Undergraduate study

Overview

Keele Law School is known internationally for our outward-looking and distinctive Law degrees delivered in a supportive and dynamic campus learning environment. From core modules such as Land Law, Equity and Crime, to exciting elective modules at Levels 2 and 3, students at Keele Law School learn from internationally recognised legal academics at the forefront of their discipline.

A Keele Law degree offers:

• ‘High quality’ student learning experience (IQA, 2011); Excellence and Innovation in core areas of Law and interdisciplinary perspectives and pathways across all programmes

• An understanding of the Law and the context in which it operates, equipping students with the attributes to succeed in their studies and future careers

• An international and outward-looking focus, through options to Study Abroad for a  semester, to combine the study of Law with achieving a University Certificate in a modern language, and opportunities to study Law in its international contexts

• Excellence in Research and Teaching: We are rated as offering a 'highly distinctive programme' delivered by 'enthusiastic and well-qualified staff' (External Examiner). Work produced by Keele Law graduates is viewed as 'generally above the average for a UK Law School' (External Examiner)

• Opportunities to study closely with internationally excellent legal academics, in a friendly, supportive and exciting learning environment

• 9 members of the teaching staff nominated for Keele Teaching Excellence Awards in 2012.  And our own Dr Eliza Varney was winner of the prestigious LawCareers.net ‘Law Lecturer of the Year’ (2012) (supported by the Law Society)

• 50% of work submitted by Law academics was rated as being World Leading (4*) or Internationally Excellent (3*) in the RAE 2008. The dynamic quality of our research is reflected in our teaching, described by an External Examiner as 'a high quality legal education which is informed by the most recent research'.

• Engagement with community and professional partners through the core and co-curricula, and work with national and regional legal professionals (including our alumni) through formal activities such as mooting, client interviewing and broader networking events and opportunities.

• Community Legal Outreach Collaboration – Opportunities to get involved in providing important legal support and assistance to the local community.

• Opportunities to work closely with leading law firms, barristers and judges through our strong and active alumni network

• International Study Opportunities through Study Abroad and Law with Languages

• Brand new for 2012 – New Moot Court Facilities

• Professional Study Scholarship Scheme - Bursaries for Excellent New Students; Support for when you graduate

Keele Law School graduates will leave Keele with a distinctive set of attributes and capabilities. As well as a rigorous academic environment in which to learn, students have opportunities to participate in a wide range of co-curricular activities. These opportunities are designed to support the development of students’ professional capabilities, and are facilitated through links with the national and regional legal profession. Keele Law School also hosts a Critical Lawyers’ Group, which provides a forum for debating controversial legal issues, a Student Bar Society and a Student Law Society that organise social functions, law talks, visits to courts, law fairs, etc. The attributes of Keele graduates enable them to succeed in a variety of roles within the legal profession and in a range of other exciting careers.

In 2012, our new Moot Court Room opens within the School of Law. This is a high-specification learning environment, funded through the support of the University and our alumni, in order to assist students in the development of a range of academic and professional skills. We are proud of what this represents in terms of the strength of our alumni’s continuing connection to Keele.

In every way, Keele Law School challenges students to make a difference in their careers

Course Content

First year
The Law part of your first year consists of six modules, all of which are compulsory. In the Autumn Semester all students take Legal Skills, which introduces essential skills and background knowledge, and includes sessions on IT skills, including how to use specialist law information retrieval systems such as Lawtel and Westlaw. You will also take the first half of the Tort Law and Public Law modules in the Autumn Semester. We work hard to contextualise your studies, support your understanding of the Law – for example, Public Law students visit the Houses of Parliament in the first semester and outside speakers are involved wherever appropriate.

The second parts of Tort Law and Public Law are taken in the Spring Semester alongside Legal Systems, which aims to deepen understanding of institutions, actors and processes of the English Legal System within a social and political context.

If students are admitted to a Single Honours Law course they can opt, at the end of their first year, to apply to study Dual Honours Law exclusively in the final two years if they no longer wish to graduate with a ‘qualifying law degree’. Alternatively, if they are admitted to the Dual Honours Law course, they also retain the flexibility to apply to transfer to the Single Honours pathway at the end of your first year and so gain professional exemption (provided that you have fulfilled all other professional requirements). Students opting to study Law with Criminology or Politics have a further pathway that they may potentially choose.

Second year

Core modules
Land Law 1 provides an introduction to the Law of ‘real’ property.

Contract 1 concentrates on the formation and philosophical, social and economic basis of contracts.

Crime 1 deals with key elements of crime and the distinction between offences of intention and offences of recklessness.

In the Spring Semester, students take:

Land Law 2: which further develops students’ analysis of the core principles of Land Law.

Contract 2: which analyses the response of the law when contracts go wrong.

Crime 2: which focuses on inchoate offences, offences against the person and property offences.

