Law LLM
Subject and course type
- Criminology and law
- Postgraduate
Kingston University’s Law LLM provides a comprehensive and forward-thinking programme designed for today’s legal landscape. Gain advanced knowledge, analytical skills and professional insight to progress your legal career.
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Broaden your knowledge and excel in the legal industry
The course will give you specialist knowledge, making you highly employable in the legal profession and beyond.
Entering the legal profession requires a comprehensive knowledge of diverse areas of law. Completion of an LLM demonstrates your skills, determination and expertise to any future employers. At Kingston University, you will gain access to an innovative curriculum designed to address the complexities of the modern legal landscape.
Whether you aim to work as a solicitor, barrister or in a related field, this course opens doors to a wide range of career opportunities in both the public and private sectors.
If you’re a practising legal professional, an LLM will help you improve and focus your career towards the areas that interest you most. You will expand the scope of your knowledge and use your dissertation as an opportunity to carry out independent research in any area that interests you.
Kingston University has been an amazing, transformative opportunity for me to develop my international career.
Why choose this course
Learn how to apply the law successfully in complex situations. Develop research and investigative skills, relevant to the current legal environment. Importantly, learn to apply a critical and research-oriented approach to a range of chosen legal areas.
Kingston's Law LLM offers a dynamic learning experience. Guided by a team of skilled academics, including National Teaching Award winners, who combine teaching with legal practice. You’ll gain insights into a variety of cutting-edge legal topics, including technology, employment law, and climate change.
Our series of legal events and guest lectures enhance and supplement your studies.
Engage with real-world legal issues and investigate how the law relates to omnipresent topics like technology, employment and climate change.
This course also has the opportunity to collaborate with other disciplines, including criminology, psychology, and politics. Here at Kingston, we provide the ideal environment to deepen your legal expertise and stand out in your field.
Prepare for global impact
Kingston School of Law, Social and Behavioural Sciences offers courses in economics, law, psychology and criminology. Our degrees are underpinned by a vibrant research culture and delivered by a blend of practitioners and academics who are dedicated to equipping you with the employability skills to thrive in your career.
Course content
Modules
Core modules
60 credits
This module is designed to develop your skills in advanced legal research, as well as your understanding of the theoretical foundations that underpin it. The central focus is your dissertation – an extended piece of academic writing in which you’ll explore a legal topic of your choice in depth, demonstrating your ability to conduct thorough research and critical analysis.
You’ll attend sessions on research theory and methodology to help you shape a strong research proposal and select the most appropriate methods for your project.
By the end of the module, you’ll have produced a substantial, independent piece of work that reflects both your specialist interest and your development as a legal researcher.
30 credits
This module explores the role of law in responding to and shaping technological innovation. The module is designed to give students the competitive edge in evolving legal and non-legal markets that embrace technological development. Particular focus is given to standards and regulations of artificial intelligence, cyberspace and cybercrime, healthcare, intellectual property and outer space. These areas are of particular importance in the current global market. The module implements international and interdisciplinary approach, covering different jurisdictions, technologies, and industries.
30 credits
This module provides you with an advanced understanding and practical expertise in the legal structures that underpin contemporary business operations.
You will explore company law and corporate governance, examine key employment law rights and analyse the complexities of global international trade transactions.
The module also addresses strategies for combating financial crime, ensuring you understand both regulatory obligations and enforcement mechanisms. By combining theory with real-world application, the module prepares you for practice in a dynamic national and international commercial environment.
30 credits
Alternative approaches to dispute resolution, beyond conventional court-based processes, are increasingly important in a multi-jurisdictional context.
This module provides you with both theoretical and practical opportunities to critically evaluate the range of methods available for resolving criminal and civil disputes, including mediation and negotiation.
You will develop in-depth knowledge of dispute resolution procedures and gain the practical insight needed to assess their effectiveness across different legal contexts.
30 credits
This module offers you an advanced, interdisciplinary exploration of the structures, principles, and contemporary challenges shaping the international legal order. You will examine the interaction between public international law, international human rights law, and international criminal law, exploring how these bodies of law intersect, reinforce, and sometimes conflict.
The module provides you with both a strong conceptual foundation and an applied understanding of how international norms operate in practice and within domestic legal systems.
By situating international law within its political, social, and historical contexts, you will critically reflect on the possibilities and limits of legal regulation in an unequal and contested world, developing the analytical skills required for advanced study, professional practice, and policy engagement.
I grew my legal skills, gained confidence and a better understanding on how to achieve my future goals.
Career opportunities
This course has a strong focus on employability, equipping you with the specialist knowledge and expertise to succeed in the legal profession. Law graduates are also sought-after applicants for other careers and professions.
Upon graduation, there is a wide variety of career opportunities to pursue with a Law LLM. Our LLM graduates have gone on to work for law firms, private business, government, NGO's and charitable organisations. They work in a breadth of roles with job titles including:
- Assistant solicitor
- Barrister
- Paralegal
- Partner
- Lawyer
- Legal advisor
- Judge
- Consultant
- Policy compliance manager
- General counsel
- Company secretary
- Senior associate
Regional and global companies that our graduates work for include:
- Norton Rose Fulbright
- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
- Blaser Mills Solicitors
- Campbell Johnston Clark
- Fluor
- Nabarro
- Guile Nicholas Solicitors
- Adams and Remers
- Crown Court Worcester
- Carter Bells
- Adler Fitzpatrick Solicitors LLP
- Surrey Law Society
- Government Legal Services
- Russell Cooke Solicitors
- FPG Solicitors
- Rose & Rose
- IBM
Teaching and assessment
When not attending timetabled sessions, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This typically will involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for exams. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, the library and CANVAS, the online virtual learning platform.
