Law and French

Law and French is a combination that opens an unusually wide set of professional and intellectual doors. Legal training develops your ability to read complex texts carefully, construct arguments with precision and navigate systems of rules and obligations. French language and culture study develops your ability to communicate fluently across a major world language, to understand a different legal and cultural tradition, and to think comparatively about how societies organise themselves.

At the University of Edinburgh, this four-year full-time degree draws on the resources of the Law School and the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, giving you substantive depth in both disciplines.

In the law component, you will engage with Scots law and its civil law heritage, contract, delict, property, public law and European legal frameworks, developing the analytical and drafting skills that legal practice demands. The French strand builds your linguistic competence to a high level while also exploring French literature, history, politics and society, and potentially giving you access to legal study in a Francophone jurisdiction. Edinburgh's Scottish legal tradition has particular resonance here, given its roots in Roman and French civil law, making the combination more than simply additive.

A typical tariff of around 216 points is expected for entry to this programme.

Graduates are well positioned for careers in law firms with international practices, in-house legal teams at multinational organisations, public international law, diplomacy and the civil service. The ability to practise or advise across English, Scots and French legal systems, or to work professionally in both languages, is a genuine advantage in competitive legal markets. Many graduates proceed to the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice in Scotland or the Legal Practice Course in England and Wales, while others go into related careers in policy, compliance, academia or international business.