phd in law uk universities

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PhD Law / Overview

Year of entry: 2024

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• Bachelor's (Honours) degree in a cognate subject at 2:1 or above (or overseas equivalent); and
• Master's degree in a relevant subject - with an overall average of 65% or above, a minimum mark of 65% in your dissertation and no mark below 55% (or overseas equivalent)

Full entry requirements

Apply online

Please ensure you include all required supporting documents at the time of submission, as incomplete applications may not be considered.

Application Deadlines

For consideration in internal funding competitions, you must submit your completed application by 1 December 2023. If you are applying for or have secured external funding (for example, from an employer or government) or are self-funding, you must submit your application before the below deadlines to be considered. You will not be able to apply after these dates have passed.

• For September 2024 entry: 30 June 2024
• For January 2025 entry: 30 September 2024

Programme options

Programme overview.

• Immerse yourself in sustained, in-depth study into a specific topic.
• Stimulate real change while you work across our core fields in terms of both legal and policy issues.
• Join a community of established researchers and contribute to a diverse intellectual environment.
• Receive research training in law and social sciences.

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To find out what studying on a postgraduate research programme at Manchester is like, visit our Open days and study fairs page and explore our virtual open week or future on-campus and international events.

We will be conducting our PGR virtual open week in October 2024. Find out more about future events and postgraduate research sessions by signing up for our email alerts.

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2024, the tuition fees are as follows:

• PhD (full-time) UK students (per annum): £4,786 International, including EU, students (per annum): £21,500
• PhD (part-time) UK students (per annum): £2,393 International, including EU, students (per annum): £10,750

Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.

Scholarships/sponsorships

There are a range of scholarships, studentships and awards available to support both UK and overseas postgraduate researchers, details of which can be found via the links below.

To apply University of Manchester funding, you must indicate in your application the competitions for which you wish to be considered. The deadline for most internal competitions, including School of Social Sciences studentships is 1 December 2023.

All external funding competitions have a specified deadline for submitting your funding application and a separate (earlier) deadline for submitting the online programme application form, both of which will be stated in the funding competition details below.

For more information about funding, visit our funding page to browse for scholarships, studentships and awards you may be eligible for.

• ESRC North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP) PhD Studentships - Competition Closed for 2024 Entry
• School of Social Sciences PhD Studentships 2024 Entry
• AHRC North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP) PhD Studentships - Competition Closed for 2024 Entry
• China Scholarship Council - The University of Manchester (CSC-UoM) Joint Scholarship Programme - Competition Closed for 2024 Entry
• Commonwealth PhD Scholarships (Least Developed Countries and Fragile States)
• President's Doctoral Scholar (PDS) Awards - Competition Closed for 2024 Entry
• Trudeau Doctoral Scholarships 2024 Entry
• PhD Studentship with the Stuart Hall Foundation (Social Sciences) - Competition Closed for 2024 Entry
• Commonwealth PhD Scholarships (High Income Countries)
• Humanities Doctoral Academy Humanitarian Scholarship 2024 Entry

Contact details

See: School Subjects

Programmes in related subject areas

Use the links below to view lists of programmes in related subject areas.

Regulated by the Office for Students

The University of Manchester is regulated by the Office for Students (OfS). The OfS aims to help students succeed in Higher Education by ensuring they receive excellent information and guidance, get high quality education that prepares them for the future and by protecting their interests. More information can be found at the OfS website .

You can find regulations and policies relating to student life at The University of Manchester, including our Degree Regulations and Complaints Procedure, on our regulations website .

• Schools & departments

Awards: PhD

Study modes: Full-time, Part-time

Funding opportunities

Programme website: Law

Upcoming Introduction to Postgraduate Study and Research events

Join us online on the 19th June or 26th June to learn more about studying and researching at Edinburgh.

Choose your event and register

Research profile

The Edinburgh Law School is a vibrant, collegial and enriching community of legal, sociolegal and criminology researchers and offers an excellent setting for doctoral research.

Edinburgh Law School is ranked 3rd in the UK for law for the quality and breadth of our research by Research Professional, based on the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF2021).

Our doctoral researchers are key to the School’s research activities, and we work hard to ensure that they are fully engaged with staff and projects across all of our legal disciplines.

You will find opportunities in the following fields:

• company and commercial law
• comparative law
• constitutional and administrative law
• criminal law
• criminology and criminal justice
• environmental law
• European law, policy and institutions
• European private law
• evidence and procedure
• gender and sexuality
• human rights law
• information technology law
• intellectual property law
• international law
• legal theory
• medical law and ethics
• obligations
• contract delict
• unjustified enrichment
• property, trusts and successions
• Roman law and legal history
• socio-legal studies

Training and support

Doctoral researchers enjoy full access to the University’s research skills training which the Law School complements with a tailored research and wider skills programme.

The training programme in Year One (six seminars) includes workshops on research design, writing and research ethics.

The focus of the training programme in Year Two and Three is on supporting the dissemination of work with opportunities to present work.

Opportunities are also available for research exchanges through the League of European Research (LERU) network, as well as an annual research training exchange programme with KU Leuven.

• Find out more about the training and support available

Doctoral researchers are able to draw upon a fantastic range of resources and facilities to support their research.

The Law School has one of the most significant academic law libraries in the UK which offers outstanding digital resources alongside a world-leading print collection (almost 60,000 items including a unique collection for Scots law research).

You will also have access to the University’s Main Library which has one of the largest and most important collections in Britain, as well as the legal collection of the National Library of Scotland.

Career opportunities

Upon completion of the PhD, the majority of our students progress to postdoctoral research or lecturing and teaching roles.

Recent graduates have also found employment in roles as diverse as prison governor, solicitor and policy adviser for organisations including:

• the International Criminal Court
• Anderson Strathern
• HM Prison Service

Our PhD programme

Edinburgh Law School can offer expert supervision across an exceptional range of subject areas for PhD study.

A PhD at Edinburgh Law School involves undertaking independent research, culminating in the submission of a thesis of up to 100,000 words, which should be an original piece of work that makes a significant contribution to knowledge in the field of study and contains material worthy of publication.

As a doctoral student, you will join a diverse community of around 100 postgraduate researchers and will become an integral part of the intellectual life of the School.

• Find our more about studying for a PhD at Edinburgh Law School

Studying for a PhD video

Entry requirements.

These entry requirements are for the 2024/25 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2025/26 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2024.

• PhD Law: a UK 2:1 honours degree in law, arts or social sciences, and a UK Masters degree with at least 60% in the taught section and 65% or more in the dissertation, or their international equivalents.

The majority of our applicants have studied law, but we are a comprehensive Law School covering a range of approaches to legal topics including social science, historical and philosophical enquiry; applications from non-law students with relevant studies and experience will be considered and if you require further guidance please contact us.

Entry to this programme is competitive. Meeting minimum requirements for consideration does not guarantee an offer of study

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country
• English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 7.0 in writing and 6.5 in all other components. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 25 in writing and 23 in all other components.
• C1 Advanced ( CAE ) / C2 Proficiency ( CPE ): total 185 with at least 185 in writing and 176 in all other components.
• Trinity ISE : ISE III with passes in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 70 with at least 70 in writing and 62 in all other components.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS , TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE , in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

• Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old* at the beginning of your programme of study. (*Revised 05 March 2024 to extend degree validity to five years.)

Find out more about our language requirements:

Fees and costs

Scholarships and funding, featured funding.

• School of Law funding opportunities
• Research scholarships for international students
• Principal's Career Development PhD Scholarships

UK government postgraduate loans

If you live in the UK, you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan from one of the UK’s governments.

The type and amount of financial support you are eligible for will depend on:

• your programme
• the duration of your studies
• your tuition fee status

Programmes studied on a part-time intermittent basis are not eligible.

• UK government and other external funding

Other funding opportunities

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding

Further information

• Postgraduate Research Office
• Phone: +44 (0)131 650 2022
• Contact: [email protected]
• School of Law (Postgraduate Research Office)
• Old College
• South Bridge
• Central Campus
• Programme: Law
• School: Law
• College: Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

Select your programme and preferred start date to begin your application.

PhD Law - 3 Years (Full-time)

Phd law - 6 years (part-time), application deadlines.

We encourage you to apply at least one month prior to entry so that we have enough time to process your application. If you are also applying for funding or will require a visa then we strongly recommend you apply as early as possible.

• How to apply

You must submit two references with your application.

Find out more about the general application process for postgraduate programmes:

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MPhil/PhD Law

• Graduate research
• Department of Law
• Application code M3ZL
• Starting 2024
• Home full-time: Closed
• Overseas full-time: Closed
• Location: Houghton Street, London

LSE Law is the UK's pre-eminent research institution for law. Our academics are the authors of influential and often path-breaking scholarship, and many have globally leading reputations. As one of UK's largest law departments, with over 70 academic members of staff, LSE Law is well known for its interdisciplinary and contextual approaches to the study of law.

