Undergraduate

Law with Politics

Two students walking through the Legal Advice Centre corridor
Politics students outside Westminster on placement
A student in the dock of the wood-panelled mock trial courtroom
A politics student, outside Westminster on placement

Look around

You’ll join a tight-knit legal community and be taught by academics whose expertise is influencing policy and addressing real-world challenges.
Get to the heart of political debate with our extensive Westminster connections.
Join a Law School where every student counts. At Hull we take the time to get to know you, supporting you to build your legal skills and grow in confidence.
You’ll develop your understanding of the law and political systems as well as learning how to think like a lawyer.
Hone your legal skills taking part in ‘trials’ in our mock courtrooms.
We offer much more than degree. Here you’re a professional-in-the-making from day one.
Two students walking through the Legal Advice Centre corridor
Politics students outside Westminster on placement
A student in the dock of the wood-panelled mock trial courtroom
A politics student, outside Westminster on placement
Law Court
Law - Law with Politics

Code

Duration

Mode

  • Standard course
  • With a foundation year
  • With a year abroad
  • September 2024

Typical offer

What does this mean?

Gain the foundations of legal knowledge along with insight into how the law works within different political systems.

You’ll learn to think like a lawyer, carry out legal research and apply your knowledge of legal and political science to broad social problems and challenges.

Here, you’re a professional-in-the-making from day one, learning as a valued member of a tight-knit legal community. We offer a personal experience: every student counts. We take the time to get to know you, to develop your individual abilities, help you challenge current thinking and grow confidence.

  • 92.7%

    of students in work or further study 15 months after graduating 1

  • Work on real cases

    in our Legal Advice Centre

  • University of Law

    partnership

  • Enhance your CV

    with a paid summer internship

  • Annual

    Careers in Criminal Justice Fair

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Course overview
Module options

About this course

Our extensive Westminster connections, together with wider UK and international expertise, ensure you’ll be at the heart of contemporary political debate.

You’ll be taught by experts whose research influences policy, regulatory change and public debate. Get to grips with the concept of law, legal phenomena and legal systems. And examine political theory and key advances in human security and welfare. You could also study abroad at one of our highly ranked partner institutions.

We provide you with much more than a degree. We’re all about preparation for your career. Learn the legal ropes in our mock courtrooms. And work alongside professionals on real cases – ranging from family mediation to employment tribunals – in our Legal Advice Centre and Mediation Centre.

Build your legal experience on internships with local law firms and government – and mini-pupillages with Wilberforce Chambers. Practice legal skills in our Law Society’s mooting and client interviewing competitions. And rub shoulders with leading law firms at our yearly careers convention.

You’re also guaranteed a place at University of Law, which prepares students for the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE). 

Scheduled study hours and how you’re assessed

Throughout your degree, you’re expected to study for 1,200 hours per year. That’s based on 200 hours per 20 credit module. And it includes scheduled hours, time spent on placement and independent study. How this time is divided across the year varies and depends on the module you are studying.

How you'll be assessed depends on the course you study, and the modules you choose. You may be assessed through a mix of examinations, coursework, presentations and group projects.

Choose your modules

Each year, you’ll study modules worth a certain number of credits, and you need 120 credits per year. Most modules are 20 credits – so you’ll study six modules each year. Some longer modules, such as a dissertation, are worth more. In these cases, you’ll study fewer modules - but the number of credits will always add up to 120. Some modules are compulsory, some are optional, so you can build a course that’s right for you.

Preparing for Learning in Higher Education

This module is designed to give you the best possible start to your university studies, making sure you have all the essential skills you need to succeed. Through lectures and workshops we will teach you how to write in an academic style, how to find quality sources, how to reference work, culminating in writing up a mini-research project.

Core•20 credits

Introduction to Social Science

This module is designed to provide you with an understanding of the key concepts underpinning research in the social sciences, including the value of appropriately used sources and data.

Core•20 credits

Research in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Education

This module will equip you with the necessary skills to conduct and analyse research in a specific interest, supported by academics within your subject. You'll navigate through the research process, from identifying an area of interest to presenting their findings to your peers.

Core•20 credits

Group Challenge (Humanities)

Formulate and execute a group led enquiry into texts, cultural artifacts, film, music or dance. You'll explore their topics in groups at supervised workshops and develop questions on the cultural object relates to the living world of human experience, as well as developing your own methods to answer these questions.

Compulsory•20 credits

Foundation in Data Analysis

Develop a strong foundation in data collection and analysis. This module will introduce you to qualitative and quantitative data and how to analyse it; the collection of primary and secondary data; the production of high quality graphics; and report writing.