In addition to the compulsory modules, Single Honours Law students will be able to choose one 15 credit Law option in each semester, from a range of second year electives potentially including Law in Action (involving work with external organisations), Law, Science and Society, Lawyers in Society and Law and Ethics and Introduction to Public International Law. The second year electives are a key dimension of the School's ambition and commitment to deliver a distinctive Single Honours Law degree that retains breadth and interdisciplinary as its hallmarks, alongside a renewed focus on legal knowledge and skills. These second year modules are explicitly designed to enable students to develop their existing skills through a broader focus on methodological and theoretical approaches.

Law with Politics/Criminology
Students following this pathway take the same compulsory subjects as per Single Honours Law, except the optional 15 credits in each semester must be Law related modules from Politics/Criminology.

Third year 
There are four compulsory modules and a range of optional modules available for Single Honours law students. In the Autumn Semester, students take:

Law of the EU, which introduces key concepts of EU Law and the historical development of the EU.

Equity and Trusts 1, which builds on the foundations laid by Land Law 1 & 2, examining the development and importance of equity and equitable principles.

In the Spring Semester, you take:

Law of the EU 2, which focuses on specific aspects of EU Law, using case studies on education, environment, health, labour and asylum.

Equity and Trusts 2, which further analyses the operation of equitable principles in practice.

You also choose 30 credits in each semester from a range of Level 3 modules including, for example:
Commercial Law
Business Leases
Family Law
Healthcare Law
International Human Rights
International Law, Globalisation and Environment
Sentencing
Evidence
Jurisprudence
Gender, Sexuality and Law
Company Law

You may also, if they prefer, replace two final-year modules with a dissertation.

Law with Politics/Criminology
Students following this pathway take the compulsory modules as per Single Honours Law. In each semester, they also take:

• 15 credits Law options
• 15 credits Law related from Politics/Criminology

Dual Honours

Students have a wide range of possible subject combinations with which they can study Law at Keele. All Dual Honours students at Keele will follow the same curriculum structure. However, Dual Honours Law students wishing to retain the possibility of applying to transfer to the Single Honours Law Programme at Level 2, will study Legal Skills/Systems and the two Public Law modules at Level 1, before picking up both Level 2 Torts modules, in addition to the Single Honours core modules, in their second year. Level 3 is then the same as for other Single Honours students. This flexibility is a key feature of the Law programmes at Keele, and enables students to choose the right course for them at the right time. Students who continue to study Dual Honours at Levels 2 and 3 can choose any Law module, enabling them to build a truly interdisciplinary programme directly related to their own particular interests and aspirations – for example students studying International Relations may look to combine this with some of our International Law options at Levels 2 and 3.

Codes and Combinations

Dual Honours course can be combined with:

 * subject to approval

Single Honours and Foundation courses available:

Teaching and Assessment

Auditors reviewing the Law School’s programmes have drawn attention to the ‘high quality’ student experience that we offer and a commitment to excellence is at the heart of our approach to teaching and assessment. Our staff have been recognised for their excellence (not just in publishing leading research and textbooks), but through nomination for awards by our students and through winning national teaching awards. Unlike other larger Law Schools, you will work closely with these leading academics, who are fully engaged in all levels of teaching.

Teaching is by a combination of lectures and tutorials/seminars and you will be assessed by a mixture of examination and written work – some modules may be assessed on-line (following formative quizzes with feedback) or by presentation. There is also the opportunity to research for and write a dissertation.

Most Law modules are taught by two lectures per week and involve between four to eight face-to-face tutorials or seminars per semester (depending on the approach in the module). All modules make full use of Keele’s virtual learning environment (KLE) which enables students to access further reading materials, lecture notes or engage in discussion and question and answer sessions. Students have the opportunity across a range of modules to learn from their progress throughout the module through structured feedback on their un-assessed work, and all students are invited to meet with their personal tutor to discuss the feedback on their assessed work as soon as the marks are released.

Assessment methods vary with individual modules; within each year there will be a mixture of examination and coursework.

Programme specifications (new window)

Skills and Careers

Keele Law School has excellent links with the legal profession and other sectors as well. Many of these links have been developed through our alumni networks and thus offer students the opportunity to interact with leading law firms on a much more personal way than through standard Law School/graduate recruitment interactions. These links and engagements take place through a variety of means including:

• Mentoring Opportunities with high-profile City based alumni.
• Regular Alumni-Student Networking events (Berrymans, Pinsent Masons, and DLA Piper planned for 2012)
• Sponsorship of School Prizes with work experience attached (Browne Jacobson, Berrymans Lace Mawer, Harold Benjamin Solicitors and Knights LLP).
• Involving firms in curriculum review and input – Knights (UG Commercial Law), CMS Cameron McKenna & Mayer Browne LLP (International Law LLM)

Other recent visitors to the University include Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Eversheds and Inner Temple. A full range of law firms and community organisations supporting our work through the Community Legal Outreach Collaboration can be found HERE.

