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peps8002
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Posted - 07 February 2010 11:30
Is anyone else struggling with revision? At BPP they go on about focussing on doing the sgs activities, but I feel like I'm not "learning" anything when I do this. Maybe this is just because for previous exams (including gdl) I have had lists etc to learn.
Anyone got any tips?
Thanks
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peps8002
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Anyone?!
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suffolk_star
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Just be thankful that you're not doing the Accelerated course!
Also, is the VLE down for everyone? Or just us special people who have an exam at 10.30 tomorrow morning?
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shenmue02
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Its back up now.
OP - I think the lectures are where you "learn". Use the SGSs to understand the only bit you really needto know for the exam an use the SGS activities as your exam Q practice.
You're further ahead than I am - I'm still focusing on the lectures!
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Charlie1987
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I take it you are from BPP. Are your exams tomorrow?
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JamesY
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I could use some suggestions on BPP LPC revision too if anyone has any stellar thoughts. I know everyone says it's easy etc, but the volume of material that we seem to be expected to get through is a bit daunting.
I'm just starting BLP revision today. Have been to most of the SGSs but none of the lectures, and didn't really prep for the seminars I attended. Consequently I wondered if it was worth going through the Camtasia BLP lectures. I did Civ Lit last week but found them to be a bit of a waste of time - most of the material I imagine we are expected to know is omitted from them.
Right now I'm going through the revision lecture to make notes, and then I thought I'd look at the mock we were given to see if any of the questions are answerable. Only looking to pass, so if someone has a worthwhile method for prioritising material that would be great.
Cheers
James
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a caveat
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from memory, make sure to go to any revision lectures, as it is true they are geared towards your exams and may point you towards topics.
They won't try to surprise you - it's likely all of the exam questions will be near identical to a question asked of you in an SGS prep work. If you understand all your SGS questions, you should do fine.
Of course, you can get away with doing far less if you are lucky and good at cramming. I did this, and would not recommend it.
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a caveat
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oh, this is probably obvious, but read the whole damn question before starting to answer. I started writing part way through, as nervous about time pressure, and had written a side and a half by the time I reached the last line, which told me not to consider what I had jsut written a side and a half about.
That was a fun moment.
And read the multiple choice Qs carefully, as they may catch you out if you are rushing and slightly misread the wording - several of those had an alternative answer that was right if you'd miss read the question slightly. I Remember a lot of anguished faces in the post-exam chat due to that.
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LPC Tutor
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Revision lectures are certainly NOT geared towards the exam.
Now, back to work the lot of you.
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Huggy Bear
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Thre important things:
1. Exam technique
2. Exam technique
3. Exam technique
You do not need to know the entire syllabus in detail to pass these exams.
You do need to look at the previuos paper, the mock paper and the formative assesment paper.
For example Property.
The multi choice will have a spattering of the little fiddly details - like what you would expect to see in a proprietorship regsiter, or what years you should do a search for epitome of title purposes with anunregistered purchase. Littel bits and bobs liek that. The best practice is to do all the online MCQs and the past, mock and formative MCQs. If you get 70%+ of them right, move on - you know enough to pass the MCQs.
On the part B questions, you will get a couple of property purchase questions and a lease question.
There will always be a bit of professional conduct hidden there somewhere - so look for the conflict of interest or the 'taking instructions form 3rd parties' bits.
You will need to advise a client on a property purchase. You will need to spot issues (is the right of way by foot only suitable for your clients needs?, planning permissions needed, or a covenant breached by the seller or a covenant which stops the buyer doign what theri instructions say they want to do).
Just apply the law to the facts you are presented with.
You will possibly need to amend a contract of sale - don't forget the fiddly bits (cross out the VAT bits if there is not VAT, make sure title number matches that on the official copies, be sure to deduct cost of fixtures and fittigns from purchase price to lower SDLT etc etc.
I ould go on, but you get the picture.
The same applies to all the subjects.
The art of question spotting from past papers, mocks and FA is where the secret lies.
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JamesY
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Thanks for the advice! I've spoken to some friends that did the LPC last year for suggestions on topics to revise for for BLP. My plan is to make sure I'm totally confident on the procedure plan and ancillary issues (such as purchase of off the shelf companies etc), before moving on to other topics.
If anyone has any more specific advice on BLP, that would be great. I intend to spend until Friday working through the module, and then I'm hoping I'll be in a much better position with regards the mocks.
