Queen Mary Law School | QMUL | llb course | llb degree

Queen Mary, University of London's (QMUL) Law School is considered to be one of the universities finest departments. In 2007 the Times rated Queen Mary LaW School 5*B for its research, this being the same rating as Oxford University.

Although Queen Mary's University is an independent institution it is a part of the "University of London". The central location ensures all students are able to access many of the public lectures around the city some of which are within other University of London sites.

Queen Mary Law School is situated on the Mile End campus and has recently undergone extensive refurbishments. The entrance to the department is through sophisticated glass doors. There are three floors, excluding the ground floor and a number of class rooms and small offices. The small offices at QMUL are occupied by the staff and representatives of the legal oriented societies.

Students at Queen Mary law school will use the Mile End campus library. The Law section is found on the first floor of the library, with a large quantity of legal books available for students to take out on short loan and long term loan.

There are a large number of computers which are located in many different areas of the library. Being part of the "University of London" means that Queen Mary's students can access the libraries of other universities that are part of the “University of London” group, such as that of London School of Economics.

There is approximately 90-100 staff at Queen Mary law school, including part time tutors. The size of the lectures is around 250 students and the average seminar size is 12 students.

Per week there are 8 lectures which are an hour each and 4 seminars which are an hour each too. This amounts to a total of 12 teaching hours a week. Queen Mary Law School recommends that you spend around 50 hours independent studying per week, akin to a 9 to 5 job.

There is quite a large base of support available to students. Each student is allocated a personal tutor who they can regularly meet, email or contact when they have any queries. The Graduate Student Advisers are tutors that have recently graduated and are available a few hours every week to give advice to students.

The seminar tutors at Queen Mary Law School are also available to assist students in any queries that they may have regarding the particular module that they are teaching. Finally, there are also counsellors based at the campus who provide support and help to students.

Queen Mary law school is situated on the main campus and is where most students will be situated. Queen Mary also has a number of other smaller campuses, such as Whitechapel, Charterhouse Square, West Smithfield and Lincoln Inn's Fields. The Mile End campus being on the central line means that students are only a few minutes away from London's famous streets.

Being more East London than Central London means that it is much cheaper living in Mile End. The Mile End campus is surrounded by large blue gates from Stephaney Green to Mile End Station. Along these gates there is a great deal of security that monitor who enters the campus and watches for any problems arising between students.

There are a few pubs around the area and three excellent restaurants that are right next to Mile End Station. There is a local cinema that is quite cheap named "Genesis" located approximately 10 minutes from the university. Accommodation is provided by Queen Mary on the Mile End campus itself, thus you can roll out of bed a few minutes before classes.

For home students their tuition per year at Queen Mary will cost £3,145. However, for international students, tuition will cost around £9,900 per year. To be a member of the Law Society for the three years of your degree it will cost you £20.

To be a member of the Pro Bono Society at Queen Mary Law School it will cost £10. Fortunately, to be part of the Student Union it is completely free. Therefore, to use the union for information, advice and so on is completely free.

For a filling breakfast or lunch meal, the “Curve” restaurant provides a great meal for only £3.50 and caters for vegetarians very well. The accommodation on campus varies and therefore the cost of staying on campus does too.

Living in Mile End means that it’s not too expensive when it comes to eating out. Depending on when you shop and what food you purchase, your food costs would amount to £60-70 a week. Most students living on campus shop at Sainsbury’s in Whitechapel or in Stratford.

Throughout the year there are many activities run by individual societies at Queen Mary. In particular at the law school, The Law Society has its presence and has a few activities each year, for example they had their annual boat party and a formal ball with other local universities.

The society itself has a great deal of potential; however, it is not as active as it could be amongst its law students Although, this is something that seems likely to change in the future.

The Pro Bono Society at Queen Mary is very active and is constantly giving law students the opportunity to do volunteer work, learn from activities and network with solicitors and barristers. The Bar Society, although newly established, has shown a promising start, organising for members to attend Strasbourg Court and gain a real insight of what it is like to work at the bar.

Queen Mary law school's Mooting is very active and the competition takes place weekly, with students getting the opportunity to meet other Law students from different years and the chance to network with judges.

There are a few pubs near the QMUL campus as well as a local nightclub called E3. QMUL's sports societies and other societies also appear to be active within the university.

QMUL's career centre appears to be very helpful to students. They assist students with any queries that they may have and also help them with training for an interview.

Regarding support for internships and work experience from Queen Mary Law School, the staff forwards over many opportunities from different firms and barristers and the Pro Bono Society offer many opportunities for students to network and thus obtain as many internships as possible.