Our PhD Law programme offers the opportunity to undertake advanced legal research at one of the world's best law schools. Students in our PhD programme receive excellent training, and work under the supervision of leading scholars with strong international, comparative and interdisciplinary commitments. Our doctoral students become members of a lively academic community which is at the cutting-edge of legal scholarship and which plays a major role in the education of lawyers and law teachers from around the world.

Students in our PhD programme work under the supervision of two academics. We also provide specialised training for PhD students, both through our own training course and through courses run by other units of LSE, especially the Department of Methodology and the PhD Academy. PhD students are also welcome to attend any other LSE course, subject to the approval of the lecturer. We aim to provide our PhD students with the opportunity to gain teaching experience, and also offer the opportunity to become involved with the organisation of mooting, academic conferences, pro bono work, and our working paper series. Each year two PhD students also serve as Masters advisers/PhD Representatives.

Programme details

For more information about tuition fees and entry requirements, see the fees and funding and assessing your application sections.

Entry requirements

Minimum entry requirements for mphil/phd law .

Our normal minimum entry requirement is a completed LLM degree or other masters-level qualification, awarded with an average mark of 70% (distinction/first class honours) or equivalent. Exceptionally, we may admit students who do not meet this requirement, where there is strong, alternative evidence of your suitability for our PhD programme.

Although we accept applications from students who have not yet completed their LLM or equivalent degree by the application deadline, we give priority within the admissions process to students who have already obtained the required grade by this date. Strong candidates who are currently completing their LLM/other masters degree may therefore wish to defer their application until they have received the requisite grade. Offers of admission and funding that are made to applicants who are currently undertaking their LLM/other masters degree are made on a “conditional” basis, meaning that the offer cannot be confirmed until the minimum entry requirement has been achieved. Conditional offers must be confirmed by the end of July of the year of entry at the latest. This means that current master students who will not have their final grades/transcript by the end of July (including students on the LSE LLM degree) are not eligible to apply to the PhD programme, unless they already hold another masters degree with the requisite grade.

It must be emphasised that meeting the minimum entry requirement does not guarantee entry. The PhD programme is heavily over-subscribed, meaning that the large majority of applicants who meet this requirement each year do not receive a place. We select students based on a variety of factors, including past academic performance, motivation for doctoral study, the viability of the applicant’s research proposal and its anticipated contribution to legal scholarship, the availability of suitable supervisors, and the diversity of the incoming PhD cohort, including diversity of subject-areas.

Research proposal

Your application should give us a clear idea of what you want to research and why.

You should state the general area in which you wish to undertake research, and provide a detailed outline of the specific questions you intend to investigate within that field. You should indicate the ways in which your proposed study would be a significant and original contribution to knowledge. You should identify the materials you expect to need, where you expect to find them, and the methods and/or framework of analysis you propose to use. Finally, you should explain how your proposed project is a good fit with other research work done within the Law School.

More detailed information on the admissions requirements for the programme, and guidance on what is required to form a successful research proposal is available in the LSE Law PhD programme FAQs page .

Competition for places at the School is high. This means that even if you meet our minimum entry requirement, this does not guarantee you an offer of admission. 

If you have studied or are studying outside of the UK then have a look at our  Information for International Students  to find out the entry requirements that apply to you.

Assessing your application

We welcome applications from students whose proposed research projects complement the academic interests of members of staff at the School, and we recommend that you investigate staff research interests before applying. Applicants may wish to approach potential supervisors at the Law School to gauge their availability in a particular year and/or their willingness to supervise a specific research topic. However, you are not required to contact potential supervisors before applying, and doing so provides no advantage in the admissions process. If your application is successful, two academic members of staff will be appointed to supervise you.

We carefully consider each application on an individual basis, taking into account all the information presented on your application form, including your:

- academic achievement (including existing and pending qualifications) - statement of academic purpose - references - CV - outline research proposal - sample of written work.

See further information on supporting documents

You may also have to provide evidence of your English proficiency. You do not need to provide this at the time of your application to LSE, but we recommend that you do.  See our English language requirements .

In most instances, we hold a brief interview with shortlisted applicants as part of the admissions process. This is typically conducted by an applicant’s potential supervisors, it takes place virtually (e.g. over Zoom), and it lasts about half an hour. The purpose of the interview is to further assess both the applicant’s motivation for doctoral study and the feasibility of the proposed research project. No preparation is required for the interview, although we recommend that you look over the material that you have submitted with your application beforehand.

When to apply

The application deadline for this programme is 1 December 2023 . To be considered for any LSE funding opportunity, you must have submitted your application and all supporting documents by the funding deadline. See the fees and funding section for more details. Candidates are responsible for ensuring that any necessary supporting materials (e.g. letters of reference sent by referees on their behalf) reach the LSE in good time, and are advised to start the admissions process as early as possible as a result.

Fees and funding

Every research student is charged a fee in line with the fee structure for their programme. The fee covers registration and examination fees payable to the School, lectures, classes and individual supervision, lectures given at other colleges under intercollegiate arrangements and, under current arrangements, membership of the Students' Union. It does not cover  living costs  or travel or fieldwork.

Tuition fees 2024/25 for MPhil/PhD Law

Home students: £4,829 for the first year (provisional) Overseas students: £22,632 for the first year

The fee is likely to rise over subsequent years of the programme. The School charges home research students in line with the level of fee that the Research Councils recommend. The fees for overseas students are likely to rise in line with the assumed percentage increase in pay costs (i.e. 4 per cent per annum).

The Table of Fees shows the latest tuition amounts for all programmes offered by the School.

The amount of tuition fees you will need to pay, and any financial support you are eligible for, will depend on whether you are classified as a home or overseas student, otherwise known as your fee status. LSE assesses your fee status based on guidelines provided by the Department of Education.

Further information about fee status classification.

Scholarships, studentships and other funding

The School recognises that the  cost of living in London  may be higher than in your home town or country, and we provide generous scholarships each year to home and overseas students.

LSE Law School nonetheless aims to ensure that all students have adequate funding for their studies, typically through the award of an LSE PhD Studentship . A Studentship covers the cost of the student’s tuition fees and also provides a generous annual maintenance stipend (£23,000 for 2023/24). Studentships come with a teaching requirement of approximately 100 hours of classroom teaching to be completed over the course of the candidate’s PhD studies. The Law School also offers an annual personal research allowance of £1,000, and other benefits such as access to our PhD Field Work fund.

There is no separate application process for LSE PhD Studentships, as funding awards are considered alongside admission to the doctoral programme. All applicants must apply by the ordinary application deadline of 1 December 2023 .

In addition to our needs-based awards, LSE also makes available scholarships for students from specific regions of the world and awards for students studying specific subject areas.  Find out more about financial support.

External funding 

There may be other funding opportunities available through other organisations or governments and we recommend you investigate these options as well.

Further information

Fees and funding opportunities

Information for international students

LSE is an international community, with over 140 nationalities represented amongst its student body. We celebrate this diversity through everything we do.  

If you are applying to LSE from outside of the UK then take a look at our Information for International students . 

1) Take a note of the UK qualifications we require for your programme of interest (found in the ‘Entry requirements’ section of this page). 

2) Go to the International Students section of our website. 

3) Select your country. 

4) Select ‘Graduate entry requirements’ and scroll until you arrive at the information about your local/national qualification. Compare the stated UK entry requirements listed on this page with the local/national entry requirement listed on your country specific page.

Programme structure and courses

In addition to progressing with your research, you are expected to take the listed training and transferable skills courses. You may take courses in addition to those listed, and should discuss this with your supervisor. At the end of your first year (full-time), you will need to satisfy certain requirements and if you meet these, you will be retroactively upgraded to PhD status.

First year - Training courses

Doctoral Research Seminar (Compulsory) Equips students with the skills required to undertake advanced legal research. Law Department Seminar Series (Compulsory) One other relevant course: (Compulsory)

Second year - Training courses

Doctoral Research Seminar Series (Optional) PhD Seminar Series (Optional) Staff Seminar Series

Third year - Training courses

Doctoral Research Seminar Series (Optional) PhD seminar Series (Compulsory) Staff seminar Series (Optional)

Fourth year - Transferable skills courses

Doctoral Research Seminar Series (Optional) PhD Seminar Series (Optional) Staff Seminar Series (Optional)

You must note, however, that while care has been taken to ensure that this information is up to date and correct, a change of circumstances since publication may cause the School to change, suspend or withdraw a course or programme of study, or change the fees that apply to it. The School will always notify the affected parties as early as practicably possible and propose any viable and relevant alternative options. Note that the School will neither be liable for information that after publication becomes inaccurate or irrelevant, nor for changing, suspending or withdrawing a course or programme of study due to events outside of its control, which includes but is not limited to a lack of demand for a course or programme of study, industrial action, fire, flood or other environmental or physical damage to premises.

You must also note that places are limited on some courses and/or subject to specific entry requirements. The School cannot therefore guarantee you a place. Please note that changes to programmes and courses can sometimes occur after you have accepted your offer of a place. These changes are normally made in light of developments in the discipline or path-breaking research, or on the basis of student feedback. Changes can take the form of altered course content, teaching formats or assessment modes. Any such changes are intended to enhance the student learning experience. You should visit the School’s  Calendar , or contact the relevant academic department, for information on the availability and/or content of courses and programmes of study. Certain substantive changes will be listed on the   updated graduate course and programme information page ..

