LawLaw Legal Practice Legal Studies In the UK Law covers a broad range of subjects and areas within vocational and academic sectors. In law, an example of a vocational programme is the Graduate Diploma in Law. This is for students who hope to work as lawyers, but whose first degree was not a qualifying law degree. The Legal Practice Course (LPC)/Bar Vocational Course (BVC) (for those with an appropriate bachelor’s degree in law who wish to train as a solicitor or barrister) is another example. These apply to England and Wales. There are some variations in Northern Ireland and the Scottish system is entirely different. Visit llmstudy.com for information and advice on choosing the right LLM programme. Access our comprehensive database of UK universities and find out where you can study Law. What postgraduate programmes in Law are on offer?
Most postgraduate programmes are ‘taught’ through formal lectures and group tutorials. While some programmes grade students by tests and exams, others offer continuous assessment through regular assignments and projects. Dissertations (ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 words) are often optional, but essay writing is part of every course. Increasingly, accredited work placements count towards the final result. Research-based postgraduate programmes The majority of research programmes are MPhils and PhDs. These are normally for graduates who already have a master’s and/or work experience. It is comparatively rare to go straight into these courses with just a first degree. An MPhil might take two to four years to complete, and a PhD three to six years. It is essential to be motivated and to have your own ideas for original research topics. Some programmes now include initial lectures, tutorials, and an introduction to research and statistical techniques and resources. But, for the majority of the time, students are expected to manage their own work, to generate individual or collaborative research papers and to discuss progress with their supervisor every few months. At the end of their research, students have to produce an extended report or thesis (about 40,000–70,000 words for an MPhil and 80,000–100,000 words for a PhD) on their findings and discuss them in a final oral exam (the ‘viva’) with a panel of academics.
A few master’s degrees in law are available by research, and are particularly useful to students intending to take a PhD later. Those without formal research skills are taught these at the beginning of the programme. English Language RequirementsIELTS scores of 6.5–7.0 or TOEFL scores of 100-107 are usually needed. Because of ongoing changes in the law we advise international students to regularly check the UKBA website to make sure they can fulfil the necessary requirements. Most individual institutions also have useful information on the Tier 4 requirements for international students, and can offer assistance in terms of student queries about their specific English language requirements. Click here to find out more about English Language requirements for International Students How much will it cost?A one-year taught master’s programme can cost anything between a few thousand pounds to well over £10,000, although there are different rates according to whether you are a European Union (EU) or non-EU student. Applications for funding or scholarships must be made well over a year in advance (information on the various institutional scholarships is available from the British Council website) and funding should always be arranged before you leave your home country. Graduate destinationsStatistics show that UK and fluent English-speaking EU students who pass the LPC stand a high chance of getting a training contract with a solicitors’ firm. Non-EU graduates are more likely to be offered work with associate firms in their own countries. It is much harder to obtain further training and work as a self-employed barrister in England and Wales: taking the BVC does not guarantee a job. Looking for funding for postgraduate studies? Check out the exclusive bursaries on offer from Postgrad Solutions. |
, you’ll find that there are both traditional and ground-breaking postgraduate courses in law.
