Is a BA in law a qualifying law degree?

‘Qualifying law degree’

In 1999, the Law Society and the General Council of the Bar issued the ‘Joint Statement’, which specified certain standards for the academic stage of training to become a lawyer.

Traditionally, the academic stage of training involved the completion of either a qualifying law degree or the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL). This applied to both aspiring solicitors and aspiring barristers.

A ‘qualifying law degree’ is an undergraduate law degree that covers six specific modules, known as the ‘Foundations of Legal Knowledge’:

- Public Law (including Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and Human Rights)

- Law of the European Union

- Criminal Law

- Obligations (including Contract, Restitution and Tort)

- Property Law

- Equity and the Law of Trusts

In addition to covering these key areas of legal study, qualifying law degrees must also meet certain other requirements. These relate to the knowledge and general transferable skills students must acquire, the number of permitted assessment attempts, and the number of credits allocated to studying law on the degree.

BA Law vs LLB

So, what is a BA in law? Simply put, the BA is a law-focused Bachelor of Arts degree. Generally, students studying a BA in law can choose to study both law and non-law subjects. Some BA Law students even choose to complete a joint or combined honours by studying a second subject.

Because most BA Law degrees do not meet the specific requirements set out in the Joint Statement, many are classified as non-qualifying law degrees. Having said that, there are exceptions and some BA degrees do meet the required standards. A notable example is the University of Oxford’s BA in Jurisprudence.

On the other hand, the LLB, or Bachelor of Laws, is widely recognised as a qualifying law degree in England and Wales.

How to choose

How do you choose between a BA in law or an LLB? Well, the answer might depend on whether or not you want to become a qualified lawyer.

Let's start with aspiring barristers. To become a barrister, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) specifies that as part of your academic stage of training, you must complete either a qualifying law degree, or the GDL. For future barristers deciding what to study, the cheaper option would be to opt for a qualifying law degree from the outset. However, if you want to be a barrister and you’re currently studying a BA in law, you can still qualify as a barrister in the future as long as you complete the GDL.

Solicitors, luckily, with the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), the route to qualifying as a solicitor is much more fluid.

Under the old system, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) used to have the same education requirements as the BSB. This is no longer the case under the SQE route, as aspiring solicitors can have a degree or equivalent qualification in any subject.

For more information about the transitional arrangements and requirements under the SQE route, visit our dedicated SQE course page.

For those who don’t want to be a lawyer

Maybe you have no interest in becoming a practising lawyer but are keen to learn about specific areas of the law. If so, the flexibility offered by a BA in law might be more suitable for you.

As a BA Law student, you generally have the option to switch between law and non-law subjects and can choose the areas of law that actually interest you. Don’t want to sit through contract law, but interested in the criminal justice system or human rights? That is the beauty of the BA in law.