Keele Law graduates have an unusual degree of flexibility in terms of career options. Through our close links with the University’s Careers Service, you will be supported in your career planning at an early stage in your degree. Students are encouraged to make full use of the dedicated legal careers workshops offered throughout the year by the Careers Service, the Law School and the Student Law Society in combination with LPC/BPTC providers, legal professionals and speakers from other professions and industries. There is also a member of academic staff with particular responsibility for Careers & Employability within the Law School itself.

• In 2012, nearly 67% of students taking the LLB route secured 1^st or 2(i) degrees. This academic success and the support throughout your degree enables students to build successful careers or progress to further study. Just over 93% were in full-time paid employment or engaging in further study.

We provide numerous opportunities embedded into modules and the co-curriculum for students to develop key graduate capabilities, helping them to prepare for life after university. Keele Law School provides students with an excellent inter-disciplinary legal education, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to succeed in a broad range of careers. Law modules are designed to develop the essential skills of analysis, reasoning and clear presentation of facts and legal arguments. Because the law is always changing, students will have to develop a capacity for responding to new challenges, and this produces a flexibility and precision that will assist students when seeking employment. The following guide has been produced to assist students in identifying these skills and planning for their future Career [graduate roadmap]

Keele Law School ensures that students have the best possible preparation for the competitive legal job marketplace. We work hard to ensure that students have opportunities to build on their academic work and professional skills activities, alongside opportunities to meet with leading members of the profession to learn more about the realities of practice. We have strong links with the national and regional legal profession, and have current members of academic staff with past and on-going experience of practice including two judges. As one of our alumni, Boyd Morwood, made clear to a meeting of the Middle and Inner Temples, “Keele is a good example of a Law School that is making great strides in engaging with the professions”.

Our high profile graduates include past President of the Law Society, Fiona Woolf CBE, High Court Judge Sir Peter Coulson, QCs and partners at leading law firms including Allen & Overy, Hogan Lovells, Pinsent Masons and Berrymans Lace Mawer. Recent graduates have secured training contracts at firms including Berwin Leighton Paisner, DLA Piper and Pinsent Masons. The relationships with these lawyers and other firms are an important part of the student experience at Keele Law School. Our alumni’s commitment to Keele sets these opportunities apart from more typical student/profession interactions.

Visit the School's Careers & Employability Pages

Visit our Careers pages (new window)

Georgia Wakeley (Graduated with a First in 2012)

Having begun studying a law degree at a university other than Keele I understand how daunting the process can be, especially if you are unsure what is expected, where to find support, and what your degree has in store for you. However, on starting at Keele, these issues posed no problem. The abundance of support available was obvious from the outset.‌

My time at Keele has gradually taught me the vital skills of self-learning and self-application. I have exceeded all my own expectations and my ambitions for the future have soared as a result of the great deal of support and encouragement I have received from both my lecturers and the careers service. I came to Keele unsure of where my degree would lead and what the future had in store; I will be leaving Keele assured of my future goals and aspirations.

Angelique Nairn  (Graduated with a 2(i) in 2012)

It was certainly difficult departing from my country of sun, sand, and sea, to adjust to the cold and rainy weather. However, the welcoming atmosphere generated from every single employee at Keele really made up for this discomfort. In my opinion, Keele University is more than just an institution of higher education; it’s a community of persons geared towards offering support along with a preeminent environment for learning, as I refer to it as Keele Village.

The Lectures were assembled in a way that was readily understandable and interesting. The Lecturers are always available during their office hours to answer any questions with regard to the course. Even during the seminars/tutorials, the tutors would always ask beforehand if any of the students have any concerns which they can address to bring clarity to the issue. Although I’ll be returning to the Bahamas to complete the final stage of my education, I will always cherish this three year journey at Keele.

Katherine Gittens (Currently a Level 3 Law Student)

During my time at Keele, I have been given many opportunities to do more and get more involved. For example, I have been involved in the Client Interviewing competition and been a member of the Law and Bar Society. Keele gives you opportunities to help build a career. This year I have had the most amazing work placement with a top London Law Firm. And this is just what I have chosen to get involved in, there is much more besides, and a strong support system whenever you need help.

Its not just the course and opportunities which make Keele the best place to be, but also the people. Everyone is helpful and friendly and because of this you can knock on a lecturer's door and ask for the assistance you need. My plans for the future are to go to the Bar and become a Barrister, and I can honestly say that the support at Keele has put me in good place to achieve this.

Scott Lawton (Currently a Level 2 Law with Criminology Student)

How time flies! The first year of being a student at Keele has been a brilliant experience. If I could choose the highlights of my first year as a law student, they would certainly include attending events such as the networking seminars in London, all four Barrister’s chambers, and the various meetings, lectures and conversations with key people in the legal world.

None of this would have been possible without the passion and dedication of the lecturers within the School of Law at Keele. Moreover the depth and quality of the education with which we are provided has had the effect of broadening my horizons, encouraging me to look outside the box, and to question why. 

Read more about our students, past and present, at our Keele Law People webpage.