LLB Law (Major) with Politics Queen's University Belfast

The following is a list of the major career sectors that have attracted our graduates in recent years:

• Management Consultancy
• Corporate Banking
• Purchasing Officer
• Fast Stream Civil Service
• Publishing, Media and Performing Arts
• Export Marketing
• Advertising
• Finance
• Law Enforcement and Public Prosecution
• Varied graduate programmes (Times Top 100 UK Graduate Recruiters/ AGR Association of Graduate Recruiters UK)

Typical career destinations of graduates include:

• Solicitor
• Barrister
• Legal Professional
• Para Legal
• Legal Executive
• Legal Analyst
• Compliance Officer
• Accountant
• Financial Engineer
• Business Analyst
• Management
• Audit Associate

Employment Links

Graduate Employers include A& L Goodbody, Allen & Overy, Baker and McKenzie, CitiGroup, Deloitte, EY, First Derivatives, PWC, Wilson Nesbitt, Herbert Smith Freehills.

Other Employer Links

Top international law firms, including the ‘Magic Circle’ law firms, ie Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, Slaughter & May, and many more.

Prizes and Awards

A wide range of prizes and scholarships are awarded to top-performing students. A number of these are sponsored by leading law firms and organisations.

Degree plus award for extra-curricular skills

In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's, you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world-leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Degree Plus. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.

The degree offers students the opportunity to study the modules required for the academic stage of legal qualification. In addition, students are offered the opportunity to explore their interests in the final year with modules offered that allow them to specialise in a particular area, or simply receive a more rounded sense of what ‘law’ is. Many of these modules consider the law and law-like interactions on a local, national and international level.

Stage 1

• Legal Methods and Skills
• Constitutional & Administrative Law
• Contract Law
• Careers & Employability
• Politics Modules
• Contemporary Europe
• Issues in Contemporary Politics - To expose students to contemporary/recent and developing political issues locally, nationally and globally. The module will change year-to-year depending on these issues and staff availability.
  • Political Economy - trade, finance, energy, resources, politics of austerity
  • War/conflict/geopolitics - current crisis in Syria, ISIS, Ukraine-Russia-EU, Israel-Palestine
  • Environment/Sustainability - climate change, climate justice, biodiversity loss
  • Political Parties and Policy-making - rise of Jeremy Corbyn, Bernie Sanders, reform of party finances, decentralisation of policy-making, innovations such as participative budgeting from around the world
  • Gender, women and politics – Hilary Clinton as US President/candidate, strategies for increasing women’s representation (including quotas), the women’s movement and politics
  • Social movements and political ideas – Occupy movement, religion and politics, relevance of debates on long-standing normative political ideas – social justice, democracy, recogniton etc. to these issues; role of trades unions, workplace democracy, workers rights etc.
  • Migration and refugees – normative, empirical and political-policy explanations of and responses to flows of people across borders, current Syrian one for example, but also other case studies
  • Leadership and citizenship- examples of political leadership and citizenship in formal electoral politics and civil society from around the world

Stage 2

• EU Law
• Company Law & Corporate Governance
• Tort
• Criminal Law - Elements of Crime Actus Reus Mens Rea Offences against Property Theft, Burglary and Robbery, Criminal Damage, Non-Fatal Offences against the Person, Assault, Aggravated Assault, Sexual Offences, Homicide, Murder, Manslaughter, Inchoate Offences, General Defences.
• Students must choose 2 Politics modules* from the list below:
  • Politics of Deeply Divided Societies
  • International Relations
  • International Organisations
  • Security and Terrorism
  • Modern Political Thought

*Please note this is not an exclusive list of the optional modules available. Optional modules are reviewed each year. Optional modules are subject to timetabling and staff availability.

Stage 3

• Land Law
• Equity & Trusts
• Evidence and Criminal Procedure

Students must choose 1 Law Optional Modules from the list below *

• Gender, Justice and Society
• Global Business Law and Regulation
• Intellectual Property Law
• International Humanitarian Law
• International Trade Law
• International Criminal and Transitional Justice
• Business and Human Rights
• Clinical Law

*Please note this is not an exclusive list of the optional modules available. Optional modules are reviewed each year. Optional modules are subject to timetabling and staff availability.

Students must choose 2 Politics modules from the list below *

• Politics of Irish Literature
• The Politics of Sustainable Development
• Contemporary Political Philosophy
• Arms Control
• Women and Politics
• Northern Ireland: A Case Study in Ethno-National Conflict and Peace Making
• Scotland and Northern Ireland: Points of Political Comparison
• US Foreign Policy: War
• Politics, Public Administration and Policy Making
• Global Resource Politics
• European Cultural Identities

*Please note this is not an exclusive list of the optional modules available. Optional modules are reviewed each year. Optional modules are subject to timetabling and staff availability.

