Our LLB (Hons) degree gives you a rigorous academic legal education and a thorough grounding in legal, academic and clinical skills needed for you to pursue a career as a solicitor or barrister, as well as equipping you for employment in other areas if you choose not to go on to a professional qualification in law.

The programme is taught by a mix of academic experts and practitioner lawyers, who put real world clinical legal experience at the heart of the programme.

You’ll develop a critical grasp of the law and its political, social and economic contexts.

Our LLB programme is flexible in structure and has core first and second years including all seven law foundation subjects. This gives you the ability to switch to a more specialist LLB in the final year and tailor your study to a particular aspect of law by choosing options relating to criminal law, commercial law or social justice or choosing a range of options. By completing the foundation subjects early, this will also put you in a good position to obtain law work experience and placement opportunities and enhance your employability. It also allows you to take your time to decide on which aspect of law is right for you.

The Bradford LLB Law degree satisfies the new Bar Standards Board law degree requirements for aspiring barristers and provides an excellent grounding for aspiring solicitors who wish to go on to prepare for the Legal Practice Course (LPC) or the Solicitors’ Qualifying Exam (SQE) which is due to commence in September 2021.

Professional accreditation

The route to professional qualification as a Solicitor is in the process of changing. Students commencing their degrees prior to December 2021 can still complete the academic stage of training by completing a qualifying law degree (QLD), which the Bradford LLB degree is, and then pursuing the existing LPC route.

Subject to approval by the Legal Services Board, the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) will be introduced on 1 September 2021 by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the professional body governing training and qualification for solicitors (SRA).

This means someone who started studying before or in September 2021 (having accepted an offer on or before 31 August 2021) can continue to qualify through the existing LPC route, or choose to do the SQE following its introduction.

For students starting after December 2021, the route to qualification will be via the SQE alone. A degree is generally still required but a QLD will have no special status and students will have to qualify via the SQE.

Unlike the LPC, the SQE is a centrally assessed and is in two parts. For more information, please see the SRA website.

Regardless of the route to qualification, an undergraduate law degree is still important as it will cover the seven foundation subjects and legal skills, and help prepare you for the SQE, although it will no longer provide any exemptions from the academic stage of training.

Studying our LLB will mean you are prepared for part 1 of the SQE or to progress onto the Bar Practice Course (if you wish to qualify as a barrister - for more information see the Bar standards Board website).

Our law degree is also still a great foundation for careers in law, business and a huge range of careers.

Sandwich year

This 4-year programme offers you the opportunity to take up a placement year working in business in your third year.

Placements are real, paid jobs in a wide variety of organisations in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors and offer you a valuable opportunity to experience first-hand how business and management concepts are applied in practice, and to give you direct exposure to real issues in the workplace. It can also be done abroad.

The placement year is a vital part of your learning and will add significantly to your personal development, self-confidence, planning, communication and business acumen skills. Statistics show that students who have undertaken a placement year benefit from a better graduate job, higher graduate starting salary and a better degree outcome. In a competitive graduate market, valuable experience and employability skills gained from a year’s work placement will differentiate you from the thousands of other graduates seeking work.

Placements are not guaranteed, and students will have to invest considerable time and effort in their 2nd year in securing one, with the support of the dedicated Careers team.

We have links with a range of top law organisations in Bradford and the surrounding area. Additionally, the Faculty of Management and Law has an excellent network of organisations that offer placements, including:

• IBM
• Vauxhall
• NHS
• GE Money
• ARRIS (formerly Pace)
• Enterprise Rent A Car
• Cummins
• Peugeot

Through your placement you can apply your knowledge in practice and have a real and positive impact on the business. Your experience will be monitored as part of your degree.

We find that students return from their placement year with their confidence and personal skills enhanced, and ready to implement their focused plan for the future.

Our LLB Law degree will enable you to proceed to the second stage of training to become a solicitor or barrister.

It is designed to give you the legal tools you will need for a career as a solicitor or barrister, as well as equipping you for employment in other areas if you choose not to go on to professional qualification in law.

In any event, our LLB course is likely to increase your employability and employment prospects in a wide range of other professions, such as general management, legal executive positions, the probation service, the police, or teaching.