Thanks
J
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Huggy Bear
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Make sure you look at all the past papers before you start revising. Seriously.
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JamesY
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Thanks again for the advice. I've been through all of the papers that we've had access to, and it seems that there is a reasonable spread in terms of material, although the procedure plan for a meeting (unsurprisingly), and at least some kind of question on Insolvency does appear consistently.
I saw someone else post that acronyms were a great way of learning key information in topics for BLP, and some of the tutors use them regularly, so if anyone has any of those to share, that would be great!
Thanks
J
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peps8002
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I've been looking at the papers too - as the mock is only 'half' a paper, there are really only the past and formative papers to go on! And it does seem like everything is examined in some form or another! I did find the BLP revision lecture very helpful though - even if it was just to convince myself I did recognise at least some of the material!
I'm using the lectures and sgs activities together and making sure I go through the learning outcomes for each - seems to focus my mind somewhat as to what they could actually ask.
I'm just a bit concerned I'm going to spend a disproportionate amount of time on BLP as there are so many topics to go over. It's all still a bit overwhelming as to how I will (fingers crossed) remember all the information with less than 2 weeks before it all kicks off..!
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JamesY
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Apparently Menissa gave her students some great notes for BLP. Who did you have Peps8002?
Procedure plan and Insolvency are definitely worth concentrating on because of the number of marks available for questions on them. Agree that it's easy to spend a disproportionate amount of time on BLP... I'm going to give myself until Sunday at the very latest before moving on to Property and Civ and Criminal Lit. I've got basic notes for those modules, but they're really not that great, and I haven't started learning them yet...
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seton
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Don't struggle, get yourself some comprehensive revision notes from: lpcnotesfactory@hotmail.com.
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peps8002
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I'm at Manchester BPP, so didn't have that tutor!
Property for me at the moment, the joys of 19(1)(a) and 19(1A).......
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JamesY
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I've gone through the course now, but I'm still a little confused by where the information on FSMA is. It seems like a good topic to learn, because it should at least come up as a multiple choice question. The materials reference s327 though, and talk about whether or not an activity is regulated by FSMA etc... however, I think s327 has been removed from the blue book!
Additionally, we apparently had a financial services lecture, but I can't find it anywhere online. I'm at BPP, so if anyone can point me to the right place on the VLE that would be great!
Thanks
James
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coffee_latte
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To find the FS lecture go to My Learning > Course Skills > Prof Cond Reg > Lectures
s.327 is not in the Company Law book but it is on the first page of the Prof Cond & Reg Handbook, which we are allowed in the BLP exam. Also in the Prof Cond & Reg Handbook is Scope Rule 4 which is also relevant for financial services.
Hope that helps!
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JamesY
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Coffee_latte, that's great, thanks! I'd spent a bit of time trying to find the FSMA stuff and it was frustrating when I knew it was there somewhere!
This is another stupid question, but I've been revising BLP for the last few days, and haven't really got onto Civ Lit / Criminal / Property etc. I presume there's no issue with highlighting any of the materials we've been given? (E.g. CPR, code of conduct etc). I've checked the VLE, but can't find the relevant provisions governing what is and isn't acceptable.
Cheers
James
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Huggy Bear
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I did BLP last year - but the key to all of these is how much emphasis did they place on it in the SGSs?
This should tell you how much weight to give each concept.
I think I did 1 day of revision on BLP and passed easily enough.
If you want to get 80%, then more work is needed, obviously.
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JamesY
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1 day of revision?! I'm very impressed! This is my fifth so far, and I'm no where near close to knowing everything (and I only want to pass!).
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coffee_latte
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JamesY - yes you can highlight/tab/underline etc all the books we have now. The only book that you couldn't is solicitors accounts.
Good Luck!
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coffee_latte
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anyone else lagging with their revision? It is all just so BORING, finding it so hard to concentrate! ahhhh  |
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JamesY
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Yes! Although I have pretty epic amounts of stress to encourage me. I've had a few other things going on over the last 4 months that I've had to prioritise, so didn't make it to any of the Monday lectures, and didn't really prep for any of the SGSs either. Started revision properly last Monday, and I've been working 12 hour days solidly since then!
I think I've cracked BLP and Criminal now, so just doing a mop up day before moving on to Property. Anything you're struggling with specifically? I've got some acronyms for BLP if that will help?
