Law Students have the best a-level grades but are awarded less firsts than any other subject

According to new research released as part of the Recruitersí Guide to Courses and Campuses - Law Report (www.rgcc.org.uk), students from Russell Group universities reading Law were awarded a smaller percentage of firsts (8%) than those studying most other subjects. The data - compiled by Real World magazine and recruitment consultancy Work - also reveals that these students are in fact among some of the brightest at university.

Women also continue to outnumber and outperform men in Law degrees. Two thirds of Law graduates are now female and the data shows that 58 per cent of women were awarded 2:1s or firsts compared to only 52 per cent of men.

The RGCC research shows that the average A-level points for students starting Law degrees at Russell Group Universities in 2005/2006 was 457, the equivalent of -- AAAB, higher than every other subject except Maths students who achieved 460 points. Results for students graduating in 2006 show that 30 per cent of Maths students were awarded a first, nearly four times as many as Law students. Darius Norell, founder of Real World magazine and co-author of the report, ìthis highlights the difficulties in trying to compare degree results from different disciplines. Employers need to be aware of the wide discrepancies that exist in order to run a fair recruitment processî.

The research also ranks universities according to the percentage of 2:1s and firsts awarded to Law students. Oxford came top with 91 per cent of students, whereas Cambridge was fifth with 81 per cent awarded a first or 2:1. This is despite both set of students having near identical Aí level results (512 and 513 respectively). Darius Norell adds ìthis suggests that employers who indiscriminately cut off graduates with degrees below a 2:1 could be excluding 10 per cent of capable students from Cambridgeî.

The RGCC research is based on 15 million pieces of data collected over the last three years and is designed to help recruiters identify top performing students by university and department. It also enables employers to look at the impact of recruitment policies, such as asking for a 2:1, on gender, age, ethnicity and socio-economic background. This years report found that almost one in every four Law students was from an ethnic background compared to an average of 15 per cent across all other subjects.

Employers can obtain a copy of the RGCC report for 250 VAT and the Law sectorreport for an additional 100 VAT.