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.

Scholarships available

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?

Taught by supportive and passionate staff with years of experience in practice

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

Fees are £11,000.

European Union (EU), EEA (European Economic Area), and Swiss nationals who do not qualify for the EU Settlement Scheme are classed as international, however, for 24/25 admission you will receive a European student fee scholarship and will pay the home tuition fee rate for the duration of your studies. The discounted fee will be reflected in your offer letter. Learn more in our Help and Advice article.

Take a look at 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

Working in the Student Law Clinic on real-life family law matters gave me invaluable experience.

Amy Orange
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

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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: 27 March 2024

We aim to provide clear, accurate and timely information to prospective and current students. We continuously review and enhance course content in consultation with our students and the information provided on our website is the latest available. If you have received an offer from us to start a course, we will communicate any important changes to you in writing. We will always seek to ensure that our prospective students are fully aware of the basis on which they are accepting an offer.