Undergraduate LLB (Hons)
Law (Graduate Entry)
Have a degree in another discipline? Our Graduate Entry LLB prepares you for a successful career in law.
Have a degree in another discipline? Our Graduate Entry LLB prepares you for a successful career in law.
This LLB course is designed exclusively for graduate entrants. It develops your critical and analytical skills, enables you to think about the role of law in society, and provides hands-on experience through opportunities to work on real cases in our Law Clinic. As a graduate entrant you can obtain a law degree in just two years, and kick-start your legal career.
Join our diverse, international community of staff and students and be part of a dynamic and engaging environment. You’ll cover the core foundations of legal knowledge designed to meet professional requirements, and have the scope for optional choices to pursue and develop your interests in law.
A law degree from Kent gives you the professional legal skills and knowledge you need to prepare for an exciting and successful career in law in the UK or internationally, and opens doors to many other professions.
Helping students to make career choices, understand the legal working world or to navigate the application process for both work and study.
for research quality in The Complete University Guide 2025.
A partnership between students, academics, solicitors and barristers providing free legal advice and representation to those unable to afford it.
A physical and online space for law students designed to offer support with anything related to your academic study.
Take part in co-curricular activities including lawyering skills modules in Mooting, Mock Trial Advocacy, and Negotiation.
A first Bachelor's degree obtained in the UK or at equivalent level, completed with a 2.1 or B average. Please contact us for information about individual requirements from specific universities. Students who hold a qualification equivalent to a first Bachelor's degree obtained in the UK should contact the Admissions Office for advice.
Not applicable as a first undergraduate degree is required for entry.
Not applicable as a first undergraduate degree is required for entry.
Not applicable as a first undergraduate degree is required for entry.
Although there are no specific GCSE requirements for entry to this course, all entrants are expected to meet the University of Kent's general entry requirements, including those which relate to English language-speaking abilities.
N/A
Not applicable as a first undergraduate degree is required for entry.
Not applicable as a first undergraduate degree is required for entry.
As a graduate entrant, you can obtain a Law degree in just two years when studying full-time (or four years part-time).
The following modules are indicative of those offered on this course. This listing is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.
What are the institutions that make up the English legal system? Who are the participants in these institutions, and what are their roles? Do these institutions ensure that justice is done in individual cases?
You'll engage with a critical introduction to the main institutions of the English legal system. Explore how these structures and institutions are the result of historically contingent events, and what their limitations are. You'll also learn about legal method. Law, like other disciplines, has its own method which its practitioners apply in their working lives, for example constructing legal arguments based on the reading and interpretation of key texts and sources.
Throughout the module, you'll see how law is an interpretative exercise, and you'll be provided with key skills needed for your legal studies. This includes how to read, understand and summarise a legal case and Acts of Parliament, and how to conduct legal research. You'll complete the module with the fundamentals in legal method and legal skills you will be expected to know and build on for the rest of your degree.
What is law? What is its relationship with society? How does it operate? What is the source of its authority? The ‘common sense’ or ‘liberal’ view of law, often represented by legal institutions and legal actors, is that law is neutral, rational, objective, fair, and independent of political, economic or social imperatives.
In this module you'll learn about this fundamental liberal account of the nature of law. But you'll also learn about alternative ‘critical’ claims about law, which challenge this legal ‘common sense’ by highlighting its contexts, contradictions, omissions and limitations. These critical arguments step outside law’s own, internal viewpoint in order to reveal how its rules, procedures and enforcement are informed and shaped by relationships of power. The module introduces you to the critical legal approach, its methods and the foundational conceptual tools that will underpin your study of law at Kent.
What is the legal structure of the state in the United Kingdom? How is the power of the state encoded? What is the authority of government to act and what are the legal limits on those powers?
