AQA and OCR only, no Edexcel version

A-Level Law is offered by AQA and OCR only. Both cover the English legal system, criminal law and contract law, with AQA also offering tort and human rights options, and both examine it mainly through applying legal rules to scenario-based problem questions rather than abstract essays alone.

Applying law to facts is the core skill

Most marks sit in problem-question answers that apply legal rules and relevant case law to a specific set of facts. Stating the law correctly but never applying it to the actual scenario earns only a fraction of what's available. Every rule you state should be immediately followed by applying it to the facts in front of you.

Case law needs precision, not just names

Citing a case by name is worth far less than citing it correctly, explaining what legal principle it establishes, and showing why that principle applies to your facts. A list of case names with no explanation of their significance reads as memorisation without understanding, and gets marked that way.

Structuring a problem-question answer

  • Identify the relevant legal issue raised by the facts before you launch into rules.
  • State the relevant rule, backed by authority, whether that's statute or case law.
  • Apply the rule explicitly to the facts given, not to a generic version of the scenario.
  • Reach a conclusion about the likely legal outcome, acknowledging uncertainty where the law genuinely is uncertain.

Evaluation and reform questions

Essay questions that ask you to evaluate an area of law want real, specific critique: a genuine problem with how a rule works in practice, backed by case law or an actual legal criticism, rather than a vague claim that a law is "unfair" with no legal reasoning behind it.

Where marks quietly go missing

  • Stating law without applying it to the specific facts in a problem question.
  • Citing cases without explaining their legal significance or relevance.
  • Vague reform criticism with no specific legal reasoning or authority behind it.

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ExamPass.ai generates A-Level Law exam papers and exam questions matched to AQA or OCR, with instant marking of problem-question and evaluative answers, including feedback on whether you've actually applied the law to the facts given, not just stated it.