Key points
- Build offence checklists, then practise applying facts rather than reciting definitions.
- Separate missing offence elements from possible defences.
- Match preparation to your jurisdiction, syllabus and assessment format.
- Published tuition rates are £99–£229/hour; confirm the individual rate.
Find the exact point where your liability analysis breaks down
Make a timeline for each person. Separate conduct and consequences from evidence of their state of mind. Use actus reus and mens rea as headings, checking the particular offence's requirements. The official criminal-liability specification organises offences around both elements. [4]
Theft offers a useful diagnostic. Section 1 requires dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with an intention permanently to deprive. An unauthorised taking is not, by itself, a complete explanation of liability. [1] Test each element separately and highlight the fact supporting it. If your conclusion depends on an unstated belief or intention, say what evidence is missing.
- Ask whether the difficulty is recalling a rule, interpreting a fact or connecting the two.
- Use a short explanation in your own words to reveal gaps before adding more notes.
Sources[1] The National Archives[4] Solicitors Regulation Authority
Choose the criminal-law topics your assessment actually covers
Use your module handbook to agree coverage. A useful working menu includes offences against the person, homicide, theft-related offences, criminal damage, fraud, attempts and participation. The current SQE1 criminal-liability list includes these areas alongside specified general and partial defences; it is not a universal degree syllabus. [4] For homicide revision, build separate headings for the offence and any potentially relevant partial defence rather than putting every argument under 'manslaughter'.
For SQE1, Criminal Liability and Criminal Law and Practice sit in FLK2, not FLK1. [3] Practice coverage extends to police-station processes, bail, trial procedure, sentencing and appeals. [4] If your difficulty concerns evidence or criminal litigation rather than offence elements, ask for that expertise explicitly.
- Send the assessed topic list, reading guidance and permitted assessment resources.
- Prioritise two weak areas rather than requesting every criminal-law topic at once.
Sources[3] Solicitors Regulation Authority[4] Solicitors Regulation Authority
Build a revision cycle that tests application
Begin with a closed-notes diagnostic on one topic. Create a one-page offence sheet containing the elements, key authorities required by your course, disputed issues and relevant defences. Next, retrieve the rules aloud, apply them to an original scenario and check the answer against reliable materials. Record the mistake precisely: missing element, wrong test, unsupported inference or poor timing.
Revisit the same weakness after a gap, then mix it with a neighbouring offence so that you must choose the correct route. For theft, contrast evidence of dishonesty with evidence of an intention permanently to deprive; the guidance treats these as distinct elements. [2] Keep independent practice between sessions. Book another lesson when your error log identifies a question that you cannot resolve yourself.
- End each practice answer with one correction and one concrete task for the next attempt.
Adapt your answer to a problem, essay or applied assessment
For a problem question, map defendants and possible offences before writing. State the relevant rule briefly, apply the decisive facts and address a plausible alternative. Do not repeat the whole scenario or force a defence into an answer when its factual basis is absent. Allocate time using your assessment instructions and leave space for a qualified conclusion.
For an essay, turn the question into a proposition to evaluate. Plan competing arguments, use authorities for their reasoning and explain whether the evidence supports your position. For a permitted practical exercise, identify the requested output and separate established facts from questions needing clarification. SQE1 instead uses closed-book single-best-answer questions with five options: practise choosing the best application, not writing a degree essay. [3] Check the applicable specification and law cut-off for your sitting.
- After practice, underline the sentences that apply facts; a thinly marked answer may be mostly description.
Use a focused session to correct one recurring mistake
A productive session starts with your own explanation. The tutor can ask why you selected an offence, which fact supports a disputed element and what would change your conclusion. In a theft exercise, changing the person's belief about permission can prompt analysis of dishonesty without treating permission as a shortcut through every element. The guidance distinguishes statutory beliefs about consent from appropriation. [2]
Agree a narrow output: a corrected offence checklist, feedback on an allowed practice paragraph or a timed-answer plan. Online tuition can use shared documents to label facts and compare successive attempts. Ask for teaching that makes you explain the next step yourself. A useful follow-up task changes one fact and requires you to analyse it independently, rather than memorise a model answer.
- Before booking, ask whether the tutor covers your level, jurisdiction and specific topic.