You'll gain an understanding of the fundamentals of public law, the key legal concepts deployed in this field and an insight into the procedural requirements that deliver accountability. Engaging in a critical introduction to the key features of the state, you'll learn about the legal powers government exercises. You'll also develop your ability to identify the key concepts of the constitution through your study and analysis of major constitutional cases, academic literature and parliamentary documents. Learning to interpret the open-ended nature of constitutional reasoning in an uncodified constitution, you'll also enhance your ability to critique the reasoning and conclusions of judgments in the cases that you analyse. This will equip you with an understanding of the mechanisms of legal accountability of public bodies and provide you with a repertoire of key legal concepts in the public law domain.
From commonplace, simple transactions, such as purchasing a bus ticket or a chocolate bar from a vending machine, to high-stakes commercial agreements, contracts govern countless interactions. You'll undertake a comprehensive study of the law of contract and its pervasive and essential role in our daily lives. You'll develop knowledge and understanding of the principles and theory of contract law and their application.
This module begins by introducing you to the law of contract, locating it within private law and looking at the historical development and its functions in the modern world. Thereafter, you'll explore the doctrine and problem-solving in contract law by considering the lifecycle of contracts, e.g., the formation of a contract, requirements for its enforceability, its terms and policing of bargaining behaviour, potential performance issues, its subsequent discharge, and remedies. You'll then focus on contract theory (e.g. freedom of contract and its limits), overlaying the doctrine studied with a basic theoretical framework and ground your understanding of contract law and contractual relationships.
Crime. It’s in the news. It’s on our screens. It’s happening all around us, sometimes to us, and sometimes by us. But what makes a crime a crime? As one of the foundations of legal knowledge, you'll master the core principles of criminal law and explore a range of offences tried in our courts on a daily basis. You'll be able to break down offences such as murder and theft into their constituent parts and apply them to an array of factual scenarios. You'll form the analytical skills necessary to advise parties on criminal liability and defences. While applying statutes and case law, you'll effectively communicate cogent arguments both orally and in writing. At the end of this module, you'll be able to evaluate the effectiveness of criminal law in the context of our criminal justice system as a whole and be equipped with the building blocks to analyse and evaluate any criminal offence.
How much power does the EU really have over its member states? When national interests and EU law clash, who should ultimately have the final say? You'll be introduced to EU law, by examining its foundational principles, key doctrines, and the institutions that shape its operation. In exploring the core aspects of EU law, you will gain a deeper understanding of:
Through analysing these substantive areas, you'll develop essential skills in applying legal principles, presenting complex arguments effectively, and evaluating the broader social, economic, and legal implications of EU law.
What is property? What is the distinct character and effect of property rights compared to contractual and other personal rights? You'll be introduced to the nature of property generally, and then go on to focus on one particular form of property - ‘real’ property, or land, as distinguished from personal property. You'll examine the system of land registration in English law, and how this shapes the ability to enforce interests in land against others.
Various types of interests in land will be studied, to enable you to develop an in-depth understanding of English land law and an ability to apply your knowledge to legal problems relating to interests in land. You'll be encouraged to consider the politics of real property law and the impact of economic logics in this area of law. Exploring how property and land law shape relationships between people, you'll consider challenging subjects such as squatting, leases, and the financing of the family home.
What does it mean to say that someone is ‘negligent’? How do you know when liability for negligence arises? You'll explore in depth tort law’s most important tort: the tort of negligence, looking at its specific elements and legal concepts related to it. You'll develop proficiency in the use of case law-based arguments as a way of determining liability in tort. Through an in-depth focus on modern decided cases you will:
You'll also consider the role played by statutes in tortious liability, including in defences to tort claims, and the liability of occupiers of land, manufacturers and/or publishers. You'll learn how tort protects interests in land and the person.
Explore the relationship between tort law and its social context to explain its shape and contemporary debates about its scope. By observing where the lines of liability are currently drawn, you'll consider what this reveals about private rights and obligations, the balance between responsibility for harm and freedom of action, and access to justice.
What is equity? Does equity still have a role in modern law? What is a trust? How have trusts changed to meet changing social and economic needs? Do equitable doctrines and remedies and trusts law protect the vulnerable or protect the powerful?
