LLB (Hons) with Foundation Year

The highlights

• You can choose to take a generic LLB or pursue one of our specialist LLB pathways in Company and Commercial Law, International and Comparative Law, International Business Law or Social and Public Policy
• Develop all the key skills required to succeed in the legal sector - including drafting, advocacy, interviewing and negotiation
• Our tuition reaches the highest professional standards: this is a qualifying law degree which meets the criteria set by the Bar Standards Board and Solicitors Regulation Authority, which puts you on the path to a career as a solicitor or barrister 
• We're networked into the legal profession, which opens up exciting opportunities for work internships and professional mentoring
• Through our Community Legal Advice Service, you can gain practical experience by helping people who might otherwise find it hard to access justice support and advice
• Specialist modules will enhance your skills in entrepreneurship, creative thinking, problem-solving, team working, business acumen and digital technology, broadening your career scope further still

For those interested in becoming a solicitor, the route to qualification is changing. At Derby Law School we are working hard to ensure that the necessary changes are made to our undergraduate and postgraduate courses to provide our students with maximum opportunity and flexibility to further their legal career.

Law - your questions answered

In the below video, Head of Derby Law School, Sue Jennings, answers some of the most frequently asked questions about Law at the University of Derby.

Foundation Year - helping you to achieve more

Including a foundation year as part of your four-year study programme will give you a head start in your academic and professional life. The foundation year offers the chance to strengthen your skills, knowledge and confidence – with extensive support from our expert staff – before you advance to stage one of your honours degree. It could also be beneficial if you are planning a career change and want to get to grips with aspects of subjects which are new to you.

Our degrees with a foundation year are continuous, meaning that you won’t need to apply again once you have successfully completed the first year.

Derby LLB

Offering you an exceptional experience of studying law, the Derby LLB is designed to reflect the changing legal profession and set you apart in the graduate job market.

We deliver a comprehensive all-round undergraduate legal education, so you’ll gain all the skills and hands-on experience you need to have an immediate impact in a legal career. You'll engage with the core professional skills, bringing what you read in the textbooks to life through genuine practical experience.

At the same time, you’ll focus on the broader skills required by modern-day lawyers, going beyond providing legal advice and resolving legal disputes. You’ll be introduced to areas such as legal technology, commercial awareness, entrepreneurship and strategic thinking while developing empathy, innovation and creativity to help you stand out from the crowd. You’ll also explore how your legal knowledge can shape your future role in society, helping you to make a genuine difference to social justice.

Specialist pathways

The Derby LLB is all about flexibility and choice. You can decide to study a broad-based LLB or follow a specialist pathway to a named LLB award by taking particular modules at stage 3. The pathways are:

• LLB (Hons) Company and Commercial Law
• LLB (Hons) International and Comparative Law
• LLB (Hons) Social and Public Policy
• LLB (Hons) International Business Law

Professional recognition

The Derby LLB meets stringent criteria set by the Bar Standards Board and Solicitors Regulation Authority and covers all the foundations of legal knowledge. As a ‘qualifying law degree’, it offers exemptions from the academic stage of study if you want to progress to become a barrister or solicitor. 

Hands-on learning

Derby Law School has an ethos of ‘learning by doing’ to build your employability skills and ensure you’re work-ready on graduation. We offer different variations of real-world learning to take legal education out of the abstract and into reality – from mooting competitions and mock trials to drafting contracts and bail applications.

Work internships enable you to learn more about the legal sector. Through the Law School’s excellent relationship with the local legal profession, some of our students in previous years have had the opportunity to undertake work internships with local Government, local charities, Citizens Advice Bureau, the NHS legal department and the University of Derby Legal Department. The Law School actively supports students in identifying work internships where possible.

A vibrant programme of ‘paid for’ study visits will give you insights into the profession, including fieldtrips to local courts. Previous students on our LLB (Hons) have also toured London, including the Supreme Court and the Houses of Parliament and as well as visited The Hague, the legal capital of the world, where you can see the international courts in action. Students have also had the opportunity to visit Dublin to explore a different legal system.

