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What are some good UK law schools?

I want to study law in the UK when I graduate High School. But from opinions of people from the UK, what law schools would be the best to go to?

Reply 1

bibachu

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by BraeLynnT

I want to study law in the UK when I graduate High School. But from opinions of people from the UK, what law schools would be the best to go to?

According to the CUG 2025 university rankings, the top 10 universities for law are Cambridge, UCL, LSE, Oxford, KCL, Durham, Glasgow, Bristol, Edinburgh and Nottingham.
Source: https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings/law

However, it's not just as simple as which is ranked higher. For law, league tables will often change drastically year by year. Last year Nottingham was ranked 18th but has made its way back up the ranks to 10th this year. Generally, any Russell Group university will be good for your career prospects as they tend to provide more opportunities for students to get involved with during their studies, but not going to a Russell Group university is not the end of the world. As well as this, you have to consider the differences in courses, student environment, modules and teaching/assessment styles at each university. For a qualifying law degree, all universities will teach the same compulsory modules (e.g. contract, tort, criminal), but may have different optional modules or other compulsory modules that students must take alongside the general requirements. You will have to look into the modules in different courses to see which ones you like the look of. Some universities will have more specialist optional modules and some will have more unique learning styles. York is ranked 15th in law, however they use a different learning style to most universities called problem-based learning, which essentially acts as a law firm simulation. Oxford and Cambridge require students to take civil/roman law as part of their degree, which is a module I have not seen offered by many other universities. In terms of careers, most students who study a qualifying law degree go into the degree with the intention to practice law and either end up as a solicitor or a barrister. If you're intention is to become a barrister, I would recommend aiming slightly higher (e.g. Oxbridge, LSE, Durham), as they tend to have more resources for people going down that route than other lower ranked universities. To become a solicitor, your university only matters to some degree; more reputable universities end up becoming target universities for employers, so if you intend to go into commercial law, universities like KCL, UCL, Manchester and Nottingham are big target universities for city law firms and could be good options as well. If you want to practice in a different area of law, then it might not be as important to attend a Russell Group university at all, so if you have a specific location in mind rather than a university (e.g. London), some good Russell Group/non-Russell Group university options can include City, University of London, QMUL and SOAS. What I'm trying to say is that while rankings can give you a good impression of what universities may be good in terms of teaching for law, it doesn't necessarily mean that they will be good for you. You can look through different courses offered by universities listed on the CUG law rankings or, if you prefer, on UCAS.