This month has been hectic to say the least but also one of the best! Here are a few photos from the past few weeks. I ate out a little more than I probably should have, bought my first car, and started the Bar Training Course. 

The Bar Course has been more intense than I originally anticipated. Unlike undergraduate law there was no 'introduction week' and it was all guns blazing. Personally I feel like I have done more work and reading in these first three weeks of studying than my law degree. My White Book also got delivered and knowing that they are £725 each makes me want to cry ever so slightly. I had my first oral advocacy session where I had to prepare for a bail application before the Magistrates' Court and it went a lot better than I expected considering I prepared on the day. Despite being slightly overwhelmed by the workload I have thoroughly enjoyed studying so far and quite frankly cannot wait to continue and hopefully qualify. Speaking of qualifying I have booked myself onto a qualifying session centered around the Black Lives Matter movement. 

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As some of you may know I start the BTC, the Bar Training Course, this month. And for any aspiring barristers you are more than familiar with the several things you must do before commencing the course. One of the several requirements is to pass the Bar Course Aptitude Test to determine whether or not you are 'fit for the Bar'. It is based on the Watson-Glaser test designed to test logic, critical thinking and reasoning. It costs an extortionate £150 and personally in my opinion it is pointless. Nevertheless, here are a few things I did to prepare for the test. Bear in mind I prepared a few days before my test and managed to pass. 

1. TalentLens practice test. This test provides you with example questions and answers along with the explanation as to why the answers are what they are. This is by far the closest practice test online that mirrors the actual one. Unfortunately this is the only test online, I tried searching for more and I quickly learnt the sources to practice are extremely scarce. 
2. Watson-Glaser practice tests. Instead of searching for BCAT tests what you can do is practice using the W-G tests online as they are more accessible but ensure the question and answer style is similar to the BCAT. 
3. YouTube videos. The ones I found the most useful were by CareerVidz. There are two videos, one outlining the types of question and the second one revealing answers to questions from the first video. I found it helpful to watch and pause the video answer the questions myself and then going back to check if they were correct or incorrect and the reasoning behind each one. 
4. The RED model. This is the 'recognizing assumptions', 'evaluating arguments' and 'drawing conclusions' from the information provided to you. This is extremely helpful and can be memorized quickly and referenced to when taking the test, so make use of it.