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Birmingham City University is a well balanced institution. The strong support available to students from faculty staff and peers is robust and allows each potential student the time to develop themselves socially, whilst still achieving a good degree classification.

This balance provides graduates with the foundations to be successful in their careers and in life generally. Students felt that the life at this university developed them not only intellectually but also to created an individuals that are malleable enough to deal with all life throws at them.

The strength of the Faculty of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences has to be the level of support offered by university staff through a variety of different methods. According to our sources students have found the University Intranet ‘Moodle’ particularly useful to interact with other students and staff.

In addition, each student is allocated a Personal Development Tutor to discuss personal problems, and other difficulties associated with their courses. We found the majority of students really appreciated the direct contact available something which can be lacking at other institutions.

Outside of the faculty the student support service provides all students with an excellent parachute offering financial and practical support for those encountering difficulties that affect their performance on the course.

However, the best aspect of the assistance available has to be the library. The Kenrick Library offers a huge number of paper resources and alongside this is the vast number of online materials.

Also, the Law School offers a dedicated resource room providing a space for group work and a computer room. The short loan facility at the library is excellent especially close to essay deadlines; it guarantees the most popular books are available for short five hour loans. This process enables everyone to access the most valuable resources when they need them most.

As with all other GDL providerrs, the Birmingham City GDL focuses on the seven core subjects; Contract, Tort, Criminal, Constitutional & Administrative, EU, Land and the law of Equity & Trusts. In addition to this, you will be required to complete an independent research project in an area of law other than the ones mentioned above.

The Birmingham City GDL also offers the opportunity to participate in Legal mooting, helping to develop the confidence required to present in court. There is also the change to participate in a placement in the US.

The fees for the Birmingham City GDL stand at £4500 for the full-time course or two instalments of £2500 and £1980 for the part-time option.

Birmingham is the second city in the UK and so as you might expect can provide a really great night out. With so many things to do, some students can be spoilt for choice. However, such choice brings with it cost, and some students report that it can be pricey on the Perry Barr Campus.

Many students take advantage of the public transport and head into the town centre for recreation and paid work. Others report the basic amenities can be found close to the campus, with a large supermarket and many high street stores within walking distance.

Within the university there are also numerous sports clubs and societies. The law department has their own law society as well as mooting society. A moot is a mock trial, something the majority of students have never experienced, but it’s really something not to be missed to hone your law skills and meet plenty of new people. BCU even compete against other universities in mooting competitions.

Bar 42 the student bar comes well recommended and there are further recommendations for the city centre, in particular Birmingham’s Broad Street. A large group of students find the sports clubs a useful way to relax and get away from their studies and compete in the inter-university BUSA leagues which provide opportunities in a huge variety of sports at all levels of ability.

Other prefer other societies based on the arts or language or common cultural values which are all equally good at creating new friends and learning about different ways of life or modes of recreation.

Alongside the social aspect of university life BCU offers a excellent ‘student services’ whom help the students choose a potential career path to choose after the GDL course.

The faculty offers an excellent amount of support for students which can be seen through the drop in service for students who want careers advice in the Faculty Resource Centre. This service can be accessed whenever necessary and many students find it useful to visit the centre regularly over the academic year. It must also be noted that Birmingham City offers the LPC.