Supervision, progression and assessment

Supervision.

You will be assigned two supervisors who are specialists in your chosen research field, though not necessarily in your topic. 

Progression and assessment

Full-time PhD students must complete their doctorate within four years, and part-time students must complete it within eight years.

At the end of the first year (or, in the case of part-time students, second year), your progress is formally assessed. Successful completion of this assessment then sees you registered as a candidate for the PhD degree.  As part of this assessment (or ‘upgrade’) process, you will present your work-in-progress at our Upgrade Conference, attended by academic staff and PhD students. Third year doctoral students also give a seminar on their work-in-progress, again attended by academic staff and PhD students.

Student support and resources

We’re here to help and support you throughout your time at LSE, whether you need help with your academic studies, support with your welfare and wellbeing or simply to develop on a personal and professional level.

Whatever your query, big or small, there are a range of people you can speak to who will be happy to help.  

Department librarians   – they will be able to help you navigate the library and maximise its resources during your studies. 

Accommodation service  – they can offer advice on living in halls and offer guidance on private accommodation related queries.

Class teachers and seminar leaders  – they will be able to assist with queries relating to specific courses. 

Disability and Wellbeing Service  – they are experts in long-term health conditions, sensory impairments, mental health and specific learning difficulties. They offer confidential and free services such as  student counselling,  a  peer support scheme  and arranging  exam adjustments.  They run groups and workshops.  

IT help  – support is available 24 hours a day to assist with all your technology queries.   

LSE Faith Centre  – this is home to LSE's diverse religious activities and transformational interfaith leadership programmes, as well as a space for worship, prayer and quiet reflection. It includes Islamic prayer rooms and a main space for worship. It is also a space for wellbeing classes on campus and is open to all students and staff from all faiths and none.   

Language Centre  – the Centre specialises in offering language courses targeted to the needs of students and practitioners in the social sciences. We offer pre-course English for Academic Purposes programmes; English language support during your studies; modern language courses in nine languages; proofreading, translation and document authentication; and language learning community activities.

LSE Careers  ­ – with the help of LSE Careers, you can make the most of the opportunities that London has to offer. Whatever your career plans, LSE Careers will work with you, connecting you to opportunities and experiences from internships and volunteering to networking events and employer and alumni insights. 

LSE Library   –   founded in 1896, the British Library of Political and Economic Science is the major international library of the social sciences. It stays open late, has lots of excellent resources and is a great place to study. As an LSE student, you’ll have access to a number of other academic libraries in Greater London and nationwide. 

LSE LIFE  – this is where you should go to develop skills you’ll use as a student and beyond. The centre runs talks and workshops on skills you’ll find useful in the classroom; offers one-to-one sessions with study advisers who can help you with reading, making notes, writing, research and exam revision; and provides drop-in sessions for academic and personal support. (See ‘Teaching and assessment’). 

LSE Students’ Union (LSESU)  – they offer academic, personal and financial advice and funding.  

PhD Academy   – this is available for PhD students, wherever they are, to take part in interdisciplinary events and other professional development activities and access all the services related to their registration. 

Sardinia House Dental Practice   – this   offers discounted private dental services to LSE students.  

St Philips Medical Centre  – based in Pethwick-Lawrence House, the Centre provides NHS Primary Care services to registered patients.

Student Services Centre  – our staff here can answer general queries and can point you in the direction of other LSE services.  

Student advisers   – we have a  Deputy Head of Student Services (Advice and Policy)  and an  Adviser to Women Students  who can help with academic and pastoral matters.

Student life

As a student at LSE you’ll be based at our central London campus. Find out what our campus and London have to offer you on academic, social and career perspective. 

Student societies and activities

Your time at LSE is not just about studying, there are plenty of ways to get involved in  extracurricular activities . From joining one of over 200 societies, or starting your own society, to volunteering for a local charity, or attending a public lecture by a world-leading figure, there is a lot to choose from. 

The campus 

LSE is based on one  campus  in the centre of London. Despite the busy feel of the surrounding area, many of the streets around campus are pedestrianised, meaning the campus feels like a real community. 

Life in London 

London is an exciting, vibrant and colourful city. It's also an academic city, with more than 400,000 university students. Whatever your interests or appetite you will find something to suit your palate and pocket in this truly international capital. Make the most of career opportunities and social activities, theatre, museums, music and more. 

Want to find out more? Read why we think  London is a fantastic student city , find out about  key sights, places and experiences for new Londoners . Don't fear, London doesn't have to be super expensive: hear about  London on a budget . 

Quick Careers Facts for the Department of Law

Median salary of our PG students 15 months after graduating: £36,000

Top 5 sectors our students work in:

• Law and Legal Services  
• Government, Public Sector and Policy   
• Accounting and Auditing              
• Health and Social Care  
• Education, Teaching and Research

The data was collected as part of the Graduate Outcomes survey, which is administered by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Graduates from 2020-21 were the fourth group to be asked to respond to Graduate Outcomes. Median salaries are calculated for respondents who are paid in UK pounds sterling and who were working in full-time employment.

Once completed, the majority of our students undertake academic appointments, whether as lecturers or post-doctoral researchers. The remainder have received tenancies in barristers’ chambers or work in law firms, or NGOs and consultancies. Over the last four years, our PhD graduates have been appointed to lectureships at universities that include London School of Economics, City, Cardiff, Durham, King’s College London, Birkbeck, Liverpool, Middlesex, Queen Mary, SOAS, Southampton, University College London, Warwick and York, and outside the UK at the Graduate Institute of International Studies (Geneva), University College Dublin, Victoria University (New Zealand), Queen’s University (Canada) and St Thomas University (Canada). Other graduates have been selected for post-doctoral fellowships at the London School of Economics. New York University, Humbolt University,  the European University Institute and the University of Haifa.

Further information on graduate destinations for this programme

Support for your career

Many leading organisations give careers presentations at the School during the year, and LSE Careers has a wide range of resources available to assist students in their job search. Find out more about the  support available to students through LSE Careers .

Find out more about LSE

Discover more about being an LSE student - meet us in a city near you, visit our campus or experience LSE from home. 

Experience LSE from home

Webinars, videos, student blogs and student video diaries will help you gain an insight into what it's like to study at LSE for those that aren't able to make it to our campus.  Experience LSE from home . 

Come on a guided campus tour, attend an undergraduate open day, drop into our office or go on a self-guided tour.  Find out about opportunities to visit LSE . 

LSE visits you

Student Marketing, Recruitment and Study Abroad travels throughout the UK and around the world to meet with prospective students. We visit schools, attend education fairs and also hold Destination LSE events: pre-departure events for offer holders.  Find details on LSE's upcoming visits . 

How to apply

Virtual Graduate Open Day

Register your interest

Related programmes, mphil/phd international relations.

Code(s) M1ZR

LLM, Master of Laws

Code(s) M3U1, M3U4 (extended part-time – 48 months)

MRes/PhD Political Science

Code(s) M1ZN

MPhil/PhD Gender

Code(s) Y2ZG

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The PhD programme

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Finance overview    Funding    How to apply

The PhD is awarded after three to four years of full-time research (or five to seven years of part-time study) on the basis of a dissertation of 80,000 words (exclusive of footnotes, appendices and bibliography, but subject to an overall word limit of 100,000 words exclusive of bibliography, table of contents and any other preliminary matter). Examination for the PhD involves an oral examination (viva) by two examiners.

Research students who intend to undertake PhD research are in the first instance automatically registered for a one-year research training programme leading to the Certificate of Postgraduate Study (CPGS) in Legal Studies. They are assigned a supervisory team by the Degree Committee of the Faculty, ordinarily consisting of a supervisor (who is principally responsible for directing and assisting the research) and an advisor (who provides a second point of contact for academic advice). At the end of the first year, the Degree Committee decides whether students should be registered for the PhD. This decision is taken on the basis of the student’s personal progress log, first-year dissertation of 15,000 words, viva conducted by two assessors from within the Faculty, and outline of plans for the full research project. Candidates who successfully complete the requirements of the CPGS and the first-year progress review are retrospectively registered for the PhD.

All full-time PhD students are ordinarily required to be resident in Cambridge for the duration of their research (save where given leave to work away from Cambridge for academic reasons or whilst undertaking fieldwork), and during the first year in particular must attend weekly research training sessions in the Faculty.

This overview of the PhD programme must be read in conjunction with the detailed information available under the 'Courses' section (see, in particular, the Course Directory) of the Postgraduate Admissions website . Further information on postgraduate admission to research courses in the Faculty of Law is available from [email protected] or +44 (0)1223 330039.

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Our research programme

Law research.

MPhil/PhD Law Research from The Dickson Poon School of Law at King's College London.

View course

We have a thriving cohort of PhD students from all over the world. Their projects cover a broad range of topics from intellectual property to information technology, from competition law to counter-rules, from global justice to gender equality.

You can meet some of our  current PhD students  on our Faculty's People pages. 

