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University of Cambridge: Law
Cambridge LLM top facts – University of Cambridge
LLM tuition fees: Home students: £17,664, International students £33,825
LLM student cohort: 170
Number of LLM applicants: 1,200
Eligibility criteria: First class degree in law
Minimum IELTS: 75
Minimum TOEFL: 110
Cambridge Law Faculty teaching staff: 80
Course start date: October
Course duration: 9 months
Cambridge LLM – an introduction
The Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge offers a world-renowned LLM (Master of Laws) program that attracts high-calibre students from all over the world. It’s a nine-month taught LLM course that runs from October to June, and is designed for students who wish to advance their legal education after studying an initial law degree. However, it is also suitable for those with a relevant academic background that have already started in the workplace but want to expand their academic prowess for career, academic or intellectual reasons. The Cambridge LLM is a full-time taught program that is both intellectually challenging and rich in historic traditions.
Cambridge LLM program content
The Cambridge LLM is taught through a combination of lectures, seminars and small teaching groups. During the LLM program, students are required to take four courses – and they can choose to study either specialise in one particular area of law or opt for a selection of different unrelated legal topics. There is a wide variety of legal topics for students to choose from on the Cambridge LLM, with recent topics including:
- Advanced Labour Law
- Comparative Family Law and Policy
- Competition Law
- Constitutional Law of the European Union
- Corporate Finance Law
- Corporate Governance Law
- Corporate Insolvency Law
- Criminal Justice: Players and Processes
- Economics of Law and Regulation
- English, Comparative and Transnational Secured Transaction Law
- External Relations Law of the EU
- History of English Civil and Criminal Law
- Intellectual Property
- International Commercial Litigation
- International Criminal Law
- International Environmental Law
- International Financial Law
- International Intellectual Property Law
- International Investment Law
- International Law of Global Governance
- Jurisprudence
- Law and Information
- Law of Armed Conflict, Use of Force and Peacekeeping
- Legal and Political Philosophy
- Private Law
- Public Law
The Cambridge Law Faculty
Law has been taught at the University of Cambridge since the fourteenth century and the Cambridge Law Faculty is a key part of this prestigious university, boasting a team of internationally acclaimed academics throughout its history and up to the present day.
The University of Cambridge regularly tops world rankings for its teaching and research expertise, with the Cambridge Law Faculty itself being extremely highly regarded. In the 2001 and 2008 UK Government evaluations, the Cambridge Law Faculty achieved the top rating for its research, being rated 5* in the 2001 RAE (Research Assessment Exercise) and in the top cohort for the 2008 RAE.
The teaching of this Master of Laws program all takes place in the David Williams Building. This impressive building – designed by Foster & Partners, the same architects that designed London’s 'Gherkin' and Millennium Bridge – is in the heart of the city, a stunning contrast to the traditional architecture of many of the university buildings. It provides LLM students with modern, study environment and has wi-fi throughout and excellent facilities, including lecture theatres, seminar rooms, computer facilities and a specialist legal library called the Squire Law Library. This is one of the world’s major law libraries, with over 180,000 volumes – boasting particularly good content in the areas of legal history and US, European and international law.
Cambridge law students can also use the University Library, an exception resource that receives a copy of every book published in the UK. In addition to this, most of the individual Cambridge College libraries also feature their own law sections, and Cambridge LLM students can use these libraries too.
Cambridge Law Faculty teaching staff
There are over 80 teaching staff members at the Cambridge Law Faculty covering most areas of legal interest including civil liberties, commercial law, corporate law, criminology, environmental law, European Union law, legal history, public international law, and many other topics.
The Cambridge LLM teaching staff are leaders in their specific fields of law worldwide, with plenty of legal publications to their names. Many of them are also Cambridge graduates.
In addition to the permanent staff members, the Cambridge Law Faculty also has a number of visiting academics and legal practitioners, giving the students the opportunity to learn from a diverse range of law experts.
An international perspective
The Cambridge LLM has international appeal, attracting students from around 50 countries worldwide. Because the LLM cohort come from such a variety of countries, the peer group is a diverse and dynamic group encouraging topical debate and the potential for a unique learning experience and networking opportunities.
As a result of the international academic link between Harvard University and the University of Cambridge, every year the Cambridge LLM class also includes a small number of Juris Doctor students from Harvard Law School. These students can earn both a Harvard JD and the Cambridge LLM over the course of three and a half years.
Due to the high standard of international students accepted onto the Cambridge LLM, there are some great funding opportunities available to the international LLM students from international organisations including Chevening Scholarships, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, and the University’s Cambridge Trusts.
LLM application procedure
To be considered for the Cambridge LLM students must have a First Class law degree from any UK university or the academic equivalent from any recognised international institution.
Applicants without a law degree may be considered for the LLM program in exceptional circumstances if they can demonstrate that academically they are within the top 10% of lawyers in their jurisdiction. This could be if they have substantial relevant professional legal experience or a First Class or equivalent professional legal qualification.
LLM applicants will also need to provide supporting documents, including academic references, a transcript and a CV. International students whose first language is not English, will also need to provide proof of English language via a recognised English language test. For example, with an IELTS score of at least 7.5 overall with at least 7.0 in the individual sections of reading, writing, listening and speaking; or with a TOEFL score of at least 110 overall with at least 25 in the individual sections of reading, writing, listening and speaking.
The application deadline for the Cambridge LLM is usually the December of the academic year before the student’s start date. For example, students wishing to start their Master of Laws in October 2023 need to get their application in at the beginning of December 2022. It is important to meet the deadline of the LLM application to be considered for this course, so make sure you check the Cambridge LLM website for up-to-date application deadlines.