As a student at Kingston University, we will make sure you have access to appropriate advice regarding your academic development. You will also be able to use the University's support services.
A course is made up of modules, and each module is worth a number of credits. You must pass a given number of credits in order to achieve the award you registered on, for example 360 credits for a typical undergraduate course or 180 credits for a typical postgraduate course. The number of credits you need for your award is detailed in the programme specification which you can access from the link at the bottom of this page.
One credit equates to 10 hours of study. Therefore 180 credits across a year (typical for a postgraduate course) would equate to 1,800 notional hours. These hours are split into scheduled and guided. On this course, the percentage of that time that will be scheduled learning and teaching activities is shown below. The remainder is made up of guided independent study.
- 19% scheduled learning and teaching
The exact balance between scheduled learning and teaching and guided independent study will be informed by the modules you take.
Your course will primarily be delivered in person. It may include delivery of some activities online, either in real time or recorded.
Assessment typically comprises exams (e.g. test or exam) and coursework (e.g. essays, reports, self-assessment, portfolios, dissertation). The approximate percentage for how you will be assessed on this course is as follows, though depends to some extent on the optional modules you choose:
- Law LLM: coursework: 100%
We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 20 working days.
Each student receives a personalised timetable. This is usually available after you have completed your online enrolment, which is typically accessible one month before the start of your course.
To anyone looking to join this course, I would recommend absorbing all the knowledge the lecturers have and using all the support services available, but also to enjoy yourself and Kingston life.
Fees and funding
| Fee category | Annual Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | |
| Full Time | £12,400 |
| Part Time | £6,820 |
| International | |
| Full Time | £17,600 |
| Part Time | £9,680 |
| Fee category | Annual Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | |
| Full Time | £12,400 |
| Part Time | £6,820 |
| International | |
| Full Time | £17,600 |
| Part Time | £9,680 |
Fees for future course years
Part time
If you start your second year straight after Year 1, you will pay the same fee for both years.
If you take a break before starting your second year, or if you repeat modules from Year 1 in Year 2, the fee for your second year may increase.
Funding support for postgraduate students
If you are a UK student living in England and under 60, you can apply for a loan to study for a postgraduate degree. Find out more through the government's website.
Scholarships and bursaries
For students interested in studying Law LLM at Kingston, there are several opportunities to seek funding support. Kingston University offers a range of postgraduate scholarships, including:
Get a 40% reduction in fees for taught masters or postgraduate diploma courses with September start dates. Find out more about the Inspire the Future Scholarship.
Receive up to £5,000 towards tuition in your first year of study. Find out more about international scholarships.
Get a 15% reduction in tuition fees. Find out more about our Progression Scholarship.
Kingston University offers a 10% discount on full- and part-time postgraduate degree course tuition fees to our alumni. Visit our alumni discount page to find out more.
Additional course costs
Some courses may require additional costs beyond tuition fees. When planning your studies, you’ll want to consider tuition fees, living costs, and any extra costs that might relate to your area of study.
Your tuition fees include costs for teaching, assessment and university facilities. So your access to libraries, shared IT resources and various student support services are all covered. Accommodation and general living expenses are not covered by these fees.
Where applicable, additional expenses for your course may include:
Our libraries have an extensive collection of books and journals, as well as open-access computers and laptops available to rent. However, you may want to buy your own computer or personal copies of key textbooks. Textbooks may range from £50 to £250 per year. And a personal computer can range from £100 to £3,000 depending on your course requirements.
While most coursework is submitted online, some modules may require printed copies. You may want to allocate up to £100 per year for hard-copies of your coursework. It’s worth noting that 3D printing is never compulsory. So if you choose to use our 3D printers, you’ll need to pay for the material. This ranges from 3p per gram to 40p per gram.
Kingston University will pay for all compulsory field trips. Fees for optional trips can range from £30 to £350 per trip.
Your tuition fees don’t cover travel costs. To save on travel costs, you can use our intersite bus service. This route links the campuses and halls of residence with local train stations - Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, and Norbiton.
How to apply
Before you apply
Please read the entry criteria carefully to make sure you meet all requirements before applying.
How to apply online
Use the course selector drop-down at the top of this page to choose your preferred course, start date and mode, then click 'Apply now'. You will be taken to our Online Student Information System (OSIS) where you will complete your application.
If you’re starting a new application, you’ll need to select ‘new user’ and set up a username and password. This will allow you to save and return to your application.
Application deadlines
We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Applications will close when the course is full.
Information required to confirm your place
If English is not your first language, we will require proof of your proficiency to allow us to confirm your place on the course. This will generally be either an IELTS or TOEFL test certificate, which can be forwarded to us after you have submitted your application. If you do not hold a formal English language qualification, please indicate how you have acquired your proficiency in written and spoken English.
After you have applied
For courses that select on application alone, applicants should normally receive an initial decision or a request for more information within four to six weeks of receipt of their application. Our admissions team will notify you of the decision by email.
Learn more about the postgraduate application process in detail.
Course changes and regulations
The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Find out more about course changes
Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.
Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.
What our students and graduates say
I've had such a good experience doing my postgraduate degree at Kingston. Coming to England from Trinidad was a daunting prospect, but I've found everyone so helpful and encouraging. I chose the LLM in order to take advantage of the wide choice of options. In particular I've discovered a real interest in family mediation.
My previous employers in Trinidad have shown much interest in taking me back after the LLM course, and at the moment I'm planning to take the Bar Vocational Course in London and then returning to Trinidad to complete my professional qualification. I'm now determined to make a career using the experience and knowledge I've gained from the course.
