Module 1
What the examiner wants: how law exams are marked, the kinds of question and reading the call of the question
Most students prepare for a law exam by learning more law. That is necessary and it is not enough. A law exam is a writing task under time pressure, marked by a person who has a pile of scripts, a marking scheme and a limited number of minutes for each. The students who do best are not always those who know the most; they are the ones who show what they know in the form the marker is looking for. This first module takes the marker’s side of the desk. It shows how marks are usually awarded, the kinds of question you will meet, what the instruction words in a question actually ask you to do, and the mistakes that cost marks even when the knowledge is there.
Hover over an idea to light up what it connects to, click it for its definition, minimum requirements, an example and the usual trap, press Play to watch the map build step by step, or trace a short case through it.
Simplified teaching map, in general terms. Check the law where you work. On a small screen, scroll the map sideways.
By the end of this module you can
- Explain how a marker awards marks for issues, rules, application and conclusions.
- Tell the main kinds of exam question apart and what each tests.
- Read the call of the question and the instruction words correctly.
- Recognise the common mistakes that lose marks.
- Plan your preparation around writing, not only reading.
Part 1. The lecture
How a marker awards marks
Markers differ, but the way marks are awarded for a law answer is more alike than students expect. A marker usually works from a marking scheme: a list of the points a good answer would make, with a number of marks beside each. As the marker reads, they look for those points and tick them off. An answer does not earn marks for being long, for being well written in general, or for showing that you know a great deal about the subject. It earns marks for each point that the scheme rewards and that your script makes visible.
For a typical problem question the points fall into four groups, and this course is organised around them.
| What the marker looks for | What it looks like in the script | How easily it is missed |
|---|---|---|
| The issue: that you saw the question the facts raise | A sentence that names the question, often starting ‘The issue is whether…’ | Easily missed when the facts are long and the issue is hidden in a detail |
| The rule: that you know the law that answers it | An accurate statement of the test or its parts, in your own words | Easily lost when the rule is only named, not stated |
| The application: that you used the facts to work the rule | Sentences that join a fact to a part of the rule with a reason | The most often missing, and the part with most of the marks |
| The conclusion: that you reached a result and said how sure you are | A sentence that commits to an outcome and gives the reason | Often left out when time runs short |
Where the marks usually are
In most problem answers, knowing the rule earns a modest share of the marks and applying it earns the larger share. A student who writes everything they know about the rule and then says ‘so there is probably a contract’ has collected the first group and little of the second. The marker cannot give credit for reasoning that is not on the page.
Two further points about marking. First, markers read quickly, and a script that is hard to follow loses marks it deserved, because the marker could not find the point. Structure is a courtesy to the reader and it is rewarded. Second, marks accumulate and rarely subtract. A weak paragraph does not usually take marks away from a good one; it simply fails to add any. So a sensible student never leaves an issue untouched in order to polish another.
Grading customs differ. In some places answers are ranked against each other and graded on a curve, so only relative quality counts; in others each script is given a mark from a scale with bands such as first, upper second or distinction. The advice in this course works either way, because in both systems the marker is rewarding visible issues, rules, application and conclusions. Find out which system your school uses and read any published marking criteria: they are the nearest thing to the answer key.
The kinds of exam question
Different questions test different things, and the same knowledge is written up differently for each. The names vary by country. The table uses the common ones.
| Kind of question | What it gives you | What it tests | Typical answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Problem question (called a hypothetical or fact pattern in some places) | A set of invented facts about people in trouble | Spotting issues, stating rules and applying them to facts | Issue by issue, each worked through, with a conclusion |
| Essay question | A statement, a quotation or a topic | Understanding of the law and the ability to argue about it | A thesis, reasons and evidence, and a conclusion |
| Policy or theory question | A rule or reform and a request to assess it | Knowing why the law is as it is and whether it should change | A balanced argument that uses the rule as evidence |
| Short-answer question | A narrow question with a small mark | Precision and economy | A few sentences: the rule, a reason, a result |
| Multiple-choice question | A short fact pattern and four answers | Fast, accurate application | A choice, then a reason checked against each option |
Many exams mix kinds, so the first job on opening a paper is to see what it contains and how many marks each part carries. Multiple-choice practice is a different skill from essay writing, which is why this course concentrates on written answers, where students most often leave marks behind.
Papers may be closed book (you rely on memory), open book (you may bring notes or a text) or take-home. Closed book rewards a clear memory of the rules and an economical way of stating them. Open book does not reward the student with the most notes; it rewards the student who can find the rule in seconds and spends the saved time on application. In either case, the marker is not impressed by the rule itself. They are looking at what you do with it.
Reading the call of the question
At the end of a problem question there is usually a sentence that says what you are being asked to do. It is the call of the question, and many students read it last, or not at all. Read it first. It tells you whose point of view to take, which issues are in scope and what form the answer should have.
| The call says | It means | A common error |
|---|---|---|
| ‘Advise Tom.’ | Write as an adviser to Tom: what are his rights and chances, and what should he do? | Writing a neutral essay, or advising the wrong person |
| ‘Discuss the liability of each party.’ | Cover every party named, one at a time | Covering only the main party |
| ‘Will the claim succeed?’ | Weigh the claim and reach a conclusion on it | Describing the law without answering |
| ‘Discuss.’ | Set out the competing positions and reach a reasoned view | Telling everything you know about the topic |
| ‘Critically evaluate the statement.’ | Test the statement against the law and the arguments for and against it | Summarising the law and agreeing |
| ‘Assess whether the law is adequate.’ | Decide how well the law meets a purpose, and why | Listing features of the law without judging them |
| ‘Explain.’ | Set out the law and the reasons behind it clearly | Describing it without saying why it is so |
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| “Starting the answer with a page on the history of the doctrine.” | “Starting with the issue the facts raise and the person you are advising.”History earns marks only if the question asks for it. |
| “Writing ‘there is probably a contract’ and moving on.” | “Naming the part of the rule that is in doubt and what in the facts decides it.”The marker is looking for the reasoning, not only the result. |
| “Ignoring the second party in the facts because the first seems more important.” | “Giving each party named in the call at least a short, structured treatment.”Marks accumulate party by party. |
Also read for limits: the jurisdiction (an exam in one country does not want another country’s rule), the date or event the question focuses on, the word limit and any instruction to ignore a topic. A note such as ‘ignore any criminal liability’ saves you time and costs you marks if you disobey it.
