Law with Foundation Year, 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.

During the Foundation Year you will complete a mix of Law and General Higher Education study skills modules.

These will give you a firm knowledge base for when you progress to Year 1 of your degree studies on completion of the Foundation Year.

The Foundation year modules will be delivered by both the Law Team and colleagues from across the University, who you will also have the opportunity to meet during your Welcome Activities. During the Foundation Year you will complete the following modules:

• Student Success Modules
• Interdisciplinary Communication Skills
• The Big Picture
• Exploring Justice
• Introduction to Law

On passing all of your modules and the completion of the Foundation year, you will move to the next level of study.

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

It is also very good practice to understand the news and what is happening in the world. It will help with your studies, and it will help you perform better at interview. Why not start by spending five minutes each day reading BBC Business News? Then, when you get to the University, you can make the most of your free subscription to the Financial Times.