Course outline

The educational aims of the programme element are to:

1. Develop in students a fundamental knowledge and understanding of the main institutions of the English legal system, and provide a sound basis for exploration of theoretical and practical approaches to basic legal problems.

2. Develop in students an appreciation and desire to learn based on competent intellectual and practical skills that build to a set of transferable skills that will support them in all aspects of their onward academic studies/careers and support their decision making in an informed manner.

3. Ensure that students have attained the prescribed level of inter-disciplinary language competence.

The Programme Element will be delivered using a combination of Lectures/Labs/Tutorials/Self-directed study:

Lecture 

• Purpose: To deliver basic module material. 
• Structure: Each module has 4 hours contact time per week which is normally delivered in 2 hour blocks. No period of contact should exceed fifty (50) minutes at one time without a minimum of a ten (10) minute break.

Formative assessment

This is a key aspect of the programme element and is varied to ensure that a student has a variety of learning opportunities. This will include: individual and group formative assessment methods: presentations, individual and group work; and peer review.

Tutorial

Structure: Sessions are normally conducted according to preparation for specific topics and provide a collegiate atmosphere to encourage students to interact with class members building their class, or ‘team’, knowledge and skills. For each module there is one hour a week tutorial session.

Self-directed study

Each student is expected to undertake a minimum number of hours in individual study per week in order to support and build the skills, knowledge and understanding presented in each lecture and small group tutorial session per week. It is expected that students will increase the number of individual study hours as they approach formal assessment events. The ability for students to expand their learning by creating effective self-directed study patterns is a transferable skill deemed fundamental to further academic success as well as a key time-management tool. All students are provided with access to a range of on line resources through the student portal.

Electronic journals and electronic books are available through the Brunel University e-resources gateway. There will be a focus of using freely available tools and benefiting from the resources available on the internet to support learning. Guest speakers from relevant industries will provide additional perspectives for students.

This pathway leads to the following Brunel University London degrees:

• Law with Professional Placement LLB (Hons)
• Law with Criminal Justice (Professional Placement) LLB (Hons)
• Law with International Arbitration and Commercial Law (Professional Placement) LLB (Hons)

Careers and your future

You will leave Brunel with a firm grounding in law and with solid legal knowledge, allowing you to be flexible in your future choices. The Master of Laws LLM will prepare you for work in the corporate world and government as well as legal roles in the humanitarian, corporate, civil and criminal fields.

All our Law programmes offer you the option to study either full-time or part-time and we offer start dates in September and January. Brunel Law School offers small, 15–credit modules, providing further flexibility and allowing you to tailor your study according to your own interests.