Compulsory•20 credits

Academic Writing Skills

Developing confidence in expression, oral as well as written, is a key feature of this module, which also aims to familiarise you with submission and assessment procedures in the context of Higher Education. This is a clear building block onto your degree programme and places you at a distinct advantage when you move into the following year.

Compulsory•20 credits

The Foundation Year has been designed to prepare you for entry on to the degree. You’ll study the following modules.
6 Modules

Introduction to Law and its Study

This module provides you with a basic introduction to law and the key skills for studying it. In particular, you'll develop your ability in academic writing, problem solving and research.

Compulsory•20 credits

Systems of Justice

Develop your understanding of law as a fundamental social institution. You'll reflect on your understanding of justice, with reference to contemporary social issues.

Compulsory•20 credits

Criminal Law

Develop a strong understanding of criminal law in England and Wales. You'll focus on topics like property offences, non-fatal offences against the person, defences and inchoate offences.

Compulsory•20 credits

Public and European Law

In this module you'll study the law governing the UK state, the institution of the European Union and the nature of the legal relationship between the UK and the EU.

Compulsory•20 credits

British Political History since 1945

The UK's political history after World War Two: from Eden to the EEC and from Wilson to the 'Winter of Discontent', encounter the people, ideas and policies that have shaped modern Britain.

Compulsory•20 credits

Introduction to Comparative Politics

This module introduces Comparative Politics, one of the major building blocks for the study of Politics. It introduces “the study of the state” and some of the main concepts used by politics scholars, like political culture, political parties, executives, legislatures and constitutions.

Compulsory•20 credits
6 Modules

Obligations I – The Law of Tort

Study the general framework and key concepts of the law of tort. Among other things, you'll consider the grounds of liability and evaluate the role of tort law in modern society. 

Compulsory•20 credits

Obligations II - The Law of Contract

Examine contract formation and enforceability, factors that may render a contract void, the interpretation of contractual terms and potential remedies for breach of contract.

Compulsory•20 credits

Real-World Law

Developed in partnership with a leading commercial law firm, and taught by practising solicitors, arbitrators, mediators and advocates, you will focus on understanding law in a commercial setting through interactive workshops, finding solutions to legal issues using a range of practical skills. 

Compulsory•20 credits

European Union Law

You'll consider the operation of the internal market and how to access it; the state of Brexit negotiations; and alternative models for continuous partnership with the European Union. 

Compulsory•20 credits

Rethinking Political Economy

Rethinking Political Economy enables students to explore plural perspectives drawn from the history of ideas in political economy from its early development in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to the contemporary rethinking of political economy. Particular focus is placed upon the confrontation both of historical power imbalances, notably the relocation of the previously marginalized perspectives of female political economists to the very centre and cutting edge of the discipline, and urgent issues of human development, notably inequalities in income and wealth, and mitigation of and adaptation to human-induced climate change

Optional•20 credits

Electoral and Voting Systems

You will study in depth the basic principles and the workings of a variety of electoral and voting systems used in the UK and around the world. You will explore the implications of electoral and voting systems for democracy and political representation. Your assessment in the form of a policy brief will prepare you for future interactions with policy-makers.

Optional•20 credits

British Government

In the age of Brexit who governs Britain? Discover the workings of the British state and where power lies. From the uncodified constitution, the Office of Prime Minister and Cabinet government to Whitehall, English local government, Scottish and Welsh devolution to the great parties of state: the Conservative Party and the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. Encounter the traditions, institutions and political parties which govern Britain.

Optional•20 credits

Understanding America

You'll be introduced to the political culture and institutions of the United States of America and the environment in which those institutions operate. Having considered these domestic issues, you'll examine the USA’s international role and behaviour. You'll examine the complex relationship between these domestic and international aspects of American politics.

Optional•20 credits

Understanding the European Union

The EU has a population of almost 450 million people and host the world’s the largest single market. The module identifies the main EU institutions and explains where power lies in EU decision-making. EU policies which will be assessed include environmental/climate policy, Economic Monetary Union (EMU) and the Single European Market (SEM). The module focuses also on the EU’s relations with the UK (pre- and post-Brexit), USA, China and Global South countries. The EU has emerged as an environmental leader on the international level and has frequently tried to use its ‘market power’ to transfer its goals, norms and values to the international level. The EU’s impact therefore goes well beyond the territory of its currently 27 Member States.

Optional•20 credits
9 Modules

Land Use and Regulation

Develop insight into the issues surrounding the use and regulation of land. You'll cover topics such as co-ownership, leases, and private and public regulation of land use.

