Are you a graduate looking to build a career in law? The University of Bolton’s Master’s degree in Law offers a highly regarded and flexible route to acquire postgraduate-level specialist legal knowledge.

Key information

Award:

LLM

Mode of Study:

Part-time

Duration:

24 months

Location:

University of Bolton

Start date:

25/09/2023

Course Details

The LLM in Law offered by the University of Bolton's School of Law is suitable for law graduates, non-law graduates, and practicing lawyers.

Our challenging but supportive environment gives you the chance to acquire postgraduate legal skills from a team of tutors with specialist knowledge and close links to the legal profession.

You'll have the opportunity to explore the law's key themes and focus your studies on personal and professional interest areas, ranging from corporate and finance law to employment law, intellectual property law, European law, and international law.

This LLM offers intellectually-stimulating course content underpinned by internationally recognised research. By the end of the course, you'll have had the opportunity to develop key transferable skills that are in demand in both legal and non-legal careers worldwide.

This course is not designed for people looking to become a solicitor or barrister. If you wish to practice law, please consider our LLB (Hons) Law or Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) courses.

Highlights

Our mission to develop innovative, rewarding and career-focused training has led to our rating as second in the UK for student experience and teaching quality by The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021.
At the institution level, the Guardian University Guide 2022 ranks the University of Bolton as one of the UK's top 50 institutions for the second year running.
You can join our vibrant, focused and supportive community of legal scholars gaining advanced knowledge and skills directly relevant to international and corporate law sectors.
The School of Law’s dedicated and well-qualified team deliver teaching and supervision, drawing on their professional experience as qualified solicitors, barristers and solicitor advocates, as well as their doctoral and research expertise.
You’ll benefit from the opportunity to critically analyse and understand the complexities arising in your chosen specialist field.
We'll support you in developing originality in applying your knowledge, along with a practical understanding of how to use established research and enquiry techniques to best effect.
You'll have the chance to develop strengths in critical analysis, creative thinking, formulating, and solving complex legal problems.
The University of Bolton’s excellent libraries, 24/7 IT facilities, WiFi and learning areas are freely available for your use.
By developing your interpersonal skills to interact effectively with a range of specialists, you could also enhance your professional prospects.

Key Features

This course focuses on establishing your knowledge and understanding of the doctrines and principles that underpin the law of England and Wales.
Our expert team will support you as you learn about the sources of the law, how it is made and developed, the institutions that administer it, and the personnel who practice it.
You'll have the opportunity to explore a wide range of legal concepts, values, principles and rules of English law.
We'll support you in developing your understanding of the relationship between legal concepts, values, principles and rules in several areas.
You'll be able to practice your skills in the University's dedicated courtroom, which provides a cutting-edge learning environment and an excellent venue for guest speakers.
Our well-qualified and research-active teaching team offers specialist knowledge of the legal sector, underpinned by their first-hand experience working in legal practice.
Course materials are available online, allowing you to prepare work in advance and ensuring that in-class learning is highly interactive.
At the School of Law, we regularly review our courses to ensure we offer our students the best possible education and opportunities. An industry advisory board that brings together representatives from legal practice, the judiciary and the legal sector supports this process, ensuring our courses reflect the needs of employers and the wider legal industry.

You should have at least a lower second class honours degree (2:2) in a relevant subject (or a comparable qualification from a UK or overseas institution).
If you don’t possess the above qualifications but have substantial managerial or employment experience, we’ll be happy to consider your application.
Your application form must be accompanied by a reflective overview of the managerial responsibilities you have undertaken to date.
Your application must include a reference on headed paper from your current or most recent employer. The reference must clearly state the length of employment and give a breakdown of your and roles and responsibilities.
We'll also consider applications where appropriate work experience can be demonstrated in lieu of, or in addition to, the published academic qualifications in line with the University’s Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) procedures.
You may be required to attend an interview and/or provide a portfolio of work.
If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 7.0 with normally no less than 6.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.

Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.

The LLM is an advanced academic degree that allows you to explore a selection of legal issues in more depth. It can assist you in developing the associated research and reasoning skills that employers highly value. It's open to both law and non-law graduates.

