Swansea students continued their fantastic performances in the academic year 24/25, this time demonstrating superb pedigree for future years as two first years, Maisie Bollom and William Wilton impressed at the Swansea-Kent National First Year Mooting Competition.
This competition is designed to help aspiring advocates develop their skills at an early stage of their academic career and was founded by Dr Matthew Parry (Swansea) and Darren Weir (Kent) in 2024.
This year 30 teams entered the competition and engaged in stimulating advocacy over 3 Preliminary Rounds before the top 8 scoring teams qualified for Finals Day which was hosted on July 19th by Francis Taylor Building Chambers in London, who sponsored the competition.
Maisie and William formed one of the Swansea teams and won both moots in the Preliminaries which qualified them for the Finals Day. They performed exceptionally well and were narrowly defeated in the quarter-finals by the University of Northumbria. This did not end the day, however, as they benefitted from an Advocacy Masterclass from Richard Honey KC and then watched the Final, gaining significant experience over the day.
Reflecting on the experience, Williams said that: “It was a fantastic experience testing our written and oral skills and an opportunity to connect with other students and barristers” while Maisie commented that: “I woke up early to immerse myself in an inspiring environment, connected with fascinating people, proudly competed alongside great company, and ended the day grateful for a truly memorable experience.”
Thanks go to Angel Chambers who kindly supported our team in this competition as well, more generally, as the Communication Skills Programme.
For current or prospective students interested in learning more about the Swansea Law School Communication Skills Programme, contact Matthew Parry.