Cardiff Law School is internationally recognised as one of the leading UK providers of legal education and training. Cardiff University is recognised as one of Britain’s major universities and is a member of the Russell Group, which comprises the country’s top twenty research universities. Cardiff Law School has an international reputation for its teaching activities. Students are taught in an active research environment.

Cardiff Law School currently has about 30 Indian nationals studying at undergraduate level and a further 15 taking postgraduate degrees.  Among the leading Law Schools, therefore, Cardiff has almost the largest number of Indian students. It was one of the first to be approved by the Bar Council of India. Its high reputation within India is evidenced by the staff from Law Schools in India who have come to Cardiff for training in the development of their teaching skills. For over twenty years Cardiff professors have visited India to present their work and to encourage applications to Cardiff from qualified students.

Cardiff graduates now occupy positions in such leading law firms as Fox, Mandal and Little; AZB; Armachand, Mangaldas and Shroff. Some have remained in the UK to practice and have joined firms such as Eversheds and Freshfields, London. Others practice in the U.S.A., Canada and Hong Kong.  Graduates have also become teachers and hold senior positions in, for example, Symbiosis. Indian staff who have received training in Cardiff have returned to many of the National Law schools, ILS Pune, GLC Mumbai, and Delhi University.

Students come to Cardiff in order to qualify as lawyers, to receive a world class education in a stimulating environment, and to enjoy the benefits of living in a cosmopolitan European city. The multicultural Law School has over 300 international students from 25 countries outside of Europe. The Law School is committed to achieving and maintaining excellence in both teaching and research. Although there are over a hundred Law Schools in the UK, Cardiff was ranked seventh best in the Government’s Research Assessment Exercise in 2008.

The Law School is well-resourced and occupies a substantial building in Cardiff’s civic centre, close to the courts and major law firms. It has one of the largest law libraries in the UK with 100,000 volumes and subscriptions to over 250 journals and law reports, supplemented by key databases.

Programmes offered

Undergraduate Bachelor of Laws Degree Programmes

Cardiff Law School offers a range of different degree schemes, all leading to the degree of LLB, which enable students to acquire the skills and knowledge they need to develop their future careers, whether in the legal profession or not. Students can study law on its own, or alongside other subjects in the Humanities and Social Sciences in a number of joint and integrated degree programmes. Whichever scheme is chosen, students can acquire a 'qualifying law degree' which satisfies the academic requirements of the UK legal professions and enables students to continue their studies to qualify as lawyers in the UK. Qualifying law degrees cannot be obtained from within India itself.

Postgraduate Taught Masters Programme

Cardiff Law School offers a broadly based postgraduate taught programme leading to the award of the degree of Master of Laws (LLM). Students can select from a wide range of modules and can tailor their studies to their own professional or employment needs. Assessment is by means of submission of essays and a dissertation rather than written examinations. The low staff-student ratio enables students to have close contact with their Professors. Students are admitted if they obtain at least a good second class degree in law from a recognised university. Usually an average of at least 55 per cent is required for graduates from India.

Among the eight degree programmes offered are -

(1)  LLM (International Commercial Law)
This programme is designed to meet the needs of students and lawyers who wish to study English and Comparative Commercial Law at an advanced level. The LLM
offers a range of commercial law subjects, which are studied from an international perspective and have an emphasis on the international conventions and agreements which operate in the commercial law field. This LLM route gives students the opportunity to study topics in depth and to conduct research in areas of commercial law of particular interest and value to them.

(2) LLM (Human Rights Law)
The LLM (Human Rights Law) critically analyses the domestic and international impact of the major UN and European Conventions – with respect to civil, political, socio-economic, and cultural aspects. The Human Rights route aims to provide a sound knowledge of the theory and the legal rules applicable to international human rights treaties and their domestic counterparts.

Professional Legal Training

Cardiff Law School is home to the Centre for Professional Legal Studies and is one of only a small number of providers validated by the professional bodies to offer both the main training courses for barristers (the Bar Vocational Course) and solicitors (the Legal Practice Course). Cardiff students do not have to change universities or move to another City to complete their professional legal education.

Scholarships and other sources of funding

Cardiff Law school offers entrance bursaries of £1,000 to international students with qualifications equivalent to AAA at A-level. Indian students qualify if they obtain 83 per cent or more in their best four subjects in year 12.

Undergraduate Scholarships of up to £5,000 a year are awarded to international students who achieve academic excellence when studying at Cardiff. Approximately 15 scholarships have been awarded in each of the last two years..

More information is available on our website: www.law.cardiff.ac.uk

Overseas Research Awards
Prospective full-time research students who are designated by the University as ‘overseas’ for fees purposes may apply for an Overseas Research Students (ORS) award. These are tenable for up to 3 years, and pay the difference between the tuition fees charged to UK students and the relevant overseas tuition fees; there is no maintenance grant provided. The closing date for applications is usually in early March. For further details, please see www.cardiff.ac.uk/orsas

Dorothy Hodgkin Postgraduate Awards
This is a UK initiative to bring outstanding research students from India, China, Hong Kong, South Africa, Brazil, Russia and the developing world to study for PhDs in the UK. For more information, please see www.rcuk.ac.uk/hodgkin.

Some thoughts from the Dean

India Law Journal’s Founder Director communicated with Professor Gillian Douglas, Head of Cardiff Law School, who while expressing her views, said “Cardiff Law School is one of Britain’s premier law schools attracting students from all over the world. Cardiff offers a culturally diverse and friendly setting in which to study and we aim to provide a caring and supportive environment for all our students. Our research is regarded as amongst the best in the world with 60% rated as being world leading or internationally excellent and our academic staff are widely recognised for their expertise in their specialist areas of research. Our international reputation is reflected in the number of distinguished academics who visit the School from around the world, the many leading law journals based and edited in the School, and the highly regarded research centres to which we contribute. In an increasingly ‘globalised’ world which emphasises specialisation in the international context you can be assured that studying at Cardiff will help prepare you to play your part, and will also provide you with the skills to adapt within an ever changing legal profession”.

Reflections by students

“Cardiff Law School has a very vibrant atmosphere. The teaching and administrative staffs are excellent and very receptive to the needs of students. International students are looked after extremely well.  Cardiff has a mix of students from diverse cultures, all interacting with one another in a friendly environment.”

- Jivesh Chandrayan

“Like most international students I was a little apprehensive about travelling abroad to study, but that feeling was dismissed as soon as I arrived in Cardiff. The University staff was friendly and supportive and made me feel very welcome. I was also provided with excellent accommodation on arrival.”

-Praneeta Sharma

"Cardiff is the most student friendly city in the UK. I was privileged to have one of the best faculties during my study in the law school. I remember the library with its many research materials, the staff that were always willing to help us. Overall it was a fantastic experience."

-Naveen Samant

Contact Information

Cardiff Law School
Law Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX
Web: www.law.cardiff.ac.uk

Postgraduate Enquiries (Cardiff Law School)
Tel: +44 (0)29 2087 4351 / 4353 / 6102
Fax: +44 (0)29 2087 4982
Email: law-pg@cardiff.ac.uk

The International Development Division
Tel: +44 (0)29 2087 4432
Fax: +44 (0)29 2087 4622
Email: international@cardiff.ac.uk