Our research programme is overseen by the Vice Dean for Research, Professor Michael Schillig and the Director for Doctoral Studies, Dr Aleksandra Jordanoska.

Candidates should identify and approach their potential first supervisor before applying. Applications from candidates without a named, agreed supervisor from the School will not be considered.  View our people page  to match your interests with our academic's broad range of research expertise.

Our PhD programme accepts projects in any area of legal research, subject to supervisory availability. 

What We Offer

You will join our academic staff on the premises in Somerset House East Wing where we have a dedicated suite of hot desking spaces available to our research students.

Mere minutes from the Strand Campus you will find the  Maughan Library  which serves as King College London’s library for law, social science, and the arts and humanities. As a King’s researcher you will also have access to the resources of other London universities including those at Senate House (home to the University of London’s research library), the British Library of Economics and Political Science at LSE, and the libraries of both Birkbeck College and the School of Oriental and African Studies in Bloomsbury. You also have access to The  Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS)  - the premier legal research library in London.

We provide a research allowance to each PhD student to support you with conference attendance, training, and development during your PhD. Additionally, we run multiple internal schemes for Research Development that can help you with the costs of travel and accomodation related to your PhD research. The Dickson Poon School of Law has also had great success supporting students with the Modern Law Review bursary over the last four years. 

Student life 

The Dickson Poon School of Law is home to one of the largest communities of doctoral researchers in the country and prides itself on the vibrant life of its doctoral programme. Our researchers are an integral part of the King’s community and fully participate in staff research events alongside faculty members.

The Dickson Poon School of Law is also home to various research centres and groupings which enjoy strong international and national reputations. These centres contribute to legal and wider public discourse on important current issues. You may find that your PhD project and research interests align with the themes and scope of one of our research centres or groups, where you will find opportunities to be involved with their projects and activities. For more information, see Our Centres . 

Student Representation

As a PhD student, you will be represented at the Faculty level by our Postgraduate Research Student Committee. This is a student-staff liaison committee which includes 4 representatives from the PhD cohort who take a lead in specific areas of concern and make sure that research students’ voices are heard. You are also represented at College level by the King's Doctoral Students' Association which includes members from each Faculty.

Our Law Student Reps provide input into training, inclusion, research activities, and social events. They have organised career development seminars, online writing sessions, and an annual Doctoral Student Sympsium where you will have an opporunity to present work-in-progress to your peers and members of our academic community. 

Timeline of a PhD

The structure of the Law PhD is 3 years full-time (or part-time equivalent) + 12 months of a 'Writing Up' year. This means most full-time students submit their thesis toward the end of their 4th year.

Over the course of the PhD, your will undertake independent research under the guidance of your supervisors to produce an innovative thesis of up to 100,000 words. This means much of your work is independent and based upon agreed targets with your supervisors.

Entry to the Law Research MPhil/PhD programme is 1st October of each academic year.

During your PhD, progress will be monitored by formal progress reports submitted to our Student Records system every 6 months. You will be expected to regularly meet with your supervisory team and engage in the research community of The Dickson Poon School of Law.

When you arrive

The School runs a series of induction events to complement the events King’s offers to all its postgraduate research students. These events introduce the School, its facilities and allow students to meet your enrolling peers and the wider PhD community. You should meet with your first supervisor within a week or two of enrolment. This meeting will serve to identify your second supervisor, agree the frequency of your meetings, discuss ethics approval and your upgrade. You will submit a student-supervisor agreement following this meeting.

Your first year

Over the course of your first year, you will undertake the compulsory Introduction to Law Research training module. This seminar series will introduce you to the idea of methodology in legal research. It will provide an overview of different legal research methodologies and explore the link between theory and methodology and outline key research skills. At the end of the course you should be able to make an informed decision about your project's research methodology.

All new students will be registered for the MPhil degree with the expectation that they will transfer to the PhD via a process we call the Upgrade. We expect our PhD students to upgrade between 9 -12 months (FT) or 18 - 22 months (PT) after their initial registration. To successfully upgrade, you will produce a significant piece of written work (approximately 20,000 words, usually two draft chapters), a draft abstract (approximately 250 words) and a work plan for completion of the thesis (with goals and completion dates). There is then an oral assessment (a mini-viva) to discuss this work. This meeting is with your first supervisor, an independent assessor (usually from within the School) and a Chair. The key principle for upgrading is that you are well on course to produce research of the required standard within the permitted timescale.

Your second year and third year

The middle part of your PhD has significantly less structure than your first year. Your should continue to have regular supervision meetings and complete regular progress reports throughout your PhD. Depending on the nature of your project and area of study, you might be doing any of the following things in your second, third, or even into your fourth year: Fieldwork, participating in conferences and workshops, undertaking a fellowship or internship, teaching at King's or another London university, coaching one of our several Mooting Teams, continuing to attend training and development seminars, participating in our yearly Doctoral Symposium, or engaging in opportunities with our academic staff and teams such as impact, knowledge exchange, public talks and events. We encourage you to engage with the community of The Dickson Poon School of Law as much as possible during your time here.

Your Final Year

Your final year is often focused on writing a draft of your PhD thesis. After 3 years of full-time registration (or PT equivalent) you will qualify to transfer to 'pending submission' status (also known as 'writing up'). This period marks the end of the data collection and research required for the PhD. 'Pending submission' is a possible registration status which signals you are likely to submit within twelve months. You must adhere to your final submission date (usually four years after registration), regardless of when you transfer into Writing Up, though some students submit earlier than the final submission date. You will also start thinking about examiners for your viva in your final year. These must be formally appointed and approved by the Faculty, so you will want to discuss it with your supervisory team early on.

Submission and final assessment

Assessment is by a thesis, not to exceed 100,000 words and an oral examination of your thesis (your viva). The viva is by two external Examiners who are experts in the field of research being examined.

Study Postgraduate

Mphil/phd in law (2024 entry).

Course code

30 September 2024

3-4 years full-time; Up to 7 years part-time

Qualification

University of Warwick

Find out more about our Law MPhil/PhD degree.

Study a MPhil/PhD in Law at the University of Warwick's Law School. Gain an understanding of relevant research methods and evolve into a well-rounded socio-legal scholar within a creative community of fellow researchers.

Course overview

In this programme you will be carefully supervised by an individual specialist in your chosen area of study and supported to generate a research question and produce a thesis. For the MPhil you are required to write a thesis of up to 60,000 words and up to 80,000 for the PhD.

Our Research Degrees attempt to achieve a balance between individual study, academic supervision, and a communal, scholarly learning environment. As a research student, you will be a vital part of our research culture and we will encourage you to participate in the life of the Law School.

Teaching and learning

You will attend a research methods and theory course and meet with your supervisor at least once a month throughout your degree.

Each year postgraduate research students get the benefit of, feedback and presentation opportunities, skills workshops as well as a series of ‘masterclass’ events led by world-leading researchers. These workshops and events support a self-critical assessment of research methods and techniques and allow you to learn from others working in your field. In addition, you will be invited to attend research seminars, public lectures and other training opportunities with the Law School and across the University.

General entry requirements

Minimum requirements.

2:1 undergraduate degree and a good Master's degree (or equivalent) in Law or a related subject plus a strong research proposal. Those with a good First Class undergraduate degree may also be considered for entry.

English language requirements

You can find out more about our English language requirements Link opens in a new window . This course requires the following:

• Overall IELTS (Academic) score of 7.0 and component scores.

International qualifications

We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.

For more information, please visit the international entry requirements page Link opens in a new window .

Additional requirements

There are no additional entry requirements for this course.

Our research

Eleven research clusters:

• Contract, Business and Commercial Law
• Comparative Law and Culture
• Development and Human Rights
• Gender and the Law
• International and European Law
• Law and Humanities
• Legal Theory
• Governance and Regulation
• Empirical Approaches
• Arts, Culture and Law

The Law School’s research is rooted in the twin themes of law in context and the international character of law.

Explore our research areas on our Law web pages. Link opens in a new window

Find a supervisor

Find your supervisor using the link below and discuss with them the area you'd like to research.

Explore our School of Law Staff Directory where you will be able see the academic interests and expertise of our staff.

You are welcome to contact our staff directly to see if they can provide any advice on your proposed research, but will still need to submit an application and meet the selection criteria set by the University before any offer is made.

You can also see our general University guidance about finding a supervisor.

Tuition fees

Tuition fees are payable for each year of your course at the start of the academic year, or at the start of your course, if later. Academic fees cover the cost of tuition, examinations and registration and some student amenities.

Find your research course fees

Fee Status Guidance

We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.

Do you need your fee classification to be reviewed?

If you believe that your fee status has been classified incorrectly, you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire. Please follow the instructions in your offer information and provide the documents needed to reassess your status.

Find out more about how universities assess fee status

Additional course costs

As well as tuition fees and living expenses, some courses may require you to cover the cost of field trips or costs associated with travel abroad.

For departmental specific costs, please see the Modules tab on the course web page for the list of core and optional core modules with hyperlinks to our  Module Catalogue  (please visit the Department’s website if the Module Catalogue hyperlinks are not provided).