Equity is a distinctive legal tradition in common law systems, with its own concepts, techniques, doctrines and remedies. You'll learn about the historical emergence of ‘equity’ rooted in the concept of ‘conscience’ and examine the fate of equity in the English legal system and other common law jurisdictions. You'll discover developments in equitable remedies concerned with remedying unconscionable conduct and abuses of power in private transactions, and the social, political and economic contexts of these developments. Arguably equity’s most important contribution is the trust. You'll learn the anatomy of the trust, how to create valid trusts, the obligations that trustees are subject to, and how these have changed to meet the evolving needs and desires of property owners and markets. In considering these transformations, you'll develop your ability to understand and critically assess the role of equity and trusts in contemporary law and society and reflect on the nature of private law.
What is the purpose of banking law? Why are banks subject to distinct forms of regulatory supervision? You will learn about UK banking law and about the broader social, economic, and political issues and controversies that have surrounded banking in the years since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. You will appraise and analyse the role of banks in money creation. You will explore the relationship between banks and the UK’s banking regulators, including the Bank of England. You will learn about the bank-customer relationship, the role of banks in the payments system and the anti-money laundering regime with which banks must comply. You will explore the lending of money by banks to their customers and the security taken for the loans granted. Throughout this module, you will be encouraged to consider and evaluate the tensions and controversies that banks and banking regulators face as they pursue their sometimes complementary, sometimes conflicting objectives.
How and why do states use law to regulate international trade and investment? How can international economic disputes be resolved? What are the implications for corporations and individuals? How have the answers to these questions changed over time?
You'll use a critical sociolegal approach to systematically explore the legal texts, social contexts and moral subtexts that make up international economic law. Focus is on trade and investment as two core economic activities, on multinational corporations and states as key actors and on regulatory systems such as contracts and treaties, including treaty-based international organisations such as the World Trade Organisation. You will explore the interplay between economic principles and international law principles, in times of calm and in times of crisis. You will engage with podcasts and films to bring to life multiple perspectives from, for example, the public, private, and third sectors; the relatively poor and relatively rich; and from local, national, regional and global levels.
When you bake a cake, you need a list of ingredients and a recipe. Imagine the adversarial trial is a cake. If the substantive law provides the ingredients, then it is the law of evidence that provides the recipe and teaches you how to bake.
You will be asked to think like a lawyer. You will develop skills in inferential reasoning and apply them to various scenarios. You will be able to assess whether certain pieces of evidence have relevance, sufficient weight and probative value that outweighs prejudicial effect. You will be able to apply various exclusionary rules and discretions, whilst also critically examining these rules in their social and political contexts.
Armed with the knowledge and skills obtained in this module, you will be in a great position not only to undertake the first steps towards qualifying as a barrister or solicitor, but also have the skills to be able logically and coherently analyse, reason and argue in all sorts of other contexts. The law of evidence is a compulsory subject for both the SQE and BSB (Bar Standards Board) Central examinations.
Have you ever considered teaching law in schools? Do you want to bring law to life for younger students? This is a one-term placement opportunity that allows you to teach on a unique programme in selected primary schools within the local community. Using the format of the hit TV show, Taskmaster, this exciting outreach project enables you to teach young people interesting aspects of the law through fun and interactive tasks. You will work with Year Five classes for approximately six hours over a period of four weeks in a Spring Term (excluding travel to and from the school and preparation and debrief time with the teacher). You will deliver each session with a team, on selected topics of the law, such as the operation of law, statutory interpretation, Tort Law and Human Rights. You will be supported in developing the skills needed for this project and provided guidance on the requirements for logging your activities and experiences, including a consultation and reflection on the sessions. This module will enable you to apply your legal knowledge, whilst teaching skills that are transferable to other professions.
What other topic in the study of law can boast of being as inevitable as death? Tax law pervades the world of business and also has a major impact on decisions taken in the private sphere. It is highly political, having vastly greater redistributive effects than almost any other direct exercise of the power of the state. But it is not about numbers or computations. It is about questions of legal doctrine, the structure and meaning of people's dealings with each other and (putting the two together, as with other areas of law) the application of the law to the facts.
