Short courses

(all links in this article were checked for validity in September 2022)

This page will bring you news of courses (not professional training such as LPC/BTPC nor postgraduate degrees) that have come to my attention which you may be interested in. There may be many more opportunities that never make it onto this page. Please note, if the courses are external to the University of Kent they can not be endorsed by the law school – the information has generally been received by a mail shot from the provider and is simply collated here for your convenience. We recommend that you make thorough checks before paying for any course.

Courses at the University of Kent

Global Officers Leadership Development (GOLD) Programme.

This programme is a great opportunity to engage with Kent’s internationalisation activities across the university and develop your skills and knowledge.

The programme is a co-curricular venture, designed to fit around your academic studies. It provides a framework of activities for globally-minded undergraduates at Kent to develop their leadership skills, global citizenship and cultural awareness.

Further details can be found on the GOLD website.

For more information and to check the deadline for application please see www.kent.ac.uk/global/officers/

Language Courses

LANGUAGE EXPRESS (https://www.kent.ac.uk/language-centre/language-express)

The evening Language Express courses run for twenty weeks across the Autumn and Spring terms. You will be required to attend one two-hour class per week.

Language Express courses are not credit-bearing and will not count towards your degree programme. A minimum number of participants is required in order for course(s) to run and all courses will be held online for 2022-2023 with the exception of Russian which will be taught face-to-face at the Canterbury campus.

Course fee: £270 (Kent students only)

Languages Available include:  Beginners Arabic, Beginners French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin and Russian

If you have any questions or want to book a course, please email them directly on: languages@kent.ac.uk

WORLD LANGUAGE MODULES AS AN EXTRA (https://www.kent.ac.uk/language-centre)

Add an additional non-contributory module to your degree.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND ACADEMIC SKILLS (ELAS) WORKSHOPS (https://www.kent.ac.uk/international-programmes/english-and-academic-skills#which-elas-module-is-right-for-you)

ELAS for international students whose first language is not English.

Try something different:

STUDY PLUS (https://www.kent.ac.uk/study-plus/courses)

Study Plus courses are free to students registered on an existing Kent programme of study. The only courses that may attribute a cost would be where you receive a recognised qualification, and this will outlined on the booking system. To book on a course click on the event title and this will take you to Target Connect where you can reserve your place. The majority of courses take place during term time.

Courses external to the University of Kent – Law Related

Virtual Internships 

Virtual internships are flexible, online opportunities, giving you the opportunity to undertake remote experience.  You can read more about these here.

The Forage is a platform that offers a growing range of free legal experiences. Find out more.  Typically the internship will take about 5-8 hours and will consist of on-line tasks.   Don’t worry – the firms don’t have access to your answers and they do not use results as part of future applications so you don’t need score high marks (although why wouldn’t you try your best?).   You can add these to your CV too.

Rate my Placement: Work Ready Virtual Experience

RateMyPlacement.co.uk has teamed up with the Forage and Development Beyond Learning (DBL), to launch a FREE work ready virtual experience consisting of three modules. Each one allows you to build specific skills that translate into the workplace – wellbeing and resilience under lockdown, virtual first impressions and remote networking. https://www.ratemyplacement.co.uk/blog/work-ready-virtual-experience-free/

Read this blog about one student’s experience.

Law Firms’ courses

Herbert Smith Freehills’ Digital Law Course

Technology and data are helping businesses become faster, more efficient, and more resilient. But being successful in this digital age requires navigation of major new risks presented by digital change.

This free course gives students the inside scoop into how technology is transforming the role of lawyers at a leading international law firm, from the advice we give to the way we work. It consists of three 90-minute evening lectures, presented online by expert lawyers who specialise in advising some of the most exciting clients in the world on emerging technologies.

Prize Giveaway

Join any one or more sessions for a chance to win*:

GRAND PRIZE – a two-day work experience with our market-leading digital lawyers, where you will see first-hand the cutting-edge work that you hear about on this course.

RUNNER UP – a place on our Digital Open Day at our London office, filled with presentations and workshops that explore what it is like to be a digital lawyer at Hebert Smith Freehills.

* Subject to terms and conditions. More information will be provided during each of the three sessions

NFT Certificate

If you complete the second session on non-fungible tokens (NFTs), you will be able to receive your completion certificate for that session as an NFT.

* Subject to terms and conditions. If you prefer, you can receive your certificate as an image file.

Registrations close on 9th October at 23:59 (BST) – Sign up now on https://insights.hsf.com/digital-law-careers/p/2 

Practice Psychometric Tests

FREE PRACTICE TESTS:

All University of Kent students now have FREE access to the Graduates First website (https://www.graduatesfirst.com/university-career-services/kent/ ) where you can practice psychometric tests, Watson Glaser tests, video Interviews, game based assessments and receive assessment centre advice.

The WG tests are commonly used by law firms

2. Another Free practice test: – the Graduate Benchmark.

free access – practise the three most-used standard tests – verbal, numerical and inductive reasoning. There is the added facility for students to benchmark your performance. So, you can view your results using a wide range of filters, enabling you to see how you compare against others. See targetjobs.co.uk/graduate-benchmark

3. PURCHASE TEST PREP COURSES

Usually I would not promote packages that cost money but failure to ‘crack’ these tests will rule you out of the competition for vacation schemes and training contracts at many firms. I think it’s worth the investment of £50-100. You will find details of a range of courses on KBS’ employability pages here: https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/kbs-employability/interviews-assessment-centres/psychometric-tests/

Video interviews

• ShortlistMe – a great place to practice video interviews.   You’ll need to log on with your University of Kent email.   And, coming very soon (Autumn 2022) – more legal interviews.  Folow the link on the first tile here
• Graduates First has a function for practicing video interviews, which can be accessed here: https://www.graduatesfirst.com/university-career-services/kent/