Graduate Diploma in Law
The University of Law London, United Kingdom
Total Course Fee
USD 17,028
Course Accredited By
PC
If you have completed an undergraduate degree in a non-law field and want to study law at a postgraduate level you’ll first need to complete this conversion course. With a modular structure, our GDL offers you a great chance to make the transition into legal study with excellent levels of support and guidance from our experienced, professional tutors.
Thinking of continuing onto the LPC?
You can continue with the current LPC route if, on or before 31 August 2021, you complete, start, accept an offer, or pay a non-refundable deposit for this course. Alternatively, we’ve developed a range of new courses for the SQE route that will prepare you for a career as a solicitor, as well as SQE success.
If you’re looking to make the change into legal study and already have an undergraduate degree in another discipline then our GDL is your pathway into legal practice.
Many employers favour GDL students in an increasingly competitive legal job market. Through studying another degree subject, and building your career in another discipline, you will have gained many transferable skills. By choosing law at a later stage than some others, you are showing motivation and determination to pursue a new career. Employers actively seek candidates with these benefits.
When you study the GDL with us you will:
- Learn to think like a lawyer and develop practical legal skills through small group workshops and problem-based learning
- Be ready to complete your legal training and go on to study the LPC or BPC
- Explore an area of law that interests you via your own Research Project or our unique Law of Organisations module
- Spread out your study and exams with our structured modular study pattern, so you can focus on key areas each semester and complete exams as you go, instead of all at the end of the year
- Enjoy flexible study – choose to study full-time or part-time at one of our locations nationwide, or online
- Receive access to our award-winning careers support to help you with your training contract and pupillage applications
- Be taught by qualified lawyers, with lectures and practical workshops to develop your legal skills
- Whether you choose to progress onto the LPC or BPC, you will benefit from our excellent employment and pupillage rates -
- 95% of our 2017/18 full-time, UK, LPC graduates have secured work or further study within fifteen months of successfully completing this course (based on Graduate Outcomes data).
- 59% of our full-time UK/EEA BPC students graduating in 2018 secured a pupillage (based on student data collated September 2020). Previously the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC).
What is modular study?
- Our GDL is modular. This means that you complete the exam for each module at the end of the semester while the information is still fresh in your mind, similar to how you might have done for your undergraduate degree.
- Successful completion of the GDL then qualifies you to proceed on to the LPC or BPC to qualify as a solicitor or barrister, respectively.
Enrollment Cycles
- September 2023
UK Entry Requirements
- Students are required to possess a 2:2 or above from an undergraduate degree in any discipline, or an equivalent qualification.
- Mature non-graduates or overseas graduates seeking to become a future barrister should apply for a Certificate of Academic Standing from the Bar Standards Board (BSB). Those wishing to become a future solicitor should send their qualifications through to the
- Admissions team who can deem whether or not you are eligible for the course.
- English language requirements for applicants whose first language is not English
- An English Language level equivalent to IELTS 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each component. Please see 'Alternative English language qualifications' section below for alternatives to IELTS.
Course Structure
- Required pre-course study
- Before you start your GDL you will need to complete our online pre-course study programme on legal method (approximately 40 – 50 hours), designed specifically to prepare you for the GDL, so you're up to speed when you arrive.
- Introductory module
- Ethics and Professional Legal Practice
This module is taken at the start of the course. It includes:
- Insight into the different areas of the legal profession
- Consideration of the role of legal ethics within the profession
- Development of key legal skills and professional attributes required by lawyers
- Foundation modules
There are seven key areas of law that you’ll study over the course:
- Public Law
- European Union Law
- Criminal Law
- Tort
- Contract Law
- Land Law
- Equity and Trusts Law
- Research Study Options
Choose one:
- Research Project
In this module you will plan, research and write an essay, tailored to reflect the area of law in which you intend to specialise. You will have time dedicated in your timetable to undertake this work and detailed guidance on both legal research and legal essay writing skills.
- Law of Organisations
This module is for students intending to practise as a solicitor in a corporate law practice and is offered as an alternative to the Research Project module. In this module you will study the principles of contract and corporate law that underpin the creation and running of business organisations. The module will develop your legal research skills through the preparation of a legal report on an allocated problem-based question. On the full-time course, this module will be taught through face-to-face workshops and on the part-time course this module will be studied online.
- September 2021 Outside London - £9,850
- London - £12,250
- Hong Kong HKD $100,000