Course summary

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2022). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas. The Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) is a world-renowned taught graduate course in law, designed to serve outstanding law students from common law backgrounds. The academic standard is significantly higher than that required in a first law degree, and only those with outstanding first law degrees are admitted. You will choose four courses from a list of around 40 different options, including a dissertation option (dissertation to be submitted at the end of Week five of the third term). A list of the options can be on the Oxford Law Faculty website. All options are taught by a combination of lectures and/or seminars and tutorials apart from the dissertation option, which involves one-to-one sessions with an assigned supervisor. You will be able to choose to take two half options in law in place of one course, or four half options in law in place of two courses, thereby allowing you to study a wider range of subjects. Seminars are normally led by a senior member of academic staff but are typically interactive in nature, and you will be expected to participate in the discussions arising from the material covered. Tutorials involve an intensive discussion between a tutor and a small group of students, usually between two and four, providing an opportunity for you to present your ideas and discuss your work with leading academics. Typically, seminars will introduce you to a particular area of study and familiarise you with general concepts and ideas which will then be investigated in greater depth in the tutorials. For most tutorials you will be expected to write an essay, which typically will be marked and returned to you at the next tutorial. Outside of the seminars and tutorials, you will be expected to read extensively in order to acquire the necessary knowledge to engage with course material at an appropriate level. The balance between teaching and independent study will vary from option to option, but as a rough guide, a student may expect a ratio of four hours of independent study to every one hour of teaching. Supervision For this course, the allocation of graduate supervision is the responsibility of the Law Faculty and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. Under exceptional circumstances a supervisor may be found outside of the Law Faculty. BCL students have an academic advisor rather than a supervisor, who will meet with the students at the beginning of the academic year and then usually once a term for the remainder of the academic year. The academic advisor gives general advice and provides an oversight of the student’s progress, with detailed academic advice provided by those who teach on the particular options the student is taking. Assessment Most options are assessed by means of timed examinations at the end of the course but a number use assessed essays written over a longer period. Further information about forms of assessment is provided on the Law Faculty BCL admissions page.