LLM International Commercial Law and Practice
Take an in-depth look at how commercial law operates
Year of entry: 2026 (September)
Develop the knowledge and skills to advise on commercial transactions globally.
This course allows you to gain insight into the legal and contractual frameworks relevant to commercial transactions. You'll learn how to analyse transactions, apply the law and provide legal advice to commercial clients. The knowledge and skills you gain will be relevant across jurisdictions and prepare you for a career in commercial legal practice.
You'll develop core legal skills, such as research, document analysis and legal writing, in the context of advising commercial clients. In the process, you'll also develop commercial awareness and your understanding of what drives global commercial activities. You'll also tailor your learning by choosing from a range of option modules, allowing you to specialise in the areas of commercial law that interest you most.
Course content
Your learning integrates practical experience and academic rigour. You will work on a series of varied real-life commercial transactions and matters developed in consultation with legal practitioners, as well as critically evaluating the regulatory frameworks that apply to these transactions.
Modules
Core modules
Option modules
You will also study three option modules. Examples can be found below. The options available to you will be confirmed after you begin your course.
- International Trade Law and Regulation
- International Commercial Arbitration
- Practice of Commercial Transactions
- Law and Circular Economy
- Intellectual Property
Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff, and in line with Department/School academic planning.
Dissertation
- LLM Applied Law Project
- LLM Dissertation
To reflect the course content, you'll have a choice of capstone modules. In each case you'll plan and undertake a major research project to create a 12,000-word output.
The LLM Applied Law Project module enables you to develop an output that could form an item of know-how for lawyers in practice. You can alternatively choose to research and write a 12,000-word dissertation on a topic of your choice. In each case, you'll work under the supervision of a faculty member and be supported in the preparation of the dissertation proposal during the Legal Systems & Research Methods module. You'll have a lot of flexibility when it comes to choosing your topic, based on interests developed through the programme.
Learning outcomes
Every course at York is built on a distinctive set of learning outcomes. These will give you a clear understanding of what you will be able to accomplish at the end of the course and help you explain what you can offer employers. Our academics identify the knowledge, skills, and experiences you'll need upon graduation and then design the course to get you there.
Learning outcomes for this course
- Demonstrate a deep and systematic critical understanding of the legal frameworks and specific regulations that govern domestic and international financial and investment activity and transactions.
- Critically analyse and evaluate proposed domestic and international corporate finance activities and transactions to identify legal, commercial and procedural issues.
- Apply appropriate research techniques to locate relevant primary and secondary sources, including practitioner know-how and precedents, applicable to the issues in hand.
- Analyse and interpret a range of commercial contracts to be able to advise on the impact of specific provisions on business clients.
- Evaluate and apply relevant regulation, and adapt legal problem-solving strategies, to advise on proposed corporate finance activities and transactions, and develop solutions to meet the interests and objectives of business clients.
- Communicate written analysis of legal, commercial, financial and procedural issues, and legal advice, clearly and concisely to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
- Apply legal research skills including: the use of computer databases and search strategies; development and evaluation of research questions; identification and application of appropriate research methodologies; and analysis and evaluation of sources located; and apply these in planning, managing and implementing a substantial project to create a defined output to a specific audience.
Fees and funding
Annual tuition fees for 2026/27
| Study mode | UK (home) | International and EU |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time (1 year) | £12,500 | £26,900 |
Fees information
UK (home) or international fees? The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.
Find out more information about tuition fees and how to pay them.
Funding information
Discover your funding options to help with tuition fees and living costs.
We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2026/27 throughout the year.
If you've successfully completed an undergraduate degree at York you could be eligible for a 10% Masters fee discount.
Funding opportunities
Chevening Scholarships
We are pleased to work with Chevening Scholars to offer funding for our Masters programmes. Chevening Scholarships provide one year of fully-funded postgraduate study in the UK for international (including EU) students. The scholarships are open to early and mid-career professionals who have the potential to become future leaders.
Teaching and assessment
You’ll work with world‐leading academics who’ll challenge you to think independently and excel in all that you do. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities, and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace.
Teaching format
You'll receive innovative, practical and relevant teaching integrating transactional learning, simulations, and seminars.
Transactional Learning
This will involve you working on simulated, real-life commercial law transactions brought to you by virtual clients. You will learn to identify the relevant legal principles, and unravel the legal and commercial issues that lie at the heart of each transaction. As in real life, these typically involve several legal topics interacting and overlapping.
Additional learning resources
You will also learn through a range of other resources including: seminars, written subject guides, and a variety of relevant material in our virtual learning environment.
Teaching location
York Law School is located on Campus East. Nearly all of your teaching will take place within the Law building or nearby on Campus East.
About our campus
Our beautiful green campus offers a student-friendly setting in which to live and study, within easy reach of the action in the city centre. It's easy to get around campus - everything is within walking or pedalling distance, or you can always use the fast and frequent bus service.
Assessment and feedback
We use a variety of assessment methods to help you develop your understanding and skills. These include client advice, coursework, proposals and essays. These are followed by the independent study module, where you will write a 12,000-word applied law output or dissertation on a topic of your choice and under the supervision of a faculty member.
Careers and skills
Our pioneering Careers and Development programme will help to ensure you are ready to pursue your chosen career path. Created through collaboration with leading local, national and international firms and key vocational providers, the programme includes professional skills workshops, personal development, mentoring schemes and link days.
We also have a dedicated full-time Employability Tutor, who can give you advice on a wide range of matters, from CV and assessment centre techniques to general career planning.
We have established a wide range of professional links and partnering arrangements. Through these you benefit from 'real world' lawyers as part of the teaching team and gain access to practical, work-based learning opportunities that can help you to prepare for your career.
Career opportunities
- Lawyer
- Paralegal
- Commercial in-house lawyer
- Arbitrator
- Conveyancer
- Advice worker
- Banking
- Finance
Transferable skills
- Financial and commercial awareness
- Document analysis
- Research skills
- Communication and presentation skills
- Analytical and problem-solving skills
- Project management
- Reasoning and judgement
- Document and case analysis
Turn ambition into achievement with our expert guidance and connections. From your first day here to life after graduation, we'll help you find your career advantage.
Entry requirements
| Qualification | Typical offer |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate degree | 2.2 or equivalent in law or any law, business, management or finance-related degree |
| Other international qualifications | Equivalent qualifications from your country |
English language
If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:
| Qualification | Minimum requirement |
|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic and Indicator) | 6.5, minimum 6.0 in each component |
| Cambridge CEFR | B2 First: 176, with 169 in each component |
| Oxford ELLT | 7, minimum of 6 in each component |
| Oxford Test of English Advanced | 136, minimum 126 in each component |
| Duolingo | 120, minimum 105 in all other components |
| LanguageCert SELT | B2 with 33/50 in each component |
| LanguageCert Academic | 70 with a minimum of 65 in each component |
| Kaplan Test of English Language | 478-509, with 444-477 in all other components |
| Skills for English | B2: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component |
| PTE Academic | 61, minimum 55 in each component |
| TOEFL | 87, minimum of 21 in each component |
| Trinity ISE III | Merit in all requirements |
For more information see our postgraduate English language requirements.
If you haven't met our English language requirements
You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.
The length of course you need to take depends on your current English language test scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.
After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via You@York.
Next steps
Contact us
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