LLB (Hons) with Foundation Year

The highlights

• You can choose to take a generic LLB or pursue one of our specialist LLB pathways in Company and Commercial Law, International and Comparative Law, International Business Law or Social and Public Policy
• Develop all the key skills required to succeed in the legal sector - including drafting, advocacy, interviewing and negotiation
• Study a qualifying law degree which meets the criteria set by the Bar Standards Board
• Take exciting opportunities for work internships and professional mentoring
• Work on real legal cases before you graduate with our Community Legal Advice Service
• Specialist modules can enhance your skills in entrepreneurship, creative thinking, problem-solving, team working, business acumen and digital technology, broadening your career scope further

Law - your questions answered

In the below video, Head of Derby Law School, Sue Jennings, answers some of the most frequently asked questions about Law at the University of Derby.

Foundation Year - helping you to achieve more

Including a foundation year as part of your four-year study programme will give you a head start in your academic and professional life. The foundation year offers the chance to strengthen your skills, knowledge and confidence – with extensive support from our expert staff – before you advance to stage one of your honours degree. It could also be beneficial if you are planning a career change and want to get to grips with aspects of subjects which are new to you.

Our degrees with a foundation year are continuous, meaning that you won’t need to apply again once you have successfully completed the first year.

Explore how different areas of law connect, developing both your practical legal skills and a strong conceptual understanding.

Your learning, teaching, and assessment will be integrated with real-world application. As you progress through the course each module will build on the last, helping you see the bigger picture and apply your knowledge in meaningful ways.

You can form strong professional relationships with your lecturers, fellow students, legal professionals, and the local community. Take an active role in your own education, gaining hands-on experience that enhances your commercial awareness, employability and sense of social and ethical responsibility.

Gain real legal experience before you graduate

Our Community Legal Advice Service enables you to build your skills in clinical legal practice by assisting with and working on real legal issues with real clients under the supervision of a qualified solicitor. Volunteering in the Centre gives you the opportunity to gain real experience for your CV.

The Centre offers assistance in the following areas:

• family law
• immigration family reunion
• personal injury legal advice
• business law
• legal triage for University of Derby students
• SEND law
• support at court

You will also have the opportunity to take part in a law internship, giving you valuable insight into the legal profession and helping you apply your learning in real-world settings.

Thanks to the Law School’s strong connections with the local legal sector, previous students have completed internships with organisations such as local government, charities, Citizens Advice, the NHS legal department, and the University of Derby’s own Legal Department.

We actively support students in finding relevant internship opportunities wherever possible, helping you build experience, grow your network, and enhance your employability.

Tailor your degree

The Derby LLB is all about flexibility and choice. You can decide to study a broad-based LLB or follow a specialist pathway to a named LLB award by taking particular modules at stage 3. The pathways are:

• LLB (Hons) Company and Commercial Law
• LLB (Hons) International and Comparative Law
• LLB (Hons) Social and Public Policy
• LLB (Hons) International Business Law

Professional recognition

The Derby LLB meets stringent criteria set by the Bar Standards Board and Solicitors Regulation Authority and covers all the foundations of legal knowledge. As a ‘qualifying law degree’, it offers exemptions from the academic stage of study if you want to progress to become a barrister.

Hands-on learning

Our Law degree is shaped by strong links with the wider legal community. Regular careers talks, workshops, and contributions from practicing professionals are central to your experience.

Through our professional mentoring scheme, you will have the chance to gain insight directly from legal practitioners. Past mentors have included judges, solicitors, and barristers. All students are eligible to apply, and for some, the scheme has led to internships, paralegal roles, and even permanent positions.

You can also get involved with our active Student Law Society, giving you the chance to build networks, develop skills, and participate in a range of legal and social events.

You will learn from a diverse and experienced teaching team including barristers, solicitors, criminal psychologists, sociologists and former police officers. This ensures your learning stays relevant and informed by current legal and justice issues. Our teaching is further enhanced by impactful research in areas such as modern slavery, digital privacy, and criminal justice reform.