Compulsory•20 credits

Trusts: Managing for Others

This module will introduce you to the legal concept of the trust and help to develop an understanding of the role the device plays in facilitating and regulating the management of wealth for others.

Compulsory•20 credits

Employment Law

Explore the role of law in the workplace. You'll consider the protection offered by employment law, work contracts, remedies available to wronged workers and discrimination in the workplace.

Optional•20 credits

Medical Law and Ethics

Get to grips with controversial issues which often make the headlines. You'll explore the ethical conflicts behind the legal principles of topics including abortion and assisted dying.

Optional•20 credits

Family Law

This module covers the study of relationship formation and breakdown, the cohabiting family, same sex relationships, the financial aspects of relationship breakdown and children. You'll experience applying the practical aspects of family law to problem questions.

Optional•20 credits

Law Clinic

Experience law in practice, advising real clients with real problems, researching legal issues and writing letters of advice under the supervision of professionally-qualified members of staff.

Optional•20 credits

UK Politics in an Age of Austerity and Brexit

Examine contemporary debates on economic, social and political renewal. You'll cover topics such as: Brexit, austerity, foreign policy and the future of the welfare state.

Optional•20 credits

The Contemporary House of Commons

The Contemporary House of Commons module provides a distinctive opportunity not only to study the role of the House of Commons in the UK political system, but also to engage with practitioners, to develop skills of advocacy and to engage in research of primary sources, and to do so through small-group extended seminars, ensuring continuous engagement with fellow students and with the module leader, who is also parliamentarian.

Optional•20 credits

Politics of the Environment

Analyse attitudes towards the environment and the politics of the environmental movement, pressure groups, political parties, states, the EU and international organisations.

Optional•20 credits

Parliament in the UK: Approaches to Reform

Parliament in the UK: Approaches to Reform provides students with an opportunity to assess Parliament in the content of a constitution in flux, to debate the merits of constitutional reforms, and to engage with practitioners, to develop skills of advocacy- not least through an adversarial debating format – and to engage in research of primary sources, and to do so through small-group extended seminars, ensuring continuous engagement with fellow students and with the module leader, who is also parliamentarian.

Optional•20 credits

Comparative Legislatures

Examine how legislatures fit within systems of government. You'll explore the Westminster model, US Congress, and the Brazilian, German, South African and Chinese parliaments.

Optional•20 credits

Democracy and Legitimacy in the European Union

This module focuses on the theoretical and empirical context in which democracy and legitimacy have become existential challenges for the European Union.

Optional•20 credits

BRICS: Emerging Powers in International Affairs

Discover challenges facing the five emerging powers (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in the shifting power structures of international affairs.

Optional•20 credits

Criminal Evidence

Learn how the law balances the defendant's interests, with respect for victims and witnesses. Topics include the right to a fair trial and the process of collecting evidence.

Optional•20 credits

The Law of Armed Conflict

This module explores the approach of international law to the regulation of the resort to force by States (including the general prohibition contained within the UN Charter, self-defence and Security Council authorisation), and to the regulation of hostilities in the context of those armed conflicts which continue to occur.

Optional•20 credits

Sex(uality), Gender and the Law

Develop a critical overview of key aspects in the field of sex, sexuality, gender, religion and the law. You'll explore opportunities for the study and evaluation of the latest research, enhancing your understanding of inclusion, exclusion and the situatedness of knowledge.

Optional•20 credits

Dissertation (Law)

You will make an original contribution to research by designing, carrying out and writing up your own project on a topic you choose, supported by your dissertation supervisor.

Optional•20 credits
17 Modules

You will spend the third year of the programme studying abroad at one of our partner universities in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, or Spain.

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Dr Caroline Gibby

Course Overview 1 min

Law facilities

Course highlight 1 min

Lucy Dunwell

Student story 2 mins

Life on campus

University Life 2 mins

Entry requirements

What do I need?

When it comes to applying to university, you'll need a certain number of UCAS points. Different qualifications and grades are worth a different amount of points. For this course, you'll need…

Use UCAS's calculator to work out your estimated points

We consider experience and qualifications from the UK and worldwide which may not exactly match the combinations above.

But it's not just about the grades - we'll look at your whole application. We want to know what makes you tick, and about your previous experience, so make sure that you complete your personal statement.

Have questions? Our admissions team will be happy to help.

What do I need?

If you require a student visa to study or if your first language is not English you will be required to provide acceptable evidence of your English language proficiency level.

