Our LLB is designed to build over four years from foundation subjects through to expert specialist knowledge.
View the programme specification document for this course
Accreditation
Our LLB programmes are formally accredited by the Law Society of England and Wales and the Bar Council of England and Wales as qualifying law degrees (QLD) for students wishing to undertake further professional training to become solicitors or barristers.
Programme Structure
This is a full-time degree course taught over four years, with a year of study at an overseas university in the third year.
When you arrive, you will take part in a comprehensive induction exercise designed to help you get to know your fellow students and develop your teamwork skills in preparation for starting your first-year law studies.
During years one and two, you will study compulsory modules that cover the ‘foundations of legal knowledge’ (such as criminal law, contract and land law) required by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board in order to achieve a qualifying law degree.
The first year also includes compulsory Legal Systems and Legal Skills modules, the former designed to build your understanding of the legal system and the latter to develop the key analytical skills that are essential to success in your studies and your future career.
Your module choices increase as you progress through the course. In year one you will choose one of two specially designed optional modules; Historical Development of the Common Law or Philosophical Perspectives on the Common Law, which will help you put the law into a broader context of time and theory.
In year two, you can choose two modules from a range that includes criminal justice, health care law, commercial, maritime, family, employment and data protection law.
You can also opt to study a language relevant to your study-abroad country. (Tuition in Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore will be in English. In Canada, students can opt to study law modules in English or French.)
In year three, you will choose six optional modules from a choice of 20 to 25 subjects. Topics include home ownership, youth justice, cybercrime law, insurance, maritime and commercial law, child support law, human rights and public international law, criminal justice, international trade and intellectual property law. You may choose to take an interdisciplinary module, depending on your interests, for example, in global challenges or social enterprise, or perhaps a language module.
In the final year, in addition, you will take the Legal Research and Writing module, which further develops your independent research skills and culminates in a 10,000-word dissertation. You choose the research topic and complete your dissertation with support from your academic supervisor.
International studies
You will spend your third year studying law at one of our carefully selected partner institutions. You can choose to study in Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India or Singapore, studying aspects of the legal system and substantive law of your chosen country. You will take four modules or equivalent in each semester.
Your year abroad will:
- increase your personal confidence, opening up a wider range of career options, and broaden your life experience.
- develop your knowledge of a different legal system, showing intellectual curiosity.
- improve your language skills.
Our students return to their fourth-year studies with a more mature, independent outlook and greater confidence – qualities that will impress recruiters in today’s global job market.
Professional and transferable skills
As you would expect from a research-led, Russell Group law school, embedding transferable skills across the curriculum is important to ensure you are well equipped for your future career, hence:
- You will be helped to improve your critical analysis and problem-solving skills.
- Your presentation skills will be developed through participation in tutorials and mooting competitions (a specialised form of legal debate, essentially a mock case). In the first year, you will take part in a moot judged by external legal practitioners, which is intended to help you improve your skills in constructing and presenting an argument.
- Library and other exercises are designed to help you develop appropriate research and writing skills.
Research-led education
You will learn from leading academics engaged in exciting research on issues of daily significance, ranging from the transfer of land and assets, the protection of prisoners’ rights, the standards of corporate governance in our businesses, and the impact of technology in diverse areas such as driverless cars and cybersecurity, to the law and ethics of medical treatments, the protection of intellectual property, the management of the oceans and the international trade across them, and the upholding of human rights. Many of the teaching staff are active members of the Law School’s research centres and closely engaged in law reform, nationally and internationally.
Our expert staff include:
- Professor Yvonne Baatz, who specialises in commercial law
- Professor Hazel Biggs, an expert in medical law and bioethics
- Professor James Davey, who specialises in insurance and commercial law
- Professor David Gurnham, a criminal law expert whose research interests include law and literature, and critical and theoretical approaches to law
- Professor Brenda Hannigan, who specialises in company law and corporate governance
- Professor Filippo Lorenzon, who specialises in international trade law
- Professor Sarah Nield, an expert in land and commercial law
- Professor Paul Todd, who specialises in maritime and commercial law
- Professor Mikis Tsimplis, who specialises in maritime and environmental law
- Professor Andrew Serdy, an expert in public international law and ocean governance
- Professor Peter Sparkes, who specialises in land law
- Professor Hilton Staniland, an expert in admiralty law
Professional links
Our strong links with the legal profession enhance your career options.
- Solicitors and barristers – many of them former students – regularly visit to give guest lectures and career talks, giving you helpful insights into the profession and how to build a career.
- Our links with the profession mean that we can offer a range of prizes and placements for high-performing LLB students, sponsored by leading law firms, which can enhance your CV and boost your employment prospects.
There are opportunities to get involved, for example by:
- applying for a place on one of our three prestigious marshalling schemes, shadowing a senior member of the judiciary in the High Court or Court of Appeal
- working with legal professionals to provide advice through the Housing Clinic or Small Business Clinic
- researching a legal topic to present to sixth-form college students as part of the Streetlaw programme
In addition, our student-run societies hold employability skills workshops, mooting competitions, guest lectures and networking events. Societies include the University of Southampton Law Society, Inns of Court Society, Mooting Society, Lawyers without Borders and the Canadian Law Society.
Key Facts
Study law in a jurisdiction outside the European Union and experience a completely different culture.
Spend a full academic year in Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore or Australia.
The School constantly reviews its module offerings and regularly develops exciting and dynamic new options to reflect the results of the vibrant research being carried out in the School.
Annual Careers Fair
Students can attend our annual fair
Find out more
“I chose the University of Southampton primarily for its reputation and in being a Russell Group University. Although I wasn’t sure if I wanted a career in Law when I was looking at universities, I knew that having my undergraduate degree from Southampton would stand me in good stead when applying for graduate schemes.”
