Law

Description

Law is a dynamic, diverse and challenging subject, which is in a constant state of evolution as society seeks new legal solutions to contemporary problems. Thus the study of law takes one to the centre of many of today's great social and political issues; pick up any newspaper and it is possible to find numerous articles related to law.

Law is not something that is abstract or remote; it is the way that society, through Parliament and the courts, lays down its rules and gives practical effect to those rules. Although we may not always be conscious of it, the law permeates all aspects of our daily lives and from time to time individuals will find themselves in need of the specialist services of a lawyer. Lawyers must be able to understand how the law is made and applied, and how it relates to the daily life of the community and to the needs of individuals.

On a wider level the law is a fascinating academic discipline in its own right which provides insights into how and why society evolves and develops rules for attaining its objectives.

It is through the country's leading law schools that we equip the lawyers of tomorrow with the analytical skills needed to ensure that our laws fulfil the tasks that our society sets for them.

This is a general degree which will provide you with a broad legal education and sets law in a wide context.

If you take the 4-year sandwich route, the Law Society may credit your work experience against the solicitors' two year traineeship requirement and we have negotiated a special arrangement with the College of Law, which guarantees all graduates who achieve a lower second class degree or better a place on the College of Law's Legal Practice Course programme.

Careers

Opportunities for law graduates arise in a wide range of activities. You may take advantage of your professional exemptions and train to become a barrister or solicitor, but your degree could take you into careers other than law, including industry, commerce, public administration and the social services.

Detailed Course Facts

• GBP 9000 Year (EEA)
• GBP 13000 Year (Non-EEA)

• English

Course Content

Coming to university will often be your first steps towards the path of independent, adult living. But more than that, we hope and expect you to come for a substantive purpose: to succeed in what is likely to be the most intense and challenging educational programme you will ever undertake. We offer you the opportunities to achieve that success - and we expect you to seize them.

All students take a core set of modules. At Level 3 you will take a number of law options and you will also study a particular area of law in depth for your major final year project

Typical Modules

Level 1 Core

• Contract Law
• Criminal Law
• English Legal Institutions and Method
• Public Law

Level 2 Core

• European Union Law
• Land Law
• Tort Law
• Trusts

Level 3 Core

• Major Project

Levels 3 Options

The following are examples of the other modules that may be available but these can change from year to year and there is no guarantee that an option will run in any particular year.

• Banking Law
• Children and the Law
• Company Law
• Competition Law
• Consumer Law
• Criminology
• Employment Law
• Evidence
• Family Law
• Intellectual Property Law
• International Human Rights
• International Law
• International Minority Rights
• Jurisprudence
• Modern Legal History
• Sentencing and Penology
• Taxation

Our approach

As a Brunel Law student, you are automatically drawn into the front line of legal scholarship. You do not come here to be spoon-fed with dry and dusty legal facts, but to learn how to think critically. We do not want you simply to absorb knowledge, but also to analyse and deploy it.

We expect you not just to convince yourself that you have understood legal principles, but also to be able to convince your fellow students, your teachers and perhaps most importantly - your potential employers - that you understand them.

Expert staff

Many UK law schools have members who are not active scholars. In contrast, every lecturer at Brunel is firmly engaged on the front line of legal work. They are producing new ideas, challenging established orthodoxies: they are all in the business of convincing judges and legislators that existing laws need to be changed.

This invariably means that the intellectual and academic experience we can offer you as a student, is rich, stimulating, and dynamic.

How will I learn?

Lectures - these are formal presentations by staff which last an hour, covering general principles and explaining difficult concepts. Handouts, giving references, further reading and summaries of points covered, are usually provided.

Seminars - are smaller groups (15 students) meeting for an hour to discuss particular problems and topics with a tutor. In each subject, there is usually a fortnightly seminar, for which your are expected to prepare in advance.

Essays - are designed to help you learn and practice skills of legal analysis and expression, and also form part of the process of assessing your work.

Private study - is much more important at university than in sixth form or college. Learning to use your time to the best effect is an important part of your university career.

One-to-one - You will get one-to-one supervision on your final year dissertation and at all levels you will have a personal tutor who is available to discuss personal and academic problems. If you go on placement, you will also be allocated a work placement tutor who will monitor your progress and provide further support if you need it.

At Levels 1 and 2, all courses are assessed by essay and examination. At Level 3, all courses (except the major project) are assessed by essay and examination.

English Language Requirements

IELTS band : 6.5 CAE score : 60(Grade C) TOEFL paper-based test score : 580 TOEFL iBT® test : 92

To study at this university, you have to speak English. We advice you to

Requirements

UCAS Tariff - 340 - 390 points, from

• GCE A and AS-level Tariff points typically from 3 A-levels together with either 1 AS-level or Extended Project Qualification (typical offer AAB, preferably including English or History, plus a B in either an AS or EPQ) OR 3 A levels (typical offer AAB, preferably including English or History). General Studies/Critical Thinking accepted as 4th AS or A-level only.
• Irish Tariff points from 5 subjects.
• Scottish Tariff points from 3 Advanced Highers plus 1 Higher.
• Advanced Diploma Tariff points in Society, Health and Development or Business, Administration and Finance, including an A-level in a relevant subject such as English or History for Additional and Specialist Learning. Extended Project Qualification in a relevant subject preferred.
• BTEC ND DDD in Business or Public Services together with either an AS-level or Extended Project Qualification.
• IB Diploma 35 points.

