LLM

Course code: MM1AE

Start date: September and January.

Course length: full time: one year, part time: three years.

Campus: Kedleston Road site, Derby Campus

This course is available to international students

We've worked with the legal professions, judiciary, prosecution service and police to design the Derby LLM to be fit for the 21st Century. It offers you unrivalled choice and opportunity and you will have unique opportunities in the ways you learn and the focus of what, you learn. You will have the maximum flexibility of study across the whole range of options, so that you can design your future according to your interests and career aspirations.

You can draw from the curriculum for wide ranging or specialist study. It provides unique learning opportunities to investigate areas that other courses simply do not offer and you will find that subjects are delivered with extraordinary passion and professionalism.

The LLM focuses on some of the core aspects of knowledge in law, with many of the option modules also reflecting unique and distinctive areas of specialist knowledge. Choose from over 25 modules to develop your knowledge and design a degree that's right for you, meeting your career aspirations, using your research and satisfying your personal interests. Alternatively, after the Postgraduate Certificate stage, you can choose to follow one of the specialist awards:

• LLM (Commercial Law)
• LLM (Corporate Law and Finance)
• LLM (Human Rights and Personal Freedom)
• LLM (Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law)
• LLM (International and Comparative Law)
• LLM (Transnational Criminal Law)

The LLM at Derby encompasses both the practical and theoretical aspects necessary to the study of this subject. You will be taught in our lecture theatres and courtrooms using a range of approaches that emphasise the practical application of your knowledge. You'll combine academic and theoretical knowledge with practical skills - and will also be prepared as an expert witness for your future career.

We're also one of the few universities in the UK where you can spend time in a professional organisation applying what you're learning. This gives you an unequalled opportunity to explore areas of personal interest in greater depth than is usually possible at this level of study.

Research is at the heart of this degree. From the start, through the Legal Scholarship module, you will be encouraged to develop your research, communication and independent learning techniques, which will help you throughout your masters degree and will also assist you with your personal and professional development. This module also provides a stepping stone for you if you wish to present your work at conferences, and includes sessions relating to getting your work published. The final Independent Studies module provides you with the opportunity to develop deep and specialist knowledge through scholarship. You will be supported throughout this module by a member of our law team who is an expert in the area you choose to research.

The highly supportive learning environment and professionalism of the team have made us one of the UK's top law schools for student satisfaction and success at postgraduate level.

For the professional looking at career development, you can follow this route to enhance your CPD points. In addition you can  choose to study either full time or part time to fit the pace of your learning around your other commitments.

You'll need:

• a good honours degree or relevant experience
• if your first language is not English you will need to evidence a proficiency in English (IELTS 7)

UK/EU students

• £495 per module (you usually take 9 of these modules in total)

International students

• Full time: £10,200 (in total)

*These fees apply if you're starting this course between September 2012 and August 2013. We recommend you check fee details with us though, as they can change. Costs can increase each year.

You will learn in our fantastic law facilities, which include two full-sized courtrooms. Take the video tour

You'll learn with your peers, giving you the chance to collaborate with other talented people who share your passion for the same kinds of legal issues.

The course will support you to acquire independent research and writing skills that will enable you to put together strong legal arguments in your work submissions.

Your lectures will provide a solid foundation in the areas for study. Emphasis is placed on aiding research and guiding you in a way that will stimulate your desire and interest to explore further the module area and specific topics.

The opportunity is provided, through tutorials and discussion, for you to explore topic areas and issues. Also, on an ongoing basis, you will be able to identify and pursue study areas, which are of particular interest to you.

Your tutors will highlight the value of studying a particular module in isolation to develop your knowledge and understanding in this area. The provision of the module in the context of the LLM pathway as a wholewill be acknowledged and account taken of the link and relationship with other modules you are studying.

How you're assessed

Types of assessment are wide ranging and include assignments, portfolio preparation, reports, case studies and online preparation of material. In several modules you will have the opportunity to relate your assessment to different jurisdictions, so that your national law can be the focus of your award.

Assessment is integrated into the learning and teaching of modules. The loading and scheduling of work is consistent, balanced and inclusive in line with your progressive development.

The final masters stage is assessed through the submission of your Independent Study or masters thesis on a specialist topic of your own choosing. You are supported in preparing this by your tutors here at Derby.

An LLM is considered essential for the pursuit of an academic career but is also increasingly seen by employers as demonstrating specialism. This provides you with a genuine advantage when applying for positions within and beyond the legal sector.

The particular benefit of studying on our 'flexible' LLM programme is that you can combine studies to develop a unique specialisation in the areas of law and criminal justice, which can be brought in your final dissertation.

If you are currently in employment you have the opportunity to opt for vocationally specific development. For example, if you're a manager working in construction and development you could study construction law, procurement law, trade and commercial law and complete your studies with a dissertation that looks at the regulation of the construction industry.

In addition, in a turbulent world of work where people's roles evolve, the flexibility of the programme means that it can be adapted to your changing professional development needs.

The flexible LLM provides sufficient opportunity for specialisation to be a springboard for MPhil or PhD research in the School of Law and Criminology.

"Studying the LLM at Derby has allowed me to study what I wanted, in the way I wanted to, at the pace I wanted to learn."

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