Newcastle University

Law LLB Honours
UCAS Code: M101 (3 or 4 Years)

• Course Overview
• Modules
• Entry Requirements
• Careers
• Finance

Our professionally accredited degree offers rigorous academic training in the principles of English law and exemption from the initial stage of the solicitor and barrister professional examinations for England and Wales.

You may add an international dimension to your studies through opportunities to study abroad for a year at one of our partner universities – see intercalated study abroad below.

You also have chance to develop career-enhancing skills such as client interviewing and mooting.

Professional accreditation

Our degree is professionally accredited by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and The Bar Council. This offers exemption from the initial stage of the solicitor and barrister professional examinations for England and Wales.

We also offer the subjects for students intending to continue their legal education and take the professional course at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies in Belfast.

Quality and ranking

As the North East of England’s longest established Law School, Newcastle is highly regarded for its teaching of law. We are ranked in the top five UK universities for law in The Sunday Times University Guide 2013. We are also ranked fifth nationally for overall student satisfaction with a score of 96% in the 2012 National Student Survey.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching is by a combination of lectures and seminars where you can discuss legal issues and work through problem questions in small groups. Individual preparation for seminars is also extremely important and occupies much of your study time. Further information can be found on our undergraduate web pages about the approach to teaching and learning at Newcastle University.

Traditional end-of-year examinations form a large part of the assessment, while other modules are assessed via compulsory course work. Teaching and assessment methods may vary from module to module, more information can be found in our individual module listings.

Flexible degree structure

All the modules in Stages 1 and 2 are compulsory, covering the essential foundation modules of legal professional qualification.

In Stage 3, you have the freedom to follow the areas of law that interest you the most, choosing from a wide choice of optional modules. Up to a third of your modules at this Stage may be from other areas of the University, such as English, politics, history, business or a modern language.

Intercalated study abroad

You have the opportunity, between Stages 2 and 3, to spend an intercalating year studying law at one of our European partner universities. This means that you will not only graduate with a fully-qualifying degree, but will also be able to draw on the experiences and skills developed during your year abroad. This will open new horizons for you on the job market.

We currently have links with universities in Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain. All of our partners teach in English so you do not need language skills to take advantage of this opportunity.

Students who wish to take advantage of this European study opportunity must apply during their first year on the LLB; there is no separate application process via UCAS. Successful completion of this year is recognised in your degree title on graduation: Law (European Legal Studies) LLB Honours.

Newcastle University Law School

As a Law student, you’ll spend much of your time in our newly-refurbished Law School. All of our facilities, staff and students are housed together in this building in the heart of campus. This helps to create an inclusive, community feeling. It also you access to some first-rate facilities, all under one roof:

• newly refurbished lecture theatre, and seminar rooms
• dedicated Law Library containing over 40,000 volumes of materials
• computing facilities
• we also subscribe to many useful legal services, including Westlaw, Lexis®Library, Justis, and many electronic journals – these provide services like legal dictionaries, databases of legal materials, bibliographies and journals indexes
• student common room

Our student society, The Eldon Society, also plays a key part in student life in the Law School. It organises a packed programme of employer presentations and social events. The Eldon Society Master and Vice Master of Moots also run our annual mooting competition.