Year 12 students graduate from the Sussex Study Law Experience 2018
By: Eleanor Griggs
Last updated: Wednesday, 23 May 2018
The latest cohort of Year 12 students taking part in the Sussex Study ‘Law’ Experience (SSE) have graduated, marking the end of this year’s programme.
Students taking part in the SSE programme, which is one of the initiatives offered by Sussex Law School under the University’s Widening Participation programme, attended a graduation ceremony on Saturday 12 May 2018.
The SSE is an extended programme offering Year 12 students from the London and Sussex area insight into higher education in a subject specific context.
The law specific programme seeks to provide students with an opportunity to explore law in theory and practice, and includes a diverse range of academic sessions on criminal law, criminology, media law and human rights.
This year, students attended three days of activities throughout the term, which included a field trip to Lewes Crown Court to see a criminal trial in action, as well as the opportunity to take part in their own criminal law mock trial in the School of Law, Politics and Sociology’s Moot Room.
In a feedback session held at the end of the programme, students reported that they particularly enjoyed the mock trials, dressing up as barristers, holding debates between the class, and learning about human rights, prisons and sentencing.
They walked away from the programme with newfound confidence, advocacy skills and a better idea of the content of the Law LLB programme.
One student reported: “The Student Study ‘Law’ Experience was inspirational, informing and eye opening to the Law course at Sussex.”
Dr Verona Ní Drisceoil, Widening Participation Convenor for Law, and Marie Hutton, Deputy Widening Participation Convenor for Law, also left a positive impression on the group.
Speaking after the students’ graduation, Verona and Marie noted: "It’s always wonderful to see our students graduate from the SSE programme and to know that we have been part of an important journey with them.
"We had a great group of students take part this year. They were certainly eager to learn, challenge, debate and question the law. I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did."
The Widening Participation Law Team work in close collaboration with the Widening Participation Team at the University of Sussex to deliver numerous bespoke law programmes to students from partner schools and colleges in the Sussex and London area. For more information about the programmes, visit Sussex Law School’s Widening Participation web page.