Law

This is a Connected Degree

Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course.

Overview

Develop your understanding of UK law and the legal system as you explore the foundations of law as a discipline, build key legal skills such as client interviewing and negotiation, and gain a wide but detailed knowledge of UK law topics.

Our partnership with Barbri means you’ll be ready for your exams when you graduate whether you take the Bar exams or the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE).

Take part in live community projects to apply your learning as you study, and have the chance to practise your legal skills in our replica courtroom — where you’ll experience what advocacy can be like in a real crown court with hidden recording equipment so you can review your performance afterwards.

If you take a paid industry placement year, you’ll spend a year working in the legal profession or a quasi-legal environment, such as the Bank of England.

You’ll graduate ready to enter a range of jobs with your law degree.

Course highlights

• Cover the foundations of legal knowledge you need to prepare for the Bar exams

• Graduate prepared for your Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) through our partnership with Barbri, the world’s largest legal exam preparation experts

• Gain real-world legal practice skills by applying your learning in our community settings

• Experience presenting a case in our replica courtroom

• Graduate with 3 months of work experience that can count towards your SQE qualifying work experience by choosing our Law in Practice module

• Apply for a paid placement year in a legal or quasi-legal role

New Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE)

The route to qualifying as a solicitor has changed for new applicants.

If you accept an offer on this course after 21 September 2021 you'll need to take the new Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) after you graduate to qualify as a solicitor. The content and mode of assessment of many of our modules provide a good foundation for further specific SQE preparation.

If you completed or started this course, accepted an offer of a place, or paid a non-refundable deposit (international students only) before 21 September 2021 (inclusive) you can choose to take either the new SQE or the Legal Practice Course (LPC) after graduation.

Careers and opportunities

Law is an incredibly flexible degree. When you graduate you'll be ready to take your next step to train as a solicitor, a barrister or a Chartered Legal Executive. Chartered Legal Executives can now become judges, coroners, advocates and partners in law firms.

Some of our graduates go on to secure training contracts, but others choose to go into different professions. Law degrees are in the top 10 degrees for employability, as you'll graduate with a wide range of transferable skills that make you employable across a range of sectors.

Previous graduates have got jobs in companies such as:

• Eversheds Sutherland

• Churchers Solicitors

• Gammon Bell & Co

• Downs Solicitors LLP

• Coffin Mew LLP

• Shoosmith Solicitors

• HMRC

• National Assembly Wales

• Ministry of Defence

Doing a law degree gives you a wide range of career options. Graduates of this course have gone onto roles such as:

• trainee solicitor

• trainee barrister

• paralegal

• financial consultant

• intellectual brand protection analyst

• letting negotiator

• human resources manager

• recruitment consultant

• accountant

• international project manager

• senior researcher

After you leave the University, you can get help, advice and support for up to 5 years from our Careers and Employability service as you advance in your career.

Year 1

Core modules in this year include:

• Constitutional, Administrative and European Law (20 credits)
• Contract Law (20 credits)
• Criminal Law (20 credits)
• Law, Society, and Justice (20 credits)
• The Art of Persuasion (20 credits)
• The English Legal System (20 credits)

There are no optional modules in this year.

Year 2

Core modules in this year include:

• Equity and Trusts (20 credits)
• Human Rights Law (20 credits)
• Land Law (20 credits)
• Tort Law (20 credits)

Options to choose from in this year currently include:

• Advocacy Practice and Theory (Level 5) (20 credits)
• Dispute Resolution and Civil Litigation (20 credits)
• Equality Law (20 credits)
• Law and Artificial Intelligence (20 credits)
• Medical Law and Ethics (20 credits)
• Sports Law (20 credits)
• Criminal Litigation and Practice (20 credits)

Year 3

Core modules in this year include:

• European Union Law in Context (20 credits)

Options to choose from in this year currently include:

• Advocacy - Practice and Theory (Level 6) (20 credits)
• Business Law and Practice (20 credits)
• Children's Rights (20 credits)
• Commercial Law (20 credits)
• Comparative Equality Law (Berkley) (20 credits)
• Environmental Law (20 credits)
• Family Law (20 credits)
• Intellectual Property Law (20 credits)
• International Law and Armed Conflict (20 credits)
• Law in Action (20 credits)
• Law in Practice (40 credits)
• Law in the Community (40 credits)
• Legal Dissertation (40 credits)
• Legal Project (20 credits)
• Property Practice (20 credits)
• Public International Law (20 credits)
• Wills, Probate and Private Client Law (20 credits)

Placement year (optional)

On this course, you can do an optional work placement year to get valuable experience working in industry. We’ll help you secure a work placement that fits your situation and ambitions. You’ll get mentoring and support throughout the year.

We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.

Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.