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 prepares you for employment or post-graduate studies.
Dr Matthew Stubbins
Director for Law, Senior Lecturer in Law, and Barrister
Academic Calendar: Semesters
View key dates for this Academic Calendar for 2024-25 including when teaching starts and finishes and when you break for holidays.
The Law Team appreciates that this is a time of change for you. The prospect of university can be somewhat 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.
You can follow our Law and Mooting Society on Instagram, to get up-to-date information on the activities carried out by the Law and Mooting Society.
You can also find further information on our Law and Society blog.
Keep up to date with what is going on in our faculty and count down to beginning your studies with us by following our faculty Instagram.
We take a modern approach to legal education and aim to be both practically oriented and academically critical. Our areas of expertise include mediation and other means of alternative dispute resolution, through which we provide a different experience from other law degrees. We believe in a flexible and progressive socio-legal education. Studying law at CCCU will provide you with an opportunity to gain a degree that presently satisfies the academic stage of training on the pathway towards becoming a barrister in the England, as well as providing a background towards the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE).
Our law degree will enable you to acquire a wide range of useful employability skills including critical thinking; team working; effective time management; presentation skills; and the ability to identify and construct an argument in both written and oral format. As well as preparing you for a career in the legal profession, these skills will be useful for a much broader range of career opportunities such as the civil service, consulting, personnel management, publishing, politics and teaching.
You will study 6 modules during each academic year. The academic year is split into two semesters and you will complete 3 modules per semester. In each semester you will take 2 Law modules and then a further module from the other subject you will be studying.
Introduction to Obligations
English Legal System
Contract Law
Criminal Law
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:
Your welcome and induction to the course and the university will be w/c 16th September 2024 - we look forward to meeting you then.
On the social side, the Student Union (CCSU) has a huge range of clubs and societies – all of which have unique social calendars of their own and offer endless opportunities to make lifelong friends and discover new hobbies. And you can always create your own society and cultivate your own community!
CCSU will be hosting their Welcome Fayre on Wednesday 18th September 2024. Make sure you keep checking the CCSU website for further details and how to get involved.
We understand that you may be nervous about your first few weeks on campus but rest assured - you'll be joining a nurturing and supportive environment where diversity, equality and individuality are part of everything we do.
You can find out more about our welcoming community and making friends.
If you are an International Student joining us then please see our International Student Support pages for further information and guidance.
Please see the Course Essentials page for your other subject area for any summer reading you may need to complete.
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.
If you wish to do some pre reading before you arrive below are the core texts and recommended reading for your Semester 1 Law modules.
Introduction to Obligations
Core Texts
Recommended Reading
Macdonald, E & Atkins, R Koffman & Macdonald’s Law of Contract (9th ed, Oxford University Press 2018)
English Legal System
Core Texts
Both of these books come with extensive companion websites that students will be expected to engage with.
Recommended Reading
International students: don't miss out! Make sure you register for our international student success programme which provides practical advice on preparing to live and study in the UK.
If you have any queries, please contact the Law course team.