Associated costs can be found on the Study tab for each module listed in the Module Catalogue (please note most of the module content applies to 2022/23 year of study). Information about module department specific costs should be considered in conjunction with the more general costs below:

• Core text books
• Printer credits
• Dissertation binding
• Robe hire for your degree ceremony

Scholarships and bursaries

Scholarships and financial support

Find out about the different funding routes available, including; postgraduate loans, scholarships, fee awards and academic department bursaries.

Living costs

Find out more about the cost of living as a postgraduate student at the University of Warwick.

School of Law

From the first intake of students back in 1968, Warwick Law School has developed a reputation for innovative, quality research and consistently highly rated teaching. Study with us is exciting, challenging and rewarding. Pioneers of the 'Law in Context' approach to legal education, and welcoming students and staff from around the world, we offer a friendly, international and enriching environment in which to study law in its many contexts.

Get to know us better by exploring our departmental website. Link opens in a new window

Our Postgraduate courses

• Advanced Legal Studies (LLM)
• International Commercial Law (LLM)
• International Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation (LLM)
• International Development Law and Human Rights (LLM)
• International Economic Law (LLM)
• LLM by Research
• MPhil/PhD in Law

How to apply

Important dates for law mphil/phd applicants.

Starting for 2024 entry, Warwick Law School now operates two admission rounds for MPhil/PhD applicants. Admission round 1 is for those applicants who wish to be considered for scholarships administered by the School of Law, the University, or national funding bodies such as the ESRC or AHRC. Admission round 2 is for those applicants who plan to either self-fund their studies or those who have (or those who hope to secure) a scholarship from outside the UK.

Admission Round 1

Admissions are open from 2 October 2023. The deadline for applications is 11 December 2023 . This departmental deadline applies to all applicants wishing to be considered for:

• Chancellors International Scholarships
• The Law School Scholarships
• ESRC DTP studentships
• AHRC M4C studentships
• China Scholarship Council
• University of Warwick Scholarships
• Monash-Warwick Alliance Joint PhD Scholarships

Please note: Scholarship applicants must have been made an offer by the department before they can be considered for a scholarship. In most instances, scholarship applicants will need to submit a separate scholarship application to the relevant administering body. Deadlines for this separate application will vary. More information about the administration of relevant scholarships is available here . The departmental deadline of 11 December 2023 is in place to give the department time to process applications before scholarship selections and nominations take place.

Admission Round 2

Admissions are open from 2 October 2023. The deadline for applications is 3 June 2024. In some circumstances, with the support of the proposed supervisor, applications after this deadline might still be considered. If you wish to apply after 3 June 2024, please contact the Law School Director of Postgraduate Research to discuss your application before submitting it. Any applications submitted after 2nd August 2024 will not be considered.

Applicants who are applying for Sanctuary or CARA scholarships may apply at any time of year. If you wish to apply for these schemes outside the two admission rounds outlined above, please contact the Law School Director of Postgraduate Research to discuss the application before submitting.

How to apply for a postgraduate research course  

After you’ve applied

Find out how we process your application.

Applicant Portal

Track your application and update your details.

Admissions statement

See Warwick’s postgraduate admissions policy.

Join a live chat

Ask questions and engage with Warwick.

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Postgraduate fairs.

Throughout the year we attend exhibitions and fairs online and in-person around the UK. These events give you the chance to explore our range of postgraduate courses, and find out what it’s like studying at Warwick. You’ll also be able to speak directly with our student recruitment team, who will be able to help answer your questions.

Join a live chat with our staff and students, who are here to answer your questions and help you learn more about postgraduate life at Warwick. You can join our general drop-in sessions or talk to your prospective department and student services.

Departmental events

Some academic departments hold events for specific postgraduate programmes, these are fantastic opportunities to learn more about Warwick and your chosen department and course.

See our online departmental events

Warwick Talk and Tours

A Warwick talk and tour lasts around two hours and consists of an overview presentation from one of our Recruitment Officers covering the key features, facilities and activities that make Warwick a leading institution. The talk is followed by a campus tour which is the perfect way to view campus, with a current student guiding you around the key areas on campus.

Connect with us

Learn more about Postgraduate study at the University of Warwick.

We may have revised the information on this page since publication. See the edits we have made and content history .

Why Warwick

Discover why Warwick is one of the best universities in the UK and renowned globally.

9th in the UK (The Guardian University Guide 2024) Link opens in a new window

67th in the world (QS World University Rankings 2024) Link opens in a new window

6th most targeted university by the UK's top 100 graduate employers Link opens in a new window

(The Graduate Market in 2024, High Fliers Research Ltd. Link opens in a new window )

About the information on this page

This information is applicable for 2024 entry. Given the interval between the publication of courses and enrolment, some of the information may change. It is important to check our website before you apply. Please read our terms and conditions to find out more.

• Staff intranet
• Student intranet

What do you want to do?

Find out about the research we do in law.

Find a supervisor

Mode of study

3 years full-time

6 years part-time

International   £21,260

UK   £4,786

Entry requirements

Research profile.

Over the years, Brunel Law School has established itself as a major player in the UK law research landscape and is ranked as one of the top law schools in the UK for research. 

The impact of our diversity within the Brunel Law School is evident in the breadth of our research activity which can be divided into public and private law. Our research activity embraces doctrinal, theoretical, critical, contextual and comparative approaches to the study of law. It reaches from the local to the global, addressing important challenges in domestic law as well as universal legal, economic, and social issues. We investigate in depth how best to create and maintain just societies that fairly balance both personal freedom and authority, and the rights and responsibilities of individuals and society. 

Find out about the exciting research we do in this area. Browse profiles of our experts, discover the research groups and their inspirational research activities you too could be part of. We’ve also made available extensive reading materials published by our academics and PhD students.

We also offer students the opportunity to undertake the Integrated PhD in Law programme.  

Learn more about research in this area.

You can explore our campus and facilities for yourself by taking our virtual tour .

Our researchers create knowledge and advance understanding, and equip versatile doctoral researchers with the confidence to apply what they have learnt for the benefit of society. Find out more about working with the Supervisory Team .

You are welcome to approach your potential supervisor directly to discuss your research interests. Search for expert supervisors for your chosen field of research.

While we welcome applications from student with a clear direction for their research, we are providing you with some ideas for your chosen field of research:

• Externalisation and Securitisation of Asylum and Migration, supervised by Ermioni Xanthopoulou
• International law and the psychological impact of warfare on civilians, supervised by Solon Solomon
• Investigations into the law and ethics of biomedical technologies, supervised by Pin Lean Lau

Research journey

This course can be studied 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time, starting in January. Or this course can be studied 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time, starting in October. Or this course can be studied 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time, starting in April.

Find out about what progress might look like at each stage of study here:  Research degree progress structure.

Research support

Excellent research support and training

The Graduate School provides a range of personal, professional and career development opportunities. This includes workshops, online training, coaching and events, to enable you to enhance your professional profile, refine your skills, and plan your next career steps as part of the Researcher Development Programme . The researcher development programme (RDP) offers workshops and seminars in a range of areas including progression, research management, research dissemination, and careers and personal development. You will also be offered a number of online, self-study courses on BBL, including Research Integrity, Research Skills Toolkit, Research Methods in Literature Review and Principles of Research Methods.

Library services

Brunel's Library is open 24 hours a day, has 400,000 books and 250,000 ebooks, and an annual budget of almost £2m. Subject information Specialists train students in the latest technology, digital literacy, and digital dissemination of scholarly outputs. As well as the physical resources available in the Library, we also provide access to a wealth of electronic resources. These include databases, journals and e-books. Access to these resources has been bought by the Library through subscription and is limited to current staff and students.

Dedicated research support staff provide guidance and training on open access, research data management, copyright and other research integrity issues.

Find out more: Brunel Library

Careers and your future

You will receive tailored careers support during your PhD and for up to three years after you complete your research at Brunel. We encourage you to actively engage in career planning and managing your personal development right from the start of your research, even (or perhaps especially) if you don't yet have a career path in mind. Our careers provision includes online information and advice, one-to-one consultations and a range of events and workshops. The Professional Development Centre runs a varied programme of careers events throughout the academic year. These include industry insight sessions, recruitment fairs, employer pop-ups and skills workshops.

In addition, where available, you may be able to undertake some paid work as we recognise that teaching and learning support duties represent an important professional and career development opportunity.

Find out more.

UK entry requirements

The general University entrance requirement for registration for a research degree is normally a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree (1st or 2:1). Applicants will also be required to have achieved, or be on course to achieve a Master's Degree in Law (or relevant subject). We may consider substantial relevant work experience in place of a Master's Degree on a case-by-case basis.

An interview will be required as part of the admissions process and will be conducted by at least two academic staff members remotely via MS Teams, Zoom, or face-to-face.

Applicants will be required to submit a personal statement and a research statement. Please get in touch with your proposed supervisor, where possible, to receive feedback and guidance on your research statement before submitting it. Learn how to prepare a research statement here .