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peps8002
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I'm finding it so hard to concentrate too, despite the "epic amounts of stress"! I know everyone is warned about it, but it really is just the volume of stuff we need to know!
So despite working pretty much all day every day I still feel like I'm getting nowhere! I just have to hope that it's all going in subconsciously and will jump out at me on exam day!
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JamesY
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I found flashcards really helped during the GDL, and I've done the same for the LPC so far for BLP and Criminal. I'm certainly not as confident as I'd like to be with the material yet, but think I could have a stab at either exam, and don't forget we've got several days between the exams too.
I think the best advice is not to get caught up on one subject (like BLP), and focus on the SGSs. The catch up sessions in particular are excellent.
Also, I wouldn't bother with the activities in the first instance - I think making notes from the SGS catch up sessions is a priority, and then when that's done, and all flashcards are in place, books tabbed up etc, you can do the activities. Just knowing the material should put you in good stead for the exam, and I think it's better to get a couple of marks on everything than to ace just a few of areas but then lose all of the marks for a question you haven't covered in revision.
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coffee_latte
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Thanks JamesY but not really struggling with anything in particular! i did all the SGS work thoroughly throughout and have been making notes the whole way through so I'm not really stressing, thats the problem though!! Need the stress to make me just recite my notes and learn them...just so hard to learn procedural stuff...form this and form that!! When you condense it all there isnt really too much to learn, considering most of the answers are in our stat books! its all about the tabbing!! Agree about going through the catch-up sessions though, they are really good! Good luck!
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JamesY
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Oh, well you'll be fine then! I'm not surprised you're lacking motivation to do the work, if you've essentially done it all already! I'm just about to start Property... going to do that for a couple of days and then hit Civ Lit before going back to it. Only need to pass everything at first sit, and if someone offered me 4 50 per cents now I'd bite their hand off!  |
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ohh
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I thought the PCR book couldn't be highlighted either? Where are the rules for annotating on the VLE?
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JamesY
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The Programme Handbook (under Rules and Policies) just references highlighting as acceptable for the "Permitted Materials". If you look at your mock, it distinguishes between "Permitted Materials" and "clean copies". So I would imagine as coffee_latte said, we can highlight anything now and if you're unsure, just check your mock for the relevant exam and see if it has "clean copy" next to the book/manual.
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kitsch22
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I think you can highlight your PCR handbook...In our PCR SGS the tutor advised us to highlight certain parts...I hope so anyway?!
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peps8002
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I thought we can highlight everything apart from solicitors' accounts manual?
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coffee_latte
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I asked a BPP tutor and she confirmed you can highlight/tab etc everything except solicitor's accounts and a dictionary, which must both be clean copies. Everything else is a permitted material to which the annotation rules apply. The VLE policy I think is under 'Programme Information' and then 'Rules and Policies'..
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peps8002
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Anyone got any bright ideas on learning the procedures and requirements for buybacks and redemptions?! I know it's technically all in the statute book, but it doesn't help that the relevant sections are all over the place!
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JamesY
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If you tab up sequentially then it makes it a lot easier (so just keep back a few inches of your statute book for Buybacks / Redemptions out of capital and then put tabs in, separated by a couple of mms in the order that you need to cite them in the exam). Currently working my way through Civil - trying to do these multiple choice sets online but I'm not doing particularly well at them |
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JamesY
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In point of fact, I'm gloomily wondering if we've covered all of the material in the two sets of multiple choice questions which are in the Civ Lit section on the VLE. There's some stuff in there which I don't recognise at all - wondering if I've missed an SGS, or if this is material from a previous year which is distinct from that which we're studying at the moment.
If anyone has done it and could let me know, that would be great!
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arkle
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A lot of the MCQs come from the Civ Lit lectures, its just a case of searching through them.
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peps8002
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Also things like enforcement and funding etc might come up as well, which were additional handouts not covered in classes. Just when I thought I was getting somewhere I attempted some questions....it was quite alarming how many things I didn't recognise!
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arkle
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Have looked through Civ Lit past paper and formative and 4 topics have always come up in the long form: foreign jurisdiction, arbitration, part 36 offers and disclosure.
The mock had disclosure as a long form.
Too risky to focus on these? Obviously will read everything else for MCQs but surely that's a pretty big hint, no?
Any opinions?
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