We were once again well-represented at the CSET Summer School this year, with a number of our law students winning places.

One of our second-year LLB students, Gemma Cotter, has written this report on the experience:

"The CSET Summer School was a one-week intensive course held at Imperial College London. Due to high demand and excellent reviews after its first year, it was decided to widen the amount of places available by running two one-week courses in 2009. These were geared towards students who attend non-Russell Group Universities across the country to introduce them into the City legal profession. There were over 900 applicants with only 200 students gaining a place. There were nine students from Anglia Ruskin attending the event.

During the week we were involved in a number of fictional case studies which covered a commercial transaction, intellectual property rights, employment issues, competition law and much more. There were also debating competitions, public speaking, mock employment tribunals, visits to the firms, not to mention the many networking opportunities with representatives from the twenty-one law firms involved in the event. The majority of the mentors during the various activities were trainees or recently qualified solicitors. This was very helpful as they understood the decision that we were all struggling with. They offered sound advice and spoke frankly and honestly about working for a city firm, presenting both the positive and negative aspects of their experiences.

There were a number of guest speakers who gave informative and helpful talks on different areas of the law, some examples being: Robert Sutton, a senior partner at Macfarlane's, who gave an insightful talk on what future employers are looking for from trainees with practical advice on how to achieve this; Adam Kramer, from 3VB Chambers, who spoke about the route to becoming a barrister; Paul Jenkins, Head of the Government legal services, who talked on the advantages and opportunities of working within the GLS and comparing this to private city firms. We were also given the opportunity to submit application style answers before the course began, which were then reviewed by graduate recruiters who gave us feedback. The recruiters also told us of the many mistakes made on application forms and advised us on how to ensure that ours were well written and structured. The week ended with a graduation dinner at The Law Society.

The week was full from morning to evening with practical information and exercises. This gave me a chance to see a larger area of the law, other than that covered in a law degree. The whole week motivated me and allowed me to feel positive about my future career. The effort and commitment put in by everyone running and attending the course was exceptional and I would highly recommend this course to anyone, even those unsure about whether to chose law as a career."

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