Global Legal Studies LLB Honours
- UCAS code: M105
- Full time
- 4 years
Gain a global perspective of law and an understanding of how legal systems across the world respond to the challenges and opportunities of globalisation.
You are currently viewing course information for entry year: 2025
Next start date:
- September 2025
UCAS Institution name and code:
- NEWC / N21
Course overview
The challenges the world faces need global responses. From climate change to technological innovations, legal systems are adapting to address issues that transcend domestic borders.
On our Global Legal Studies LLB you'll develop an understanding of the complexities of law in a global context.
In addition to developing a strong grounding in the UK legal system, you'll develop a foundation in comparative law techniques, and an understanding of EU law, international law and its institutions.
On our four-year course you'll gain a strong legal foundation with a global perspective. Choose from a wide range of global facing optional modules, allowing you to pursue your interests in specialist legal areas such as:
- Global intellectual property law
- Environmental law, and
- International human rights law
With a focus on law in a global context, you’ll:
- Gain an understanding of the nature of law and its multi-disciplinary development.
- Develop expertise in analysis, legal research and legal argumentation.
- Study key topics across EU and international law, and draw on experiences in other jurisdictions through comparative law perspectives.
- Gain disciplinary insights into different legal systems and legal cultures from around the world.
- Interact with leading experts across the fields of global public and private law and delve into specialist subjects on how law responds to contemporary challenges.
You'll spend year three at one of our prestigious international partner universities. This means you’ll graduate with an LLB and can draw on the experiences and skills developed during your international exchange year, strengthening your prospects with graduate recruiters.
Global Legal Studies opens up a wealth of career opportunities in a range of globalised sectors. Graduates can use their skills and knowledge to tackle the contemporary challenges facing today’s globalised world.
The Global Legal Studies LLB programme provides students with the understanding and insights to thrive in a career in global legal practice.
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Your course and study experience - disclaimers and terms and conditions
Please rest assured we make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the programmes, services and facilities described. However, it may be necessary to make changes due to significant disruption, for example in response to Covid-19.
View our Academic experience page, which gives information about your Newcastle University study experience for the academic year 2024-25.
See our terms and conditions and student complaints information, which gives details of circumstances that may lead to changes to programmes, modules or University services.
Quality and ranking
Professional accreditation and recognition
All professional accreditations are reviewed regularly by their professional body.
Modules and learning
Modules
The information below is intended to provide an example of what you will study.
Most degrees are divided into stages. Each stage lasts for one academic year, and you'll complete modules totalling 120 credits by the end of each stage.
Our teaching is informed by research. Course content may change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback.
Optional module availability
Student demand for optional modules may affect availability.
Full details of the modules on offer will be published through the Programme Regulations and Specifications ahead of each academic year. This usually happens in May.
To find out more please see our terms and conditions
In Stage 1 of this programme, you will be introduced to Global Law. You will develop an overview of the challenges facing the international legal system and the institutions working within it. You’ll review case studies from Newcastle Law School researchers, focussing on environmental challenges and technical innovation.
During Stage 1 you’ll study compulsory modules where you’ll be introduced to the foundations of legal studies. Stage 1 modules provide you with the skills and legal techniques to develop your legal thinking and expression.
Modules
| Compulsory Modules | Credits |
|---|---|
| Legal Institutions and Method | 20 |
| Constitutional Law | 20 |
| Contract Law | 20 |
| Administrative Law and Human Rights | 20 |
| The UK and EU Law | 20 |
In Stage Two, there are a number of core modules that progress from Stage 1 and complete the foundations of legal knowledge, helping you to further develop your legal skills.
During Stage 2 you’ll also study a compulsory module in Global Private Law where you’ll be introduced to international private, transnational private, comparative tort and comparative contract law, and a compulsory module in Public International Law.
Within Global Private Law, you will study from selected case studies taught by Newcastle Law School experts in private law, for example an introduction to Islamic finance or global competition law. This module provides a grounding in private law that can be developed through optional modules across the degree programme.
