Law

Law is the organised system through which societies define rights, assign obligations, resolve disputes, and constrain the exercise of power. Studying it at degree level is not primarily about memorising rules: it is about developing the ability to interpret complex texts, construct rigorous arguments, identify where principles conflict or are ambiguous, and understand how legal systems reflect and shape the societies they govern. A law degree develops one of the most transferable intellectual toolkits a student can acquire.

At the University of Portsmouth, this three-year full-time LLB programme covers the foundations of law as a discipline and builds a broad, detailed knowledge of UK law across the core areas that all law degrees address. You will develop key legal skills including client interviewing, legal research, negotiation, and legal writing, alongside the substantive legal knowledge in areas such as contract, tort, criminal, constitutional, and commercial law that professional training requires. A sandwich year gives you extended professional experience, a year abroad broadens your legal and cultural perspectives, and work placement experience is embedded throughout.

Graduates who wish to qualify as solicitors in England and Wales typically complete the Solicitors Qualifying Examination after their LLB, while those pursuing the Bar complete the Bar Practice Course and pupillage. Beyond professional qualification, law graduates work in the civil service, international organisations, policy, journalism, finance, and commercial management. The analytical and written skills a law degree develops are valued across many professions, and Portsmouth's emphasis on practical legal skills alongside academic study produces graduates who are well prepared for the professional environments they enter.

Postgraduate study in law, international law, and public policy is also available.