Law Courses

About Law

A course in law will provide you with important legal knowledge, enabling you to develop legal skills across human rights law, immigration law, international law, and English law (as well as many others).

Gaining a Law and Criminology degree requires plenty of study and hard work and may require a further qualifying law degree depending on your personal goals and entry requirements, but in the end, results in a rewarding career. Full-time Law and Criminology courses look at the foundations of law, past and current legal issues as well as an understanding of the relationship between crime and deviance.

Courses in the UK can be taught at universities, colleges, and even online. This allows you to shape your future in law by getting a qualification that suits you best and gives you the skills required for your industry. Whether you’re looking to use your abilities to enhance your personal skills or otherwise, there’s a lot you can do with a law degree. You can use it within a business context, or to go to law school and join the legal profession, there is a qualification or a law degree in the UK available to you.

What Do You Do As a Lawyer?

The primary role of a lawyer is to provide legal support and services to individuals, private companies, public companies and public sector organisations. Given the vast nature of the law in the UK, lawyers typically specialise in one or two areas, such as employment. There are a lot of areas to choose from, such as property, family, criminal justice, finance, European, public law, and government.

In England the UK, barristers typically represent clients, whether they’re individuals or businesses, in court. Many barristers are self-employed or work in governmental agencies.

Regardless of what section of law you enter into, being a lawyer will require a lot of reading, analytical thought and writing.

Careers in Law and Criminology

If you’re considering a law and criminology job in criminal law or criminal justice, then completing a bachelor’s degree is only the basis for having a full-time career. Completing work experience or work placement in a legal practice is an excellent way to gain a further understanding of the criminal
justice system and the legal system. Legal professions within criminal justice can include:

• Parole/Probation Officer

Working within this career requires a detailed understanding of public law and legal knowledge of criminology. A parole/probation officer works with people that have spent time in prison for criminal convictions, helping them to adjust back to society. Probation officers, in particular, supervise former convicts and prevent them from repeating the same behaviour.

• Forensic Science Technician

This career may sound out of place within a law and criminology degree but it is actually a job that is critical within this industry. A forensic science technician helps to acquit crime suspects by gaining evidence from a crime scene and analysing it within a laboratory. This career path requires problem-solving skills and a different academic stage than someone completing a law degree.

• Criminologist

Being a criminologist requires higher education and an understanding of law modules, however the career path centres on studying and analysing the behaviour and methods of criminals to see what motivates them leading to future predictions.

• Police Detective

The career of a police detective similar but not exactly how the movies present it. With no uniform, this career still requires legal skills and an understanding of the criminal justice system whilst solving murder cases and others similar.

• Criminal Lawyer

The career journey of a criminal lawyer does require further study, legal research and obviously a law degree in Law and Criminology. There are specific law firms for criminal law and legal practices for all other areas including land law, public law, family law, international law etc. A Criminal Lawyer focuses on dealing with cases in relation to the conviction of criminals and justice.

Click here for our guide on becoming a solicitor.

How Do You Become a Lawyer?

There are a variety of ways to become a lawyer. After your A-levels, you can take an undergraduate course in a qualifying law degree at university (LLB), or study a different subject at the undergraduate level and then take a one-year, postgraduate law GDL conversion course.

If you wish to be a solicitor, then you’ll need to take a Legal Practice Course (LBC), before doing training at a legal firm. If you wish to be a barrister you’ll need to take a Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC), and then do training in a barristers’ chambers.

If you’re concerned about high entry requirements or being a student full-time, you can also take a Solicitor Apprenticeship after A-Levels, which is a six-year program aimed at post-A-level students.

If you’re not focused on being a lawyer by profession, then you can take various courses which will teach you about basic law which you can apply to your everyday personal life or business.

Law and Criminology Degrees

University Law and Criminology degrees are very popular as the multiple career paths are intriguing. It is important to check with your preferred university at open days for any further information you need such as tuition fees, additional costs, optional modules and language requirements.

The Law and Criminology best universities in the UK include:

• Lancashire Law School
• University of Kent
• Nottingham Trent University
• University of South Wales
• Bangor University
• Birmingham University

UK Courses in Law

Studying in the United Kingdom is an opportunity that will take any student far in life – there are a vast range of accounting courses out there for everyone, no matter your specific needs. With over 200 institutions in the UK offering courses in being a law, online or in-class, here are just a few:

• Bachelor of Laws (Honours) (LLB)
• Bachelor of Laws (Honours) (graduate entry)
• BA (Honours) Criminology and Law

Career Outcomes From a Law Course

A course in becoming a lawyer will provide individuals with the opportunity to work in many different industries. Below is a list of some of the potential fields someone who has completed a course in lawyer in the UK:

• Business
• Employment
• Family
• Government
• International
• Housing
• Charity