SOAS Law School | llb course | llb degree | School of African and Oriental Science

The reputation of the SOAS law school is growing. Though not as traditionally rooted as some of the other law schools, SOAS is certainly on the right track. The entrance requirement for the Law LLB course is AAA in A-levels.

SOAS Law school generally do not conduct interviews unless you have an atypical entry (e.g. if you are a mature student or a student with qualifications outside the UK that the admissions staff may be unfamiliar with)

Note also that SOAS offers Law BA degrees for those who want to combine law with another degree offered in SOAS e.g. (Law and Arabic or Law and Economics).

There are two campuses, one main campus in Russell Square and another one in Vernon Square (near Kings Cross Station). The two SOAS halls of residence (one for post grads and one for undergrads) are both within five-minute walking distance from the Vernon Square campus.

The Junior Common Room in Russell Square is combined nicely with the student bar downstairs, making to a good atmosphere throughout.

There are some tables, chairs and some sofas around so you can go there for a drink and some light food/snacks in between lectures. There are also two pool tables. The common room in Vernon is nicer and in the evenings some societies book the room to have film viewings.

In the main campus there’s a main computer room, a post-graduates’ computer room and a further computer room on the main Russell Square campus. There are also computer rooms in the Vernon Square campus. The library can be found on the ground floor of the main campus. The law section of the library is fair in size to accommodate the relatively small size of the law students than at other universities.

The School of Law is part of the Law and Social Sciences Department so if you have any general queries, you should go to the faculty office. There are less than 100 straight Law LLB students per year, so expect to receive an excellent level of hands-on attention.

There may seem like more in some of the lectures as SOAS does offer combined law BA degrees. SOAS operates a four modules per year structure and there are compulsory modules that must be taken as an LLB student- BA students have more flexibility.

The optional units are wide ranging. Being SOAS, the law faculty offers course units on Islamic Law, Chinese Law but also the more conventional courses like Company Law. Note that there are limitations on which units you can take; for some you must have had at least a 2:1 grade and some units are only for third years.

If students want to take a law course that SOAS is unable to offer, they may take the course in another University of London college (e.g. you could take Medical Law at LSE). Each course usually takes the format of two hours of lectures and one hour tutorials/seminars, making a total of 12 hours formal study.

Bang in the centre of London. One campus is in Russell Square and the other at Kings Cross, known as Vernon Square. The University of London Union (ULU) is about a minutes walk from the Russell Square campus.

There’s a bar there with events held on certain evenings as well as a decent sized gym. The membership is currently £26 per month and offers all sorts of classes (e.g. yoga, pilates, hiphop dance).

Being in zone 1 in London means that things aren’t going to be cheap, however, if you go for student accommodation costs will come down to less than otherwise. Dinwiddy House (the SOAS accommodation for undergrads) is just under 120 pounds per week. This is inclusive of all bills and with free internet access in each room. Each room is small but has a small shower/toilet.

The flat blocks are divided into sections (usually 2 sections on one floor) and each section will have a kitchen to share between five to six people. Paul Robeson House (for post-grads) is of a similar layout and is only five minutes walk from Dinwiddy.

If you want to find your own accommodation, prices can range from 120- 200 per week per person in a shared accommodation (it can be more expensive if you want to live alone in a one bedroom/ studio).

As already mentioned, the main campus is in Russell Square right in the centre of London. If you want to enjoy the key cultural hotspots of the city then they are generally only a few minutes walk away. Soho, Oxford street and Leicester Square are all within walking distance as well so if you fancy a bit of shopping or watching a film everything is conveniently near by.

As for Vernon Square, it is conveniently located with tube stations and buses around. It is slightly north of central London and one can go to Angel (which is a tube stop away) for the cinema, food and shopping.

There are local pubs surrounding the area and also some bars nearer Kings Cross and Angel. SOAS has a lot of active societies that hosts various cultural events throughout the year. There is a Law Society which has become more active in the past few years and offers all the functions and facilities you would expect from a well run organisation.

The moot officers arrange for internal moots and also external ones for those who are interested (mooting is compulsory as part of one of the assessments in the first year).

If you go to the careers office which is near the library, there is a wealth of information available. You can ask them to help check your CV or review your application amongst many other things.

Students often like to use their law Professors/ tutors for help with t heir applications or for general advice. The great thing about being in a smaller law school like SOAS is that Professors will gladly take the time to help you out.