ABSTRACT
The 2023 QAA Subject Benchmark Statement for Law provides that law degrees ‘should prepare graduates for a range of careers’ and that ‘providers should be committed to widening access and inclusive participation’. Against this backdrop, this paper explores the introduction of an authentic ‘Legal Document Pack Exercise’ (LDPE) in a first-year Contract Law module. The LDPE reimagines the traditional legal ‘problem question’ by placing students in the role of a trainee solicitor, tasking them with drawing the legal issues from a bundle of authentic documents and producing a written response. This paper first presents the LDPE as a practical case study in authentic learning. It then discusses the pedagogical rationale and supporting literature for incorporating LDPEs into the core curriculum. Finally, it analyses the findings from a small research study which offer learner perspectives on the LDPE’s impact on the student learning experience. We conclude that authentic activities such as the LDPE should be encouraged in the core law curriculum because they enhance student engagement, bridge the ‘skills gap’ between education and practice, and ensure that all students are given the opportunity to develop key employability skills beyond those found in traditional teaching and learning exercises.
Jeanette Ashton and Jo Wilson, Reinventing problem questions through authentic design: exploring the introduction of Legal Document Pack Exercises in contract law, Law Teacher. Published online: 30 July 2025.
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