Law schools’ rank inconsistent across British broadsheets

A check on the rankings by three United Kingdom broadsheets, which were used in identifying the eight UK law schools that will be dropped from a list qualifying them for admission to the Singapore Bar, appears to partly bear out sentiments against such a methodology for being inconclusive of quality.

Schools largely fared differently across rankings done by different broadsheets, and many of them jumped or dropped places from year to year, TODAY found. The schools retained, however, are generally ranked higher than those axed.

The rankings — also studied longitudinally — used by the Singapore Institute of Legal Education in shortening the list of recognised UK law schools were The Times’ Good University Guide, The Guardian’s University Guide and The Independent’s Complete University Guide.

For instance, the University of Bristol — one of the 11 retained UK law schools — ranked 33rd on The Guardian this year, but 11th on the other two.

There were also swings over years. For example, even the University of Cambridge placed third, fourth and first, respectively, from 2013 to this year on The Guardian’s ranking.

The situation was the same when it came to the schools that were dropped. The University of Leeds, for instance, jumped about eight places from 2013 to last year, then dropped between one and three places this year. AMANDA LEE