You will become familiar with several major topics in tax law, such as the taxation of business profits, the taxation of employment income, the taxation of capital gains and VAT. You will explore important questions of principle and you will consider the policy debates that arise from them. Underpinning it all it, you will acquire some of the insights that the study of tax law provides into the seemingly unending three-way struggle between human populations, privately held wealth and the coercive power of the state.
How does law institute and regulate material spaces? How do spatial configurations intersect with law? In this interdisciplinary module you will examine how the understanding of law, regulation and policy can be improved by studying the spaces and spatial orders that the law institutes and regulates, as well as the ways in which spatial configurations generate materialisations of and resistances to law. You'll draw from urban planning, urban law, architecture, urban governance, socio-legal and critical legal studies, legal geography, and spatial approaches across disciplines.
Case studies may include: prisons, ghettos, slums, social housing, homelessness, refugee camps, immigration detention facilities, modern, future, utopian cities, street art, activism and occupations, digital and virtual spaces, ecocide and the protection of oceans, coastlines, and forests, the availability and uses of public spaces and non-western cultures of spatial relations. Drawing on contemporary events and examples and methods from the social sciences and the humanities you will be introduced to dominant paradigms of understanding the intersection of law, space and power, and consider ways in which they can be challenged.
We live in an era when legal decision-making seems both increasingly influenced and increasingly challenged, by science and technology. How can we make sense of the relationships between law and the fast-changing world of science and technology? How do we pay attention to the risks, inequalities, and injustices that may be produced when states uncritically use new technologies, or fail to acknowledge the inherent limitations, or blind spots, of global scientific knowledge? You'll be introduced to several interrelated fields including law, socio-legal studies, Science and Technology Studies (STS), anthropology and sociology, to think about these questions. You will critically engage with contemporary examples such as public health regulations; climate change; law and scientific expertise; the regulation of reproductive technologies; science in the courtroom; and the use of technologies in legal decision-making. You will use the literature to not only frame debates but to find ways of challenging the dominant paradigms through which the relationship between law and scientific knowledge tends to be understood. Cross-cutting themes for the module will include: legal decision-making and scientific uncertainty; the role of expertise in legal decision-making; the interface between law, power and technoscience; notions of objectivity and truth both in law and science; global science, postcolonialism and global inequalities.
The day you have been dreading for two years has arrived. You always knew that you would have to go to court and tell them what happened. You’re scared, you’re young, you have a disability and you can’t communicate well. You are vulnerable. How will the court hear your evidence? Will the cross-examination be ‘like a wounded animal being tortured in court’? Who are you? Are you the victim or are you the defendant?
You will examine what it means to be a vulnerable person in the criminal trial. You will critically evaluate the laws and processes that exist to help vulnerable witnesses give the best evidence they can. You will appraise the role of different stakeholders, whether that be the defence advocate cross-examining, the judge ruling in a ‘ground rules’ hearing or an intermediary advising the court on what measures a witness or defendant needs.
You will consider the debates surrounding rape myths and sexual offence trial reforms. You will gain an understanding of how young offenders are treated in the criminal justice system, and whether their vulnerabilities are taken into account. You will examine these debates from a range of different perspectives.
What is privacy? Why does it matter and how can we protect it? How can data be protected in a digital era where everything seems to be shared? You will focus on answering these questions and more through looking at the way the law defines and constructs privacy, cybersecurity threats, and digital surveillance in the UK, EU and elsewhere and how the law regulates data protection, freedom of information, and consent for digital and personal information collection. This will allow you to explore rapidly changing privacy and data protection issues including the ‘right to be forgotten’, the Internet of Things (IoT), AI, cybersecurity law post-Snowden and how we approach developments in digital surveillance such as facial recognition technology (FRT) and the use of AI.
You will be asked to critically examine whether privacy protection laws, consent, and confidentiality measures are fit for purpose. You will engage in critical analysis of how personal, health, and economic transactional data are managed, who has access to this information, and for what purposes. This is placed within the broader context of the digital and cyber landscape, considering hacking and transnational cybercrimes. You will be required to assess emerging legal, regulatory, data protection and personal privacy issues raised by widespread access to personal information, responding to changes in data protection law and changes in the cyber landscape.
