About this course

This course is full and closed to new applications. Search similar degrees in related courses or by browsing our course finder.

This is one of just a handful of programmes in the UK to combine a qualifying law degree with the study of psychology. You'll gain a comprehensive legal education while deepening your understanding of the human mind. The skills and knowledge that you develop will be invaluable for a career in the legal profession and in a wide range of other career paths.

You'll study a broad base of core and optional modules, designed to help you achieve a qualifying law degree, and deepen your own specialist knowledge across law (your major subject) and psychology (your minor subject).

Our challenging and inspiring law and psychology degree will give you in-depth legal knowledge together with strong critical thinking and communication skills. Our unique employability skills programme will ensure you consolidate what you learn through exceptional work experience and networking opportunities.

Your psychology modules will teach you the fundamental concepts in psychology, and give you an overview of current issues in clinical psychology. These include:

behavioural neuroscience
personality and intelligence
making sense of ambiguous scenes
educational and developmental psychology
self-conscious emotions

As part of your degree you can:

experience law in action by applying to shadow a senior member of the judiciary in the High Court or Court of Appeal
work alongside legal professionals to advise students at the Law Clinic
engage with our academic research groups including the Stefan Cross Centre for Women, Equality and Law, and the Institute of Maritime Law
hone your presentation skills on the Streetlaw programme

You can take part in a range of competitions to enhance your skills, including the Clyde & Co Team Building Challenge and regional, national and international mooting and negotiation competitions.

You can forge even stronger links within our friendly community by joining a student-run society. These include our Law Society, Inns of Court Society, Mooting Society, Lawyers without Borders and the Canadian Law Society.

Accreditations

Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)

Course location

This course is based at Highfield.

Awarding body

This qualification is awarded by the University of Southampton.

Download the Course Description Document

The Course Description Document details your course overview, your course structure and how your course is taught and assessed.

Changes due to COVID-19

Although the COVID-19 situation is improving, any future restrictions could mean we might have to change the way parts of our teaching and learning take place in 2022 to 2023. This means that some of the information on this course page may be subject to change.

Find out more on our COVID advice page.

ODT

Download 2022-23 Course Description Document

Entry requirements

A-levels

AAA

A-levels additional information

Excluded subjects are; General Studies, Art, Art & Design, Dance, Moving Images, Photography, Physical Education, Practical Art, Music, Sharia Law, Sports Studies, Textiles and Travel & Tourism. If you are studying one of these A level subjects we will not be able to consider your application.

The below subjects are considered as restricted. This means that we can accept one subject from the following list if combined with other academic subjects:

Critical Thinking, Community & Culture, Design & Technology, Drama, Divinity, Film Studies, Health & Social Care, Media Studies, Performing Arts, Theatre Studies, and World Development.

More information about A-levels

A-levels with Extended Project Qualification

If you are taking an EPQ in addition to 3 A levels, you will receive the following offer in addition to the standard A level offer: AAB and grade A in the EPQ

A-levels contextual offer

We are committed to ensuring that all applicants with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply to study with us. The additional information gained through contextual data allows us to recognise an applicant's potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. Applicants who are highlighted in this way will be made an offer which is lower than the typical offer for that programme, as follows: AAB

International Baccalaureate Diploma

Pass, with 36 points overall with 18 points at Higher Level

More information about International Baccalaureate Diploma

International Baccalaureate contextual offer

We are committed to ensuring that all learners with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply to study with us. The additional information gained through contextual data allows us to recognise a learner’s potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. Applicants who are highlighted in this way will be made an offer which is lower than the typical offer for that programme.

International Baccalaureate Career Programme (IBCP) statement

Offers will be made on the individual Diploma Course subject(s) and the career-related study qualification. The CP core will not form part of the offer. Where there is a subject pre-requisite(s), applicants will be required to study the subject(s) at Higher Level in the Diploma course subject and/or take a specified unit in the career-related study qualification. Applicants may also be asked to achieve a specific grade in those elements. Please see the University of Southampton International Baccalaureate Career-Related Programme (IBCP) Statement for further information. Applicants are advised to contact their Faculty Admissions Office for more information.