All LLM applications are considered together once the deadline has passed.
LLM fees, funding and financial aid
The tuition fees for the Cambridge LLM are £17,664 for home students and £33,825 for international students. Students will also need to make sure they have enough money to cover the costs of their accommodation, living costs and general expenses.
There are some great funding opportunities available to LLM students, particularly for overseas students who can apply to various international organisations, including Chevening Scholarships and the Association of Commonwealth Universities, as well as the University's Cambridge Trusts.
Students applying for a Cambridge LLM do not need to provide evidence of their financial position unless they wish to be considered by the University's Cambridge Trust for funding. However, once an offer of a place on the Cambridge LLM has been received, students will need to submit a Financial Undertaking Form demonstrating that they can cover the cost of the tuition fees and living expenses whilst studying at Cambridge.
In addition to paying their tuition fees, students at Cambridge normally have to pay an annual College fee to cover various the costs incurred by the College, for example educational and pastoral services and support.
Students will also need to fund their living costs while studying their LLM program. In the academic year 2021-22, the annual living costs – excluding tuition fees and College fees – have been estimated to be approximately £11,440.
Other law programs on offer
There are a few other law programs on offer at the Cambridge Law Faculty.
BA Tripos Law Degree
Cambridge’s BA Tripos Law Degree gives students a grounding in the principles of law from an academic perspective. In this undergraduate program the emphasis is on principle and technique, reasoning and explanation. There are also opportunities to study the history of law, and to consider the subject in its wider social context.
Tuition fees for home students are £9,250 per year and £23,340 for international students.
Master of Corporate Law
The Master of Corporate Law (MCL) is a full-time nine-month course enabling students to study corporate law from a theoretical and practical perspective.
The tuition fees for the MCL are £35,427 for both home and international students.
MLitt/PhD degree
Cambridge offers two research degrees in Law: the MLitt (Master of Letters) and the PhD (Doctor of Philosophy). To study one of these options, students are initially registered for the Certificate of Postgraduate Study in Legal Studies. Then, at the end of the first year, after a series of assessments, examinations and a review, they are retrospectively registered for either the MLitt or the PhD.
The PhD takes three years of full-time study, and the MLitt takes two years of full-time study.
The yearly tuition fees for both the PhD and the MLitt are £9,111 for home students and £27,048 for international students.
Law societies at Cambridge
There are plenty of law societies and related activities for LLM students to join whilst studying at the Cambridge Law Faculty, and actively participating in these is not only interesting but can also be extremely beneficial to future careers. For example, three of the four Inns of Court have a Cambridge society which were formed to keep junior and senior members of the University in touch with the practising Bar and judiciary.
Most of the Cambridge colleges have their own law societies for students to join, these are a great way to meet and network with your fellow law students. In addition to this there are some university-wide law societies including the Cambridge University Law Society and the Cambridge University Graduate Law Society.
The Cambridge University Law Society (CULS) is open to all members of the University but is a great option for law students and those intending to pursue a legal career. It offers members a wide variety of opportunities, both academically and socially, with an extensive speakers’ program and legal networking events, enabling law students to meet members of the legal profession informally. It also organises regular mooting competitions.
The Cambridge University Graduate Law Society (CUGLS) is open to all graduate students studying postgraduate law degrees. It holds regular social evenings, hosts speakers, runs an annual arbitration conference, and organises an annual trip to the London Law Courts.
Other law-related societies at Cambridge include the Cambridge University Human Rights Law Society (CUHRLS), the Cambridge Society for Law and Governance in the New Economy, and the Cambridge University Society for Women Lawyers (CUSWL).
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge was founded in 1209 and is the second oldest university in the English-speaking world – with Oxford being the oldest. It has a student population of just over 24,000, and with around 13,000 undergraduates and just over 11,000 postgraduates, the number of UG and PG students is quite similar. Students come to study at the University of Cambridge from over 147 different countries.
The University of Cambridge is made up of 31 colleges, and each has its own admissions procedure with students applying to a specific college where they will eat, sleep and socialise during their time at the university. Each college admits both undergraduate and postgraduate students.
The University has 150 departments, faculties, schools and institutions, with around 11,500 members of staff, including academic, research, technical and secretarial personnel.
Student life at Cambridge
Student life outside of studying tends to be based around the specific college that the student is at. Cambridge students live, sleep and eat at their college – and can also spend their free time socialising in their college bar. Cambridge itself boasts over 110 bars and pubs, as well as theatres, cinemas and nightclubs, so is also a good option for a night out.
Students interested in a particular hobby, sport or activity are extremely well catered for as the University has over 700 clubs and societies – including several law societies – so there really is something for everyone.
The city of Cambridge
Cambridge is a vibrant, university city with a population of around 155,000 including the university students. It’s very picturesque, with a skyline dominated by the beautiful university buildings that are scattered throughout.
Popular activities for residents, students and tourists alike include punting along the River Cam and cycling around the flat and scenic streets. Cambridge also has a vibrant arts’ scene with regular events including the Cambridge Literary Festival and the Cambridge Music Festival.
Cambridge is located 55 miles north of London, with fast, regular trains providing direct transport to the capital city.
Contact information
Faculty of Law
The David Williams Building
10 West Rd
Cambridge CB3 9DZ
Telephone: +44 1223 330033
Email: enquiries@law.cam.ac.uk
Available courses
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