Cardiff Law School | llb course | llb degree

Cardiff Law School, based in one of Europe’s Youngest Capitals, is a thriving, high quality institution which is committed to excellence in both its teaching and research – something you may have heard about many an institution, but this really does apply to Cardiff.

At Cardiff you are able to study in a lively, elegant and cosmopolitan city, where the excitement of a vibrant city is offered, as well as a life of peace and tranquillity if you so wish through the nearby coast and countryside.

This mix makes Cardiff an ideal living environment as well as an excellent working environment, offering a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, as well as the Legal Practice Course and Bar Vocational Course at the Centre for Professional Legal Studies.

The Law School is a large, well researched centre of excellence, with an international reputation (reflected in the number of distinguished academics visiting from all over the world). All in all, a very solid choice.

The Law School occupies a substantial building on the University site as well as the majority of other facilities you will need. All the facilities are on site, including lecture theatres (2 large lecture theatres and additional smaller lecture rooms throughout the building), various tutorial/seminar rooms, academic and administrative offices (useful if you have any queries etc), a Legal Resource Unit, as well as the schools Centre for Professional Legal Studies (for the LPC and BVC).

You will occasionally have lectures in other nearby university buildings if there are very large classes, however these are all within 5 minutes walk maximum from the Law School. There are excellent facilities for all students, at the Law School itself, at the Law Library and at other University buildings. These all have full access to the Cardiff network on the internet, including specialist programs such as Word and PowerPoint, and access to legal databases such as Westlaw and LexisNexis.

As well as the IT rooms in the Law School (holding more than 30 computers), there are excellent facilities in the Law library, just opposite the Law School. There are 22 computers in the Law Library itself, with nearly 100 additional computers within the same building on other floors.

The Law Library itself houses over 70,000 volumes, 296 serial publications and has a stock expenditure of over £130,000 per annum – more than twice the median expenditure for UK Law Schools. Not a bad statistic! A very large amount of money is invested in the resources available to their students: it is very rare that you will not at least find a reference copy of what you are looking for.

Many books you will be looking for may be on short loans (7days, 1day or even 4hour), but you can always renew these (even online from home) if no one else has reserved them (there are several photocopiers around as well if you need them).

Within the Law School there are approximately 78 members of staff, including 18 Professors and 6 Senior lecturers. You will often be taught by those leading in their fields of expertise, so expect the best.

The majority of modules are taught through a combination of lectures and compulsory seminars (2 hour sessions) or tutorials (1hour sessions). Approximately 12 hours a week are spent attending classes, with the remainder being private study time. It is expected that you spend roughly 40 hours per week on your studies.

You do often spend this amount of time studying, and even more, in terms of preparing for tutorials with background reading etc, but these hours are spread throughout the week, giving you the time to pursue other interests, plain relaxation with friends or even holding a part-time job. You have to be prepared that studying at any Law School is going to be very different to what you are used to, but there is always support there at hand.

The support network within Cardiff Law School and Cardiff University is excellent. Within the Law School you are given a personal tutor for the duration of your course. All are approachable and you can discuss almost anything with them. They are also dedicated tutors, such as an academic support tutor, a tutor to advise on race, disability, equality, etc.

The Law School is based in an outstanding central location amid parks, Portland stone buildings, some large modern glass buildings and tree lined avenues. Picturesque is definitely an understatement. Cardiff itself is a lively cosmopolitan city, nothing less is expected from one of Europe’s Youngest Capitals. Yet despite this atmosphere, you cannot escape from the fact that Cardiff University history dates back more than 2,000 years to the Romans. This mix really does provide a great place to work and live.

The city is friendly and extremely accessible (particularly with superb road, rail and air links). You are never an unmanageable distance from family or friends, etc. You can even reach London in 2hours through the hourly high-speed train service!

Within the city, there is almost no need for a car or even a bike; walking straight through is easy and there are always going to be several green Cardiff Buses passing by throughout the day at reasonable prices. Everything you need is never far either. There are countless bars and clubs in Cardiff, making it impossible to provide a number.

You can normally walk (and stumble home) from your nearest pub in less than 5 minutes! They are also very cheap compared to the majority of other Capitals (with a pint normally under £2 at least!). At the end of a night out, taxis are very reasonable particularly if you share.

There are several multiscreen cinemas, gig venues, an ice rink, several parks, large attractions, all within Cardiff or not far from the centre. The National Stadium houses many of the large football and rugby games throughout the season – an advantage to those sport lovers, but also anyone in the city at the time – the atmosphere is electric.