About the Courses
Build your confidence. Use the foundation year to become more confident, regardless of your educational background.
Benefit from our support. Your tutors, resources, skills training, and the community of students you will be part of will ensure you are prepared to progress from your foundation year to your chosen degree.
Develop your skills and stand out. Get ahead with a course designed to help you stand out with employers, whatever your career goals. Study modules with emphasis on developing your legal and employability skills as well as professional practice.
Flexibility. Have flexibility and choice in what you study: the first two years include traditional subjects, such as Criminal Law and Tort, alongside learning dispute resolution skills and a range of optional modules. In your final year you have lots of choice so can tailor your de
Build your confidence. Use the foundation year to become more confident, regardless of your educational background.
Benefit from our support. Your tutors, resources, skills training, and the community of students you will be part of will ensure you are prepared to progress from your foundation year to your chosen degree.
Develop your skills and stand out. Get ahead with a course designed to help you stand out with employers, whatever your career goals. Study modules with emphasis on developing your legal and employability skills as well as professional practice.
Flexibility. Have flexibility and choice in what you study: the first two years include traditional subjects, such as Criminal Law and Tort, alongside learning dispute resolution skills and a range of optional modules. In your final year you have lots of choice so can tailor your degree to your interests and career ambitions. Our optional modules include legal subjects such as family, employment, environmental, intellectual property, business, immigration, human rights and cybercrime.
Volunteer in our award winning Law Clinic. Gain valuable, professional experience by participating in our award-winning, pro-bono Law Clinic. Here you work under the guidance of legal practitioners, with real clients making a real difference in the community, without taking time out of your studies. You can do this for credit towards your degree or as a volunteer.
Join our outstanding student Law Society. Our society offers networking opportunities and organises competitions. Our students have excelled in winning national client interviewing and mooting competitions.
Learn from experts. Benefit from excellent research-informed and practice-led teaching by highly qualified staff, including legal practitioners. We have internationally renowned researchers in areas such as the environment, marine protection, immigration and intellectual property. We give policy advice, regionally and nationally, and work for change. We publish an on-line journal, the Plymouth Law Review, with contributions from both staff and students.
Supporting you to excel. We keep our class sizes small, so we have a close-knit community of like-minded students and staff, which will give you the encouragement and support you need to excel. You will be part of a supportive community and learning environment, with a dedicated personal tutor system and strong alumni links.
Prepare for your future.We've designed our degree to ensure you're prepared for the updated Solicitors Qualifying Exam. Our course also allows you to pursue training as a barrister, with our students regularly winning major Bar Scholarships from the Inns of Court. Take advantage of our dedicated person to support you to get work experience and secure placements.
Modules
Foundation Year 0
In this year, you’ll experience a supportive environment to assist in the transition to successful study in higher education. You will learn about academic writing, critical thinking skills and begin to develop your research skills, as well as develop your knowledge and understanding through an introduction to the key aspects of law and relevant areas of social science.
Core modules
Discovering Your Inner Academic (SSC301)
In this module, students will learn the core academic and organisational skills required to succeed at university. They will benefit from a range of skill development sessions and subject-specific seminars, allowing them to practice applying the delivered academic skills in the context of their field of study.
Individual Project (SSC302)
Students will undertake, with supervision, an individual project related to their degree programme. Staff will guide students through the process of defining, planning, and setting up their project. As part of the module, students will gain research and time management skills that will support their successful progression through their degree programme.
Crime and Deviance (SSC303)
This module will introduce students to the main institutions and processes of the legal system and criminal justice in England and Wales, while developing key transferable skills related to the study and practice of law and criminal justice.
Human Rights and Social Justice (SSC304)
Through the lens of human rights and social justice is module will introduce students to a foundational sociological understanding of the structure and organisation of society; and to the main institutions of domestic and international government, and the theories and concepts used by political science to study them.
Year 1
In your first year, you’ll learn about the core theories, principles and processes of the law, introducing you to how it’s studied and practised. You’ll be able to join the Student Law Society and take part in mooting, debating, negotiation and advocacy competitions. We’ve structured the curriculum so that alongside studying the English legal system, Contract, Tort, and Public Law, you’ll start to develop the critical thinking and self-reflective skills that will equip you for your chosen career.
Core modules
Legal Systems and Skills (LAW4001)
An overview of the English Legal System with reference to the criminal and civil legal processes and procedure. An introduction to the relationship between English law and procedure in a wider international context. To introduce an understanding of the requisite legal, transferrable and practical skills that underpin the study of law, including basic issues of ethical and professional conduct.
Public Law (LAW4002)
This module focuses on Constitutional and Administrative Law, examining fundamental theories and principles, and their application and practice within the British constitution.
European Union Law (LAW4003)
This module focuses on the law of the European Union, exploring aspects such as, for example, its institutional infra-structure, legal sources, preliminary rulings, key principles and means of enforcement.
Contract Law (LAW4004)
An introduction to the law of contract through study of the essential elements in contract formation. This module then considers the nature and relative significance of contractual terms.
Tort Law (LAW4005)
The Law of Tort is concerned with the creation and imposition of civil rights obligations on people generally. It is focused on the legal protection of a number of key rights, such as the right to bodily integrity, reputation, enjoyment of property and privacy amongst others.
Criminal Law (LAW4006)
This module provides examination of core principles and concepts of criminal law, an introduction to modes of participation, and analysis of selected offences and defences. This module will include two 2-hour talks that introduce our School and programme level employability related opportunities and support, including details of the optional placement year.
Year 2
In your second year, you’ll focus on real-life scenarios and develop practical skills in areas such as negotiation and advocacy through our very successful Dispute Resolution Skills module. You’ll study Property Law and Criminal Law in depth and begin to tailor your degree to your specific interests by choosing from a range of modules including, for example, Family, Employment, Environmental, Intellectual Property, European Union Law, Immigration and Asylum, Human Rights and Cybercrime. You’ll also have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience volunteering in our award winning Law Clinic, either as a volunteer or for credit towards your degree programme, and will receive support in gaining a placement if you wish to take the optional placement year.