Modules
| Compulsory Modules | Credits |
|---|---|
| Land Law | 20 |
| Criminal Law | 20 |
| General Principles of Tort | 20 |
| Equity and Trusts | 20 |
| Public International Law | 20 |
You’ll spend Stage 3 of your degree studying at one of our international partner institutions and you’ll complete an individual-directed global research project, drawing on what you have learnt in your year abroad.
During the exchange year abroad, you’ll have the opportunity to increase your understanding and awareness of different legal systems, gain intercultural perspectives, and to demonstrate organisational ability, teamwork, and the ability to adapt, and to operate in a different culture.
Stage 4 will allow you to select modules from a range of optional modules, plus a compulsory module in Global Constitutional Law.
You will take 100 credits of optional modules. Up to 40 of these credits can be non-Law modules (highlighted with an * below), subject to DPD approval. This will enable you to take up a subject relevant to your career goals, or academic interests.
| Compulsory Modules | Credits |
|---|---|
| LAW3053: Global Constitutional Law | 20 |
Modules
We base these figures and graphs on the most up-to-date information available to us. They are based on the modules chosen by our students in 2023-24.
Teaching time is made up of:
- scheduled learning and teaching activities. These are timetabled activities with a member of staff present.
- structured guided learning. These are activities developed by staff to support engagement with module learning. Students or groups of students undertake these activities without direct staff participation or supervision
Teaching and assessment
Teaching methods
You'll learn through a combination of:
- lectures
- seminars
- interactive workshops
In lectures, you should engage with the delivered content. You'll do this through note-taking and active participation in the large group format. The subject specialists provide a guided path through the module to support student learning and understanding.
In seminars and workshops, you'll discuss legal issues. You'll work through problem questions or debates regarding the effectiveness, desirability or clarity of law in a particular area in small groups. Discussions will be wide-ranging, such as:
- the likely outcome of a scenario concerning the breach of contractual terms in a construction contract
- the ways in which the legal profession are adapting to changing cultural and ethical standards
- what the study of literary works can tell us about the way that law is perceived by society
To get the most out of these sessions you'll prepare individually. Independent study and research are central to the skills required of a law degree and in many of the professional careers desired by law graduates. The emphasis on the following skills are essential for excellent degree outcomes:
- self-guided study
- engagement with a wider body of legal and academic materials
- a genuine curiosity
Law is about reflection, debate and argumentation. Student engagement with seminars and other interactive sessions are fundamental to this.
Assessment methods
You'll be assessed through a combination of:
-
Assessments
-
Assignments – written or fieldwork
-
Coursework
-
Dissertation or research project
-
Essays
-
Examinations – practical or online
-
Presentations
-
Seminar tasks/exercises
Skills and experience
You will be given the opportunity to develop a portfolio of professional skills and boost your employability through:
- mooting
- client interviewing
- using legal databases
- negotiating deals
You'll put them to the test in prestigious internal and external competitions.
Opportunities
Study abroad
You’ll spend Stage 3 of your degree studying at one of our international partner institutions. Our international partners include:
- University of California Davis,
- McGill University in Montreal,
- National University of Singapore,
- University of Tasmania,
- Luiss in Rome,
- University of Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona
As part of this year abroad you’ll complete an individual-directed global research project, drawing on what you have learnt in your year abroad.
Facilities and environment
Facilities
Situated on the eastern side of the city campus, the Law School offers you a great sense of community. It has everything you need as a law student:
- a 270 seater law lecture theatre
- computer cluster
- seminar rooms
- a dedicated law library
The student common room is a great place to relax and catch up with fellow students. As our academic and support staff are all based in the same building, you'll find it easy to seek advice whenever you need it.
We also have a dedicated mooting room, which provides the perfect environment to develop your advocacy skills.
Support
Newcastle Law School has a long history of providing a comprehensive support network for students.
In your first year, you will be assigned a personal tutor. This academic member of staff will guide your studies, with weekly office hours when you can drop in for advice. This relationship ensures that your reference will be prepared by someone who knows you personally.
A fellow student will also be assigned as your peer mentor. They will help ensure that the transition from school/college to university, as well as the transitions between different years at university, are as seamless as possible.
Student mentors will give you guidance on everything from how to get the most out of lectures and the library, to how best to enjoy Newcastle as a city.
