University of Oxford - Faculty of Law

The University

Each year, Oxford welcomes talented graduate students from all over the globe, who make up 40 per cent of the total student body. Our students are attracted by the chance to study at an internationally-renowned university, which is outstanding for its academic achievement and innovation.

The University has excellent facilities and resources for learning in its world-famous libraries, laboratories and museums, and Oxford's teaching and research is consistently in the top rank nationally and internationally.

Oxford's teaching and research staff is made up of scholars from around the world. As one of the leading international universities, Oxford also collaborates with over 80 research institutions worldwide, including establishments in the Far East, India, South Africa, the USA and Latin America.

The Law School

Oxford has the largest law faculty in the United Kingdom, with 90 members who hold University posts (with or without college duties), with more than 50 other Faculty members. The British government’s 2008 Research Assessment Exercise showed that substantially more top-rated research activity went on in Law at Oxford from 2001-2007, than in any other university in the UK.

The Bodleian Law Library is a major research library, one of the UK’s two or three most important, based in the St Cross Building with the Law Faculty offices. Other law libraries include the college libraries, notably the Codrington Library at All Souls College, which is open to law students from all over the University. There are also extensive academic computing facilities and dedicated staff to provide training and support.

The Program

Taught Programmes

Students at Oxford have much closer contact with their tutors than if they were taking an LLM course anywhere else in the world, because teaching is carried out through tutorials as well as seminars and lectures. Oxford is famous for its very large, strong community of legal scholars, who are drawn from around the world. Tutorials therefore enable students to benefit from a direct response to, and discussion on, their work with leading academics in the field.

Our famous one-year postgraduate programme includes the Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL, for students from a common law background) and the Magister Juris (MJur, for students from a civil law background). Please see the BCL/MJur e-brochure for more information.

The Masters in Law and Finance (MSc) is a new programme which will run from October 2010. It will be jointly taught with the Saïd Business School, and will offer outstanding students with a legal background the opportunity to integrate the study of finance with advanced legal study. For more information please see the MLF e-brochure for more information.

The Master of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice (MSc) is a specialist one year programme run by our Centre for Criminology. The MSc is also open to those with a degree in a relevant discipline other than law.

The Master of Philosophy in Criminology (MPhil) is a one-year degree available only to those proceeding from the Oxford MSc in Criminology.

The Postgraduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law and Practice is a one-year part-time masters-level course for people embarking on a career in IP law and practice.

The Master of Studies in International Human Rights Law is a part-time graduate degree studied over 22 months, offered by Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education. Click here for details.

Research programmes

Oxford has the largest graduate research programme in Law in the English-speaking world, with a vibrant community of about 200 research students engaged in master’s and doctoral research. The students organise discussion groups in 18 subdisciplines within legal studies. Students in Criminology, Socio-Legal Studies, Intellectual Property, and European and Comparative Law benefit from specialist centres in those fields within the Faculty.

The Master of Studies in Legal Research (MSt), an entry-level one-year research degree that can also serve as the first year of a DPhil.

The Master of Philosophy in Law (MPhil), a one-year research degree that can also serve as the first year of a DPhil, available only to those proceeding from the Oxford BCL or MJur taught postgraduate programmes.

The Master of Letters (MLitt), an intermediate-level two-year research degree.

The Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil), a major research degree requiring three to four years of study and setting the highest standards of academic achievement.

Entry Requirements

Taught programmes

BCL/MJur: First-class in undergraduate degree in Law or equivalent.

MSc in Law and Finance: Undergraduate degree in law or an outstanding academic record comprising a non-law undergraduate degree and a graduate or professional qualification in law.

Diploma: Upper second-class undergraduate degree in Law.

Research programmes

An outstanding record in earlier higher education and the skills and commitment to pursue research to the highest level are required by applicants for postgraduate research programmes. It is very rare for a candidate to be admitted without having completed a degree in Law, except in socio-legal studies and criminology.

Further details of admissions criteria are available on the departmental website.