Links with the profession

Contributions from the wider legal community, including regular careers talks and workshops, are central to this course. Through our professional mentoring scheme, practitioners from the legal field will share their perspectives with you. All students on the course are eligible to apply for this scheme. Previous mentors have included serving judges, solicitors and barristers. In some cases this has led to internships, part-time paralegal work and even permanent jobs for our students.

A highlight of our academic calendar is a prestigious black-tie law dinner where you can network with members of the local judiciary and legal profession. In addition, the Derby Junior Lawyers group invites our students to networking events and social opportunities. You can also join our active student Law Society.

Student Legal Advice Centre and Pro Bono work

Our Student Legal Advice Centre enables you to build your skills in clinical legal practice by offering free advice and assistance to members of the public. You have the opportunity to experience real-world learning. Volunteering in the Centre provides you the opportunity to develop transferrable skills that will assist you in gaining the skills required once you graduate – and not limited to a career as a solicitor. 

Through the Centre, you’ll work under the close supervision of a qualified solicitor to help members of the community in a range of legal areas. The Centre offers assistance in the following areas:

• Family law
• Criminal injuries compensation authority claims
• Immigration family reunion (in partnership with British Red Cross and Paragon Law)

The Centre also offers support to Litigants in Person in Family Law matters at the Family Court at Derby. If you are representing yourself in a Family Law matter, a student volunteer can attend Court with you to support you, take notes and following the hearing discuss the outcome of the hearing with you. In Autumn 2022, a Business Clinic and Legal Triage Clinic (exclusively for University of Derby students) will also be launched. 

Depending upon which clinic you volunteer in within the Centre, you will have the opportunity to meet with clients, take instructions, carry out research and advise accordingly. 

The Centre also has a Policy Clinic and Justice Project. The Justice Project promotes the teaching of law to all members of the community, including school children, by informing them of their legal rights and responsibilities. When volunteering in the Policy Clinic, you will have the opportunity to carry out research for non-government organisations. 

The Centre was recently shortlisted for Best Contribution by a Law School at the LawWorks and Attorney General Student Pro Bono Awards 2022, and was highly commended at the LawWorks Pro Bono Awards 2021 for Best contribution in relation to the Centre’s Immigration Family Reunion Clinic.

Expert teaching

Our teaching team includes barristers, solicitors, criminal psychologists, sociologists and experienced police officers. Several are still actively engaged with practice, which helps you keep up to date with contemporary issues in justice. Our teaching is also enriched by research covering some of the most pressing issues confronting society today, from slavery to digital privacy.

The LLB (Hons) is supported by visiting professors and guest lecturers who are leading authorities in their fields. Our celebrated Public Lecture Series also brings influential figures to the University to shed new light on the legal system.

Facilities

Law students are based on the Derby Campus at One Friar Gate Square. It includes a mock court room, replica custody suite and social learning hubs where you can develop your skills and familiarise yourself with the type of environments you’ll encounter in real-life legal situations.

Study overseas

We offer you the opportunity to spend time studying abroad thanks to our extensive network of global associates, including universities in Pisa, Naples, Paris, The Hague and Brno in the Czech Republic. These not only ensure our curriculum is truly international but also pave the way for exchange opportunities.

Please note that our modules are subject to change - we review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects.

Engaging in real or simulated legal practice, you will build a range of the key skills required to succeed in the legal sector at every stage of the course, including:

• case preparation
• mooting - where you present a legal issue against opposing counsel in a mock court case
• interviewing
• negotiation 

You will also develop skills in legal scholarship, with the chance to undertake problem-based research and original academic enquiry. If our teaching team consider the work you produce to be of sufficient quality, it could be published in the Derby Law School Journal.

Through our peer assisted mentoring scheme, students from later years of the course also give helpful guidance and support to first year students.

