Business Law (1 Year Top-Up)
| From | To | UK Fee * | International Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Sep 2012 | 31 Aug 2013 | £7,800 | £9,000 |
* Exceptions may apply. Please see Fees and Finance for further information.
Introduction
This one-year programme is designed for people who have completed a foundation degree in law, or equivalent, and now wish to achieve a full BA honours degree. The programme will undoubtedly enhance your employability upon graduation.
Your studies will be highly relevant to the work of legal departments in large organisations. Three optional modules, in addition to the three core modules, give you scope to tailor your learning to suit your own career aspirations. Within the broad focus of business law you will gain in-depth knowledge of various areas of the legal system.
Law at Sunderland has achieved outstanding results in the National Student Survey. Our well-rounded programmes include opportunities for mooting, debating and other activities that develop experience and skills useful for any workplace.
You will benefit from the excellent facilities at our St Peter's riverside campus and you will learn through a mix of tutor-led sessions, group interaction with other students, and personal study and research.
At the end of the programme there are many opportunities for continuing with studies. This may include studying for Masters or PhD qualifications or vocational qualifications in another field, such as personnel or teaching.
At Sunderland we offer students up-to-date career information and advertise relevant employment opportunities. We encourage contact with local firms and past Sunderland graduates. Whatever your intended career may be, a law degree is well respected by organisations both in the private and public sector looking for high calibre graduates for their management trainee programmes.
Course Content
Core Modules:
- Company Law
- Intellectual Property Law
- Commercial Law
Optional Modules:
Choose three modules from:
- Equity and Trusts
- Family Law
- Dissertation
- Conflict of Laws
- Evidence
- Succession
- Medical Law
- Organised Crime and Terrorism
- Legal Theory
- Law & Sexuality
- Sports Law
- Employment Law
- Cases in Public Law
- Coroners' Law
- Space Law
- Introduction to ICJ
Entry Requirements
A Foundation Degree in Law or equivalent is required for progression on to this course. Students applying with English as a second language will be required to have achieved as a minimum IELTS 6.0 to commence the programme.
Other options include the Graduate Diploma in Law which satisfies the academic stage of training required in order to enrol on the LPC (Legal Practice Course) or the BVC (Bar Vocational Course) for those who would like to practise as solicitors or barristers.
Fees and Finance
The fees for this course are as specified in the table at the top of the page.
Please note that different fees apply to students studying for "Equivalent or Lower Qualifications" (ELQs). For more information about ELQs, please see the page Information for applicants who already have an HE Qualification.
For information about University scholarships and bursaries please see the page Fees and Finance.
Teaching and Assessment
Our teaching approaches are designed to impart knowledge and enthusiasm, encourage understanding, and provide opportunities to apply your knowledge. Modules will make use of the following features:
Interactive sessions: you can expect to interact with other students and/or with your tutor to develop ideas, work on tasks, improve skills and explain material.
Legal Research: you will be introduced to methods of legal research including the law library and electronic sources such as Lexis and West Law. All modules require you to engage in the research of both primary and secondary sources of law.
Directed Private Study: this includes reading, group activities, revision, and carrying out assessment work. Module Guides will provide details of required reading to assist with preparation for timetabled sessions and/or for the completion of assessments.
Assessment
Assessment methods include examinations, research assignments, case studies, problem questions, practical activities and reports. These allow you to demonstrate knowledge, understanding and application of legal principles as well as competence in specific skills. They also allow you to demonstrate the breadth and depth of your directed and independent research.
Work Experience
Case studies are extremely common throughout the course. Among other things, they help you to develop the ability to:
- identify the issues in need of research and to bring that information together;
- apply subject-specific legal knowledge within a real-life/practical context;
- make critical judgements about the merits of a particular argument;
- make reasoned choices between alternative solutions;
- present information in an appropriate manner according to the intended audience.
The case studies may take the form of real cases, live legal issues, or hypothetical problems that reflect legal problems.
Extra-curricular activities are a key feature of the course. They are not just valuable for your CV but they also support the skills which must be demonstrated for successful completion of an assessment portfolio. The activities - part of Mooting & Debating and Law & Film - allow you to develop and hone legal and transferable skills within a non-assessed environment.
Career Opportunities
We provide regular information and guidance on possible careers. Our Visiting Speakers programme, which operates throughout the year, includes guest speakers who are currently on postgraduate programmes (often these speakers are our own graduates), and also speakers who have progressed onto other careers.
We also organise a Careers Evening each year, to which all final year students are invited. Contributors include representatives from local firms as well as a number of our past graduates who have gained employment in careers including the Police Service and teaching (at secondary level and in universities) or who have moved on to postgraduate programmes.
It is also possible to progress on to the Graduate Diploma in Law which satisfies the academic stage of training required to enrol on the LPC (Legal Practice Course) or the BVC (Bar Vocational Course) for those who would like to practise as solicitors or barristers.
A number of students will want to continue their studies after they graduate. This may include further academic study at Masters or PhD level, or a course leading to a vocational qualification in another field such as Personnel or Librarianship. Postgraduate study in law may enable you to explore aspects of law in greater depth or to study a new subject within this field.
Some students will also move on to the PGCE and look for a career in teaching, again with the potential of making use of their legal knowledge in the teaching of AS/A level Law.
Facilities
The Faculty of Business and Law is located in the University's newest development at St Peter's Riverside. Within the Prospect Building there is access to out-of-hours IT provision, Library/Information Services (24/7 in term time), and catering facilities.
The University has consistently won the highest grades for Learning Resources in QAA Subject Reviews and in the 2007 National Student Survey.
Within the Reg Vardy Centre, there are a total of 30 teaching rooms, varying in capacity from 25 to 100, equipped with moveable furniture to enable a variety of classroom layouts. Each room is equipped with whiteboard, screen, OHP, video and data projection and Internet connection. Other equipment, such as video cameras and slide projectors, is also available.
The Prospect Building houses two 200-seat lecture theatres and one state-of-the-art 400-seat lecture theatre. To ensure that the facilities remain up-to-date, we continuously monitor and review new technology and software as it becomes available.
The Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter's also has three large lecture theatres for use by the Faculty. The largest - the Sir Tom Cowie Lecture Theatre - contains a full range of state-of-the-art audio-visual, video projection and presentation facilities including full video conferencing facilities.
*World Class Web/Design Tools*
The University of Sunderland has made a significant investment in providing students with access to the latest releases of Adobe products.
Selected PCs within the St Peter's and Murray Libraries have been pre-loaded with the Creative Suite 4 (CS4) Adobe Design Premium Suite for your exclusive use.
CS4 Creative includes key products such as Indesign, Illustrator, Dreamweaver as well as Photoshop and a range of many others.
Further information is available from:
http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/creativesuite/design/
For information regarding locations of PC or Macs within your own faculty that have access to Adobe products please contact your Faculty IT Support.
If you are interested in purchasing Adobe products for your own PC/Mac Adobe offer significant savings for student purchases via any of its approved re-sellers.
Please visit:
http://www.student-software.co.uk/