Overview
Law affects every aspect of our lives: from our relationships with other people, to our interactions with shops, banks, companies and governments. Studying law enables you to understand how societies are regulated and how you can change it.
Our LLB Law (Senior Status) is designed for those with an existing degree and provides a comprehensive training in law over a concentrated two-year period. The course gives you exemption from the academic stage of training for the legal profession, allowing you to proceed to the Bar Professional Training Course or the Legal Practice Course.
At Essex we teach the law that matters, with a concern for the demands of justice and commerce. We combine a rigorous legal training with opportunities for developing your practical expertise, and you learn to analyse the law of England and Wales in relation to its European and international frameworks and to apply it in practice.
As a law student, not only will you learn legal rules, but you will also consider the function of law in society, the philosophy of law, policy issues and law reform. You cover all the key areas of law including:
- Property law, land law, equity and trusts
- Law of the European Union
- Contract law and tort law
- Criminal law
- Public law
At Essex we specialise in commercial law, public law, and human rights law. We are ranked 51st in the THE World University Rankings 2021 and we are top 20 in the UK for research excellence (REF 2014, mainstream universities, THE 2014).
At Essex, we don’t simply prepare you to for the legal profession. We equip you with the skills and knowledge to become an agent for change, whatever career path you choose.
Our expert staff
Our internationally diverse community of staff and students gives us a breadth of cross-cultural perspectives and insights into law and justice around the world.
Specialist facilities
- Volunteer at the Essex Law Clinic where you can work alongside practicing solicitors to offer legal advice to clients
- Gain commercial awareness at our Business and Legal Advice Clinic
- Work on key human rights projects at our Human Rights Clinic
- Participate in mooting competitions to develop your skills,
- Test your mediation and negotiation skills in our Client Interviewing Competition
- Join our Model United Nations society, which can improve your skills of argumentation, oral presentation and research
- Network at our student-run Law Society, Human Rights Society, and Bar Society, which provides legal advice to the Commonwealth Students’ Association (CSA)
- Peer mentors guide you through your first year
- Take advantage of networking opportunities throughout the year with visiting law firms
Your future
From the start of your course, we challenge you to think deeply, broadly and strategically about career paths. Over the first two years, alongside law subjects, you will take a career management module designed to help you identify personal strengths and goals, understand what employers (both within and outside law) are looking for and enhance your employability profile.
We also hold an annual law fair, attended by law firms and vocational qualification providers. Our graduates pursue careers in the law and in a wide range of other sectors including business and commerce, accountancy, insurance, banking, central and local government, academia, teaching, social work and the police force.
Our mantra is: be realistically ambitious. This involves understanding yourself and the rapidly changing and increasingly competitive graduate jobs market. Throughout your time at Essex, advisors in our Student Development Team, working closely with colleagues in our School, are available to help you formulate your career plan.
Why we’re great
- Our lecturers work with the UN, the UK government, and with numerous governments in the EU and worldwide
- You gain work experience advising real clients through opportunities such as the Essex Law Clinic
- We stimulate your desire to pursue justice and become an agent for change
Structure
Course structure
We offer a flexible course structure with a mixture of core/compulsory modules, and optional modules chosen from lists.
Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field. The course content is therefore reviewed on an annual basis to ensure our courses remain up-to-date so modules listed are subject to change.
Teaching and learning disclaimer
Following the impact of the pandemic, we made changes to our teaching and assessment to ensure our current students could continue with their studies uninterrupted and safely. These changes included courses being taught through blended delivery, normally including some face-to-face teaching, online provision, or a combination of both across the year.
The teaching and assessment methods listed show what is currently approved for 2022 entry; changes may be necessary if, by the beginning of this course, we need to adapt the way we’re delivering them due to the external environment, and to allow you to continue to receive the best education possible safely and seamlessly.
