Law and Politics (LLB)

at Cardiff University

Course structure

 

This is a three-year, full-time course, consisting of 120 credits a year. The final degree classification that you are awarded is based on the grades you achieve in the modules that you take in years two and three.

 

During the course of your degree, you will be able to take the Foundations of Legal Knowledge modules that constitute the Qualifying Law Degree.

 

In your second year you will have the opportunity to apply for a work placement which will be carried out in the third year of your LLB Law degree. The full-time, salaried placements will be open to you via a competitive application process which aims to replicate the graduate recruitment processes you will encounter after leaving university. During your placement, you will undertake legal practice as paralegals, and will be performing graduate level roles. You will develop both key practitioner skills such as case management, legal research and legal writing in addition to generic employability skills such as time management, team working and commercial awareness. Placements will be located in Cardiff and will count for 10% of degree classification.

 

The modules shown are an example of the typical curriculum and will be reviewed prior to the 2022/2023 academic year. The final modules will be published by September 2022.

 

Year one
You will study modules to the value of 120 credits in your first year.

 

You will take four compulsory 20 credit Law modules and two optional 20 credit modules in Politics in your first year, providing you with a solid base for the next two years of your degree programme.

 

Year two
You will study modules amounting to 120 credits in total, 80 of which are to be chosen from the list of optional Law modules available. Remaining modules will be taken from the list of options in Politics.

 

If you wish to obtain a qualifying Law degree, you will notice that our QLD modules (Tort and Land Law) are offered with a range of credit weightings. This provides you with flexibility in your module choices but also allows you to study the modules needed for a qualifying law degree.

 

The list of optional modules is kept under review on an annual basis in light of factors such as staff resources and student demand. The final honours classification is based on the assessments taken in years two and three.

 

Year three
In year three, you will choose between 60 and 80 credits from Law modules and the remaining 40-60 credits will be chosen from Politics options.

If you wish to obtain a qualifying Law degree, you will notice that our QLD modules (Law of the European Union and Equity and Trusts) are offered with a range of credit weightings. This provides you with flexibility in your module choices but also allows you to study the modules needed for a qualifying law degree.

 

GCSE
Grade C or grade 4 in GCSE English Language.

 

IELTS (academic)
At least 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each subskill.

 

TOEFL iBT
At least 90 overall with minimum scores of 17 for writing, 17 for listening, 18 for reading and 20 for speaking.

 

PTE Academic
At least 62 overall with a minimum of 59 in all communicative skills.

 

Trinity ISE II/III
II: at least two Distinctions and two Merits.
III: at least a Pass in all components.

Tuition fees for 2022 entry

Fees for home status

• £9,000    

 

Fees for overseas status

• £18,700

In 2016/17, 95% of the School’s graduates who were available for work reported they were in employment and/or further study within six months of graduating.

 

Degrees in Politics provide you with a foundation for a wide range of careers such as in non-governmental organisations, global development, international business, diplomacy and intelligence in government, journalism, and policy research, as well as a basis for more specialist subjects taught at postgraduate level.

 

Students who have studied Law and have chosen to work immediately following their degree have obtained roles as negotiators, paralegals, mortgage handlers and lawyers with law firms such as Hugh James Solicitors, Admiral Law, Eversheds LLP and NHS Wales Legal and Risk Services.

 

However, a law degree doesn’t restrict graduates to careers within the legal profession. Each year a number of law graduates enter professions as diverse as finance, sales and marketing, digital communications and recruitment.

 

You will have access to a dedicated Careers Consultant at the School of Law and Politics. They arrange practical employability workshops throughout the year which cover topics including writing CVs and covering letters, preparing for employer selection days and interviews, job search strategies and sourcing work.