Your future
The Global Legal Studies LLB will prepare you for a career in the globalised legal space.
Law firms are going increasingly global, operating across many jurisdictions, and working with clients around the world. A Global Legal Studies LLB will help you respond to these demands of law in practice.
Our programme opens up career avenues in law-related institutions such as international organisations, global charities, and non-governmental organisations working to address global challenges.
The Global Legal Studies programme includes the Foundations of Legal Knowledge, which will help you go on to study to become a solicitor or barrister in the UK.
Graduates can take further studies to meet the requirements to practise law in other countries around the world. We also offer a global perspective that is particularly attractive to employers specialising in transnational, EU, and international law.
90% of graduates from Newcastle Law School were in employment after 6 months of graduating. They have gone on to secure roles in International Law Firms such as Clifford Chance and Clyde and Co, as well as the Civil Service and banking.
*Graduate Outcomes 2019/20
Make a difference
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Careers support
You'll have access to the Law School's dedicated careers advisor, and be able to hear talks on the profession by practising lawyers, gain experience via one of our five award-winning pro bono schemes, apply for a legal internship, and meet potential employers at our annual Law School Careers Fair.
Our award-winning Careers Service is one of the largest and best in the country, and we have strong links with employers. We provide an extensive range of opportunities to all students through our ncl+ initiative.
Visit our Careers Service website
Recognition of professional qualifications outside of the UK
From 1 January 2021 there is an update to the way professional qualifications are recognised by countries outside of the UK
Entry requirements
All candidates are considered on an individual basis and we accept a broad range of qualifications. The entrance requirements and offers below apply to 2025 entry.
| A-Level | |
|---|---|
| International Baccalaureate | |
|---|---|
Other UK and the Republic of Ireland qualifications
Contextual Offers
Through one of our contextual routes, you could receive an offer of up to three grades lower than the typical requirements.
Qualifications from outside the UK
English Language requirements
Entrance courses (INTO)
International Pathway Courses are specialist programmes designed for international students who want to study in the UK. We provide a range of study options for international students in partnership with INTO.
Find out more about International Pathway Courses
Admissions policy
This policy applies to all undergraduate and postgraduate admissions at Newcastle University. It is intended to provide information about our admissions policies and procedures to applicants and potential applicants, to their advisors and family members, and to staff of the University.
University Admissions Policy and related policies and procedures
Credit transfer and Recognition of Prior Learning
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) can allow you to convert existing relevant university-level knowledge, skills and experience into credits towards a qualification. Find out more about the RPL policy which may apply to this course.
Tuition fees and scholarships
Tuition fees for 2025 entry (per year)
The 2025 home fees have not yet been confirmed (see ‘Home Fee Students’ information below).
| Qualification: LLB Honours | |
|---|---|
|
Home students full time 4 years |
Tuition fees (per year)
Not set |
|
International students full time 4 years |
Tuition fees (per year)
24400 |
Year abroad and additional costs
For programmes where you can spend a year on a work placement or studying abroad, you will receive a significant fee reduction for that year.
Some of our degrees involve additional costs which are not covered by your tuition fees.
Scholarships
Find out more about:
Open days and events
You'll have a number of opportunities to meet us throughout the year at our on-campus and virtual open days.
You'll be able to:
- explore our beautiful campus
- find out about our vibrant city
- discover what students think about studying at Newcastle
You'll also have the opportunity to speak to academic staff and find out more about the subjects you're interested in.
Find out about how you can visit Newcastle in person and virtually.
We regularly travel overseas to meet with students interested in studying at Newcastle University. Visit our events calendar to find out when we're visiting your region.
How to apply
Apply through UCAS
To apply for undergraduate study at Newcastle University, you must use the online application system managed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). All UK schools and colleges, and a small number of EU and international establishments, are registered with UCAS. You will need:
- the UCAS name and institution codes for Newcastle University (NEWC/N21)
- the UCAS code for the course you want to apply for
- the UCAS 'buzzword' for your school or college
If you are applying independently, or are applying from a school or college which is not registered to manage applications, you will still use the Apply system. You will not need a buzzword.
Apply through UCASApply through an agent
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