Upon successfully completing this course, you'll be able to demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems and be confident in planning and implementing your projects. Your greater understanding of specific legal disciplines will support you in demonstrating the strategic planning and thinking skills needed in today's global economy.

By studying this course, you can also develop a range of transferable skills such as legal research and writing, analysis, critical evaluation and logical thinking, teamwork, leadership, and written and verbal communication.

What can I do with this qualification?

Excellent career opportunities are open to graduates of this course due to strong demand in the public and private sectors for professionals who possess an advanced understanding of specialist legal areas. For instance, if you’re an HR professional, this course offers a strong knowledge of current employment law that will be highly attractive to employers. Alternatively, the understanding of corporate, financial and trade law this course offers will be invaluable during your career if you’re an aspiring business leader or financial expert.

The LLM is not a route to qualification as a solicitor or barrister. If your goal is to become a solicitor, please consider our Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) courses. Alternatively, please consider our LLB (Hons) Law degree if you wish to train as a barrister.

This LLM can also be a stepping-stone to a PhD.

Alternative career options

Graduates can use this qualification as a stepping-stone into a range of other careers. For some of these roles, relevant experience and/or postgraduate study may be required. They include:

Insurance
IT
Teaching and education
Immigration
Police services
Trading standards
Investment banking
Tax advice/inspection
International aid/development
Human resources
Health and safety
Probation/social work
Accountancy
Political research
Charity and advice work
Recruitment

Course fees

Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2022-2023 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.

The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.

Bursaries

Click here for more information on our Master's Bursaries.

For details of how to apply for this course, please choose your status from the options below:

You may apply directly to the University using the University's online application form. Please select your chosen start date from the list below:

You should have to hand:

Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
Details of any employment history including name, address, dates and role
Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
Details including e-mail addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference

Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format. Personal statements may be word documents.

Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page. If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already input.

If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or admissions@bolton.ac.uk

Apply online: University of Bolton LLM in Law - 25 September 2023

International applications are not possible for this course

As an international student you are not allowed to study this course because of the restrictions on your visa.

We offer a wide range of full-time courses in lots of different subjects, many of our courses start in September and January. If you would like to see what courses are available please visit our Course Search.

We use various teaching and learning methods to help you acquire and develop the appropriate skills, concepts and knowledge needed to succeed in your studies. Our blended learning and teaching style includes online delivery and engagement where appropriate.

You'll be expected to attend formally-timetabled classes with tutors, such as lectures, seminars, tutorials, discussions groups, guest speakers and masterclasses. We'll use a combination of live sessions and online and practical work as appropriate. You'll also need to undertake a significant amount of personal study, including activities such as background reading, preparing for seminar activities, working on assignments, and revising for exams.

The assessment strategy aims to help you achieve the overall aims of the programme and the learning outcomes for individual modules. As well as being a way to assess your achievement, the assessments also help you organise and develop your learning. Assessment feedback can help you build skills and understand your strengths and weaknesses.

There are two types of assessment: formative and summative. Formative assessments help you learn and develop your knowledge and skills, while the results of your summative assessments provide your grades. Formative feedback is given face-to-face, online or in written form. Summative assessments tasks are linked to each module's learning outcomes, and you'll need to complete these before the end of the module. Module assessments typically involve written coursework, project work, oral assessments and portfolios. You'll also receive feedback for summative assessment, usually in writing, with the opportunity to receive a more detailed verbal explanation.

If your first degree is not in law or your first language is not English, we strongly encourage you to take International Business Law as your first option. This module will provide you with an overview/foundation in the principles of legal systems.

Modules

The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.

Fundamental Academic Legal Skills and the English Legal System
Corporate Governance
International Business Law
International Human Rights Law
Individual Employment Law
Public International Law
Independent Legal Research Project
Financial and Economic Crime
Legal Tech/Fin Tech
International Dispute Resolution
Islamic Insurance (Takaful)
Islamic Business Transaction Law
International Marketing Management
Corporate and Social Responsibility
Corporate Reporting
Strategic Management and Leadership
Dissertation
Research Skills and Methods in Law

Assessment methods

Level	Assesment method
Level one	Coursework 65%, Practical exams 27%, Written exams 8%

Learning activities

Level	Learning activity
Level one	Guided independent study 80%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 20%

Disclaimer

The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.