The mistakes that lose marks
Some mistakes are knowledge errors. More are not. The ones below are the most common reasons a student who knows the law comes away with a lower mark than they expected.
- Answering a different question. Writing about the topic the student prepared, not the one the paper asks.
- Dumping the rule. Pages on what the law is, with nothing on what the law does to these facts.
- Dumping the facts. Retelling the story in the question as if the marker had not read it.
- Assuming the answer. Using words like ‘clearly’ in place of a reason (module 4 deals with this).
- Missing the second side. Treating a contestable point as if only one answer were open.
- Spending the time unevenly. A magnificent first answer and a note on the last that says ‘no time’.
- Leaving out the conclusion. The marker has to guess where the argument ended.
- Hiding the structure. One long block of text in which the issues cannot be found.
A study habit that follows from this
Because a law exam is a writing task, practise it as one. For every topic you revise, write at least one timed answer from a past paper or a question you set yourself, and compare it with the marking scheme or a model answer. Reading a textbook chapter a second time feels like progress and is usually the least effective way to prepare. Module 7 turns this into a routine.
None of this means the law does not matter. An accurate rule is part of the marks, and a wrong rule applied beautifully still loses them. The point is that knowledge is the raw material and the exam asks for a finished product. The rest of the course teaches how to make it.
Part 2. Lab: What Earns Marks
Decide which parts of a problem answer a marker is likely to reward, which add little and which can actually cost you.
Situation 1 of 9
A sentence that names the legal question the facts raise
Where does this belong?
Part 3. Lab: Read the Call
Choose the best reading of each call of the question.
Situation 1 of 3
A problem question about a tenant and a landlord ends: ‘Advise the tenant.’
What is the best approach?
Part 4. Lab: A Weak Plan
A student has written this plan for a problem question. Click the lines that need attention, then check.
A student’s plan for a problem question about a sale
The call says: ‘Advise the buyer, Imran, whether he can recover his money.’ Some lines are sound; others show a mistake from this module.
Click every sentence that causes a problem, then press Check. There may be 4 problems, and some sentences are fine.
Part 5. Check your understanding
Ten questions drawn from a larger pool. Sign in to have your score saved towards your certificate.
You have finished the free module
Here is what you can do now, and where the course goes next
Module 1 gave you
- Explain how a marker awards marks for issues, rules, application and conclusions.
- Tell the main kinds of exam question apart and what each tests.
- Read the call of the question and the instruction words correctly.
- Recognise the common mistakes that lose marks.
- Plan your preparation around writing, not only reading.
Next, 6 more modules and a capstone
- Module 2: Spotting the issues: reading a fact pattern, fact triggers, red herrings, missing facts and ranking what you findYou will learn to Read a fact pattern twice, for two different purposes.
- Module 3: IRAC and its cousins: Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion, the CREAC and ILAC variants and building one paragraphYou will learn to explain what each step of IRAC does and why the order helps.
- Module 4: Applying the rule to the facts: element by element, the because chain, both sides, conclusory writing and reasoning from principleYou will learn to take a rule apart into elements and apply each in turn.
- Module 5: Time, planning and structure: time follows marks, a five-minute plan, the shape of the whole answer and what to do when things go wrongYou will learn to Divide time by marks, not by feeling.
- Module 6: Essay and policy questions: the thesis, building the argument, using authority and writing for a ‘discuss’ question
- Module 7: Style, review and practice: writing clearly under pressure, learning from model answers and building a revision routine
- Capstone: Capstone: one problem question, from the fact pattern to the finished answer
Each module has its own practice labs and a graded quiz, and a Certificate of Completion follows when you pass them all. The whole course is $15 once, or included in an All-Access Membership.
Two Ways In
Introductory PriceIRAC and Law Exam Writing: buy it on its own, or get it with All-Access
Unlock all of IRAC and Law Exam Writing on its own with a one-time purchase, or get it as part of an All-Access Membership, which also covers every course and the other paid tools. A member never needs to buy it separately.
This is an early, introductory price for a brand-new product — it’s expected to rise as we add more content. Buy now and it’s yours at today’s rate, forever.
No account needed: you pay, and we email you a one-click sign-in.
All-Access is $29.99 a month or $149 a year, and covers every course and most tools, this one included. Create a free account to subscribe.
Look first, then buy. Free previews on every product page. Secure payment by Stripe. Pay once, keep it forever. Details
See what is included in All-Access →Not ready to buy? Create a free account to save your quiz scores and your place in this course, and to get the printable reports from the practice rooms.
General education on writing law exam answers, using invented people and situations. It is not legal advice, it does not state the law of any country and it does not predict the marks of any examiner. Follow the instructions, rules and marking criteria of your own school or exam board.
Teaching? Share this with your class
Free to use in class. The free parts open for everyone, no account needed.