Course summary

The Common Law degree is designed for those who plan to practise law in common law jurisdictions such as England & Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Canada. It is not suitable if you wish to enter the legal profession in Scotland. The Common Law curriculum offers intellectual depth and has a range of flexible options. You will explore all aspects of literature in English from early modern to postmodern, benefiting from our expertise in a wide range of areas, including American, Irish & postcolonial literatures, critical theory, creative writing, and the relationship between literature and other arts, media & science. Why study this course at the University of Glasgow? The Bachelor of Laws (LLB) Common Law programme is an exacting intellectual discipline and offers a thorough grounding in key areas of the law. The degree can be studied to Ordinary level, requiring three years of full-time study, or to Honours level in four years of full-time study. We have an extremely successful and popular study abroad programme. Traditionally, more than 60% of our Honours students in a normal year take the opportunity to spend all or part of the third year studying law in another country. In all cases study abroad is integrated into the degree and does not involve an additional year of study. You will benefit from access to the University’s world-class Hunterian collection and the Library’s Special Collections, with strengths in the 18th and 19th centuries, travel, illuminated manuscripts and significant single-author holdings. Career Prospects? The flexibility of the LLB (Common Law) at Glasgow, together with the emphasis on developing the key skills required by employers and the opportunities available to study abroad and to take part in placement opportunities, means that the degree provides a sound general foundation for a range of careers. These include the Civil Service, local government, journalism, industry & commerce, international institutions, administration, banking, insurance, social work and the police service. All Glasgow law students benefit from a dedicated employability programme, featuring tailored events focusing on various aspects of legal practice. These events feature a range of legal professionals from solicitors and barristers through to judges (many of whom are Glasgow graduates themselves). Law students at Glasgow may also gain real-world legal experience and an opportunity to develop their skillset through legal clinical projects run via the GO Justice Initiative. If you intend to become a barrister in England & Wales, the LLB (Common Law) satisfies the Bar Standards Board requirements regarding the academic component of training based on a law degree. After completing our degree, you would then undertake the ‘vocational stage’ of training, which requires completion of a postgraduate Bar course. The final step in qualifying as a barrister involves a period of full-time training for one year (‘pupillage’). If you intend to become a solicitor, the LLB (Common Law) is currently recognised for the purposes of qualifying as a solicitor in Northern Ireland (the Solicitor course at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies, Belfast). If you intend to become a solicitor in England and Wales, the Solicitors Regulation Authority administers an independent, centralised assessment called the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). A degree in English Literature is highly respected in the current job market, not just by employers in the arts, education and media sectors but also in public relations, finance, business and technology. This is because graduates in English Literature possess valuable skills for the future, such as argumentation, cognitive flexibility, coordinating with others, creativity and critical analysis and we work hard, with the support of our careers support advisers, to prepare our students for a wide range of future employment.