[1/3] Top Tips to Start the BPTC Right (and even ace it!)

If you're reading this, chances are you have graduated from law school and are awaiting for the start of the BPTC. Let me start by congratulating you for completing the first stage of your legal education!

When I started the BPTC a year ago, I had no idea what I signed up for and neither did many of my friends. In an effort to address this as much as I possibly can, I decided to provide some insights and advice for incoming BPTC students such as yourself. These insights are delivered in 3 parts: Part 1 covers some things you should bear in mind in order to prepare for the course, before or after classes have begun. In Part 2, I will provide some advice on the 3 central papers. Part 3 contains some general advice to approach your skill-based modules.

Allow me to introduce myself before you continue reading: I completed the BPTC in 2019 with a high VC. Throughout the course of the year, I had assisted many of my peers with getting through the BPTC, whether on a specific module or the course as a whole. With this in mind, I hope that my advice and insight will be helpful to ensure that you adequately prepare yourself for the course, and get through it in a single sitting.

1. Be mentally prepared to work very, very hard for 10 months

Note the double emphasis. It's there for a perfectly good reason. In one of my introductory lectures on the BPTC, I can still recall my lecturer telling us to "treat the course as a 9-5 job, and that way you might be able to enjoy occasional breaks during the weekends." This is by no means an exaggeration. The amount of work you are expected to do in the course is SIGNIFICANTLY MORE than what you have had to commit as an undergraduate law student, even at bare minimum.

Expect to commit yourself to a considerable amount of hard work for 10 months or so (it could be a week or 2 longer/shorter, depending on the BPTC provider). That is why it is important that you get enough rest before the course starts; you'll need it.

2. Get into a habit of finishing your Small Group homework ONE WEEK IN ADVANCE

You would have been told at some point that the workload for the BPTC is onerous and even borderline insane. This is true unless you are exceptionally able to pick up new skills and digest a huge amount of information very quickly: otherwise, expect to spend a number of days to complete a week's worth of work.

Here's what a typical week's worth of work looks like:

LG stands for 'large group' sessions, which are the equivalent of lectures on the BPTC. SG stands for 'small group' sessions. These are essentially tutorials. This table indicates that there are a total of 6 SGs which you have to attend for 6 different modules, as well as 3 large group sessions LGs. So, for this particular week, I had to complete different homework for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR//REDOC), Civil Advocacy, Civil Litigation, Criminal Advocacy, Criminal Litigation as well as Evidence (taught separately at my provider although they are assessed together during exams). On top of that, I also had to complete an opinion writing mock assessment to be handed in the first thing on Monday itself.

The upside of completing all your work 1 week in advance was that it was the most effective way to get into a habit of completing all your work. Also, it gives you extra time to revise, do other stuff (especially important if you are looking to do part-time jobs or pro bono work) or just relax. Pretty rare most of the time on the course unless you find a way to manage your time.

The bottom line is this: COMPLETE ALL YOUR WORK EVERY WEEK. Unless you are sick or whatnot. You might be tempted to take your friend's work and pass it off as your own, or find an excuse for not completing your work when being asked by your tutor. Do NOT do this. Not only will you put your attendance at risk by doing so, but you will also miss out on your opportunity to assess your performance.

3. Not all modules require equal effort. Identify your strengths and weaknesses early

This is especially true for the skills-based modules (advocacy, opinion writing and drafting). Putting in equal amounts of effort for each module will not cut it. Provided that you do your homework, you will realise that you need to pay extra attention to certain modules compared to others. To put this into perspective, I could prepare for a civil advocacy SG in slightly over an hour; while I require nothing less than 5 hours to complete an opinion writing SG (including legal research time). This is a matter of finding where your strength lies and what your weaknesses are; you can only find this out on your own and should do so as quickly as possible so as not to waste time.

Once you've discovered your areas of strength and weakness, it will aid in preparing for your classes more effectively as well as knowing which module you should aim to score well in. If you're good in writing, focus on getting good grades for drafting and opinion writing. If you're a terrific talker, try your best to ace the advocacy modules.

Part 2 will cover some general advice on the central papers. Click here to access Part 2.