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The University of Leicester is a leading UK university that delivers high quality research and inspirational teaching. Leicester is the Times Higher Education's University of the Year for 2008-9. The University of Leicester is, according to the Times newspaper "an award winning institution attracting top academics".

The University is ranked 12th out of Britain's 123 universities, Leicester features prominently amongst the world's top 200 institutions.

The School of Law has a brilliant reputation, recently ranked 8th in the country by The Times and 12th overall in the guardian. The School of Law has an excellent reputation with all lecturers being research active.

There are around 1,000 undergraduates and 500 postgraduates registered on programmes in the School. Both staff and students are drawn from many countries.

The School of Law has its own library called the Harry Peach library, which has a generous selection of law reports and books and is used in addition to the main library on campus. The £32 million David Wilson Library, completed in April this year, has won the 2008 RIBA East Midlands Award for Architecture and the 2008 Building of the Year prize at the Property and Construction awards organised annually by ProCon Leicestershire.

This stunning space, purpose-built for learning and research, is a development befitting the Times Higher Education’s University of the Year 2008/9. The 15,000 sq metre Library includes a range of study spaces for 1500 readers, a million books supplemented by extensive digital databases and journals, and 350 PCs, along with a 500 seat lecture theatre, a bookshop and a cafe.

The law building has its own computer room consisting of about twenty computers, all of which have Internet access. There is also a common area for students, which has a Wi-Fi connection available for students who wish to use their laptops.

Leicester Law School offers a variety of taught LL.M Programmes. Students can decide to study a general LL.M Programme or specialise in a certain area. These specialisations can range from an LL.M in European Union Law and Integration to an LL.M in Human Rights.

Leicester also offers LL.M's in International Commercial Law, Public International Law and Legal Research.

Most teaching on the LLM is by seminar. You will be in seminar groups with small numbers of students and will be asked to prepare for each seminar by reading a number of primary and secondary sources and preparing answers to questions set by the tutors.

The seminars may take the form of a general discussion led by the tutor, or you may be required to give a presentation to the rest of the group on a particular topic.

Most modules consist of 6 to 8 seminars, but there may be a mixture of lectures and seminars for you to attend. Full-time students will therefore be required to attend seminars for approximately 6 to 8 hours a week.

If you register on a part-time basis, the programme is two and a half years long. You will normally select four modules in your first year, four in the second year, and you will be expected to submit the dissertation in December after having completed the second year of study. Part-time students are expected to attend all seminars, thus you will need to live within a commutable distance of Leicester.

The university is located about a 10-15 minute walk from Leicester city centre so students are never far from local shops and restaurants. Leicester is one of the country’s ten largest cities so it has a lot to offer from clubs and bars to major sporting venues (Leicester City Football Club and Leicester Tigers Rugby Stadium is not far from the university at all).

Leicester is definitely a student city, with 12% of its population being made up of students during term time. The university is situated right next to Victoria Park, which hosts a variety of events such as Party in the Park, Leicester’s equivalent to the Notting Hill carnival, and so on. The university is all based on one campus, which makes the university very safe as students do not need to travel across the city to get to another lecture.

The city centre is currently undergoing extensive renovations, which includes a major extension to the indoor shopping centre ‘The Shires’. The new shopping centre opened in September 2008 and will be full of high street shops.

Full-time UK or EU students can expect to pay £4,180 for an LL.M course at Leicester. For overseas students the cost is £ 9,450. For part-time students from the UK or EU it will cost £2,090 per annum. The tuition fees above are the fees payable for the 2009/10 academic year.

The law society membership is a must have as the law society will inform you about any events happening, any guest speakers coming to the university and any relevant information regarding law firms and trips to various firms and chambers.

The accommodation costs vary depending on the type of room you have and the halls you choose to stay in, but there is an option of catered or self-catered halls of residence. A single self-catered room starts from around £62 per week and can vary up to £126 per week for a single, catered room with en-suite. Catered halls provide 14 meals a week (breakfast and dinner).

The university has a variety of events and social activities on offer for everyone. There is a large choice of sporting teams to join, such as football, rugby, hockey etc. The law society also has its own football, rugby and hockey teams, which compete against other university law society teams.

The law society is very active with regard to the events that take place. There is an annual law ball that takes place in the summer term and an annual law fair that takes place in the autumn term. Throughout the year there are guest speakers from law firms and barristers chambers.

The School of Law also offers a variety of competitions such as mooting, client interviewing, client negotiation and debates. They also complete against other universities, with Leicester Law School recently winning the client negotiation competition held in Singapore (2007).

The University Careers Service provides careers advice, guidance and information to both undergraduates and postgraduates. Short appointments are available daily with Careers Advisers and longer appointments, for more in-depth discussions and practice interviews, can also be booked.

The School careers tutors are there to provide information on careers. The School careers notice boards are in the corridor next to the main foyer. Up-to-date information on careers in the legal profession and postgraduate study is posted on these boards. Individually tailored advice may also be sought from your personal tutor.

Our Student Law Society also stages a very successful and growing Law Fair in the Autumn Term. Employers from legal firms and other professions are represented.

In addition, there is a comprehensive library of resources covering occupations, employers, work experience, further study and opportunities abroad together with material on job seeking and applications and interviews. This is complemented by a range of free leaflets for students to take away, a programme of workshops focussing on areas such as CV writing and interview skills, and employability sessions within departments. The Careers Service also runs the Leicester Award for Employability Skills, a programme allowing students to explore the skills gained through extra-curricular activities, and is responsible for developing student volunteer activities in the local community in collaboration with the Students’ Union.

The Careers Service maintains strong links with employers and advertises their vacancies and work experience placements through JOBSonline (on the Careers Service website). There is also an annual programme of employer presentations, visits and employability sessions together with several careers fairs. The Careers Service's comprehensive website contains a wide range of information, an e-mail advice service and useful links plus details of all its events and activities.