Welcome

A Message from Prof Javaid Rehman, Head of School

Dear prospective students,

We are pleased that you want to find out more about studying Law at Brunel University. At Brunel great importance is attached to the quality of both teaching and research. You will see information on our web pages about the 3 and 4 year versions of our LLB degree, the wide range of postgraduate courses and the opportunities to undertake doctoral research. You will also see that we achieved excellent scores in the 2008 RAE demonstrating that all staff are engaged in research of a very high quality.

Historical Background

Law at Brunel has been taught in the former Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences since the opening of the University in 1966. A full Law Degree was introduced in 1969; the first degrees were awarded in 1973. August 2004 saw the creation of the School of Social Sciences and Law and a major expansion in the Law staff to its current size. Brunel Law School was created in October 2006. During this time, Brunel has established itself as a major player in the UK law research landscape and is now ranked in the top ten in the UK for research. Students are the first beneficiaries of this research culture. At Brunel great importance is attached to the quality of both teaching and research.

Undergraduate Degrees in Law

Law has a current undergraduate population of approximately 500 offering the LL.B Law degree, which may be taken as a three-year or four-year programme.

The four-year degree programme incorporates work experience in selected placements. On the four-year degree programme students with paid placements have to complete 44 weeks (220 days) and students with unpaid placements have to complete 30 weeks (150 days) in one year. The placement may count towards the period of professional training required by The Law Society for solicitors provided that certain conditions are met. View more information on placements and on why they provide our graduates such a competitive edge on the market place.

The Brunel LL.B degree is fully recognised by the Law Society and the Council of Legal Education as giving exemption from the first stage of the professional examinations for solicitors and barristers. For more details see our Undergraduate Courses

CPE/Graduate Diploma in Law

Brunel Law School introduced a new CPE and Graduate Diploma in Law programme in September 2003. The CPE/Graduate Diploma in Law is a one-year conversion course for non-Law graduates. The Brunel CPE/Graduate Diploma in Law is fully recognised by the Law Society and the General Council of the Bar as giving exemption from the first stage of the professional examinations for solicitors and barristers.

Taught Postgraduate Degrees in Law

In addition to the undergraduate programme, we are committed to postgraduate teaching. For more details see our PG teaching pages.

We offer a wide variety of courses including:

These courses may be studied full-time in one year or part-time over two years. In addition, in September 2003, two new full-time programmes started, the LLM in International Trade Law and the LLM in European and International Commercial Law. Because of their huge success and the interests our students demonstrated, new courses were added at the start of academic year 2005-2006: the General LLM, the LLM/ PG Dip International Economic Law and LLM/PG Dip International Economic Law and Trade Law, and two qualifications in Intellectual Property Law (PgCert Intellectual Property Law for professionals and the LLM/PG Dip International Intellectual Property Law. A new LLM course in International Human Rights Law started in September 2006.

Research Degrees in Law

Law offers also an extensive programme of research, leading to the degrees of Ph.D. or M.Phil. in the areas in which its expertise is most pronounced. Staff and research students are actively engaged in research, details of which may be found under our postgraduate research pages.