I was from a humbler middle income fam too. Unlike the upper mid class folks which comprise the majority of the legal profession, my dad could only afford to sponsor 1 kid's overseas education (my older sibling). Mom's a homemaker. Hence I had to study local.

I think local law degree does gives one a good ROI, especially since top tier UK law doesn't really confer an overwhelming advantage compared to NUS or SMU; an advantage yes, but not significantly so if you're talking about the local legal industry.

After grad, grinded in Big4 for a bit, went to smaller mid-sized firm, now in-house drawing about $15-16k-ish pm now. Definitely nowhere near the top end of the profession, but I'm honestly earning much more than my dad ever did in his career.

For humbler background folks, I think there's real value for money with a relatively cheap and subsidized local LLB if you're lucky enough to get a spot in the local law schs.