The SOAS Law degree equips its students for international and transnational work, whether in legal practice or in other areas of law and iams to encourage a generation of highly skilled, civic minded and critically engaged law graduates.

Why SOAS?

• Our research publications have been rated first in the UK - and our School of Law rated sixth in the UK - in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021
• SOAS is unique as the only higher education institution in the UK specialising in the study of Asian, Middle East and North African (MENA) and Sub-Saharan African regions
• we are specialists in the delivery of more than forty African and Asian languages. Your command of a language will set you apart from graduates of other universities
• this programme will immerse you in the legal traditions and practices of a number of global regions, which will give you a critical understanding of the role of law in the world today
• we specialise in key topics including international and transnational law, human rights, transnational commercial law, environmental law, comparative law and socio-legal method
• allows you to develop a specialist niche alongside your Law degree by utilising the global expertise of one of our other departments

Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings

Start of programme: September

Mode of Attendance: Full-time

Students take 120 credits per year composed of core and optional modules, which allows for students to design their own intellectual journey while maintaining a strong grasp of the fundamentals.

Students may take a maximum of 60 Law related credits and a minimum of 30 Law related credits a year on this programme.

In Year 1 students are introduced to the core elements and principles of the English legal system, and provided with the key analytical skills necessary for undertaking a demanding law degree program.

In second, third and fourth years’ our students will be even more fully immersed in the distinctively SOAS program. Our students can choose from a wide array of optional courses that draw on the unique research expertise of our staff. The emphasis we place on choice, and research-led teaching, will allow our students to pursue a number of distinct specialisms as their degree progresses, but whichever path they choose to focus on the courses they study will all be imbued with that distinctive SOAS dimension, that stresses critical engagement and understanding of the role of law in the world at large.

Programme Specification

• BA Law Programme Specification (pdf; 381kb)

Important notice

Teaching & Learning

Modules are taught through a combination of lectures and tutorials, usually two hours lecture and one hour tutorial a week. Sometimes, one follows the other in a three-hour bloc. Sometimes, the tutorial is at a different time or on a different day than the lecture.

Tutorials are sessions in which students are expected to present reports and take a lead in discussions.

Depending on the size of the class, some intermediate and final year level modules are less strictly divided between a formal lecture and a tutorial discussion, and instead, the topic is briefly introduced by the lecturer, followed by a seminar discussion.

Contact Hours

All full-time undergraduate programmes consist of 120 credits per year, in modules of 30 or 15 credits. They are taught over 10 or 20 weeks. The programme structure shows which modules are compulsory and which optional.

As a rough guide, 1 credit equals approximately 10 hours of work. Most of this will be independent study (see Approaches to teaching and learning at SOAS). It will also include class time, which may include lectures, seminars and other classes. Some subjects, such as learning a language, have more class time than others. In the Department of Law, many undergraduate modules have a weekly two hour lecture or seminar. Some modules may also had an additional hour of smaller group classes weekly or fortnightly.  

More information is on the page for each module.

Learning Resources

SOAS Library is one of the world's most important academic libraries for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, attracting scholars from all over the world. The Library houses over 1.2 million volumes, together with significant archival holdings, special collections and a growing network of electronic resources.

Scholarships

For further details and information on external scholarships visit the Scholarships section

The degree structure provides students with a law degree aimed primarily at those not wishing to become practicing lawyers. It provides students with a wide range of analytical and transferable skills suitable for any profession in which a non-specialised degree is required.

Skills gained include:

• specialist knowledge of comparative law, human rights, environmental law and international law
• the ability to think laterally and employ critical reasoning
• analytical skills
• problem-solving skills
• the ability to formulate sound arguments
• ability to interpret and explain complex information clearly
• communication and presentation skills

SOAS Law graduates have gone on to pursue careers directly related to law, or used their skills and expertise to get take up professional and management careers in both the private and public sectors. The Law degree programmes have also enabled graduates to continue in the field of research either at SOAS or other institutions  

Find out more about Law Graduate Destinations

Graduates have gone on to work for a range of organisations including:

• Allen & Overy
• Clifford Chance
• Baker McKenzie
• United Nations
• Linklaters
• Lloyds Banking Group
• Gibson Young Solicitors
• Liberty UK
• Slaughter and May
• CMS Cameron McKenna

Types of roles that graduates have gone on to do include:

• Trainee Solicitor
• Barrister
• Finance Manager
• Legal Researcher
• Paralegal
• Financial Analyst
• Procurement Manager
• Tax Consultant
• Business Developer
• Recruitment Consultant

Apply

This programme is not open to application from prospective students; this programme is only available to those on the LLB pathway