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LLM Law

Get to grips with key legal principles

Year of entry: 2025 (September)

Length

1 year full-time,
2 years part-time

Department

York Law School

Start date

September 2025 (semester dates)

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Graduates of law in the 21st century need more than a thorough knowledge of legal rules.

Study theoretical and economic contexts of law and gain the solid foundation you need to further your career. Our LLM Law gives you the flexibility to delve into a range of specialisms, meaning you'll be able to study the things that really interest you. 

Legal practitioners are involved in the design and delivery of key aspects of all our programmes. You'll benefit from our international outlook, interdisciplinary approach and research and learn from academics whose research is making a real impact in their field.

Problem-based learning

A modern, dynamic learning method that ensures you experience and understand law in its practical, social and theoretical contexts

Course content

Through our combination of core and option modules, you'll develop a solid knowledge base in legal theory and practice while also tailoring the course to focus on what interests you most.

All of our modules are informed by research, including areas such as corporate and commercial law and international human rights law.

Dissertation

You'll complete a 12,000-word dissertation on a topic of your choice, under the supervision of a member of staff from the York Law School. You'll prepare your dissertation proposal during the Legal Systems and Research Methods module.

There is wide flexibility in choosing your topic.

The York approach

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.

Students who complete this course will be able to:

  • Discuss and critically evaluate the fundamental principles and theories of common, civil and international law systems and apply a comprehensive understanding of the operation of such principles to the analysis of legal and commercial problems.
  • Apply and adapt problem-solving skills working efficiently and effectively to develop effective solutions to diverse, complex and integrated legal, practical or societal problem scenarios.
  • Influence debate in chosen areas of specialisation and interest by developing well-reasoned, critical and creative arguments, theories and solutions to broader legal issues within society, supported by researched evidence, with the capacity to draw on these to produce original responses.
  • Reflexively draw upon and apply a broad awareness of perspectives and interests in their work, capable of taking into account ethical, social, political, professional, commercial, financial, business, international, policy, human rights, ethnic, gender and client interest considerations when evaluating propositions and solving problems.
  • Record, reflect on, and evaluate the strengths, weaknesses and progress in their own personal learning and professional development.
  • Develop legal research skills including: the use of computer databases and search strategies; critical evaluation of normative research questions, determine research methodologies which can be used to successfully address such questions, apply the skills and knowledge developed on the programme to a selected problem, and plan, project manage and implement a substantial project with minimal guidance.
The staff are the best part of studying at the University of York, their expertise and style elegantly guided me through each subject area. The student body is actively invited to work alongside staff for the betterment of the students, courses and university as a whole.
Kristian, LLM Law

Fees and funding

Annual tuition fees for 2025/26

Study modeUK (home)International and EU
Full-time (1 year) £11,200£25,900
Part-time (2 years)
This is the year 1 fee. Fees for future years are subject to confirmation.
£5,600£12,950

Students on a Student Visa are not currently permitted to study part-time at York.

For courses which are longer than one year, the tuition fees quoted are for the first year of study.

  • UK (home) fees may increase in subsequent years (up to a maximum of 2%).
  • International fees may increase in subsequent years in line with the prevailing Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate (up to a maximum of 10%).

Fees for students starting in the 2025/26 academic year.

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 2025/26 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.

Living costs

You can use our living costs guide to help plan your budget. It covers additional costs that are not included in your tuition fee such as expenses for accommodation and study materials.

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. Dependent on your option module choices, teaching methods will include problem-based learning, simulations and student law firms. You'll also attend masterclasses from legal practitioners and academics.

Problem-Based Learning (PBL)

A core teaching method employed in some of our modules is problem-based learning (PBL). This will involve you working in a “student law firm” in which you will work on simulated, real-life corporate and commercial law problems brought to you by virtual clients. You will learn to identify the relevant legal principles, and unravel the legal and contextual issues that lie at the heart of the problem. As in real life, the problems are messy, and 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 different transferable skills. These include presentations, posters, participation in seminars, client advice, coursework and your dissertation. For certain modules, you will be assessed through a reflective portfolio.

Careers and skills

Throughout your time at York, you will receive active support in careers and development planning from the York Law School employability tutor.

We encourage you to get involved with our Careers and Development Programme. The programme includes several employers, providing an insight into the legal profession and the relevant recruitment processes.

There is also help available for those of you who are thinking about non-legal employers or academic routes following your LLM. 

Career opportunities

  • Lawyer
  • Paralegal
  • Commercial in-house lawyer
  • Arbitrator
  • Conveyancer
  • Advice worker 

Transferable skills

  • Research skills
  • Communication and presentation skills
  • Analytical and problem-solving skills
  • Project management
  • Reasoning and judgement
  • Document and case analysis
  • Negotiation and mediation
  • Advocacy

Entry requirements

Typical offer
Undergraduate degree 2:2 or equivalent in Law, or a closely related degree
International pre-masters programme Pre-masters from our International Pathway College
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:

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
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 459-494, with 426-458 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.

Applying

You can apply and send all your documentation online. You don’t need to complete your application all at once: you can start it, save it and finish it later.

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