An open-book law exam still requires preparation. You need to recognise the legal issue, find the relevant material quickly and apply it to the facts. Bringing more notes does not help if you spend the assessment searching through them.
Start with your assessment rules, then build a small navigation system around the topics you are expected to know. Practise with exactly the resources and conditions you will be allowed to use.
What does “open book” actually allow?
The label does not tell you the full rules. Your provider may permit particular printed materials, restrict annotations or allow access to specified digital resources. Internet access, collaboration and AI tools are separate questions; permission to consult a book does not establish permission to use them.
Before organising your notes, confirm:
- Which books, legislation and notes are permitted?
- Are there restrictions on editions, page counts, loose sheets or annotations?
- Can you use digital files, search tools or online resources?
- Are there requirements for citations or references?
- What equipment and accessibility arrangements apply?
- Which materials must be submitted or inspected, if any?
Use the written assessment instructions as your starting point and ask the assessment team about anything unclear. Keep the answer somewhere you can find it before exam day.
Build an index around problems, not just chapter titles
A contents page tells you where a chapter starts. A useful exam index helps you reach the specific rule a problem raises.
For contract formation, a preparation index might look like this:
| Trigger in the question | Issue to check | Your resource location |
|---|---|---|
| Goods displayed with a price | Offer or invitation to treat? | Formation: section A |
| Reply adds a condition | Counter-offer or inquiry? | Formation: section B |
| Acceptance sent by message | Communication and timing | Formation: section C |
| Promise follows completed work | Past consideration | Consideration: section A |
Replace these example locations with page numbers or permitted bookmarks in your own materials. Test each entry. If “counter-offer” sends you to a 40-page chapter, the index is not yet precise enough.
Keep the index proportionate. You are building a route to the answer, not a second textbook. Add short cross-references where topics overlap, such as consideration and variations.
Learn enough to know what to look up
Open-book preparation should include recall. Without a basic understanding of the subject, it is difficult to identify which chapter matters or notice an exception in the facts.
Try explaining a topic without your notes, then use the notes to correct it. This helps distinguish two different problems: not knowing the rule and not being able to find a detail quickly.
Your resource can supply a statutory subsection or case reference. It cannot decide which facts deserve attention. For a method of structuring that analysis, see answering problem questions in legal exams.
Try this timed lookup-and-application exercise
Use a topic you have already studied. Set aside ten minutes as a practice exercise; this is not a suggested allocation for every exam question.
Scenario: A seller offers a bicycle for £400. The buyer replies: “I will buy it for £400, provided you deliver it free.” The seller rejects that condition. The buyer then tries to accept the original terms.
First, identify the issue without opening your notes. Next, find the relevant rule and authority. Finally, write a short application and conclusion.
The central point is whether the conditional reply was a counter-offer, bringing the original offer to an end, rather than a request for information. Compare Hyde v Wrench (1840). Explain why “provided you deliver it free” matters. Do not just copy the definition of a counter-offer.
Now change the reply to: “Does that price include delivery?” What would you investigate before treating it as a rejection? That small change tests whether you understand the distinction.
Record how long you spent finding the rule and how long you spent using it. If the lookup swallowed the exercise, improve the index. If you found the rule but could not apply it, practise reasoning through contrasting facts.
Rehearse the whole assessment
Complete timed work under the permitted conditions. Practise allocating time across the paper, using your index and moving on when a point is taking too long. Allow time to check that you have answered the question asked.
Avoid pasting a prepared answer into a problem that only looks familiar. In an essay, respond to the proposition. In a problem question, connect the rule to the stated facts and explain any uncertainty.
Use resources during preparation
Law Answered+ gives you access to all our revision guides and casebooks across the full syllabus, plus MCQ Master. One membership brings together the resources to learn the rules, revise the authorities and test your understanding as you prepare for your exams.
Use those resources to prepare your explanations and identify gaps. Whether any guide or digital feature can be used inside your exam depends on your provider’s rules. Build your final permitted materials around those rules and practise with that exact setup.
For more examples of the formation distinction, work through offer or invitation to treat.