All roads lead to Rome. In the case of UK law schools, all roads lead to England and Wales. Home to one of the world’s oldest legal systems, the UK has become a hot pick for many students to start their legal education – with around 30,000 students applying to study law in England and Wales from 2019 to 2020.
These numbers paint a clear picture: the versatility of a law degree is hard to resist. In an optimal environment, law graduates have the ability to access a multitude of career options: from marketing to journalism, fin-tech, human rights activism, and many more. After all, law graduates are built to reason and analyse – skills which are fundamental to many careers.
For those looking to start their legal education in the UK, here are our top picks:
Canterbury Christ Church University
Vibrant. Critical. Bijou. These three words define Canterbury Christ Church University’s LLB (within the School of Law, Policing and Social Sciences). It offers several high quality courses, such as our Law courses that include Law LLB, Law with International Relations, Law with Business, Law with Criminology and Law with Politics.
Here, you will study the traditional theories of law with a progressive approach. This means you will not only learn from lectures, seminars, and practical sessions, but get to contribute to the learning process too, through student-led seminars, peer-assisted learning, individual and group role-play, and mooting. The environment is supportive, collaborative and friendly — the teaching team includes a broad array of experienced academics and practitioners, including UK qualified solicitors, solicitor-advocates, barristers, and internationally qualified lawyers from around the Globe.
What sets studying law at Christ Church apart is how it provides practical opportunities that expand upon students’ theoretical understanding. You will have the opportunity to be involved and assist with its in-house Mediation Clinic, and also act as a Community Legal Companion to help those unrepresented parties at court navigate through the highly unfamiliar and complex litigation process normally navigated by profession and experienced lawyers. These excellent opportunities for you to gain hands-on work experience in a legal setting and boost your CV and networking skills.
Student who elect to will also be able to engage in a degree which combines two focal points, law and the combination discipline, too. This allows you to develop your knowledge and understanding in both and sets students up to both explore highly specialist legal careers and careers in their combined discipline.
The result of studying at Church is that 91% of our law graduates were in jobs or further study 15 months after completing their studies (Graduate Outcomes Survey 2021). To learn more about our University conveniently located close to London and in one of the safest and picturesque university cities in the UK, click here.
University of York
York Law School at the University of York (UOY) is the only law school in the UK that uses a problem-based learning (PBL) approach for its undergraduate programmes.
By placing students in a realistic legal scenario with students pioneering their fictional “law firms”, UOY practices a modern, dynamic learning method to provide a deeper understanding of the law in its social and theoretical contexts. Real-life examples from a virtual client simulate all of the legal problems presented to the students.
With this approach, UOY became the top 10 UK universities for research quality in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework. On top of the school’s modern and intellectually stimulating learning environment, its Careers and Development programme are ready to help students pursue their chosen career paths. Their full-time Employability Tutor also provides student advice on a wide range of matters, from curriculum vitae (CV) and assessment centre techniques to general career planning.
Coventry University
Coventry University is a dynamic institution that provides high-quality education. Its Coventry Law School is no exception. It offers four law programmes: Law LLB (Hons), Criminology and Law BA (Hons), Forensic Investigations BSc (Hons), and International Law Studies LLB (Hons).
These programmes train students to deal with real issues and face real people with real problems. Students will have the opportunity to engage with members of the legal profession and apply to work in their pro-bono law clinics that provide legal advice to clients. They will go through assessments that mirror exercises in legal practice. All of these transform a student into highly employable, globally thinking, ethically and socially responsible future professionals.
As a member of the International Association of Law Schools, Coventry Law School works with international partners worldwide to magnify its teaching and research work. It believes in the importance of being international; it recognises that a global perspective of the law within a globalised society is necessary. It also sees the law in its practical context by focusing on contemporary legal issues, exploring current and future problems, and finding out how it might help solve these.
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol (UoB) is one of the most popular and successful universities in the UK. It is ranked 62nd globally in the QS World University Rankings 2022 and fourth in a list of universities targeted by leading graduate employers (The Graduate Market in 2018, High Fliers Research).
UoB graduates are highly regarded by employers. The institution is known for its high-quality, research-led education; its courses are defined by its incorporation of the very latest thinking, plus real-life projects with academics who are experts in their field.
Aspiring lawyers seeking the answers to the most challenging legal questions facing today’s global society will find their ideal programmes at UoB. Its Bachelor of Laws programme is an intellectually demanding, rich curriculum that will provide you with a grounded appreciation of law in business and society and an ability to demonstrate excellent legal, analytical and reasoning skills.
*Some of the institutions featured in this article are commercial partners of Study International