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Being a well-known red-brick institution and a member of the Russell Group, Sheffield University was described as a “top university across the board” in the Virgin 2008 Alternative Guide to British Universities. In 2001 it was the Sunday Times University of the Year.

It stood 12th in the UK overall in the Times Higher Education rankings of November 2007; 9th in the UK and 70th in the world in Newsweek global rankings. This makes Sheffield stand out especially to those who do not wish to take the LNAT test, an extra admissions test required for some top UK law schools.

Further success includes being awarded 4 Queen’s Anniversary Prizes with the latest being in 2007, as well as some notable alumni in the legal world such as Nigel Savage (CEO, College of Law); David Childs (Managing Partner, Clifford Chance), and Nigel Knowles (Co-Chief Executive, DLA Piper).

Bartolomé House, the old nursing and midwifery school, became the new law building in January 2008. They have their own courtroom, and many seminar rooms spread over the three sides of the impressive and well-situated red-brick building. It is only a 5 minute walk from the main university library, the Information Commons, and only 2 minutes away from the old Western Bank library, both of which store most of the law books.

There is a lift facility to go from floor to floor in the building, in addition to the stairs. Both students and lecturers can take a break in the basement in the sitting area which has a refreshments stand serving healthy food and drink for most of the day.

The Information Commons library, situated almost parallel to the Student Union has a massive amount of features; 7 floors containing over 1,300 study spaces, a huge number of fully networked PCs, Wi-Fi access, shower and toilet facilities, colour printers, classrooms for meetings and discussion, up to 100,000 volumes of reference and short-loan books, access to journals, many comfortable sofas and a silent study area for those who prefer quiet study.

Each floor has full wheelchair access via lifts. On the ground floor there’s a cafe with 70 seats and kiosk computers to check your email. The building is an incredible new addition to the university and is noticeable for both its size, and striking colour. Students will receive most of their lectures in the Octagon centre which seats over 400 students, the St George’s Church lecture room, or the Student Union Auditorium, all of which are only 5 minutes from the main law building.

The law department, rated ‘excellent’ by the HEFCE, consists of 51 academic staff. As with all other providers, the Sheffield LPC focuses on the three core subjects; Property law and practice, Litigation and practice and Business law and practice.

You will also have to choose three electives from the ten offered at Sheffield, these being Mergers & Acquisitions, Commercial Litigation, Criminal Litigation, Personal Injury, Commercial law, Commercial Property, Corporate Finance, Employment, Family and Private Client law.

Sheffield is the country’s 4th largest city, and yet boasts the third lowest student living costs nationwide, according to the Natwest Student Living Index 2008. The area is packed with entertainment and culture, including museums, galleries, theatres such as the famous Crucible theatre, abundant nightclubs and bars, and many large music venues such as the Hallam Arena and Don Valley Arena.

In spite of its size and legendary nightlife, the last Home Office figures in 2004-2005 showed Sheffield to be the UK’s safest city with the maximum rating of 4.0. The Meadowhall shopping centre area consists of a huge number of shops, cinemas and restaurants and is only 15 minutes away from the main university sites. Buses and trams are frequent and there are stops right outside the university.

Both are cheap and go all through the city and to the railway station in around 15 minutes. Being such a popular destination with over 40,000 students in the city’s two universities, the student life is very much linked with the general city life. As the city is so nearby to the University and accommodation, there isn’t really a separately defined campus area, though the two accommodation areas are only 10 minute walks either side of the Student Union. This provides the best of both worlds, making Sheffield effectively a campus university integrated into a large, safe city.

Course fees for the LPC stand at £8,900 for Home students and £10,820 for international students. According to the Royal Bank of Scotland Student Living Index 2007, Sheffield has the cheapest weekly housing rent costs in the UK. Costs for accommodation vary depending on whether you choose self-catering or catered accommodation, with self-catered accommodation varying from £70- £120 per week, and much the same but with an additional food charge for catering packages. 62% of accommodation comes with En-suite facilities.

The average price for club nights in the union is £3.50, and the drinks offers are endless e.g. £1 shots, £1.50 doubles and so on from Monday- Thursday. There are varying drinks offers at the weekend. Snacks such as baguettes and pizzas are available in the union bar at reasonable prices, ranging from £2.10 to £4.
The Edward Bramley Law Society is the main basis of extra-curricular life for law students at Sheffield University. The society has an annual book sale with second hand and discounted new books.

They also provide opportunities for mooting, with an annual mooting competition judged by Barristers from Chambers. Prizes include mini-pupillages for the 4 finalists and a substantial cash prize for the winner. Many of the mooting activities on offer look great on the CV and improve essential skills for law students, for example public speaking. There is also a Varsity moot in which a team from Sheffield moots against a Sheffield Hallam team for the Varsity cup.

The law society also has various sports teams that compete in the intra-mural cup, and in cups against other university law teams. The Ed Bram Society is renowned for their legendary socials, with a fancy dress themed social almost every month gaining an average attendance of over 100 students from all departments. There is an annual trip to a European city for 4 days and 4 nights.

The law society takes 49 students away to visit sites and court cases and of course party in the evenings, and this is one of the most highly discussed social events of the year, even amongst non-law students. In addition it hosts a Winter Ball and Summer Ball like no other.

The Ed Bram Law Society has good relations with many top law firms, and thus, has the privilege of sponsored meals and presentations from big law firms, sometimes for between 50 and 100 society members. Membership costs £18 for 1 year, or £36 for 3 years. This gives you the first chance to sign up for all of these events before they sell out and offer tickets at discount prices.

The social life in Sheffield in second to none. There are Freshers’ events every night in Freshers’ week, including inter-community bar crawls, Freshers’ Mania with some of the biggest DJ’s in the country, and the infamous Freshers’ Ball. At the end of the year, the Sheffield University Carnival is the main talking point for all students. In 2008 more DJs and famous bands were performing in 4 different rooms in and around the student union.

The union was voted NUS union of the year in 2008, and is known to be consistently one of the best in the UK. There are limitless clubs and societies to join that will cater for all your sporting and social interests and hobbies, including the Ed Bram Law Society, as mentioned above. The Goodwin sports centre is the home of most of the sports facilities with a 33m swimming pool, tennis courts, cricket nets, S10 health gym, a sports hall and many synthetic pitches. This is owned by the University itself and is available for use by all students.

There are student discount nights at most clubs from Monday to Thursday and at some clubs from Friday to Sunday as well, and the 6 main clubs in Sheffield host nights with different music on each night. The clubs and bars have an incredible reputation, especially as they are on the whole much cheaper than bars and clubs in other big cities such as London, with students from all over the UK visiting Sheffield for bar crawls such as ‘Carnage’ 4 times a year. Drinks offers in the clubs are endless, so students have the luxury of choosing between club nights at city nightclubs or at the union itself.

Sheffield hosts one of the biggest law fairs in England every November with over 70 law firms present. Students can have 15 minute or 1 hour individual sessions with career advisors. The university also has a special section for law students on its website with videos, podcasts, and information sheets about going to the bar or becoming a solicitor.

The university and the Ed Bram Law Society together organise employer presentations by law firms and other recruitment events such as open days and meals with the firms’ representatives. There are also skills sessions held by law firms and other employers to help with applications for internships and training contracts.