Law, LL.B.

​​The Law Team appreciates that this is a time of change for you. The prospect of university can be  daunting as it is a big step up from your previous education experiences.

This might also be the first time you are leaving home and moving to a very different place. To assist with this transition, you will be assigned a personal academic tutor (PAT). Your PAT will be your first point of reference for any personal or general academic matters you might have throughout your time at the university.

Our very hands-on peer mentors, who are currently students in their second and third years, are also ready to guide you through your journey.

​The Department’s members of staff will meet you during the welcome week when you will be invited to join several activities, and you will receive the key information you need to get started with your studies.

You will learn a lot about studying at CCCU and be given important information about your law degree, so please engage with as many of the activities as you can. The activities and guidance you will receive this week will hopefully make things a little easier for you as you settle into your studies.

We take a contemporary approach to legal education that connects what you learn in lectures with how law works in the real world whilst remaining academically critical. You’ll study the key legal ideas, but you’ll also explore practical skills like mediation and other ways of resolving disputes – giving you a different and more varied experience than many traditional law degrees.

We believe in a flexible and progressive socio-legal education. Studying law at CCCU means you’ll work towards a degree that meets the academic requirements for becoming a barrister in England, while also giving you a strong foundation for the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE). This keeps your future options open, whatever direction you decide to take.

Along the way, you’ll build a wide range of skills that employers really value. These include critical thinking, working confidently as part of a team, managing your time effectively, giving presentations, and developing clear, persuasive arguments – both in writing and when speaking.

While our law degree is a great starting point for a career in law, it doesn’t limit you to just one path. The skills you gain can lead to careers in areas such as the civil service, consultancy, human resources, publishing, politics, and teaching – giving you the flexibility to shape a future that suits you.

Your Course

You will study 5 modules in your first year. The academic year is split into two semesters and you will complete the following modules per semester.

Semester 1 Modules:

• Social Justice in the English Legal System

• Law and Obligations in Context

• Student Success Modules (3 x 5 credits)

Semester 2 Modules:

• Contract Law

• Criminal Law

Teaching will be a mix of lectures, seminars and practical workshops. In seminars you will work in smaller groups to discuss and develop the topics covered in the lectures. 

Blackboard

You will have access to the University's virtual learning environment known as Blackboard, where you will find all the resources and guides to help with you with your learning for each module. 

Although you are not expected to do any reading before you arrive, you will find it easier if you have some background of what to expect studying law or generally about law. Feel free to choose any of these books to familiarise yourself:

• The Secret Barrister, The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken (Picador; Main Market edition 4 April 2019)
• N. J. McBride, Letters to a Law Student: A Guide to Studying Law at University (4th edition, Pearson 2018)
• Catherine Barnard, Janet O'Sullivan and Graham Virgo (eds), What about Law: Studying Law at University (2nd revised edition, 2011)
• Water B, Klien T, Learning Legal Skills and Reasoning, 5th edn (Routledge, 2021)
• OSCOLA Referencing Guide, 4th edn - https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxlaw/oscola_4th_edn_hart_2012.pdf

This is the reading list for the two core Semester 1 modules that all LL.B students will take. Books are available from the University bookshop at a discount, and you can buy them when you arrive. Alternatively, you might like to buy books from the current Year 2 students. You should aim to buy core texts and access the recommended titles as you need from the library.

Law and Obligations in Context

Core Texts:

• McKendrick E, Contract Law (15th ed. Palgrave Macmillan 2023)
• McKendrick E, Contract Law: Text, Cases and Materials (10th ed. OUP 2022)

Recommended Reading:

• Macdonald, E & Atkins, R Koffman & Macdonald’s Law of Contract (9th ed, Oxford University Press 2018)
• Mulheron R, Principles of Tort Law (CUP, 2nd edn, 2020)

Social Justice in the English Legal System

Core Texts

• Elliott, C and Quinn, F, English Legal System (21st ed, Pearson 2020/2021)
• Slapper, G and Kelly, D, The English Legal System (19th edn, Routledge 2020)

Both of these books come with extensive companion websites that students will be expected to engage with.

Recommended Reading:

• Cotterell, S, Critical Thinking Skills: Developing Effective Analysis and Argument (3rd edn, Palgrave Macmillan 2017)
• Twining, W and Miers, D How to Do Things with Rules (5th edn Cambridge University Press 2012)