的張恩華是首批獲課程取錄學生之一,於國際文憑(IB)課程憑四十四分佳績入讀,他認為課程提供兩年海外學習經驗十分難得,加上取得學位後亦能免考本地海外轉換試(conversion exam),期望將來就業發展能橫跨兩地。
另一名獲取錄學生黃朗妍中學時就讀聖保羅男女中學,她希望將兩地學習模式融會貫通,「港大採用問題導向學習,倫敦則着重培養國際視野,日後執業時可將兩地所學法律知識相輔相成。 」
common entrance examination (cee) - latest developments
On 6 January 2016, the Law Society announced that its Council has decided that, starting from 2021, a person may only enter into a trainee solicitor contract if that person has passed a CEE. The CEE will be set and marked by the Law
Society. The Law Society will require certified completion of the PCLL course but will not require any examination to
be set by PCLL providers. The Council is considering the logistics and will announce the details in due course.
HKU's reply to the above proposal.
Society. The Law Society will require certified completion of the PCLL course but will not require any examination to
be set by PCLL providers. The Council is considering the logistics and will announce the details in due course.
HKU's reply to the above proposal.
HKU PCLL admission information (Extracted from various legco papers)
Admission in the last 2 years
The number of applicants who designate our PCLL as their first preference always exceeds the number of places we
offer. We adhere to the admissions benchmark set by the Law Society of Hong Kong. The same admissions policy
applies to both full-time and part-time PCLLs . The selection is made primarily on academic merit. Specifically, we consider the average mark of all law subjects taken by the applicants. Allocation of government - funded places is also
done on the basis of academic merit.
About 40% of the total PCLL places at HKU were given to non - HKU applicants. Two - thirds to 70% of the full-time intake held a HKU law degree (including JD). The proportion in the part - time programme was much lower, just about a quarter to 30%. The remaining places in the part-time PCLL are mainly filled by graduates with the London International
LLB and Common Professional Examination operated by MMU/SPACE or UK providers, and from City University and Chinese University of Hong Kong.
The HKU PCLL pass rate
The better the results in the law degree, the higher the chance of passing the PCLL at first attempt.
The HKU PCLL pass rate at the first attempt has been on average above 80% over the past three years. It is our understanding that reputable Legal Practice Courses overseas regard this pass rate acceptable and normal. The pass rate after supplementary exams increases to on average above 95% over the same period. Annually the Board of Examiners award overall distinction to the top 10% of the cohort. The top five students in each of the last three years or so have been all HKU LLB or mixed degree (MD) LLB graduates.
How many additional PCLL graduates the job market can absorb?
The question of how many lawyers a particular jurisdiction needs depends on a number of factors. The lawyer-population ratio in Hong Kong was 1.16 per 1,000 in 2013, according to a study conducted by the Ministry of Law, Singapore 1, which places it in between Singapore (0.83) and London (2.64) among the cities listed and compared.
It is unclear if Hong Kong needs more lawyers. However, if it is thought to be unfortunate for someone to go all the way to complete an LLB and then be told that he or she cannot go further, it is even more unfortunate for another to comp
lete not only an LLB, but also the PCLL and even vocational training, and then be told that there is no job to be had.
As the pool of PCLL students gets larger, the likelihood will increase that the average quality of students and the pass rate will be reduced. This will pose challenges to the PCLL providers on all fronts from admissions, facilitating students’ learning and quality assurance.
The number of applicants who designate our PCLL as their first preference always exceeds the number of places we
offer. We adhere to the admissions benchmark set by the Law Society of Hong Kong. The same admissions policy
applies to both full-time and part-time PCLLs . The selection is made primarily on academic merit. Specifically, we consider the average mark of all law subjects taken by the applicants. Allocation of government - funded places is also
done on the basis of academic merit.
About 40% of the total PCLL places at HKU were given to non - HKU applicants. Two - thirds to 70% of the full-time intake held a HKU law degree (including JD). The proportion in the part - time programme was much lower, just about a quarter to 30%. The remaining places in the part-time PCLL are mainly filled by graduates with the London International
LLB and Common Professional Examination operated by MMU/SPACE or UK providers, and from City University and Chinese University of Hong Kong.
The HKU PCLL pass rate
The better the results in the law degree, the higher the chance of passing the PCLL at first attempt.
The HKU PCLL pass rate at the first attempt has been on average above 80% over the past three years. It is our understanding that reputable Legal Practice Courses overseas regard this pass rate acceptable and normal. The pass rate after supplementary exams increases to on average above 95% over the same period. Annually the Board of Examiners award overall distinction to the top 10% of the cohort. The top five students in each of the last three years or so have been all HKU LLB or mixed degree (MD) LLB graduates.
How many additional PCLL graduates the job market can absorb?
The question of how many lawyers a particular jurisdiction needs depends on a number of factors. The lawyer-population ratio in Hong Kong was 1.16 per 1,000 in 2013, according to a study conducted by the Ministry of Law, Singapore 1, which places it in between Singapore (0.83) and London (2.64) among the cities listed and compared.
It is unclear if Hong Kong needs more lawyers. However, if it is thought to be unfortunate for someone to go all the way to complete an LLB and then be told that he or she cannot go further, it is even more unfortunate for another to comp
lete not only an LLB, but also the PCLL and even vocational training, and then be told that there is no job to be had.
As the pool of PCLL students gets larger, the likelihood will increase that the average quality of students and the pass rate will be reduced. This will pose challenges to the PCLL providers on all fronts from admissions, facilitating students’ learning and quality assurance.
Admissions 2014/15
The number of PCLL students admitted in September 2014 was 260 to the full-time course
and 80 to the part-time course. 10 part-time students were admitted on the strength of their
interview performance and their practical experience of law or other relevant achievements,
who have academic qualifications that are satisfactory but which alone might not justify
admission. We are monitoring closely their progress.