Please note that Law requires students to submit a 3000-word research statement as part of the application for a PhD programme. For information on completing your research statement please see our video guide here .

EU and International entry requirements

If you require a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK, you must prove knowledge of the English language so that we can issue you a Certificate of Acceptance for Study (CAS). To do this, you will need an IELTS for UKVI or Trinity SELT test pass gained from a test centre approved by  UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) and on the Secure English Language Testing (SELT) list . This must have been taken and passed within two years from the date the CAS is made.

English language requirements

· IELTS: 7.0 (min 6.0 in all areas)

· Pearson: 64 (min 59 in all subscores)

· BrunELT: 68% (min 58% in all areas)

· TOEFL: 98 (min 20 in all subscores)

You can find out more about the qualifications we accept on our  English Language Requirements  page.

Should you wish to take a pre-sessional English course to improve your English prior to starting your degree course, you must sit the test at an approved SELT provider for the same reason. We offer our own BrunELT English test and have pre-sessional English language courses for students who do not meet requirements or who wish to improve their English. You can find out more information on English courses and test options through our  Brunel Language Centre .

Please check our Admissions  pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants. This information is for guidance only and each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Entry requirements are subject to review, and may change.

Fees and funding

2024/5 entry, international.

£21,260 full-time

£10,630 part-time

£4,786 full-time

£2,393 part-time

Fees quoted are per year and are subject to an annual increase.

Some courses incur  additional course related costs . You can also check our  on-campus accommodation costs  for more information on living expenses.

Brunel offers a number of funding options to research students that help cover the cost of their tuition fees, contribute to living expenses or both. Recently the UK Government made available the Doctoral Student Loans of up to £25,000 for UK and EU students and there is some funding available through the Research Councils. Many of our international students benefit from funding provided by their governments or employers. Brunel alumni enjoy tuition fee discounts of 15%.

Scholarships and bursaries

• Brunel Graduate Discount

• Find a course
• Undergraduate study
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• MPhil/PhD research
• Short courses
• Entry requirements
• Financial support

How to apply

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Course Overview

An MPhil/PhD is an advanced postgraduate research degree that requires original research and the submission of a substantial dissertation of 60,000 to 100,000 words. MPhil/PhD researchers in law at Birkbeck benefit from the supervision of internationally renowned experts, classes in legal theory and research and presentation skills, seminars and extensive library facilities. The unifying themes of our research are social and legal theory and interdisciplinary study. Accordingly, we welcome applications both from lawyers and non-lawyers who wish to undertake research within the broad range of substantive areas of national, European and international law. 

We also offer financial assistance for conference attendance, comprehensive independent monitoring of each student's yearly progress, and postgraduate student representation on our board. Ours is a vibrant community of researchers that organises a series of workshops, reading groups and a work-in-progress group, as well as frequent social events. 

Concentrating on a number of clearly defined research areas in which our expertise is internationally recognised, we aim to: 

• specialise in distinctive and innovative research 
• establish and foster critical and multidisciplinary scholarships, by building links with other disciplines and by introducing the scholarly values and methods of the humanities and social sciences into the discipline of law 
• promote a culture of joint research, publications and other forms of collaboration among our staff 
• pursue a programme of national and international links. 

Our key areas of research are:

• Race, gender and culture
• Law and humanities
• Policy, practice and activism
• Regulation, risk and surveillance
• Human rights.

At Birkbeck, you are initially registered on an MPhil and you upgrade to a PhD after satisfactory progress in the first year or two. 

Key information

Law mphil/phd: 7 years part-time, on campus, starting 2024-25.

• October 2024
• January 2025

Law MPhil/PhD: 4 years full-time, on campus, starting 2024-25

Find another course:

• Research students are an important part of our research culture. We have succeeded in recruiting very high-quality research students and the number of UK and overseas PhD students has increased fivefold since 2001. This reflects our growing reputation as a training ground for early-career academics working from critical and socio-legal perspectives.
• Birkbeck's research excellence was  confirmed in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework  with 83% of our research rated world-leading or internationally excellent.
• The PhD programme is recognised by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the UK's leading research council addressing economic and social concerns. The PhD is tailored to students' needs and can include generic modules from our postgraduate master's programmes such as Research Frameworks and Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods.
• In-house seminars, the Bloomsbury Postgraduate Skills Network and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Interdisciplinary Research Training Network provide additional training. Students have received awards from the AHRC, British Academy, Overseas Research Students Awards, ESRC and Natural Environment Research Council, and internal Birkbeck and law studentships.
• Reading groups are encouraged, focusing on particular writers such as Agamben, Foucault and Deleuze as well as issues such as critical international law, feminist theory, Latin American culture and politics and Continental philosophy. There is an informal doctoral work-in-progress group open to staff and research students, allowing the latter to develop their presentation skills and invite general comment on projects. There are a number of other events designed to support research students. Additionally, an annual postgraduate conference is held to showcase current doctoral research, and our academic staff and research students regularly attend and present papers at the annual Critical Legal Conference . The upgrade viva examination, whereby students progress from MPhil to PhD registration, gives students experience of a more formal arena in which they have to defend their work to academic staff.

Entry Requirements

Good honours degree in law or a related discipline from the humanities or social sciences.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, the requirement for this programme is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 7.0, with not less than 6.0 in each of the sub-tests.

If you don't meet the minimum IELTS requirement,  we offer pre-sessional English courses, foundation programmes and language support services  to help you improve your English language skills and get your place at Birkbeck.

Visit the International section of our website to find out more about our  English language entry requirements and relevant requirements by country .

Visa and funding requirements

If you are not from the UK and you do not already have residency here, you may need to apply for a visa.

The visa you apply for varies according to the length of your course:

• Courses of more than six months' duration: Student visa
• Courses of less than six months' duration: Standard Visitor visa

International students who require a Student visa should apply for our full-time courses as these qualify for Student visa sponsorship. If you are living in the UK on a Student visa, you will not be eligible to enrol as a student on Birkbeck's part-time courses (with the exception of some modules).

For full information, read our visa information for international students page .

Please also visit the international section of our website to find out more about relevant visa and funding requirements by country .

Please note students receiving US Federal Aid are only able to apply for in-person, on-campus programmes which will have no elements of online study.

Law MPhil/PhD: 7 years part-time or 4 years full-time, on campus, starting in academic year 2024-25

Academic year 2024–25, starting october 2024, january 2025.

Part-time home students: £2,539 per year Full-time home students: £4,786 per year Part-time international students : £7,525 per year Full-time international students: £14,885 per year

Students are charged a tuition fee in each year of their course. Tuition fees for students continuing on their course in following years may be subject to annual inflationary increases. For more information, please see the College Fees Policy .

If you’ve studied at Birkbeck before and successfully completed an award with us, take advantage of our Lifelong Learning Guarantee to gain a discount on the tuition fee of this course.

Fees and finance

PhD students resident in England can apply for government loans of over £26,000 to cover the cost of tuition fees, maintenance and other study-related costs.

Flexible finance: pay your fees in monthly instalments at no extra cost . Enrol early to spread your costs and reduce your monthly payments.

We offer a range of studentships and funding options to support your research.

Discover the financial support available to you to help with your studies at Birkbeck.

International scholarships

We provide a range of scholarships for eligible international students, including our Global Future Scholarship. Discover if you are eligible for a scholarship .

Our research culture

Birkbeck is an internationally recognised centre for critical and interdisciplinary legal research. We provide an exciting and innovative environment for a wide range of research with a strong theoretical and policy focus, and publish Law and Critique: The International Journal of Critical Legal Thought . 

Study resources include an induction programme for all postgraduate students, which offers classes on methodology, and regular research seminars, workshops, reading groups and conferences. We are at the centre of the intellectual hub of Bloomsbury in London, and there are regular conferences at Birkbeck and other universities nearby. We also host an annual  Writer in Residence  whose seminars in June are primarily focused on our postgraduate research students.

Birkbeck Library has an extensive collection of books, journals and electronic resources in law and related disciplines such as economics, politics and sociology. For example, it provides access to over 17,000 electronic journals, which are available online 24 hours a day. You can also take advantage of the rich research collections nearby, including those of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Senate House Library, the British Library of Political and Economic Science (LSE Library) and the British Library.

Birkbeck is also home to the  Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research (ICPR)  and the  Centre for Law and the Humanities .

Read more about  our vibrant research culture .

Follow these steps to apply to an MPhil/PhD research degree at Birkbeck: 

1. Check that you meet the entry requirements, including English language requirements, as described on this page. 

2. Find a potential supervisor for your MPhil/PhD research. You can look at the Find a Supervisor area on this page for an overview, or  search our Experts’ Database  or  browse our staff pages  for more in-depth information. 

3. Contact the academic member of staff - or the department they teach in - for an informal discussion about your research interests and to establish if they are willing and able to supervise your research. (Please note: finding a potential supervisor does not guarantee admission to the research degree, as this decision is made using your whole application.)  Find out more about the supervisory relationship and how your supervisor will support your research .

