If you have graduated in a subject other than law and would like to switch to a legal career, the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) is for you.

If you are thinking of qualifying as a lawyer in England and Wales, this course enables you to,

- study the structure and doctrines of the legal system in England and Wales and

- the seven core (foundation) subjects of a law degree: contract law, criminal law, equity & trusts law, EU law, land law, public law and tort law.

The GDL allows you to study these intensively over one year, instead of the three years usually required for a Law degree.

If you are thinking of qualifying as a barrister, the GDL gives you the academic modules you will need to pass before progressing to a Bar Training Course (BTC). We also offer a BTC course.

If you are thinking of qualifying as a solicitor, the GDL gives you the academic knowledge of legal principles and their application you will need as part of your preparation for the new centrally assessed Solicitors Qualifying Examination (“SQE”), introduced from September 2021.

How will I be taught?

The two contact days each week will usually include two or three tutorial-type sessions each typically lasting two hours. A range of teaching methods will be used in tutorials, including teamwork based exercises.

Your preparatory work will involve extensive reading, listening to lectures, carrying out legal research and grappling with problems and essay questions or other preparatory exercises. For example, you might be asked to research different points, summarise cases or journal articles on behalf of a whole tutorial group. Although a minority of lectures will be delivered live in a lecture theatre, all will be recorded and made available on the University’s virtual learning environment for students to access off-campus at a convenient time.