Anna Leathem - LLB with International Legal StudiesTypical entry requirements
GCSEs:
| Qualification | Grade |
|---|
| GCSE | Southampton Law School requires all applicants to achieve at least a Grade 4 (taken in England) or a Grade C (where taken in Northern Ireland or Wales) in English and Mathematics. If you are taking an alternative Mathematics qualification please contact our admissions team via ugapply.FBL@southampton.ac.uk. |
A Levels:
| Qualification | Grade |
|---|
| GCE A-level | AAA or for students taking the Extended Project Qualification in the same year as their A2 exams, AAB at A level plus A in the EPQ. Applicants should offer at least two traditional, academic subjects.
Dance, General Studies, Photography, Moving Images, Physical Education, Practical Art, Practical Music, Sports Studies, Textiles, Travel & Tourism are not accepted subjects. |
IB:
| Qualification | Grade |
|---|
| International Baccalaureate | 36 points overall (18 at higher level)
An equivalent standard in other qualifications approved by the University is considered, so please contact us if you require advice on equivalency.
LNAT (Law National Admissions Test) is not required.
|
Other qualifications
We welcome students with other qualifications eg European or Welsh Baccalaureate, Scottish Advanced Highers and Irish Leaving Certificates.
We also welcome applications from overseas students offering foundation programmes with a substantial amount of academic study. Less than half the programme should be English language tuition and you will be expected to reach a high standard in your programme comparable to our A level requirements.
For more details on the suitability of your qualifications or foundation programme please contact the Admissions Team at UGapply.FBL@southampton.ac.uk.
English Language requirements
If English is not your first language, you will be required to pass an approved test prior to joining the University in October. The University’s English Language entry requirement for the Law School programme is;
An overall IELTS score of 6.5 with not less than 6.5 in each component, or equivalent
The link below takes you to a complete list of the other English language qualifications accepted.
https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentadmin/admissions/admissionspolicies/language/
Test results should be less than two years old at the time of expected registration at the University of Southampton and must be verified before admission.
If you do not meet the University’s English Language entry requirements for direct entry onto our programmes, you may be eligible to study on one of the University’s pre-sessional English language courses. For further information on these pre-sessional programmes, please visit the Centre for Language Studies website.
Returners to Learning
We welcome applications from returners to learning who are over 23 years of age at the start of your proposed degree programme. You will be required to provide evidence of having completed recent serious and successful study (e.g. Access, Return to Education, Open University Foundation Courses). You will be required to undertake a test and interview to determine your academic suitability to pursue the programme.
Selection process:
Decisions are made on the basis of your UCAS application form, taking into account:
- past academic performance
- your predicted grades
- academic reference
- your personal statement.
No application is rejected unless two assessors have independently reached that decision.
Candidates are not normally interviewed. We select those who demonstrate the potential and commitment to study Law at degree level.
If you have professional experience, or credit through prior learning at another institution, you may be eligible to use this experience against some of the programme requirements for period of study. You will need to present evidence that you have met the learning outcomes of the programme. Full details can be found in the University’s Policy on the Recognition of Prior Learning.
Contextual Offers
The University of Southampton is committed to widening participation and ensuring that all students with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply to study with us. The additional information gained through contextual data supports our admissions teams to recognise a student’s potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. Students who flagged in this way will be made an offer which is lower than the typical offer for that programme
A typical contextual offer is AAB from three A levels or an equivalent standard in other qualifications approved by the University (the excluded subjects above will still apply).
Please see our contextual admissions pages for more information.
This page contains specific entry requirements for this course. Find out about
equivalent
entry requirements and qualifications for your country.
Typical course content
The Law School will offer a selection of the optional modules listed below’
Core modules are required to be passed within all Qualifying Law Degrees, for progression to professional training.
Please note: This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the
programme and the learning outcomes that a typical
student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if s/he takes full advantage
of the learning opportunities that are provided.
More detailed information can be found in the programme handbook (or other appropriate guide
or website).
Tuition fees
| Name | Year of entry | Mode of study | UK/EU | International |
|---|
| LLB Law (International Legal Studies) | 2018 | Full-time | £9,250 | £16,536 |
Funding
Scholarships, bursaries or grants may be available to support you through your
course.
Funding opportunities available to you are linked to your subject area and/or
your country of origin.
These can be from the University of Southampton or other sources.
Costs associated with this course
Students are responsible for meeting the cost of essential textbooks, and of producing such
essays, assignments, laboratory reports and dissertations as are required to fulfil the
academic requirements for each programme of study.
There will also be further costs for the following, not purchasable from the
University:
| Type | Description |
|---|
| Stationery | You will be expected to provide your own day‐to‐day stationery items, e.g. pens, pencils, notebooks, etc). Any specialist stationery items will be specified under the Additional Costs tab of the relevant module profile. |
| Books | Where a module specifies core texts these should generally be available on the reserve list in the library. However due to demand, students may prefer to buy their own copies. These can be purchased from any source.
Some modules suggest reading texts as optional background reading. The library may hold copies of such texts, or alternatively you may wish to purchase your own copies. Although not essential reading, you may benefit from the additional reading materials for the module. |
| Printing and copying | In most cases, written coursework such as essays, projects and dissertations is submitted online and by hard copy. The costs of printing a hard copy for submission of such coursework will be the responsibility of the student.
The cost of photocopying will also be the responsibility of the student.
https://www.southampton.ac.uk/isolutions/students/printing |
| Placements | There will be costs associated with the year abroad placement. |
In some cases you'll be able to choose modules (which may have different costs associated
with that module) which will change the overall cost of a programme to you. Please also
ensure you read the section on additional costs in the University’s Fees, Charges and
Expenses Regulations in the University Calendar available at www.calendar.soton.ac.uk.