Showcasing your skills

Mooting forms part of certain modules and you can develop your expertise further through regional and national competitions. We have an excellent record of success in these challenges.

In your third year, our annual Legal Skills Triathlon, run in partnership with Derby & District Law Society, will test your advocacy, interview and negotiation skills. You will compete in teams with newly qualified lawyers and will be judged by a professional panel. Some of our students have secured jobs as a direct result of this experience.  

We also help run a schools’ debating competition in partnership with Derby & District Law Society and Enterprise for Education where you can mentor local secondary school pupils.

How you are assessed

Assessments may include:

• group work
• oral presentations
• written coursework
• examinations

Who you'll meet

Our teaching team is made up of experts with broad-ranging experience and diverse research interests. They pride themselves on delivering a supportive academic and pastoral environment. The team includes:

• Christie Eaton
• George Ellison
• Kaye Howells
• Sue Jennings
• Joel Klaff
• Rebekah Marangon
• Dr Tim Marangon
• Larry Mead
• Michala Meiselles
• Muin Boase
• Virna Simoncelli-Allan
• Dr Eghosa Ekhator
• Dr Taiwo Oriola
• Dr Jennifer Gant
• Professor Gerhard Kemp
• Professor Flora Huang
• Associate Professor Chrispas Nyombi

Our LLB (Hons) graduates go on to take up roles as barristers, solicitors, paralegals and chartered legal executives and can be found working in private practice, the Crown Prosecution Service, the courts, law centres, the police service, local and national government.

Completion of the LLB represents the end of the academic stage of your training. To become a solicitor or barrister, you must then continue to complete the vocational stage of your training:

• If you wish to become a solicitor, you will need to complete the Legal Practice Course (LPC), or Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). Our graduates are highly sought after by solicitors’ firms because of their practical skills underpinned by academic rigour. At Derby, we offer the LLM LPC, which equips you with both a masters qualification and the LPC. We are currently developing an SQE provision.
• If you wish to become a barrister, you must take a one-year full-time or two-year part-time Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC). Our students are particularly successful at winning substantial scholarships for the BPTC, which is testimony to the calibre of teaching we offer. Please note, we do not offer the BPTC at the University of Derby

Even if you do not want to become a legal practitioner, the LLB acts as a stepping stone to careers in broader areas. Legal skills ensure you can make a strategic contribution in many professions including the civil service, investment banking, management and tax consultancy, compliance, insurance, HR, politics, town planning, construction, publishing and education. They will also prove helpful if you want to launch your own business.

Further study

If you would like to take your studies to postgraduate level, the Derby LLM is a masters degree offering maximum flexibility, choice and opportunity. We also offer the LLM Legal Practice Course which equips you with a masters qualification and includes the Legal Practice Course (LPC) needed for professional practice as a Solicitor.

As a graduate of the University of Derby, you may be entitled to Alumni discount on your postgraduate course fees. Terms and conditions apply.

2025 entry

These are the typical qualification requirements for September 2025 entry.

Contextual offers may apply to students who meet certain criteria.

2025/26

*This is the fee for the Foundation Year. Subsequent fees are £9,535 per year.

Further information about our fees and support you may be entitled to.

Additional costs and optional extras

Additional information about your studies

Teaching hours

Like most universities, we operate extended teaching hours at the University of Derby, so contact time with your lecturers and tutors could be anytime between 9am and 9pm. Your timetable will usually be available on the website 24 hours after enrolment on to your course.

Course updates

The information provided on this page is correct at the time of publication but course content, costs and other individual course details do change from time to time and are updated as often as possible, so please do check these pages again when making your final decision to apply for a course. Any updated course details will also be confirmed to you at application, enrolment and in your offer letter.

If you are thinking about transferring onto this course (into the second year for example), you should contact the programme leader for the relevant course information as modules may vary from those shown on this page.

Contact us

If you need any more information from us, eg on courses, accommodation, applying, car parking, fees or funding, please contact us and we will do everything we can to help you.