BTEC

D in the Law or Applied Law BTEC National Extended Certificate plus AA from two A levels

DD in the Law or Applied Law BTEC National Diploma plus A from one A-level

DDD in the Law or Applied Law BTEC National Extended Diploma

RQF BTEC

Additional information

Please note the only BTEC subjects we accept are Law or Applied Law. We are not able to consider other BTEC subjects for our Law programmes.

More information about BTEC

QCF BTEC

D in the Law or Applied Law BTEC Subsidiary Diploma plus AA from two A levels

DD in the Law or Applied Law BTEC Diploma plus A grade from one A-level

DDD in the Law or Applied Law BTEC Extended Diploma

Entry requirements filter options

Other requirements

GCSE requirements

Applicants must hold GCSE English language (or GCSE English) (minimum grade 4/C) and mathematics (minimum grade 4/C)

Got a question?

Please contact our enquiries team if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.

Email: enquiries@southampton.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000

Course structure

Years 1 and 2 include compulsory modules that cover the legal topics required for a qualifying law degree, as well as fundamental concepts in psychology.

In your final year you'll be able to pursue your psychology interests further by choosing from a range of optional modules. You'll also take further core law modules and complete your dissertation, supported by an academic supervisor.

Year 1 overview

You'll study the following core modules:

Foundations of Contract Law
Introduction to Psychology
Legal Skills
Legal System and Reasoning
Public Law: Foundations

You'll choose 1 of these optional law modules:

Historical Development of the Common Law
Philosophical Perspectives on the Common Law

These modules are designed to give you a deeper understanding of the contested nature of law and legal principle, develop your critical-thinking skills, and help you to construct and communicate a persuasive argument.

You'll also choose 1 of these optional psychology modules:

Behavioural Neuroscience
Individual Differences: Personality and Intelligence

Year 2 overview

Your core modules are:

Criminal Law
Land Law

You'll choose 2 optional law modules per semester from a broad list, including:

Family Law: Children, Parents and the State
Health Care Law and Bioethics
Employment Law
Foundations in Criminal Evidence Law
Introduction to Public International Law

You'll also choose 1 psychology optional core module per semester from this list:

Developmental Psychology
Language and Memory
Perception

Year 3 overview

You'll use the research and writing skills you've developed to produce a 10,000-word dissertation on a topic of your choice.

You'll also study these core modules:

The Law of Torts
Public Law 2: Administrative Justice
Equity and Trusts
Remedies in Contract and Tort

You'll choose 1 optional psychology module per semester from a list including:

Human Animal Interactions
Educational Psychology
Psychology of Advertising
Social and Affective Neuroscience
Intergroup Relations and Interpersonal Influence
Anxiety in Children and Adolescents

Want more detail? See all the modules in the course.

Modules

For entry in Academic Year 2022-23

You must study the following modules in year 1:

Foundations of Contract Law

Contract is important in a number of different ways. Firstly, it is a building-block module on which other subjects will depend in later years of the degree. Contract law also exemplifies principles of law and techniques of analysis which go to the heart ...

Introduction to Psychology

Introduction to Psychology will touch on a number of different topics including The Science of Psychology, Sensation, Perception, Memory, Metacognition, Social Cognition, Attitudes and Emotions, Interpersonal processes, Development & Health Psychology, an...

Legal Skills

This module is designed to develop the intellectual, practical and transferable skills needed to study law generally, and to allow you to see how these skills can be employed in legal practice. It builds on the legal knowledge acquired in the first semest...

Legal System and Reasoning

Legal System and Reasoning is a predominantly skills-based introduction to studying the legal system of England and Wales, its institutions and practices, in the context of a more general understanding of law, legal theory and legal reasoning. It is desi...

