Law with International Arbitration and Commercial Law LLB

The Brunel LLB Law with International Arbitration and Commercial Law gives students the opportunity to earn a law degree with specialist knowledge of international arbitration and commercial law.

Along with the requirements of the traditional LLB degree you’ll learn commercial, international and comparative law and about cross-border transactions and cross-cultural dispute resolution.

We offer two study options. You can choose three years full-time, or four years full-time with a one-year professional placement between years two and three that will give you hands-on experience working in a legal practice.

All of our students have careers advisers with whom you can discuss career ideas with and who can offer guidance on placements and further study options throughout your time with us.

With its foundation of English law and practice and its focus on arbitration and commercial law your degree will stand you in good stead for lucrative cross-border fields of legal practice.

The solicitors qualification route will change from 1 September 2021. To qualify as a solicitor you will need a degree and to pass the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), Parts 1 and 2. The Brunel LLB provides a solid grounding in the core legal subjects aspiring solicitors need to know. There will be a transitional period applicable to students who have completed, started, accepted an offer of a place or paid a non-refundable deposit by 21 September 2021 (inclusive) for a qualifying law degree (QLD) as long as they started their course by 31 December 2021. These students will have had the option of taking either the 'QLD route' or the 'SQE route'. Brunel LLB programme is a QLD for these purposes. Those students who opted for the QLD route by 1 September 2021 will have until 31 December 2031 to qualify as a solicitor, as long as courses still remain available. To qualify as a barrister you will need a law degree which covers the foundations of legal knowledge subjects, which the Brunel LLB does. For further information on solicitor and barrister qualification routes, please refer to www.sra.org.uk and www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

The LLB consists of compulsory and optional modules, which are designed to give you a thorough grounding in the English law, international arbitration and commercial law.

This course can be studied 3 years full-time or 4 years full-time with placement, starting in September.

Many Brunel Law School students start their course knowing that they want to progress into the legal profession, and do.  However, studying law can also offer a firm foundation for success in the corporate world, government or international relations.

Students on the LLB Law with International Arbitration and Commercial Law can spend a year working in law firms with solicitors  and in the legal departments of commercial organisations or government departments.  

Under the umbrella of Law Lives, you’ll build, develop and strengthen transferable skills and experiences through a range of activities and programmes such as Brunel’s Pro Bono Legal Advice Centre, which offers pro bono legal advice through various clinics in different areas of law.

Our graduates in recent years went on to pursue careers in range of high-profile organisations such as the Court of Appeal, Blake Morgan, CPS, Freshfields, Mishcon de Reya, the Home Office and Linklaters.

Our strong links with industry will help you to boost your career potential. Brunel is one of the few UK universities on the Blake Morgan Brand Ambassador Scheme – offering great work experience opportunities, mentoring programmes and giving you great exposure to the graduate recruitment team of a leading law firm.

After successful completion of the degree, you will be exempt from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) Module 1 International Arbitration course and assessment and will be eligible to apply for MCIArb status.

With a 95%* employment rate, you’ll be sure to leave Brunel with a firm grounding in legal theory, allowing you to be flexible in your future choices. 

*UNISTATS 2018: 4-year course

• GCE A Level ABB (all subjects considered excluding General Studies).
• BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma DDM in Business, Applied Law or Public Services.
• BTEC Level 3 Diploma DD in Business, Applied Law or Public Services subject, with an A Level at grade B.
• BTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma D in Applied Law, Business or Public Services subject, with A Levels grade BB.
• International Baccalaureate Diploma 31 points. GCSE English equivalent SL 5 or HL 4 and Mathematics SL 4 or HL 4.
• Obtain a minimum of 128 UCAS tariff points in the Access to HE Diploma in Law, Business and Law or Humanities and Social Science with 45 credits at Level 3.

A minimum of five GCSEs are required, including GCSE Mathematics grade C or grade 4 and GCSE English Language grade C or grade 4 or GCSE English Literature grade B or grade 5.

Please check our Admissions pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants as well as our full GCSE requirements and accepted equivalencies in place of GCSEs.

• IELTS: 6.5 (min 5.5 in all areas)
• Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores)
• BrunELT: 63% (min 55% in all areas)
• TOEFL: 90 (min R18, L17, S20, W17)  

Brunel Law School is research driven and was ranked 14th in the UK for REF Intensity in Law in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF2014). Through their research, our lecturers are constantly extending the boundaries of domestic and international legal scholarship, which means your education will be innovative, inspiring and truly up-to-date.

Your course will consist of lectures, tutor-led seminars, private study and one-to-one supervision with your tutor. Our lecture class sizes are around 250 students, and your seminar groups will consist of up to 15 students. You will have one weekly two hour lecture and a fortnightly seminar in each module. You’ll also receive further support with our unique first-year module, ‘Legal Skills and Methods’, where you will begin to build your professional skills and legal profile.

Independent learning features heavily on the Law undergraduate degrees, and you will be expected to complete around 10-12 hours of self-directed study a week alongside your lectures and seminars.

The learning doesn’t stop there. We offer a host of professional development activities to help you develop the legal and transferable skills that will make you stand out in the job market.

• We run workshops, short courses and career events with experts from across the legal spectrum that will give you an insider’s view of the various aspects of the profession
• Our mentoring scheme gives you the opportunity to work individually with an experienced legal practitioner and gain insight into a particular area of law and the profession in general
• Mooting sessions, which are mock courtroom hearings, allow you to test out the presentation, argument and research skills you’ve been learning

You will receive your timetable in advance of the course starting.

Should you need any non-academic support during your time at Brunel, the Student Support and Welfare Team are here to help.

Modules are assessed by various combinations of coursework and/or examinations. In the final year you are also required to write a dissertation.

In Levels 1 and 2, you will be assessed by 50% examination, 35% coursework consisting of a 2000 word essay including footnotes and references, and 15% seminar participation.