In 2016, at the end of my LLM year in Cambridge, I won a thing called the Whewell Scholarship in International Law. Nearly a decade on, I still, somehow, get the occasional email from people asking me how I did it. I am sick of receiving these emails. Hence I am writing this blog post. (I will no longer reply to such emails.)
This post will first outline what the scholarship is (and what it is not), before going through what I did in preparation for the exam. If you’re not a current Cambridge LLM student, definitely skip this post.
What the Whewell Scholarship Is (And What It Is Not)
Here’s what the Cambridge website has to say about the Whewell Scholarship:
“LLM candidates in international law are eligible to be considered for the award of the Whewell Scholarship in International Law. The award will be made on the basis of a candidate’s performance in any three of the papers designated as specialist papers in international law, together with a candidate’s performance in an additional examination for Paper 40 (the Whewell Paper) on “Problems and Disputed Points in International Law”. This additional examination does not form part of the LLM curriculum, nor does the mark awarded in this paper contribute towards the overall classification of a candidate’s LLM degree. Instead it is intended exclusively for candidates for the Whewell Scholarship. The examination on “Problems and Disputed Points in International Law” will be held at the same time as the other LLM examinations.“
In other words, to win the scholarship you have to come top, or do very well, in three of your four international law papers, as well as top the Whewell exam (“Problems and Disputed Points in International Law”).
The scholarship entitles you to a place at Trinity College for your PhD, plus a small (and I should stress: small) monetary award. It is not a full PhD scholarship. It may, however, assist you in gaining further funding (I got the Commonwealth Scholarship off the back of my Whewell win).
It’s also worth noting that the Whewell has a certain reputation. Because some very eminent jurists have won the Whewell in the past, certain people (Cambridge or Cambridge-educated international lawyers) will think about you / treat you differently if you win. I definitely noticed it. This is true among only a very small and select group of people though, and will obviously benefit you more if you plan to have a career in (academic) international law.
Finally, you get to have your name painted on a nice little board somewhere in the Lauterpacht Centre 🙂
How I Prepared for the Whewell Exam
It’s difficult or impossible to know what will come up in the Whewell exam; in my opinion in compares only to the All Souls specialist exams for its broad range. My strategy was threefold: revise for my other exams very well; practice past papers; and read widely.
- I revised for my other exams very well indeed. I chose not to pick and choose topics, but instead revised everything. (Throughout the year, I read the entire reading lists, too.) This added significantly to my workload, but in my opinion proved worth it. I also revised topics in international environmental law, in which I did not sit the exam (I wrote a dissertation in that paper instead). This latter strategy was very worthwhile as the first question on the paper related to the Paris Agreement, which had then recently been adopted.
- I found past papers and practiced writing essay skeletons and full essays. This was the bulk of my preparation for the exam. It helped to get a sense of the kinds of questions that could be asked, and helped me to practice thinking broadly or structurally about the issues. It also helped my overall preparation for all my other exams; in my opinion, it’s impossible to practice essay writing too much.
- I read widely. I got a sense from reading past papers that many questions touched on then-current topics or disputes in international law. Hence I read current and recent issues of leading journals like EJIL, AJIL and ICLQ. I read some classic/famous books in international law. I got out my old textbook from undergrad and made sure I was fully across the entire spectrum of general issues in public international law.
- This wasn’t part of my deliberate strategy, but that whole year I kept on reading broadly outside of law, as I always do, and I think this proved useful. I remember citing Peter Singer in one of my exam answers, for example, to make some point or other.
That’s all. Will doing these things guarantee a win? No. Will they help? Definitely. Will they make you a better international lawyer? I think so.
Remember, if you don’t win – which is the most likely outcome – there are other ways to do a PhD, and other ways to pursue success in international law.
Good luck!
Natalie Jones 