Confirm the rate, scope and tutor match before committing
Published tuition rates are £99–£229 per hour. Confirm your tutor's rate and suitability before booking; the lowest rate may not apply. Share your level, assessment date, format and learning goal. Ask about subject experience, session focus and any charged preparation or feedback.
Tuition should strengthen work you can do independently. Agree what feedback your course permits before sharing assessed material. Tutors should not draft live assessed answers, complete take-home exams or provide answers during an assessment. These sessions are educational, not legal advice about a real criminal allegation. Use anonymised or invented facts and omit private case information. If your own revision is working, keep using it rather than booking unnecessary lessons.
- Request a match and confirmed quote, not a promise of marks, availability or a particular result.
A method you can reuse
From criminal-law facts to a reasoned conclusion
Follow the numbered sequence to organise your revision and check each link in your reasoning.
Map each person's conduct and timeline
Select the possible offence and its elements
Link facts to conduct and fault requirements
Test relevant defences separately
Identify missing facts and competing outcomes
Write a qualified conclusion, then review errors
Private practice · hypothetical question
Original theft exercise: borrowing is not the whole answer
Original private-revision hypothetical. Assume the events occur in England and Wales. Riley takes a neighbour's camera without asking, uses it for an afternoon and returns it undamaged that evening. Riley says they believed the neighbour would agree because they had lent it before. An earlier message, however, said: 'Please ask each time.' Write a short theft analysis rather than deciding that any unauthorised taking must be theft. Identify the elements needing discussion, explain how the message affects the claimed belief and state what more you would need to know about Riley's intention. Then change one fact: Riley planned to sell the camera. How does that alter your analysis?
Work through your own response first, then reveal a hint or compare your reasoning with the self-review. Each panel opens independently.
Hint 1
Use the five elements in section 1; do not collapse them into 'taking without permission'. [1]
Hint 2
Examine Riley's actual belief and the separate intention permanently to deprive. [2]
Hint 3
Treat the message as evidence, not automatic proof of a particular state of mind.
Reveal the self-review answer
The camera is property belonging to another, and taking it involves assuming an owner's right. Dishonesty requires analysis of Riley's actual beliefs; an honestly held belief that the owner would consent is relevant under section 2, but the message may undermine that account. A short borrowing returned intact does not automatically establish an intention permanently to deprive; section 6 can capture borrowing equivalent to outright taking or disposal. Planning to sell provides much stronger evidence of that intention. Explain the assumptions and disputed facts rather than declare certain guilt. [1] [2]
Read alongside the page references: [1], [2].
For private practice and educational self-review only, not a live or assessed submission. This is not legal advice or a prediction of a legal outcome. Check current authorities, your syllabus and your institution’s assessment rules. No response is collected or sent by this practice tool.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
How much does a criminal law tutor cost?
The published range is £99–£229 per hour. Confirm the proposed tutor's actual rate, session scope and any charged preparation or feedback before booking. There is no assumed fixed fee or guarantee that a tutor is available at the lowest rate.
Can I study criminal law with an online tutor?
Online tuition can support shared offence charts, discussion of original scenarios and feedback on permitted practice work. Confirm the delivery format and technical requirements with the tutor, and bring a focused question so the session goes beyond rereading notes.
How should I revise mens rea and defences?
Make a separate fault checklist for each assessed offence, then identify facts supporting or undermining it. Analyse any relevant defence separately. Practise changing one fact at a time, and record whether your error came from the rule, the evidence or the inference.
Is this suitable for my course level?
Ask for a match to your degree, conversion course or specified assessment. Degree coverage varies. For SQE1, criminal liability and criminal practice belong to FLK2. [3] This page uses England and Wales law; another jurisdiction requires appropriate expertise, not an assumption of identical rules.
Will a tutor write my criminal law assignment?
No. Tuition covers explanation, original practice and feedback where your assessment rules allow it. You must produce assessed work independently. A tutor should not draft a live submission, supply exam answers or advise you on a real criminal case.
One-to-one support
Plan focused Criminal Law tuition
Tell us your module, jurisdiction, assessment format and the point you want to improve. Confirm the tutor match, session objective and £99–£229 hourly rate before booking. Your learning and assessed work remain your own.