• Access Pass, including Distinction for all Level 3 units.

For all of the above, 5 GCSEs or equivalent at Grade C or above are also required, to include English.

Work Experience

No work experience is required.

Related Scholarships*

• Academic Excellence Scholarship

  "The Academic Excellence Scholarship can provide up to a 50 % reduction in tuition per semester. These scholarships will be renewed if the student maintains superior academic performance during each semester of their 3-year Bachelor programme. The scholarship will be directly applied to the student’s tuition fees."

• Access Bursary

  Bursary for UK students all subjects where the variable tuition fee rate is payable.

• Alumni Bursary

  Alumni Bursary for UK Undergraduate students

* The scholarships shown on this page are suggestions first and foremost. They could be offered by other organisations than Brunel University.

Funding

Brunel offers bursaries and scholarships to a wide range of students from different backgrounds and with different talents.

Please note that all information on this page is valid for 2010 entry only. 2011 entry information will be added as soon as it is available.

Brunel Bursaries

A Brunel bursary is a non-repayable sum of money awarded by the University to supplement the Government´s Maintenance Grant. It is designed for undergraduate students from lower-income households.

For 2010 entry, Brunel offers:

• £1,000 per year of study to all undergraduate students entitled to receive a full Maintenance Grant;
• £500 a year to undergraduate students eligible for a partial Maintenance Grant and whose annual household income is between £25,001 and £35,000.

Bursaries are paid automatically to eligible students, in termly instalments - you do not need to make a specific application, but you must indicate on your UCAS form that you consent to financial information being shared with the University.

Brunel Academic Scholarships

Four Scholarship schemes are currently available to new full-time undergraduates at Brunel. Applicants cannot receive more than one Scholarship - you will be awarded the most financially beneficial Scholarship for which you are eligible.

Regional Partnership and Alumni Scholarships

Please note that details and rates are subject to change for 2011 entry.

Brunel's Regional Partnership Scholarships are non-repayable cash awards of up to £3,000, paid each year to up to 25 undergraduate students on the basis of high academic achievement. Brunel Alumni Scholarships (funded by alumni donations) are non-repayable* cash awards of £6,000, paid each year on the same basis as Regional Partnership Scholarships to the five applicants who achieve the highest number of UCAS tariff points.

Eligible students for both Scholarships must have attended a maintained school or college (not an independent or private school) in one of the six boroughs with whom the University operates Widening Participation partnerships - Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow.

You must also meet one or more of the following under-represented criteria:

• You have a disability, including dyslexia (ie you are eligible to apply for the Disabled Student´s Allowance at the time of scholarship allocation in the August of your year of entry);
• You are a care-leaver (ie you have been in care for a minimum of 13 weeks including at the time of your 16th birthday and have declared this on your UCAS form);
• You come from a low-income or low socio-economic background (ie you are entitled to a full Government Maintenance Grant or Special Support grant).

Students who meet the above criteria and who achieve a minimum of 360 UCAS tariff points will be considered for a Regional Partnership Scholarship of up to £3,000 per year or an Alumni Scholarship of £6,000 per year. All applicants attending a partnership school or college who make Brunel their firm choice will be invited to complete an online application in the spring of their year of entry. Only those students who complete the application will be considered for a scholarship.

Brunel Urban Scholarships

Brunel Urban Scholarships are non-repayable cash awards of up to £3,000 per year for students who have attended the Urban Scholars programme at Brunel University for a minimum of two years, who achieve academic excellence and who meet the criteria for obtaining UK fee and maintenance support. Details are sent directly to eligible students.

Brunel Mathematics Scholarships

The Department of Mathematical Sciences offers up to 10 scholarships annually for UK students admitted to one of the undergraduate Mathematics degree programmes (Mathematics, Financial Mathematics, Mathematics and Computing, Mathematics with Computer Science, Mathematical and Management Studies or Mathematics and Statistics with Management). To qualify for a scholarship, students must achieve at least grades AAB at A-level, with grade A in Mathematics or Further Mathematics. Students who achieve 35 points from the International Baccalaureate Diploma, including grade 7 in Higher Level Mathematics, will also be eligible.

Successful applicants will receive £500 in each year of study (except in a placement year), subject to the recipient maintaining at least an upper second class honours standard of academic performance.

Brunel International Scholarships

Scholarships are available to all full international fee paying students who have an offer for a place in the first year of a full-time course at Brunel.

Extra-curricular scholarships and awards

Music Awards

A number of awards are made each year to singers and instrumentalists from any part of the University who are not studying music performance as part of their academic course. Recipients may have all or part of the cost of their music tuition covered while they are studying at Brunel. The University Arts Centre administers the awards through an annual audition system, and you can apply once you have received an offer from Brunel.

The number of awards made each year will vary according to the standard of the applicants and how many students are currently holding full and partial awards, but there will be no fewer than four new awards made each academic year.

Sports Scholarships

The Brunel Sports Scholarship, supported in part by the Borough Road Scholarship Fund, is designed to benefit elite performance athletes by supporting their academic study and sporting commitments simultaneously. The package includes a financial award, free use of our world-class sports facilities and assistance with competition expenses.

Anyone who has fulfilled the conditions of a course and subsequently been given a confirmed place at Brunel can apply, and all applicants must be able to demonstrate sporting achievement at Junior International level or equivalent in one of the 20 Sport England Priority Sports.