This programme is challenging and stimulating, enabling you to build the skills required for a career in law or a wide range of professions. In addition to the foundation modules constituting the academic stage of training that is necessary to become a solicitor or barrister in England and Wales, known as the ‘Qualifying Law Degree’, we offer a wide selection of optional study areas which cover traditional and contemporary legal subjects.
This programme provides the opportunity for in-depth study in both disciplines.
Our degree enables you to complete the academic stage of training to become a barrister or solicitor and to proceed directly to the vocational stages of training for the legal profession in England and Wales: the Bar Professional Training Course or Legal Practice Course.
We are the only Russell Group University to offer both of these courses, meaning that you have the option to stay with us in Cardiff to complete your entire legal education. The Legal Practice Course has consistently received the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority/Law Society’s highest rating.
Sociology is dedicated to the study of social life as found in groups, institutions and societies. It provides the critical tools for handling the analysis of all aspects of social conduct, from face-to-face interactions to how economic forces shape and are shaped by global society. This course uses a wide range of approaches to help you learn the methods and ideas needed to make your own contribution to understanding and improving society.
Distinctive features
Cardiff School of Law and Politics
We are committed to developing your employability, with our dedicated Careers Consultant on hand two days a week in the Law building. We offer a wide range of extra-curricular activities, some unique to Cardiff University, which equip our students with a competitive edge over other law graduates.
Pro Bono Schemes
We work in partnership with lawyers, charities and voluntary organisations to give our students the opportunity to practise and extend their skills.
Our two most established schemes are our Innocence Project (the first in the UK to have a conviction overturned by the Court of Appeal) and our NHS Continuing Healthcare Scheme, which is unique to Cardiff.Both initiatives have won or been shortlisted for prestigious national awards and help by assisting members of the community and vulnerable groups with matters for which there is in reality no legal aid. You can also apply for a place on our scheme with the Welsh Rugby Union, where we advise amateur rugby clubs on legal issues.
The application process for each of our schemes is different and we cannot guarantee that students will secure a place on the scheme of their choice, or on any of our schemes. Our portfolio is regularly reviewed and what we offer is subject to change.
Mooting
Our students are encouraged to enter annual mooting competitions.
Client interviewing competition
Our students are encouraged to take part in an annual client interviewing competition, which has Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC as its President.
School of Social Sciences
•Sociology modules on offer reflect staff research interests across a range of sociological concerns and approaches, for example education, work and globalisation; urban and everyday life; social media, culture and consumption; health; migration and ethnic relations.
•The opportunity to learn in a School that was ranked 3rd in the UK for research quality in sociology and 5th for education in the 2014 Research Excellent Framework (REF)
•The involvement of research-active staff in teaching
•The emphasis on independent learning in a research-led environment