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Highly ranked

Our Law School ranks in the top 10 for the UK (Complete University Guide 2025 and QS World University Subject Rankings 2024).

Research quality

The University of Bristol is ranked third in the UK for excellence in legal research (THE analysis of REF 2021).

Hands-on experience

Our range of optional units, work experience opportunities and student society activities will offer real-life experiences to prepare you for your future career.

Law at Bristol

Bristol is one of the leading centres for law in the UK. With 93% of our research assessed as world-leading or internationally excellent (REF 2021), you will be taught by internationally renowned scholars at the forefront of their research fields.

Combined with applied experiences such as mooting, debating and pro bono legal advice experience, you will develop a broad understanding of the operation of law in society.

Home to the Law School, you will study in the iconic Wills Memorial and Berkeley Square buildings, with access to the state-of-the-art Lady Hale Moot Court. This building is also home to our award-winning Law Clinics and globally renowned research centres.

Gain access to and support from many international law firms, barristers' chambers and social justice organisations. Our dedicated network of alumni actively provide support through a range of mentoring schemes to help you navigate the best career path to suit you.

Picking Bristol to study law was the best choice I ever made. The programme structure allows you to pick what you are passionate about in the legal industry and to partake in pro-bono cases through the Bristol Law Clinic. Being able to contribute my knowledge and help people is such a fulfilling experience.

Takashi, LLB Law

Career prospects

A law library

Combining excellence in teaching, research and employability means you will graduate with excellent legal, analytical and reasoning skills, empowered to pursue careers in legal and non-legal sectors.

In fact, graduates from the University of Bristol Law School have gone on to earn on average £10,000 a year more than UK law graduates, after three years of graduating (Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset – based on average earnings for all full-time law courses).

Supported by a dedicated Law School Employability Adviser, you will have opportunities to access one-to-one careers appointments, skills workshops and employer presentations from a wide range of sectors, such as government legal work, human rights, family law, charity and NGO sector and much more.

Get a head start in your legal career by gaining Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) through one of our law clinics, alongside free access to career development resources from our partner, BPP University designed to help you bridge the gap between your degree and the next stage of your legal training.

Many graduates secure training contracts with City solicitors' firms and pupillages at barristers' chambers. Others progress to prestigious careers in sectors including business and finance, technology, human rights, government and the media.

Find out about careers support in the Law School

Course structure

Three students with their laptops open smile while engaging in a conversation.

The undergraduate Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree takes three years, while degrees with languages and study abroad take four.

You will study all the core compulsory subjects required by the legal profession, such as criminal, land and tort law. You can also choose from a wide variety of optional units. These units reflect the variety of work and different approaches to legal research conducted in the school, including doctrinal, socio-legal, interdisciplinary and empirical research.

If you have opted for a degree with languages or study abroad, you will spend your third year studying the law of the country you are visiting. To find out more about studying abroad, visit the Centre for Study Abroad.

In the final year, you will complete a 5000-word Independent Research Project on a legal topic of your choice. You also have the opportunity to choose a practice-focused unit, such as Clinical Legal Studies or Corporate Law Simulation.

Sample units may include topics such as:

  • Employment law
  • Human rights
  • Medical law
  • Corporate/commercial law
  • Environmental Law
  • Legal history
  • IT/IP law.

Global opportunities

Lots of people climbing the stairs up towards The Big Buddha statue in Hong Kong.

Law is a global profession. An understanding of more than one legal system, language and culture can open up a world of opportunity.

Our four-year degree courses are an expansion of LLB Law, with an additional year abroad at one of our partner universities. Currently, we partner with institutions in Australia, Chile*, Colombia*, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico* and Singapore as well as European countries such as Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France*, Germany*, Hungary, Italy*, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain*.

You can apply to transfer to our Study Abroad degree from LLB Law at the end of your first year.

*indicates a country where the course is taught in the local language rather than English.

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