UK law schools

Jul 26, 2016

Written By Jos Weale, Managing Editor, All About Law

UK law schools offer their fair share of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, from LLBs and LLMs, to the GDL (law conversion course for those with non-law degrees), LPC (for aspiring lawyers) and BPTC (for those who wish to become a barrister in England or Wales).

The courses they run will prepare students to work in the law system in England and Wales only. If you’d like more information on how to convert to UK law if you already have qualifications from another country, you can check out our QLTS section.

The vast majority of universities in the UK will have a law department or School of Law. You’ll be able to find a long list of the universities that offer undergraduate law degrees via the UCAS website.

There are also a handful of specialist legal training providers that don’t form part of a larger university network. They are:

The University of Law (formally the College of Law)
BPP Law School
Kaplan Law School
National College of Legal Training (NCLT)
CILEx (Note: CILEx provides training for aspiring paralegals and legal executives, NOT those wishing to become solicitors and barristers straight away.)

In order to provide a qualifying law course, UK Law Schools must have their programmes approved by either the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) (for the GDL or LPC) or the Bar Standards Board (for the BPTC). These organisations are the official regulatory bodies for the solicitor and barrister professions. Courses must meet their specific requirements in the content covered and assessed.

SRA accredited GDL providers

The SRA lists law conversion course providers in England and Wales on their website. Click here to head to the list!

SRA accredited LPC providers

Here is a list of all the UK law schools currently running accredited courses for the penultimate stage of solicitor training:

Anglia Ruskin University
Birmingham City University
Bournemouth University
BPP Law School (Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester)
Cardiff Law School
City Law School
De Montfort University
Leeds Beckett University
Liverpool John Moores University
London Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University
Northumbria University
Nottingham at Kaplan Law School, London
Nottingham Trent University
Staffordshire University
Swansea University
The University of Law (Birmingham, Bristol, Chester, Guildford, Leeds, London, Manchester, York)
University of Central Lancashire
University of Derby
University of Hertfordshire
University of Huddersfield
University of Lincoln
University of Sheffield
University of South Wales
University of Sunderland
University of the West of England, Bristol
University of West London
University of Westminster
University of Wolverhampton

Bar Standards Board validated BPTC course providers

…And a list of BPTC law schools:

BPP Law School (Leeds, London, Manchester)
The University of Law (Birmingham, London)
City Law School
Kaplan Law School (London)
Manchester Metropolitan University
Nottingham Law School
The University of Northumbria
University of West England, Bristol
Cardiff Law School

The lists can look a bit daunting at first, but slow and steady finds the right course. Just take time doing your research on each provider, visit each website, look at course rankings, see what they have to offer international students and make a short list of the places find out more about.

UK Universities