Learning and Teaching

The Law School at Queen's is ranked as one of the top schools in the UK and Ireland. Teaching quality within the School was judged to be 'excellent' and our research was awarded a 5B (excellent) by the UK Higher Education Funding Bodies. There are over 800 undergraduate students enrolled in the School, 190 postgraduates, 70 PhD students and almost 50 members of academic staff. You will be taught by scholars from all over the world, many of whom have international reputations in their fields and all are committed teachers and researchers. Students will also have access to an excellent law section in the new library and extensive IT facilities. In addition, the School has active relationships with universities in China, North America and throughout Europe through which opportunities for study abroad and staff exchanges are fostered.

The School operates a proactive system of student support. Advisers of Studies are allocated to each degree programme tasked to guide and support you throughout your time with us, together with the School's experienced and helpful administrative staff. In addition, students are allocated a Personal Tutor for their time in the School. We place considerable emphasis on facilitating good communication between staff and students. To this end, a Staff-Student Consultative Committee, comprised of elected student representatives, the Director of Education, LLB Programme Director and other members of academic staff, meets at regular intervals throughout the academic year. This Committee provides students with a forum in which to raise matters of concern to them and also enables the School to keep students informed about matters affecting the School and wider university.

At Queen’s, we aim to deliver a high-quality learning environment that embeds intellectual curiosity, innovation and best practice in learning, teaching and student support to enable students to achieve their full academic potential.

On the LLB programmes, we do this by providing a range of learning experiences that enables our students to engage with subject experts, develop attributes and perspectives that will equip them for life and work in a global society and make use of innovative technologies and a world-class library that enhances their development as independent, life-long learners. Examples of the opportunities provided for learning on this course are:

• E-Learning technologies
  Information associated with lectures and assignments is communicated via a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called Queen’s Online. A range of e-learning experiences are also embedded in the degree through, for example, interactive group workshops in a flexible learning space; podcasts and interactive web-based learning activities; opportunities to use IT programmes associated with design in project-based work etc.
• Lectures
  Provide information about topics as a starting point for further self-directed private study/reading. Lectures also provide opportunities to ask questions, gain some feedback and advice on assessments (normally delivered in large groups to all year group peers).
• Personal Tutor
  Undergraduates are allocated a Personal Tutor during their time in the School. Tutors meet with their students on several occasions during the year to support their academic development.
• Self-directed study
  This is an essential part of life as a Queen’s Law student when important private reading and research, engagement with e-learning resources, reflection on feedback to date and assignment research and preparation work is carried out.
• Seminars/tutorials
  Significant amounts of teaching are carried out in small groups (typically 10-20 students in Law modules and 8-15 students in Politics modules). These provide an opportunity for students to engage with academic staff who have specialist knowledge of the topic, to ask questions of them and to assess their own progress and understanding with the support of peers. Students should also expect to make presentations and other contributions to these groups.
• Work placements
  In conjunction with the Careers, Employability and Skills Department, there are opportunities for a number of summer internships. These provide significant learning and employability enhancement opportunities.

Assessment

Details of assessments associated with this course are outlined below:

• The way in which students are assessed will vary according to the learning objectives of each module. Some modules are assessed solely through project work or written assignments. Others are assessed through a combination of coursework and end of year examinations. Details of how each module (and module family) is assessed are shown in the Student Handbook which is provided to all students during their first year induction.

Feedback

As students progress through their course at Queen’s they will receive general and specific feedback about their work from a variety of sources including lecturers, module coordinators, placement supervisors, personal tutors, advisers of study and your peers. University students are expected to engage with reflective practice and to use this approach to improve the quality of their work. Feedback may be provided in a variety of forms including:

• Summative feedback is provided via formal written comments and marks relating to work that students, as individuals or as part of a group, have submitted.
• Formative feedback opportunities such as face-to-face comments. This may include occasions when students make use of the lecturers’ advertised “feedback and guidance hours” to help address a specific query.
• Placement employer comments or references.
• Online or emailed comment.
• General comments or question and answer opportunities at the end of a lecture, seminar or tutorial.
• Pre-submission advice regarding the standards you should aim for and common pitfalls to avoid. In some instances, this may be provided in the form of model answers or exemplars which students can review in their own time.
• Feedback and outcomes from practical classes.
• Comment and guidance provided by staff from specialist support services such as Careers, Employability and Skills or the Learning Development Service.
• Once students have reviewed their feedback, they are encouraged to identify and implement further improvements to the quality of their work.

Entrance requirements

A level requirements

AAA

Irish leaving certificate requirements

H2H2H3H3H3H3

Access/Foundation Course

Successful completion of Access Course with an average of 75%.

International Baccalaureate Diploma

36 points overall, including 6,6,6 at Higher Level. If not offered at Higher Level/GCSE then Standard Level grade 4 in English would be accepted.

BTEC Level 3 Extended/National Extended Diploma

QCF Level 3 BTEC Extended Diploma (180 credits), with 160 credits at Distinction grade and 20 credits at Merit grade.
RQF Level 3 BTEC National Extended Diploma (1080 Guided Learning Hours (GLH), with at least 900 GLH at Distinction grade (minimum 240 GLH to be externally assessed) and 180 GLH at Merit grade.

