In the following sections you can find out about our approach to postgraduate teaching and learning in relation to our taught postgraduate programmes:
The School of Law is committed to excellence and innovation in teaching, and to ensuring that law students' learning experience is both stimulating and challenging. In recognition of these high standards, the School was awarded an ‘Excellent' rating in its most recent Teaching Quality Assessment.
The School's commitment to high teaching standards is reflected in the existence of a number of internal quality assurance mechanisms. A Teaching and Learning Director keeps abreast of developments in teaching and learning, drawing upon information provided by the United Kingdom Centre for Legal Education. He or she is a member of the Graduate Studies Committee, which meets regularly to review teaching issues and to discuss new teaching initiatives. All new lecturers have to undertake a year-long training course provided by the University's Staff Development team, while part-time tutors are provided with training within the School. Teaching standards are monitored through student questionnaires, dealing both with individual lecturers' and tutors' performances and with the overall content and conduct of units. The results of these questionnaires are then fed into a system of annual Staff Review and Development, as well as into unit and programme monitoring processes. Finally, the School holds an annual Teaching Away Day attended by all members of the academic staff, which is devoted to the discussion of teaching matters, often with input from outside educational experts.
The School runs an induction programme in the Introductory Week for all new postgraduates which focuses on the university teaching and learning experience. This includes: an introduction to the School of Law and units that students will be taking; workshops on study skills; introductions to members of staff and personal tutors; a library tour and a course on the use of computers. In addition, for students with no prior experience of a Common Law system, the School of Law also runs a workshop to introduce them to the legal skills necessary to get to grips with English law. Students will have the opportunity to meet their tutors and each other at an informal reception.
The LLM by Advanced Study programme is in two parts, both of which must be passed in order to complete the degree.
In Part One, students must take four taught units, all of which are conducted by way of seminars. Each unit consists of around ten seminars, which generally last for two hours and are scheduled at fortnightly intervals. Student numbers in seminars may vary from as few as three to as many as twenty depending on the popularity of a particular unit in any one year. In some instances students may be encouraged to attend undergraduate lectures in units where there is some overlap of content between an undergraduate and a postgraduate unit.
The topics for discussion in seminars are set in advance, along with required and/or recommended reading. Nevertheless, students are encouraged to raise any issues related to the topic being discussed or even the unit generally. Although academic staff are available to help students get to grips with the units they study (and have specified 'office hours' in which they guarantee to be available for consultation by students), the School believes that all law students are responsible for their own learning and for ensuring that they get the necessary assistance in understanding the units they study. Such assistance may come from academic staff, but it may also come from fellow students, and to this end students are encouraged to work together with their colleagues in preparing for seminars. The focus on student-centred learning means that students may also be expected to learn parts of the syllabus on their own without the benefit of discussion in seminars.
Part Two of the degree consists of a dissertation on a legal topic which must be approved by the School. Students are required to submit a synopsis of their dissertation topic in May and must hand in the completed version by the end of September. In this part of the degree, the learning process is entirely student-led. You may discuss your proposed topic with any member of staff before submitting your synopsis. You will also be assigned a supervisor whom you may consult about your research topic twice over the summer period (after examinations have taken place). . However, you cannot expect a dissertation topic to be formulated for you, nor that your supervisor will tell you exactly what you should read or write.
Students will also be required to attend a series of practical seminars on research methods and training. These will be held in June following their Part I exams. They cover research methodology and skills, which enable students to undertake the dissertation. They also give examples of plagiarism and advice on how to reference appropriately.
The School uses a variety of assessment methods in relation to taught units to test students' ability and knowledge, and to grade their performance for degree purposes. These include an unseen, closed-book examination (i.e. students do not see the questions before the examination and cannot take any materials into the examination room, apart from authorised statute books and/or foreign language dictionaries). Such examinations usually involve a mixture of traditional essay-type questions and legal problems. Other types of examination may, for example, involve answering questions on a set legal text or may permit students to take into the examination room any materials they wish. In addition to or instead of an examination, students may be required to write an essay or essays involving original research. Exceptionally, students may be required to undergo a viva voce (oral) examination in addition to their other forms of assessment. All assessment in the School, other than in relation to dissertations or oral examinations, is conducted anonymously.
Students will be notified of their Part One results in early July and of their Part Two results in early December.
In accordance with national guidelines set out by the Quality Assurance Agency ('QAA'), the benchmarking of skills is integral to the School's undergraduate programmes. At present the QAA has not benchmarked skills for postgraduate programmes. However, the School remains committed to achieving in its LLM programme the following standards which the QAA has identified as inherent in a post-graduate programme, under the following headings. These are the skills we expect you to have obtained by the end of the programme, and not those we expect you to have at its start.
acquisition of knowledge, most of which is at the forefront of the relevant aspects of the subject, and is derived from current research or other advanced scholarship; some creation or development of new knowledge;
conceptual understanding that enables the student to evaluate critically current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in the subject.;
ability to evaluate hypotheses, and to propose alternatives to them;
ability to advance knowledge and understanding in the discipline through the use of established techniques of research and enquiry.
to deal with complex issues, make informed judgments in the absence of complete data, and communicate these clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences;
to act autonomously in planning, implementing and analysing work regarded as being of a professional or equivalent level;
to demonstrate self direction in tackling and solving problems;
with further professional training, to be able to remain at the forefront of their subject area(s) or be able to develop new skills to a high level.