Public Law 1: Foundations

This Module, the first of two Public Law Modules, considers fundamental questions of constitutionalism common to both UK and EU legal orders. You will examine the UK Governmental and European Union (EU) institutions, the separation of power between them, ...

You must also choose from the following modules in year 1:

Behavioural Neuroscience

The module aims to develop the themes introduced in the Introduction to Psychology Module in semester 1. The module integrates the approaches and findings of biological psychology in an attempt to understand the biological factors that explain why people...

Historical Development of the Common Law

The 'Historical Development of the Common Law' module tells the story of the Common Law and its major developments through a study of some of its most prominent personalities, historical moments and decisive cases. The module charts the development and gr...

Individual Differences

The course covers the topics of personality and intelligence from the perspective of individual differences. Some research psychologists explore the ways in which people are the same and seek to draw general conclusions about human nature. However...

Philosophical Perspectives on the Common Law

This module provides you with a critical introduction to the philosophical development of the common law through an examination of key concepts and principles within private and public law that are essential for full and critical engagement with the subst...

You must study the following modules in year 2:

Criminal Law [AJP]

This version of Criminal Law is delivered for you if you are studying the LLB JD Pathway, the LLB Accelerated programme or the LLB Law with Psychology programme. This module provides an introduction to the substantive criminal law, and to fundamental aspe...

Land Law

Land Law investigates the private law rules affecting the ownership and use of land. It explains the principles governing the nature of property ownership and property rights, their formal and informal acquisition and priority incorporating the registrat...

You must also choose from the following modules in year 2:

Criminal Justice

What is the purpose of the criminal justice system? What is the appropriate role of the police? How have efforts to rehabilitate offenders changed over recent decades? How are political priorities re-shaping criminal justice? These are some of...

Developmental Psychology

This module will develop your understanding and knowledge of development across childhood, adolescence and adulthood. We will present historical and current research studies and explain how these link to related theoretical frameworks. The module will e...

Employment Law

This module introduces students to three key themes of employment law: (1) employment status; (2) the contract of employment and (3) termination of employment. You will acquire a good understanding of the relevant law, you will also develop a critical ...

Family Law: Children, Parents and the State

Family law touches all of our lives at some point. This module considers the legal regulation of family life, in particular the extent to which relationships between parents and their children should be seen as a private matter free from State interferenc...

Foundations in Data Protection Law

Data, its use and its protection is of ever increasing critical importance in our interconnected world, a result of technological change, automated data processing and decision making and the digitisation of society. Our data can expose sensitive informat...

Health Care Law and Bioethics

The Health Care Law Bioethics module examines the relationships between health care, ethics, and law. It explores a range of theoretical approaches from philosophical bioethics, and relates them to foundational and practical questions in health care law.

Introduction to Commercial Law

This course lays the foundation for further studies in commercial and maritime law by introducing you to advanced rules and applications of contract law. We will be exploring the ramifications of the tripartite contractual relationship involving agents, ...

Introduction to Health Psychology

This module will introduce students to the discipline of health psychology.

Introduction to Public International Law

The story of Public International Law is the story of historic and present-day efforts to address international issues of common concern - conflict within and between states, climate change, human rights abuses, international crimes, global trade, and con...

Perception

The module will cover basic topics in perceptual psychology. We will discuss how the visual brain uses information from the two eyes in combination with learnt heuristics and other information sources to construct a perceptual representation of the world....

Principles of Commercial Arbitration Law

In commerce, arbitration is often the preferred method of resolving commercial disputes. Disputes relating to international trade, foreign investments, insurance and reinsurance, and construction are commonly resolved by arbitration, as are disputes under...

Social Psychology

This module is designed to familiarise students with the principal theories, concepts, and research methods relevant to social psychology. The lectures and readings are designed to acquaint students with both classic and current research trends in social ...