Graduate

A minimum of a 2:1 Honours Degree

All applicants

There are no specific subject requirements to study Law with Politics.

Selection Criteria

In addition, to the entrance requirements above, it is essential that you read our guidance below on 'How we choose our students' prior to submitting your UCAS application.

Applications are dealt with centrally by the Admissions and Access Service rather than by individual University Schools. Once your online form has been processed by UCAS and forwarded to Queen's, an acknowledgement is normally sent within two weeks of its receipt at the University.

Selection is on the basis of the information provided on your UCAS form. Decisions are made on an ongoing basis and will be notified to you via UCAS.

Demand for places differs from course to course and for Law, past performance at GCSE is taken into account when deciding whether or not to make conditional offers. For entry last year, we started making offers to applicants offering A-Level/BTEC Level 3 qualifications, who have achieved 2 grade A/7 and 4 grade B/6 at GCSE. This threshold may be lowered as the cycle progresses depending upon the number and quality of applications. The final threshold is not usually determined until late in the admissions cycle, so there may be a delay in processing applicants who do not meet the initial threshold. GCSE English Language grade C is also required

Offers are normally made on the basis of 3 A-levels. The offer for repeat applicants is set in terms of 3 A-Levels only and is normally the same as that asked from the first time applicants. Grades may be held from the previous year.

Applicants offering two A-levels and one BTEC Subsidiary Diploma/National Extended Certificate (or equivalent qualification), or one A-level and a BTEC Diploma/National Diploma (or equivalent qualification) will also be considered. Offers will be made in terms of performance in individual BTEC units rather than the overall BTEC grade(s) awarded. Please note that a maximum of one BTEC Subsidiary Diploma/National Extended Certificate (or equivalent) will be counted as part of an applicant’s portfolio of qualifications. The normal GCSE profile will be expected.

For applicants offering an HNC, the current requirements are successful completion of the HNC with 4 Distinctions and remainder Merits.

For those offering an HND, to be eligible for an offer, a minimum of 2 Distinctions and remainder Merits is necessary for the year 1 performance. Applicants must successfully complete the HND with 4 Distinctions and remainder Merits in all units assessed in the final year. Any consideration would be for stage 1 entry only.

For those offering an HNC or HND, some flexibility may be allowed in terms of GCSE profile.

For applicants offering the Irish Leaving Certificate, please note that performance at Junior Certificate is taken into account and at the end of last year’s application cycle, the Junior Cert profile was a minimum of 2A and 4B grades.

The information provided in the personal statement section and the academic reference together with predicted grades are noted however, these are not the final deciding factors as to whether or not a conditional offer can be made. However, they may be reconsidered in a tie break situation in August.

A-level General Studies and A-level Critical Thinking would not normally be considered as part of a three A-level offer and, although they may be excluded where an applicant is taking 4 A-level subjects, the grade achieved could be taken into account if necessary in August/September.

Applicants are not normally asked to attend for interview, though there are some exceptions and specific information is provided with the relevant subject areas.

If you are made an offer then you may be invited to a Faculty/School Open Day, which is usually held in the second semester. This will allow you the opportunity to visit the University and to find out more about the degree programme of your choice and the facilities on offer. It also gives you a flavour of the academic and social life at Queen's.

If you cannot find the information you need here, please contact the University Admissions Service, giving full details of your qualifications and educational background.

International Students

Our country/region pages include information on entry requirements, tuition fees, scholarships, student profiles, upcoming events and contacts for your country/region. Use the dropdown list below for specific information for your country/region.

English Language Requirements

An IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each test component or an equivalent acceptable qualification.

If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this degree programme, INTO Queen's University Belfast offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for admission to this degree.

• Academic English: an intensive English language and study skills course for successful university study at degree level
• Pre-sessional English: a short intensive academic English course for students starting a degree programme at Queen's University Belfast who need to improve their English.

When to Apply

UCAS will start processing applications for entry in autumn 2023 from 1 September 2022.

Advisory closing date: 25 January 2023 (18:00). This is the 'equal consideration' deadline for this course.

Applications from UK and EU (Republic of Ireland) students after this date are, in practice, considered by Queen’s for entry to this course throughout the remainder of the application cycle (30 June 2023) subject to the availability of places.

Applications from International and EU (Other) students are normally considered by Queen’s for entry to this course until 30 June 2023. If you apply for 2023 entry after this deadline, you will automatically be entered into Clearing.

Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as is consistent with having made a careful and considered choice of institutions and courses.

The £20 million School at Queen’s offers students access to world-class facilities such as a fully interactive Moot Court room, a One Button Recording Studio and a wellbeing room.

The facility also incorporates the Herbert Smith Freehills Student Hub supported by the leading global law firm as part of a 5-year sponsorship. This 600m2 space on the ground floor provides social and informal group study facilities and a café area.