Law with Foundation Year

Our new Foundation Year programmes provide the best possible preparation for degree-level study at Birkbeck. They are ideal if you do not meet the entry requirements for the undergraduate degree you would like to study, if you feel you are not quite ready for an undergraduate degree, or if you are returning to study and need extra help and support. Whatever your background and circumstances, Birkbeck's Foundation Year degrees will prepare you for success.

Upon successful completion of the one-year Foundation Year, in which you will develop your core knowledge and skills in law, you will automatically progress on to our three-year, full-time, evening study LLB Law.

Birkbeck’s Law LLB teaches you the foundational areas of law required by the legal profession and provides you with the key skills and knowledge to move towards successfully qualifying as a lawyer. You will gain highly transferable legal skills that are also valuable in other professions beyond a legal career.

You will develop a sound knowledge and understanding of law across a range of foundational and specialist subjects. You will also learn to identify the political, economic, commercial, social and cultural factors that inform how we understand the law and the problems, tensions and contradictions within certain legal theories and doctrines.

Upon graduating, you will be ready to prepare for the Solicitors’ Qualifying Exam (SQE), apply for a place on the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) or pursue a range of other careers.

Our Law LLB allows you to specialise in your studies by choosing to follow one of three pathways and graduate with an LLB (Hons) in Law and Legal Practice, LLB (Hons) in Law and Human Rights, or LLB (Hons) in Law and Commercial Law. These popular and dynamic areas of law, taught by scholars and expert practitioners, span a range of legal careers.

**HIGHLIGHTS**

- Our School of Law is a leading international centre for world-class legal teaching, research and scholarship and is the most rapidly expanding law school within the University of London.

- We are among the top 10 law schools in the UK and in the top three in London in the Times Higher Education 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) rankings, while our research environment was judged conducive to producing research of the highest quality.

- Dedicated academic skills workshops are run at Birkbeck by our Senior Learning Development Tutor, who can advise on essay-writing, time management, efficient reading and note-making, giving presentations and participating in seminars.

- We encourage our students to participate in the wide range of extracurricular activities we offer, including lectures by internationally renowned guest speakers, our Student Law Society, our annual retreat to Cumberland Lodge in Windsor, which allows you to explore contemporary issues in law with specialist speakers, and our successful mooting and mock trial programme, where advocacy training is given by experienced practising barristers.

- Students may also apply to take part in the mentoring programme and an externship with the Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre. During each year, we offer a range of career-related talks.

- The LLB is accredited by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and students awarded the degree will be entitled to receive a Certificate of Completion of the Academic Stage of Legal Education for solicitors. It is also recognised by the Bar Standards Board as a qualifying law degree for the purposes of completing the Academic Stage of Training for the Bar.