Youth Justice

Young people engage, and always have, in activity which is wrongful and harmful. How, as a liberal democratic society, should we respond to that behaviour? This is the central concern of this module. Through discussion of recent research, legislation and ...

You must study the following modules in year 3:

Equity and Trusts (AJP)

This version of Equity and Trusts is delivered for you if you are studying the LLB JD Pathway, the LLB Accelerated programme or the LLB Law with Psychology programme.. The module examines the origin of equity, and the principles associated with equity and...

Legal Research and Writing

The Legal Research and Writing course is a compulsory final year unit. It is examined through a 10,000 word dissertation on a topic of your choice. The module builds on the research skills you have developed during your degree programme and provides you w...

Public Law 2: Administrative Justice (AJP)

This module, the second in Public Law, focuses upon the rules of administrative law which prevail in each jurisdiction and the conceptions of administrative justice. It introduces students to the relevant legal and non-legal frameworks, providing the nece...

Remedies in Contract & Tort (AJP)

This version of Remedies in Contract & Tort is provided for you if you are studying the LLB (JD Pathway), the LLB Accelerated or the LLB Law with Psychology programmes. This module combines study of remedies in contract and in tort. The module will be ...

The Law of Torts (AJP)

This version of Law of Torts is provided for you if you are studying the LLB (JD Pathway), the LLB Accelerated or the LLB Law with Psychology programmes. This module examines a broad range of torts protecting a variety of different interests. The module b...

You must also choose from the following modules in year 3:

Childhood Maltreatment and Mental Health

Childhood maltreatment is one of the leading causes of mental health problems in the world. This module is designed as an in-depth introduction to the mechanisms via which early adversity might lead to mental health problems. We will also discuss resilien...

Current & Emerging Issues in Psycho-Oncology & Pain Research

The course will comprise of an introductory session, five sessions on current and emerging issues in psycho-oncology, and five sessions on current and emerging issues in pain. The sessions on psycho-oncology cover genetic counselling, screening and treatm...

Current issues in Clinical Psychology

The module will provide an introduction to adult psychopathology, to present the psychological and biological models that have been developed to explain a variety of psychological disorders, and to examine both the empirical foundation of these models and...

Human Learning

The aim of this unit is to outline the basic learning mechanisms that allow us to organise our behaviour and adapt to our environment. One of the essential ingredients for successful organisation and adaptation is the capacity to anticipate impending even...

Intergroup Relations and Interpersonal Influence

This is an advanced module that exposes students to the scientific study of intergroup relations and interpersonal influence. The module will cover research illustrating the psychological underpinnings of persuasion, conformity, obedience, group/group-mem...

Introduction to Educational Psychology

This module aims to provide a descriptive and critical overview of the practice of educational psychology in the UK and to highlight some of the key debates.

Perspectives in Human Animal Interactions

The module will draw on the student’s prior learning with regard to various psychological areas; including but not restricted to, learning theory (operant and classical), attitude, attachment, behaviour change. An introduction to animal behaviour and welf...

Project-Based Introduction to Web Programming for Behaviour Researchers

This module adopts a project-based approach. Through building the first project, the basic rules and syntax of the five web technologies (HTML5, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and JavaScript) are gradually introduced as they are used in the project. Subsequent projec...

Psychology of Advertising

Advertising is an everyday and significant phenomenon. Sponsors hire agencies to inform us about, and persuade us to buy, innumerable branded products and services on the market, though a variety of mass media. Advertisements also urge us to donate to cha...

Self-Conscious Emotions

This module is designed to familiarize students with the principal theories, concepts, and research methods relevant to the area of self-conscious emotions. The lectures and readings are designed to acquaint students with both classic and current research...

Social and Affective Neuroscience

Humans are adapted to be highly social. We interact with a number of other people everyday, and successful social interactions depend on the ability to infer other's mental and emotional state from limited cues. Social and affective neuroscience applies t...

Social and Psychological Approaches to Understanding Sexual Health

This module will help you to develop graduate attributes, including: - academic attributes – ability to critically appraise knowledge claims based on qualitative and quantitative methods; and - communication skills – ability to communicate research desi...

