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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, with the Legal Practice Course surrounded by a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

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 LPC is delivered in the Centre for Professional Legal Studies that is based within the main law school. 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) and a Legal Practice Library.

Students on the LPC also get the benefit of the Law School Graduate Building that houses more teaching rooms and a common room. Pretty comprehensive stuff basically.

As well as the IT rooms in the Law School (each 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).

The Cardiff LPC begins early September and comes to a head at the end of June/early July. As with most other providers, the course kicks off with a two week Foundation course aimed at equipping students with a good grasp of the basics straight away.

The course consists of 30 teaching weeks with a reading week scheduled in addition to all the usual university holidays. Overall, the course lasts for 43 weeks.

As for teaching methods, the course is split into large and small group sessions. The larger sessions are used to familiarise students with a particular subject and the smaller sessions are used to delve into the subject in greater detail. It effectively takes the form of lectures and seminars followed by undergraduate courses, but is far more practice-based.

Cardiff also offers a work experience placement scheme for LPC students without training contracts. The LPC nationally is changing and Cardiff intends to take advantage of the new flexibility while continuing to provide their excellent hands-on teaching experience.

There is also the Cardiff Pro Bono Scheme which has two distinct elements to it: The Innocence Project, which deals with cases of long-term prisoners maintaining their innocence, and the general Pro Bono Scheme, which assists members of the community and vulnerable groups where legal aid is not available. The Scheme enables students to experience the law in action, work alongside volunteer legal professionals and develop transferable skills to add to their CVs.

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.

The course fees for the LPC beginning in September 2008 were £9,100 for home students and £10,400 for overseas students. It is reported that the fee is likely to increase for the intake for 2009 so expect it to rise.

With the course fee, LPC students are give course manuals, teaching materials and access to all the facilities. As with most other providers, the fees excluded the £110 required by the Law Society. Additionally, the Law Society will charge you a separate fee of £80 before you begin the LPC.