​​​Welcome to Law at Canterbury Christ Church University. We are delighted that you have accepted the offer of a place on one of our Law Courses. We provide a wide-ranging undergraduate legal education which not only develops you, but also prepares you for employment or post-graduate studies. 

Dr Matthew Stubbins
​Director of Law, Principal Lecturer, and Barrister ​​

Your Teaching Timetable

Teaching for your course will begin w.c 21 September 2026.

To help you plan your first few weeks, you can view an overview of the teaching activities for your course.

View your first semester teaching timetable.

On a mobile device, click the arrow next to “Search” at the top right of the page to view your timetable.

If your course is taught in groups, the overview will show activities for all groups. You will only need to attend sessions for your allocated group.

Once teaching begins, your individual timetable and group allocation will be available in MyTimetable provided you have completed online registration and created your computing account.

Your Semester 1 Modules
Crime, Society and the Law 
Social Justice in the English Legal System 
Success Modules - you will complete 3 of these 5 credit modules*

*Success Modules

Your Journey to Success at CCCU is a compulsory success module. You'll then choose two more Success modules from a choice of eight.

These modules are completed online (asynchronous learning) and are not timetabled, so they won't appear in your teaching timetable.

Key dates

Academic Calendar: Semesters

View key dates for this Academic Calendar for 2026-27 including when teaching starts and finishes and when you break for holidays.

Welcome

​​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 personal tutor 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.

Getting started

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

  • ​Crime, Society and the Law 

  • 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.

Your Must Do Tasks

Once you have been invited to register for your course, there are some key tasks you'll need to complete to make sure you are ready to become a CCCU student. 

Registration invitations are sent towards the end of August. We'll send yours to the email address you used when you applied, so please check this inbox regularly to make sure you don't miss any important information.

Pre-course reading

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 one of your 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. 

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)

Contact details

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