Learning and assessment

The learning activities for this course include the following:

lectures
classes and tutorials
coursework
individual and group projects
independent learning (studying on your own)

How you'll spend your course time:

Study time

Your scheduled learning, teaching and independent study for year 1:

19%

Scheduled learning & teaching

81%

Independent learning

How we'll assess you

dissertations
individual and group projects
oral presentations
written exams

Your assessment breakdown

Year 1:

57%

Written exam

43%

Coursework

Academic support

You’ll be supported by a personal academic tutor and have access to a senior tutor.

Course leader

Mark Telford is the course leader.

Careers

As a graduate of a Law with Psychology degree from Southampton, you'll be one of the few candidates who can offer employers the impressive combination of a qualifying law degree, and an understanding of how the human brain perceives and responds to social systems.

This programme is accredited by the Law Society of England and Wales and the Bar Council as a qualifying law degree, so you can progress to further professional training to become a solicitor or barrister in England and Wales. Your qualifications may be recognised in other countries including India, Australia, Canada and Malaysia.

Our graduates have followed careers in:

law (including as solicitors and barristers)
media
entertainment
politics
business
accountancy
banking
the civil service
the police
probation service and social services
national and international organisations

In addition to our strong links to the legal profession, we have a dedicated careers and employability coordinator focused on your graduate opportunities. We organise:

an annual careers fair attended by over 50 law firms, including the top 5 law firms known as the 'Magic Circle' firms
a one-week Employability Skills Programme
prizes awarded to our top-performing students by leading law firms, barristers' chambers, legal publishers, companies and individuals
presentations and workshops from leading law firms and alumni
writing skills support
visits to law firms, courts, and tribunals
talks on postgraduate study opportunities

Careers services at Southampton

We are a top 20 UK university for employability (QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022). Our Careers and Employability Service will support you throughout your time as a student and for up to 5 years after graduation. This support includes:

work experience schemes
CV and interview skills and workshops
networking events
careers fairs attended by top employers
a wealth of volunteering opportunities
study abroad and summer school opportunities

We have a vibrant entrepreneurship culture and our dedicated start-up supporter, Futureworlds, is open to every student.

Work in industry

Outside of your studies, you'll find many opportunities to gain skills and give back to your fellow students and wider community. You can shadow and volunteer alongside legal experts, inform college students about their rights and responsibilities, or network at one of our many industry events.

Our students recently worked with national campaign JENGbA (Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association), leading to a landmark Supreme Court ruling. The Supreme Court acknowledged that the law on joint enterprise (relating to crimes where more than one person takes part) had been misinterpreted by the courts for over 30 years.

You can take a Year in Employment, a fantastic opportunity to complete a paid work placement between your second and third year. Your placement year is assessed, and will be included on your degree transcript when you graduate.

Fees, costs and funding

Tuition fees

Fees for a year's study:

UK students pay £9,250.
EU and international students pay £20,340.

What your fees pay for

Your tuition fees pay for the full cost of tuition and all examinations.

Find out how to:

Accommodation and living costs, such as travel and food, are not included in your tuition fees. Explore:

Bursaries, scholarships and other funding

If you're a UK or EU student and your household income is under £25,000 a year, you may be able to get a University of Southampton bursary to help with your living costs. Find out about bursaries and other funding we offer at Southampton.

If you're a care leaver or estranged from your parents, you may be able to get a specific bursary.

Get in touch for advice about student money matters.

Scholarships and grants

You may be able to get a scholarship or grant to help fund your studies.

We award scholarships and grants for travel, academic excellence, or to students from under-represented backgrounds.

Support during your course

The Student Services Centre offers support and advice on money to students. You may be able to access our Student Support fund and other sources of financial support during your course.

Funding for EU and international students

Find out about funding you could get as an international student.

Law with Psychology (LLB)