Millions of people have been forced to cross the borders of their home state and seek asylum. How do legal systems (national and international) provide or deny protection to asylum seekers and refugees and why? In this module you will engage critically with the matter of asylum and refugeehood in both a national and international context. You will be introduced to the sources of asylum and refugee law and a critical consideration of the relevant case law in the UK and internationally. You will employ interdisciplinary material to aid understanding and reflection on the historical and socio-cultural evolution of the governance and regulation of asylum and refugee subjects. In addition, you will devote critical attention to key contemporary problems in asylum and refugee law, and refugee studies more broadly, including current national and international developments and scholarly and practitioner reflections in the field.
When is a wedding a legal marriage? How does the law define domestic abuse? When can the state remove children from their parents’ care? Why is someone considered a legal parent in the first place?
You will consider these questions and more by learning about how law interacts with important aspects of personal life in the legal construction of families and responses to family problems. English family law is an exciting and fast-paced area of law. Many issues have undergone significant reform in recent years (marriage, civil partnerships, domestic abuse, child protection, adoption, divorce, child arrangements) and/or are currently the subject of major debates or reform proposals (cohabitation, weddings law, surrogacy, financial separation, child arrangements – again!). You will not only learn about what the law is, but also examine its underpinning policies and the socio-political context in which it operates.
Recurring themes and concepts will run throughout, such as the role of state intervention versus private ordering; individual or family autonomy; equality, rights and responsibilities within families; the priority and meaning given to child welfare; and strong norms and expectations attaching to gender, biology and heterosexual relationships. The extent to which English family law is inclusive of minority or disadvantaged groups in society will also be examined.
Kent Law School emphasises research-led teaching, which means that the modules taught are at the leading edge of new legal and policy developments.
Through diverse and timely assessments tailored to each course level, we aim to support the development and demonstration of legal knowledge, critical approaches, and both general and legal skills. Our progressive assessment approach builds and connects knowledge, providing constructive and timely feedback to enhance student learning throughout the course.
For a student studying full time, each academic year of the programme will comprise 1200 learning hours which include both direct contact hours and private study hours. The precise breakdown of hours will be subject dependent and will vary according to modules.
Methods of assessment will vary according to subject specialism and individual modules.
Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.
For course aims and learning outcomes, including for Joint Honours courses and for Law with a Foundation Year, please see the course specification.
The University has an excellent employment record, with Kent Law School graduates commanding some of the highest starting salaries in the UK. Law graduates can go into a variety of careers, including:
A large number of Graduate Entry students are from outside England and Wales, and pursue qualification in their home jurisdiction upon graduation - for example, Canadian students will commonly return to Canada to meet NCA requirements and pursue qualification as lawyers.
*The Government announced on 4 November 2024 that tuition fees in England for Home students will increase to £9,535 from £9,250 for the academic year 2025/26. This increase requires Parliamentary approval, which is expected to be given in early/mid 2025.
Tuition fees may be increased in the second and subsequent years of your course. Detailed information on possible future increases in tuition fees is contained in the Tuition Fees Increase Policy.
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
You may be required to visit a local court as part of their studies. Costs (if any) would relate to travel to and from a local court.
You will require regular access to a desktop computer/laptop with an internet connection to use the University of Kent’s online resources and systems. Please see information about the minimum computer requirements for study.
Find out more about accommodation and living costs, plus general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.
Kent offers generous financial support schemes to assist eligible undergraduate students during their studies. See our funding page for more details.
We have a range of subject-specific awards and scholarships for academic, sporting and musical achievement.
Next steps
If you are from the UK or Ireland, you must apply for this course through UCAS. If you are not from the UK or Ireland, you can apply through UCAS or directly on our website if you have never used UCAS and you do not intend to use UCAS in the future.
We welcome applications from students all around the world with a wide range of international qualifications.
Student Life
Powered by progress
Kent has climbed 12 places to reach the top 40 in The Times Good University Guide 2025.
Kent Sport
Kent has risen 11 places in THE’s REF 2021 ranking, confirming us as a leading research university.
An unmissable part of your student experience.