Legal Practice LLM

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Study a career-enhancing postgraduate Legal Practice course. Learn from an award-winning teaching team. Qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales.

Skills Boost NE Discount

Learning, teaching and assessment in 2021/22

Overview

LLM Legal Practice is a full Masters course which includes the Legal Practice Course (LPC) – the vocational qualification you need to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales.

The course mixes taught elements with independent research, and will set you on track for a successful career in law by helping you develop valuable skills employers look for, including ‘Business Law and Practice’, ‘Litigation and Advocacy’.

The topic of your project will be designed to fit both your personal interests and the supervisory expertise of Sunderland’s tutors.

Why us?

Internationally excellent' research in Law according to the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF)
Watch our Studying Law at Sunderland webcast

Sunderland Student Law Clinic: A professionally supervised service, offering free legal advice and assistance to the general public. Students gain real-world experience, such as improving their client interviewing skills.

Course structure

A typical week for you will include weekly three-hour workshops. These are interactive and require a high level of preparation. The research project and dissertation are supervised by your tutor.

Compared to an undergraduate course, you will find that this Masters course requires a higher level of independent working. You will encounter a range of practical supervised and portfolio assessments across the programme followed by an extended piece of researched coursework for your Legal Practice Project.

Semester 1

Business Law and Practice (includes Taxation and Business Accounts) (25 credits)
Property Law and Practice (20 credits)
Optional module of your choice (10 credits)

Semester 2

Litigation and Advocacy (20 credits)
Wills and Administration of Estates (15 credits)
Solicitors’ Accounts (5 credits)
Two optional modules of your choice (20 credits)
Optional modules Commercial Contracts (10 credits)
Commercial Property (10 credits)
Employment Law and Practice (10 credits)
Family Law and Practice (10 credits) Housing Law and Practice (10 credits)
Advanced Personal Injury Litigation (10 credits)

Semester 3

Legal Practice Project (60 credits)

Some modules have prerequisites. Read more about what this means in our Help and Advice article.

Facilities

You’ll be based at the Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter’s, on the banks of the River Wear. The campus is within minutes’ walking distance from the coast. Here, you’ll have access to excellent library resources and comprehensive facilities.

Entry requirements

Our typical offer is:

Qualification	Minimum grade
a Canadian bachelor's degree	GPA 2.40
a USA bachelor's degree	GPA 2.5

If you already hold a postgraduate qualification, please see our Applying for additional postgraduate degrees Help and Advice article.

If you don't meet our standard entry requirements, you can take one of the foundation pathways at our partners ONCAMPUS Sunderland. Find out more information and whether your course is eligible on our ONCAMPUS page.

If your qualification is not listed above, please contact the Student Administration team at studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk for further advice.

We require applicants to hold 2:2 in a Qualified Law Degree or equivalent, or a 2:2 in any discipline followed by successful completion of a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL).

We also welcome applications from Fellows of the Institute of Legal Executives (FILEX) or those with an appropriate level of relevant professional experience.

If English is not your first language, please see our English language requirements.

Is your qualification not displaying here? For international qualifications, search our full list of international entry requirements for this course.

Fees and finance

The annual fee for this course is:

£9,750 if you are from the UK/Europe*

*European Union (EU), EEA (European Economic Area) and Swiss nationals are classed as international, however 21/22 entrants will receive a European student fee scholarship and will pay the (postgraduate) home tuition fee rate of £9,750 for the duration of their studies. The discounted fee will be reflected on your offer letter. Learn more in our Help and Advice article.

Take a look at the Your Finances section to find out about the scholarships and bursaries that may be available to you.

This information was correct at the time of publication.

Career ready

According to a report from the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), people with a postgraduate qualification earn an average of 27% more than graduates with just an undergraduate degree.

Securing your first job

This course is designed to prepare you to secure your first legal job or training contract. Two days of the induction programme are devoted to kick-start a specialised careers and employability programme. You will carry out a SWOT Analyses identifying your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats when it comes to securing your ideal first legal job.

You will then prepare your CV and a covering letter for a simulated training contract role before going through a mock assessment centre with your course mates and a personal interview with a small panel. This is to help you get to grips with the kind of recruitment processes you are likely to encounter.

The panel will use your SWOT Analysis to personalise their feedback from the day so that you can get the most from the experience and this will lead into a programme of activities throughout the year aimed at increasing your confidence to go out there and secure your first legal job.

Throughout the year, your Personal Tutor will work with you on individual job applications and will ensure you are signposted to other specialists in the university so that you get the best possible support and best possible chance to get your career off to a fantastic start.

Sunderland Student Law Clinic

A professionally supervised service, offering free legal advice and assistance from Sunderland Law School at the University of Sunderland.

The Sunderland Student Law Clinic offers a free and professional service focusing on areas where people may find it difficult to find or afford other legal services. At the same time, the Clinic provides an opportunity for students to gain valuable real-life experience and put theory into practice. Everything that the Clinic does is overseen by an experienced solicitor, ensuring a consistently high standard of legal advice throughout.

Meet the students

The lecturers take pride in providing bespoke support and have an open-door policy

Daniel George Peacock
It has been an incredible journey which I have thoroughly enjoyed.

Matthew Ray
I appreciate that the University has a Mock Law Court available for students to use.

Numan Miah
The best aspect of the Law course was the standard of teaching.

Syed Ahmed

Related courses

Contact

Contact the Student Helpline for further information about studying at the University of Sunderland:

0191 515 3000

student.helpline@sunderland.ac.uk

View Programme Specifications for the Faculty of Business, Law and Tourism.

Page last updated: 23 September 2021

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