Law, LLB (Hons)

Course summary

This is a qualifying law degree - your first step towards becoming a solicitor or barrister in England and Wales. You’ll gain all the skills you need to progress to the next stages.Why study LLB Law at Goldsmiths

• We’re one of the highest-rated courses in the country. We're number 1 in the UK for student satisfaction (Complete University Guide Law League Table 2024). In the National Student Survey 2022, our Department of Law was ranked number 1 in the UK for its intellectually stimulating curriculum and programme, and we were rated the best department in London for quality of teaching in law.

• We have a rich heritage of social awareness and engagement. You'll be part of an environment that champions human rights, social justice and the international rule of law.

• You’ll not only get a qualifying law degree, but the course has also been developed in anticipation of the new Solicitors Qualifying Examinations (SQE). Training for these is integrated throughout the degree, with the option to take an SQE module in your final year.

• As a Goldsmiths student, you will also benefit from discounted access to SQE Prep with leading external provider BARBRI.

• Future lawyers need a diverse range of skills. As well as grounding you in the fundamentals, you’ll also learn about subjects from big data to social media.

• This degree is active, so you won't just be sitting and reading. You'll learn problem-solving, debating and advocating through a range of activities.

• We're ahead of the curve, offering subjects like AI and disruptive technologies.

• You'll benefit from our excellence in the fields of creative arts, humanities and social sciences, with optional modules in subjects like art, media, human rights and technology.

• You'll visit the Supreme Court, Old Bailey, and leading commercial law sets. You’ll also attend Parliamentary committees and debates as well as relevant theatre productions, exhibitions and film screenings to enrich your studies.

• You’ll work closely with eminent legal thinkers, internationally leading barristers and politicians. Our Visiting Professors are some of the greatest legal minds of our generation.

• You’ll benefit from a variety of guest speakers who are experts in their fields. From practising legal professionals to solicitors from ‘Magic Circle’ law firms, and members of the Crown Prosecution Service to representatives from NGOs and the technologies sector.

• In Goldsmiths’ Law and Policy Clinics, you'll get to confront challenging societal issues through supervised legal research and public engagement activity. Areas of research and public engagement activity covered by the Clinics include immigration, the law of financial wrongdoing, police interrogation, and counter-terrorism law.

• We’re the first law department in the UK to offer students free access to Harvard Law School’s pioneering Zero-L course.

• We take our students on an annual international court visit.

• We also organise an annual summer school in Athens, in collaboration with leading universities there.

You'll take compulsory modules in your first year of the LLB, and then you'll have the opportunity to focus on your interests in the second and third years by choosing from a range of law option modules. A unique feature of the degree is that you'll also be able to study across a wide range of specialisms, drawing on globally leading expertise in the departments of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Art, and Media, Communications and Cultural Studies. Year 1 (credit level 4) In your first year, you'll study the following compulsory modules: 21st Century Legal Skills Contract Law Criminal Law: Theory and Practice Public Law and the Human Rights Act English Legal System in a Global Context Year 2 (credit level 5) In your second year, you'll study the following compulsory modules: EU Law and the UK Law of Tort Land Law Trusts International Law and Politics Option modules You'll then select 1 or 2 option modules to the value of 30 credits. You can choose from the following: Department of Law modules Immigration Law Intellectual Property Law Goldsmiths’ Social Change Module If you select the Goldsmiths' Social Change module, you have the option to focus on Immigration Policy Clinic and/or Counterterrorism and Human Rights Clinic. Connected Curriculum modules To broaden your studies you can choose to select modules from other departments such as Sociology. Exact lists of these modules will be available at the beginning of each academic year. You can select from Connected Curriculum modules, or Goldsmiths' Electives. Alternatively you can take the below module for all 30 credits: Modern Political Theory 30 credits Intercollegiate module programme You could also choose to take advantage of our intercollegiate module programme and study one module from a participating University of London Law School. This can further enrich your academic experience.You'll then select 1 or 2 option modules. Year 3 (credit level 6) In your third year, you'll take 6-8 modules (90-120 credits) from the following modules: Dissertation AI, Disruptive Technologies and the Law Human Rights Law and Clinic Work Placement Commercial Law and International Trade Agreements Art Law Company Law SQE2: Practical Legal Skills in Context Criminal Evidence (with Advanced Mooting and Advocacy) And, depending on the number of credits you select from the Department of Law modules, you can take 1 or 2 modules from the below interdisciplinary modules: Confronting climate crisis Media Law and Ethics Anthropology of Rights Crimes of the Powerful Psychology and Law You could also choose to take advantage of our intercollegiate module programme and study one module from a participating University of London Law School. Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.