See other English language proficiency qualifications accepted by the University of Hull.

If your English currently does not reach the University’s required standard for this programme, you may be interested in one of our English language courses.

Visit your country page to find out more about our entry requirements.

Fees & funding

How much is it?

Additional costs you may have to pay

Your tuition fees will cover most costs associated with your programme. There are some extra costs that you might have to pay, or choose to pay, depending on your programme of study and the decisions you make:

  • Books (you can borrow books on your reading lists from the library, but you may buy your own)
  • Optional field trips
  • Study abroad (incl. travel costs, accommodation, visas, immunisation)
  • Placement costs (incl. travel costs and accommodation)
  • Student visas (international students)
  • Laptop (you’ll have access to laptops and PC’s on campus, but you may want your own)
  • Printing and photocopying
  • Professional-body membership
  • Graduation (gown hire and photography)

Remember, you’ll still need to take into account your living costs. This could include accommodation, travel, food and more.

How do I pay for it?

How much is it?

Additional costs you may have to pay

Your tuition fees will cover most costs associated with your programme. There are some extra costs that you might have to pay, or choose to pay, depending on your programme of study and the decisions you make:

  • Books (you can borrow books on your reading lists from the library, but you may buy your own)
  • Optional field trips
  • Study abroad (incl. travel costs, accommodation, visas, immunisation)
  • Placement costs (incl. travel costs and accommodation)
  • Student visas (international students)
  • Laptop (you’ll have access to laptops and PC’s on campus, but you may want your own)
  • Printing and photocopying
  • Professional-body membership
  • Graduation (gown hire and photography)

Remember, you’ll still need to take into account your living costs. This could include accommodation, travel, food and more.

How do I pay for it?

Our academics

Our legal academic expertise is addressing intellectual and real-world challenges.

With considerable expertise in restorative justice, civil law, international and public law, our research has always had a strong interest in social and criminal justice.

See more academics for this subject
Lindsay Moir
Featured academic

Professor Lindsay Moir

The Law School’s Research Director, Lindsay has been awarded British Academy and the Economic and Social Research Council research funding during his career. He also held a visiting position at the International Human Rights Law Institute, Chicago.
Professor Thomas Lundmark
Featured academic

Professor Thomas Lundmark

Thomas practised and taught law in California before serving as a Fulbright Senior Professor in Germany. He’s a State Bar of California member, on the editorial staff of the journal ‘Rechtstheorie’ and has written 100+ publications.

Take a look at our facilities

Legal Advice Centre

Work on real cases advising members of the community in our Legal Advice Centre. Your chance to make a huge difference to people’s lives and get a head start over other graduates.

State-of-the-art Mock Courtrooms

Learn the legal ropes in our mock courtrooms. Our mock criminal law courtroom includes a dock for ‘the accused’, witness box, jury area, public gallery and Judge’s chamber.

Mediation Centre

Gain real-world experience of mediation, working with local businesses and individuals to solve civil law disputes such as consumer, tenancy or employment issues.

Brynmor Jones Library

Our 7-storey library is home to 1 million+ books, extensive digital resources drawn from libraries and archives across the world, and stunning panoramic views of the city from the 7th floor.

See more in our virtual tour

Look around

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Mediation & Legal Advice Centre Consultation

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Nidd Legal Advice Centre
Law Court
Mediation & Legal Advice Centre Consultation
Brynmor Jones Library
LLM International Law student Georgia Sykes

Future prospects

We’ve been teaching Law at Hull since the University was founded in 1927. Our Law graduates form a wide network around the world.

Our LLB programmes include the foundations of legal knowledge, which are essential for going into legal practice. The skills and knowledge you’ll gain are also highly sought after by employers inside and outside of the legal field – so you’ll open up a whole range of careers.

Our graduates go on to roles including solicitor, barrister, legal executive, civil servant, political researcher and within local government.

Watch

Careers in Law
University of Hull Open Day

Your next steps

Like what you’ve seen? Then it’s time to apply.

The standard way to apply for this course is through UCAS. This will give you the chance to showcase your skill, qualities and passion for the subject, as well as providing your academic qualifications.

How to apply

Not ready to apply?

Visit our next Open Day, and see all that Hull has to offer for yourself. Talk to our lecturers about your subject, find out what university is really like from our current students, and take a tour of our beautiful campus and amazing facilities.

Book your place now

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  1. (Law) UK domicile full-time first degree leavers; Higher Education Graduate Outcomes statistics, for the academic year 2020/21, published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency June 2023.

 

All modules presented on this course page are subject to availability and this list may change at any time.

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