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Law General at Birkbeck, University of London - UCAS

Course options

2025 - 2026
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There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

Course summary

This LLM Law General is a research-led course designed to ensure you gain a solid foundation in general and inter- and multidisciplinary approaches to legal research, while providing you with the opportunity for focused specialism, as well as flexibility and diversity in your module choice. Why choose this course?

  • This course is led by academic staff with extensive research expertise and publications in their field. They are part of a proud tradition of critical scholarship in law who address issues of law through power and inequality and are led by principles of social, economic, political, environmental and racial justice.
  • It allows you to choose from a diverse range of modules from any of the other pathway law courses, according to your professional and academic interests.
  • It is ideal if you would like to advance in your existing career or are ambitious to carve out a new career path.
What you will learn This course will provide you with substantive knowledge of a wide range of contemporary legal topics and introduce you to key critical legal theories and methodologies. A compulsory module will provide you with an essential grounding in inter- and multi-disciplinary approaches to legal research, methods and skills. You will also have the opportunity to combine this with an additional optional research project module for a focused and supervised final project. During the course you will:
  • gain an understanding of the intersection between law and other societal challenges, as well as the interaction between multiple areas of law
  • learn how to transfer your understanding of complex problems and regulatory responses to different contexts
  • critically evaluate legal, regulatory and policy proposals.
How you will learn You will be taught on this course via a combination of pre-recorded lectures and seminars. Lectures are designed to engage you in an outline or overview of the topic and seminars are group sessions in which you are encouraged to contribute to discussion or group work around the topic. You will be able to choose between full- and part-time study. This course has an evening timetable with classes taking place in the evening. Highlights
  • At Birkbeck we understand that law is about more than just legal doctrine and legal technique, so we have designed a truly interdisciplinary course in which you are able to take option modules from within the Law School and from other schools at Birkbeck.
  • The Birkbeck Law School is internationally renowned for its pathbreaking theoretical, political and humanities-based scholarship.
  • You will be able to attend our Law School Annual Lecture and specialist research seminars which feature international scholars speaking on current issues and their interdisciplinary research.
  • We are home to the Birkbeck Law Press which publishes Law and Critique: The International Journal of Critical Legal Thought. You can also take advantage of the rich research collections nearby, including those of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Senate House Library, the British Library of Political and Economic Science (LSE Library) and the British Library.
Careers and employability On successfully graduating from this LLM Law General, you will have gained an array of important transferable skills, including:
  • the ability to work as part of a team
  • high-level oral and written communication skills
  • proficient research skills
  • skills in evaluating and assessing types of information.
Graduates can pursue career paths in: the legal profession, advocacy, policy analysis, NGOs, the civil service, academia, research or journalism. Possible professions include:
  • barrister
  • solicitor
  • researcher
  • journalist
  • chartered legal executive
  • licensed conveyancer
  • human resources officer
  • patent attorney.

Modules

For information about course structure and the modules you will be studying, please visit Birkbeck’s online prospectus.

Assessment method

Assessment varies depending on the modules you take but may include short written exercises, essays, quizzes and multiple-choice questionnaires, practical assessments and case studies.

How to apply

International applicants

If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, the requirement for this course is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 6.5, with not less than 6.0 in each of the sub-tests. If you don't meet the minimum IELTS requirement, we offer pre-sessional English courses and foundation programmes to help you improve your English language skills and get your place at Birkbeck.

Entry requirements

A second-class honours degree (2:2) or above in law, the humanities or social sciences; other honours degrees will be considered. Equivalent international qualifications will also be considered. Other relevant qualifications and appropriate professional training and experience are welcome and will be taken into account. Excellent English language skills are essential. Applications are reviewed on their individual merits and your professional qualifications and/or relevant work experience will be taken into consideration positively. We actively support and encourage applications from mature learners.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

England £12840 Year 1
Northern Ireland £12840 Year 1
Scotland £12840 Year 1
Wales £12840 Year 1
International £22410 Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

Students are charged a tuition fee in each year of their course. Tuition fees for students continuing on their course in following years may be subject to annual inflationary increases.
Law General at Birkbeck, University of London - UCAS