There were 1070 applications from 747 individual applicants, of which 616 applicants
designated HKU as first preference. Applicants, as in the past, had to make separate
applications to the full-time and part-time programmes and many of them applied for both.
About two-thirds (i.e. 174) of the full-time intake held a HKU law degree (including JD).
The proportion in the part-time programme was much lower, just 20% (16 out of 80). The
remaining places in the part-time PCLL were mainly filled by graduates with the London
International LLB and Common Professional Examination operated by MMU/SPACE or UK
providers, and from City University and Chinese University of Hong Kong.
The number of PCLL students admitted in September 2014 was 260 to the full-time course
and 80 to the part-time course. 10 part-time students were admitted on the strength of their
interview performance and their practical experience of law or other relevant achievements,
who have academic qualifications that are satisfactory but which alone might not justify
admission. We are monitoring closely their progress.
There were 1070 applications from 747 individual applicants, of which 616 applicants
designated HKU as first preference. Applicants, as in the past, had to make separate
applications to the full-time and part-time programmes and many of them applied for both.
About two-thirds (i.e. 174) of the full-time intake held a HKU law degree (including JD).
The proportion in the part-time programme was much lower, just 20% (16 out of 80). The
remaining places in the part-time PCLL were mainly filled by graduates with the London
International LLB and Common Professional Examination operated by MMU/SPACE or UK
providers, and from City University and Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Only 1 In 5 Recent Law Grads Believes It Was Worth The Cost
Getting a law degree is not a cheap endeavor. According to the American Bar Association, public law school students graduate with an average of $88,000 in loan debt, and private law school students graduate with $127,000 in average loan debt. Both of these numbers are substantially higher than figures just a few years earlier.
So one hopes that the students borrowing all that money are landing great jobs and satisfied with their career choices. Unfortunately, a recent study isn’t making a great case for law school.
It appears that only 38% of recent law school graduates (2010-2015) reported having a good job upon graduation, compared to 56% of 2000-2009 grads, and only 1 in 5 recent graduates strongly agreed that law school was worth the cost, according to a study by the Access Group Center for Research & Policy Analysis, conducted with Gallup.
What’s more, only 37% of recent graduates (2000-2015 grads) strongly agreed that they would still get their law degree if they could go back and do it all over again. That’s compared to 54% among those who graduated between 1980-1999 and 68% among 1960-1979 graduates. “These results could reflect the lack of time more recent graduates have had to realize the value of their law degree or their greater difficulty in finding a good job after graduation,” the study says.
Law grads are also floundering a bit financially. When asked to categorize their financial well-being, graduates in the 2000-2015 cohort were more likely to describe themselves as “struggling” (38%) or “suffering” (36%) than “thriving” (26%).
“Lower levels of well-being among more recent graduates…may be at least partially explained by the higher levels of student loans among these students,” the study says. “Generally, higher levels of student debt link to lower well-being.”
When it comes to law school directly, only 35% of recent graduates strongly agree that their law school prepared them well for their career, compared to 48% of 1980-1999 grads and 58% of 1960-1979 grads.
“Even though recent graduates report that they had a harder time finding a good job before or shortly after graduation, the majority have been successful in finding work,” the study notes. “However, they are less likely than graduates from earlier years to be thriving in the area of financial well-being.”
There’s a chance that as time passes, law school graduates will value their degree more and believe more strongly that it was worth the time and money, the study suggests. Three-quarters of study participants who got their law degrees in the 1960s and 1970s strongly agreed that it was worth the cost.
The survey included more than 7,000 law school alumni from Campbell Law School, Elon Law, Mississippi College School of Law, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) Shepard Broad School of Law, Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law, University of Richmond School of Law and Vanderbilt Law School.
So one hopes that the students borrowing all that money are landing great jobs and satisfied with their career choices. Unfortunately, a recent study isn’t making a great case for law school.
It appears that only 38% of recent law school graduates (2010-2015) reported having a good job upon graduation, compared to 56% of 2000-2009 grads, and only 1 in 5 recent graduates strongly agreed that law school was worth the cost, according to a study by the Access Group Center for Research & Policy Analysis, conducted with Gallup.
What’s more, only 37% of recent graduates (2000-2015 grads) strongly agreed that they would still get their law degree if they could go back and do it all over again. That’s compared to 54% among those who graduated between 1980-1999 and 68% among 1960-1979 graduates. “These results could reflect the lack of time more recent graduates have had to realize the value of their law degree or their greater difficulty in finding a good job after graduation,” the study says.
Law grads are also floundering a bit financially. When asked to categorize their financial well-being, graduates in the 2000-2015 cohort were more likely to describe themselves as “struggling” (38%) or “suffering” (36%) than “thriving” (26%).
“Lower levels of well-being among more recent graduates…may be at least partially explained by the higher levels of student loans among these students,” the study says. “Generally, higher levels of student debt link to lower well-being.”
When it comes to law school directly, only 35% of recent graduates strongly agree that their law school prepared them well for their career, compared to 48% of 1980-1999 grads and 58% of 1960-1979 grads.
“Even though recent graduates report that they had a harder time finding a good job before or shortly after graduation, the majority have been successful in finding work,” the study notes. “However, they are less likely than graduates from earlier years to be thriving in the area of financial well-being.”
There’s a chance that as time passes, law school graduates will value their degree more and believe more strongly that it was worth the time and money, the study suggests. Three-quarters of study participants who got their law degrees in the 1960s and 1970s strongly agreed that it was worth the cost.
The survey included more than 7,000 law school alumni from Campbell Law School, Elon Law, Mississippi College School of Law, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) Shepard Broad School of Law, Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law, University of Richmond School of Law and Vanderbilt Law School.