Facilities

Law students are based on the Derby Campus at One Friar Gate Square. It includes a mock court room, replica custody suite and social learning hubs where you can develop your skills and familiarise yourself with the type of environments you will encounter in real-life legal situations.

Study overseas

We offer you the opportunity to spend time studying abroad thanks to our extensive network of global associates, including universities in Pisa, Naples, Paris, The Hague and Brno in the Czech Republic. These not only ensure our curriculum is truly international but also pave the way for exchange opportunities.

Boost your employability with a placement year

Take an optional placement year to put your skills into practice in a real-world setting. We’ll support you in finding a placement and throughout your time in industry. It’s a great way to gain valuable experience for your CV, build contacts, and explore career options before you graduate.

Please note that our modules are subject to change - we review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects.

Engaging in real or simulated legal practice, you will build a range of the key skills required to succeed in the legal sector at every stage of the course, including:

• case preparation
• mooting - where you present a legal issue against opposing counsel in a mock court case
• interviewing
• negotiation 

You will also develop skills in legal scholarship, with the chance to undertake problem-based research and original academic enquiry. If our teaching team consider the work you produce to be of sufficient quality, it could be published in the Derby Law School Journal.

Through our peer assisted mentoring scheme, students from later years of the course also give helpful guidance and support to first year students.

Showcasing your skills

Mooting forms part of certain modules and you can develop your expertise further through regional and national competitions. We have an excellent record of success in these challenges.

In your third year, our annual Legal Skills Triathlon, run in partnership with Derby & District Law Society, will test your advocacy, interview and negotiation skills. You will compete in teams with newly qualified lawyers and will be judged by a professional panel. Some of our students have secured jobs as a direct result of this experience.  

We also help run a schools’ debating competition in partnership with Derby & District Law Society and Enterprise for Education where you can mentor local secondary school pupils.

How you are assessed

Assessments may include:

• group work
• oral presentations
• written coursework
• examinations

Our LLB (Hons) graduates go on to take up roles as barristers, solicitors, paralegals and chartered legal executives and can be found working in private practice, the Crown Prosecution Service, the courts, law centres, the police service, local and national government.

Completion of the LLB represents the end of the academic stage of your training. To become a solicitor or barrister, you must then continue to complete the vocational stage of your training:

• If you wish to become a solicitor, you will need to complete the Legal Practice Course (LPC), or Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). Our graduates are highly sought after by solicitors’ firms because of their practical skills underpinned by academic rigour. 
• If you wish to become a barrister, you must take a one-year full-time or two-year part-time Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC). Our students are particularly successful at winning substantial scholarships for the BPTC, which is testimony to the calibre of teaching we offer. Please note, we do not offer the BPTC at the University of Derby

Even if you do not want to become a legal practitioner, the LLB acts as a stepping stone to careers in broader areas. Legal skills ensure you can make a strategic contribution in many professions including the civil service, investment banking, management and tax consultancy, compliance, insurance, HR, politics, town planning, construction, publishing and education. They will also prove helpful if you want to launch your own business.

Further study

If you would like to take your studies to postgraduate level, the Derby LLM is a masters degree offering maximum flexibility, choice and opportunity.

As a graduate of the University of Derby, you may be entitled to Alumni discount on your postgraduate course fees. Terms and conditions apply.

Contextual offers may apply to students who meet certain criteria.

*This is the fee for the Foundation Year. Subsequent UK fees are £9,535 per year. Subsequent International fees are £17,500.

Further information about our fees and support you may be entitled to

Additional costs and optional extras

Additional information about your studies

Teaching hours

Like most universities, we operate extended teaching hours at the University of Derby, so contact time with your lecturers and tutors could be anytime between 9am and 9pm. Your timetable will usually be available on the website 24 hours after enrolment on to your course.

Course updates

The information provided on this page is correct at the time of publication but course content, costs and other individual course details do change from time to time and are updated as often as possible, so please do check these pages again when making your final decision to apply for a course. Any updated course details will also be confirmed to you at application, enrolment and in your offer letter.

If you are thinking about transferring onto this course (into the second year for example), you should contact the programme leader for the relevant course information as modules may vary from those shown on this page.