4. Draft a research proposal. This needs to demonstrate your knowledge of the field, the specific research questions you wish to pursue, and how your ideas will lead to the creation of new knowledge and understanding.  Find out more about writing a research proposal .

5. Apply directly to Birkbeck, using the online application link on this page. All research students are initially registered on an MPhil and then upgrade to a PhD after making sufficient progress. 

Find out more about the application process, writing a research proposal and the timeframe . 

Areas of research interest

• Access to law
• Company law
• Constitutional theory and national identity 
• Criminal justice
• Criminology 
• European law 
• Feminist legal theory 
• Human rights 
• Insurance law 
• Intellectual property
• International economic law
• International refugee law
• The law in relation to: 
• children and childhood
• development
• environment
• gender and sexuality 
• literature 
• multinational corporations 
• political economy 
• Legal aesthetics
• Legal history
• Legal theory
• Medical law and ethics 
• Postcolonial theory
• Public law 
• Socio-legal studies

Application deadlines and interviews

You can apply throughout the year and entry is during October and January. For October entry, applications must be submitted by 15 August. For January entry, applications must be submitted by 15 November.

With your application you must send a research proposal of 300-1000 words containing a statement outlining the main themes of your proposed research project, a section addressing questions of methodology, an overview of the literature in the field and a statement relating to the project's intended contribution to legal scholarship.

If you wish to apply for funding, you will need to apply by certain deadlines. Consult the websites of relevant bodies for details.

Recent research topics.

• Real-world dynamics of commercial-contractual relations 
• The orthodox, neoliberal approach to land tenure reforms in sub-Saharan Africa
• The history of copyright law in Latin America 
• A critical defence of the rule of law 
• The quest for legitimate governance and social justice: the emerging trend in postcolonial African political philosophy 
• Pharmaceutical ethics 
• The ephemeral art form of dance and copyright law

Apply for your course

Apply for your course using the apply now button in the key information section .

Finding a supervisor

A critical factor when applying for postgraduate study in law is the correlation between the applicant’s intellectual and research interests and those of one or more potential supervisors.

Read more about the expert supervision we offer in a wide range of legal subjects , from administrative law and bioethics through criminal law and development to legal theory and refugee studies.

Related courses

• Law and Social Change at Birkbeck (MPhil/PhD)

DPhil in Law

• Entry requirements
• Funding and Costs

College preference

• How to Apply

About the course

The Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) is the most prestigious of the Law Faculty's research degrees. It entails writing a thesis over a period of three, or at most four years (six to eight years for part-time students). 

All students will be admitted to Probationer Research Student (PRS) status in the first instance, and all students except those who have previously completed the faculty's MPhil in Law programme will undertake a course in legal research methods during the first year as a full-time student or in the first two years as a part-time student. This provides training in legal research methodology, but it will also expose you to the diversity of and intellectual challenges involved in legal scholarship and serves as a forum of peers in which you can discuss the methodological challenges involved in your own research. The course comprises seven compulsory two-hour seminars during Michaelmas term while in Hilary term, students must attend eight hours of seminars from a wider range of options, including seminars offered by other social sciences departments and the faculty’s Centres for Criminology and Socio-Legal Studies. Students must also attend the course conference at the start of Trinity term.

The Faculty can provide supervision for a wide range of different topics and a  list of completed doctorates gives a general sense of the breadth and depth of the research undertaken by its students.

A typical week for a student during their first two terms will involve attendance at a legal research training methodology class and perhaps participating in a discussion group (of which there are over 30) or auditing a BCL seminar that relates to their own research topic; apart from which they will be spending their time engaged in their own research. You will also meet with supervisors to discuss your work as explained in the supervision section below. After the third term (providing you transfer to full DPhil status) you may undertake fieldwork and research trips, depending on the nature of your research topics, and there may be opportunities to undertake paid research assistance or to teach undergraduate students.

If you are a part-time student, you will be required to be physically present in Oxford for a minimum of 30 days per year, normally coinciding with the full terms of the academic year, to be arranged with the agreement of your supervisor. You should expect to meet with your supervisor (either in person or, where available, online) up to nine times throughout the academic year, and in the first two terms, you will be required to undertake the legal research training methodology course (either in person or, where available, online).

Supervision

The allocation of graduate supervision for this course is the responsibility of the Law Faculty and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. Under exceptional circumstances a supervisor may be found outside the Law Faculty.

On admission as a research student, you will be assigned a supervisor with whom you should meet regularly to discuss your work and provide feedback and advice.  Students generally meet their supervisors nine times per year. For the DPhil, there is likely to be a greater concentration of meetings during the first two terms, while you are in the process of defining your research topic, and in the final stages leading up to submission of the completed thesis.

All students will be initially admitted to the status of Probationer Research Student (PRS). Within a maximum of four terms as a full-time PRS student (eight terms as a part-time PRS student), you will be expected to apply for, and achieve, transfer of status from Probationer Research Student to DPhil status by submitting a research outline and a substantial piece of written work. These are assessed by two members of the Law Faculty, who will also interview you about your work. This application is normally made by the third term for full-time students (sixth term for part-time students). A similar exercise then takes place between your sixth and ninth terms (twelfth and fifteenth terms for the part-time pathway) when you will apply for Confirmation of DPhil status.

After three or at most four years (no later than eight years for the part-time pathway), your thesis will be read by two examiners, who conduct an in-depth oral examination known as a viva voce. The thesis must make a significant and substantial contribution to its field. On the basis of the examiners’ report, you will either be awarded the DPhil (which may be subject to major or minor corrections) or referred back to make revisions to the thesis.

Graduate destinations

DPhil students will pursue a range of career paths after completion of the doctorate. Many will take up academic posts, or pursue postdoctoral research of one sort or another. Some will enter legal practice as solicitors, barristers, advocates, and judges; others will become legal advisors advising government departments, non-governmental organisations and private companies.

The University of Oxford has an excellent careers service with which the department has close ties. The Careers Service organises a number of events of specific interest to students wishing to pursue a career in law, and offers one-to-one advice from members of staff with knowledge and experience specific to the legal sector.

The Law Faculty has an extensive network of relationships within the legal profession and each year offers a number of talks and events run by law firms and barristers’ chambers.

Changes to this course and your supervision

The University will seek to deliver this course in accordance with the description set out in this course page. However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision, either before or after registration. The safety of students, staff and visitors is paramount and major changes to delivery or services may have to be made in circumstances of a pandemic, epidemic or local health emergency. In addition, in certain circumstances, for example due to visa difficulties or because the health needs of students cannot be met, it may be necessary to make adjustments to course requirements for international study.

Where possible your academic supervisor will not change for the duration of your course. However, it may be necessary to assign a new academic supervisor during the course of study or before registration for reasons which might include illness, sabbatical leave, parental leave or change in employment.

For further information please see our page on changes to courses and the provisions of the student contract regarding changes to courses.

Entry requirements for entry in 2024-25

Proven and potential academic excellence.

The requirements described below are specific to this course and apply only in the year of entry that is shown. You can use our interactive tool to help you  evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive .

Please be aware that any studentships that are linked to this course may have different or additional requirements and you should read any studentship information carefully before applying. 

Degree-level qualifications

As a minimum, applicants should hold or be predicted to achieve the following UK qualifications or their equivalent:

• a first-class undergraduate degree with honours in law. Exceptionally, students with first-class honours in other subjects may be considered if the subject is relevant to the proposed area of research.

In the absence of an undergraduate degree in law, candidates may be admitted with a postgraduate diploma or master's qualification in law at distinction level.

Most students admitted to the programme have a previous master's qualification but this is not a formal requirement.

For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA sought is 3.7 out of 4.0.

If your degree is not from the UK or another country specified above, visit our International Qualifications page for guidance on the qualifications and grades that would usually be considered to meet the University’s minimum entry requirements.

GRE General Test scores

No Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or GMAT scores are sought.

Other qualifications, evidence of excellence and relevant experience

• Part-time applicants will also be expected to show evidence of the ability to commit time to study and, if applicable, an employer's commitment to make time available to study, to complete coursework, and attend course and University events and modules. Where appropriate, evidence should also be provided of permission to use employers’ data in the proposed research project.
• Publications are not expected. They may, in certain circumstances, advantage an application but it is appreciated that the opportunity to publish may vary considerably depending on factors such as the stage the student has reached in their graduate career and the structure of the course(s) they have studied. Consequently, a lack of publications will not be assessed negatively.

English language proficiency

This course requires proficiency in English at the University's  higher level . If your first language is not English, you may need to provide evidence that you meet this requirement. The minimum scores required to meet the University's higher level are detailed in the table below.

*Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English or Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) † Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English or Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)

Your test must have been taken no more than two years before the start date of your course. Our Application Guide provides  further information about the English language test requirement .

Declaring extenuating circumstances

If your ability to meet the entry requirements has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (eg you were awarded an unclassified/ungraded degree) or any other exceptional personal circumstance (eg other illness or bereavement), please refer to the guidance on extenuating circumstances in the Application Guide for information about how to declare this so that your application can be considered appropriately.

You will need to register three referees who can give an informed view of your academic ability and suitability for the course. The  How to apply  section of this page provides details of the types of reference that are required in support of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.

Supporting documents

You will be required to supply supporting documents with your application. The  How to apply  section of this page provides details of the supporting documents that are required as part of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.

Performance at interview

Interviews are not normally held as part of the admissions process.

How your application is assessed

Your application will be assessed purely on your proven and potential academic excellence and other entry requirements described under that heading.

References  and  supporting documents  submitted as part of your application, and your performance at interview (if interviews are held) will be considered as part of the assessment process. Whether or not you have secured funding will not be taken into consideration when your application is assessed.

An overview of the shortlisting and selection process is provided below. Our ' After you apply ' pages provide  more information about how applications are assessed . 

Shortlisting and selection

Students are considered for shortlisting and selected for admission without regard to age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, race (including colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins), religion or belief (including lack of belief), sex, sexual orientation, as well as other relevant circumstances including parental or caring responsibilities or social background. However, please note the following:

• socio-economic information may be taken into account in the selection of applicants and award of scholarships for courses that are part of  the University’s pilot selection procedure  and for  scholarships aimed at under-represented groups ;
• country of ordinary residence may be taken into account in the awarding of certain scholarships; and
• protected characteristics may be taken into account during shortlisting for interview or the award of scholarships where the University has approved a positive action case under the Equality Act 2010.

Processing your data for shortlisting and selection

Information about  processing special category data for the purposes of positive action  and  using your data to assess your eligibility for funding , can be found in our Postgraduate Applicant Privacy Policy.

Admissions panels and assessors

All recommendations to admit a student involve the judgement of at least two members of the academic staff with relevant experience and expertise, and must also be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies or Admissions Committee (or equivalent within the department).

Admissions panels or committees will always include at least one member of academic staff who has undertaken appropriate training.

Other factors governing whether places can be offered

The following factors will also govern whether candidates can be offered places:

• the ability of the University to provide the appropriate supervision for your studies, as outlined under the 'Supervision' heading in the  About  section of this page;
• the ability of the University to provide appropriate support for your studies (eg through the provision of facilities, resources, teaching and/or research opportunities); and
• minimum and maximum limits to the numbers of students who may be admitted to the University's taught and research programmes.

Offer conditions for successful applications

If you receive an offer of a place at Oxford, your offer will outline any conditions that you need to satisfy and any actions you need to take, together with any associated deadlines. These may include academic conditions, such as achieving a specific final grade in your current degree course. These conditions will usually depend on your individual academic circumstances and may vary between applicants. Our ' After you apply ' pages provide more information about offers and conditions . 

In addition to any academic conditions which are set, you will also be required to meet the following requirements:

Financial Declaration

If you are offered a place, you will be required to complete a  Financial Declaration  in order to meet your financial condition of admission.

Disclosure of criminal convictions

In accordance with the University’s obligations towards students and staff, we will ask you to declare any  relevant, unspent criminal convictions  before you can take up a place at Oxford.

The Law Faculty is fortunate to have outstanding library facilities provided by the Bodleian Law Library. As part of the Bodleian, the Law Library shares in all the advantages of being part of the largest university library in the country, including the receipt, under legal deposit legislation, of legal material published in the UK and Ireland. 

The Law Library offers the vast majority of its holdings - some 550,000 items - on open shelves across four floors. Selected low-use material is housed in a book storage facility and is retrievable within half a day. The library serves a large community of graduate readers and academics in their research requirements. The strength of the collection lies in the depth of its UK holdings, combined with extensive holdings for European and Commonwealth jurisdictions. In addition the library holds materials relating to international law, Roman law, and jurisprudence. To complement the paper collection, the Law Library provides a wide range of online legal resources. The Bodleian’s collection of Official Papers is also housed in the Law Library.

The library has 40 reader workstations, which provide access to the internet, legal databases, Microsoft Office applications and Endnote. There is a Graduate Reading Room, a large seminar room, two IT rooms and three small ‘discussion rooms’ for private study or group work. The wireless network extends throughout the library. The law librarians offer a range of classes and one-to-one sessions to support the specific research needs of graduate students.

Oxford’s Faculty of Law, one of the largest in the UK, offers you the opportunity to study alongside some of the best law graduates of your generation, under the direct supervision of some of the world’s leading legal scholars.

Oxford's reputation for master's-level legal education has few equals. All of the courses on offer involve intensive work to a very high academic standard, and the BCL and MJur are exceptional in their use of tutorials as a principal means of course delivery. Both of these programmes offer an extensive variety of options and the opportunity to specialise in certain fields or to select a diverse combination of courses. For those with more specialist interests, the faculty also offers the MSc in Law and Finance, the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice, the MSc in Taxation, and the Postgraduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law and Practice, the MSc in Intellectual Property, and the MSc in International Human Rights Law (formerly known as the MSt in International Human Rights Law and offered by the Department of Continuing Education).

For its research students, the faculty offers a wider range of legal and interdisciplinary specialisms corresponding to the diverse interests of faculty members. For many research students the ultimate goal will be a DPhil, the Oxford term for a doctoral qualification, but the faculty also offers a one-year MPhil course which can either be taken in its own right or as a route into the DPhil. As a research student, you can expect to work closely with a specialist supervisor who will help you develop your ideas and pursue your thesis to a successful conclusion.

Research students play a central role in the intellectual life of the faculty, collaborating in numerous discussion groups and colloquia and participating in many BCL, MJur and MSc course seminars.

Centre for Criminology Pursuing an innovative programme of criminological research and delivering high quality education.

The Centre for Criminology is an independent unit of the University’s Faculty of Law. The centre is dedicated to pursuing an innovative programme of criminological research and to delivering high-quality graduate education in criminology. It has a vibrant programme of research, aimed principally at fostering and developing clusters of research activity around seven substantive areas:

• security, rights and justice
• penal culture, policy and practice
• politics, legitimacy and criminal justice
• crime and the family
• psychology, criminal justice and law
• victims and victimisation
• criminal justice, citizenship and migration.

Members of the centre are committed to:

• connecting criminological work to the broader concerns of the social sciences;
• thinking comparatively about crime and punishment;
• bringing together sociological and normative approaches to the analysis of crime and justice; and
• working at the intersections between criminology and public policy.

These approaches to the study of crime and criminal justice inform teaching and doctoral supervision in the centre. They create an intellectually stimulating and collaborative environment to pursue your study in criminology.

Centre for Socio-Legal Studies At the forefront of multidisciplinary research into the nature and role of law in society.

The Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (CSLS) brings together scholars with diverse academic backgrounds and ambitions, who pursue their own research topics and are also encouraged to collaborate widely and develop multifaceted research programmes. Researchers address fundamental questions about the nature of law, its relations with morality, religion, and justice, and its role in regulation, government and community, the nature of rules and legalistic thought, the development of laws, legal systems and legal cultures, and the social character of the rule of law.

The CSLS welcomes students who wish to pursue research in any aspect of socio-legal studies, broadly defined. The centre's staff have a range of expertise in socio-legal research and methodologies and draw on a range of cognate fields, including anthropology, jurisprudence, political science, regulation studies, economics and sociology. Supervision can be offered in most areas of social-legal studies.

The CSLS has a community of around thirteen full-time research staff and thirty-three graduate research students. Links with leading scholars in Oxford’s Faculty of Law and throughout the University enhance the breadth of the centre’s research and the resources made available to students.

Courses offered by the faculty

View all courses   View taught courses View research courses

The University expects to be able to offer over 1,000 full or partial graduate scholarships across the collegiate University in 2024-25. You will be automatically considered for the majority of Oxford scholarships , if you fulfil the eligibility criteria and submit your graduate application by the relevant December or January deadline. Most scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic merit and/or potential. 

For further details about searching for funding as a graduate student visit our dedicated Funding pages, which contain information about how to apply for Oxford scholarships requiring an additional application, details of external funding, loan schemes and other funding sources.

Please ensure that you visit individual college websites for details of any college-specific funding opportunities using the links provided on our college pages or below:

Please note that not all the colleges listed above may accept students on this course. For details of those which do, please refer to the College preference section of this page.

Further information about funding opportunities for this course can be found on the faculty's website.

Annual fees for entry in 2024-25

Full-time study.

Further details about fee status eligibility can be found on the fee status webpage.

Part-time study

Information about course fees.

Course fees are payable each year, for the duration of your fee liability (your fee liability is the length of time for which you are required to pay course fees). For courses lasting longer than one year, please be aware that fees will usually increase annually. For details, please see our guidance on changes to fees and charges .

Course fees cover your teaching as well as other academic services and facilities provided to support your studies. Unless specified in the additional information section below, course fees do not cover your accommodation, residential costs or other living costs. They also don’t cover any additional costs and charges that are outlined in the additional information below.

Continuation charges

Following the period of fee liability , you may also be required to pay a University continuation charge and a college continuation charge. The University and college continuation charges are shown on the Continuation charges page.

Where can I find further information about fees?

The Fees and Funding  section of this website provides further information about course fees , including information about fee status and eligibility  and your length of fee liability .

Additional information

There are no compulsory elements of this course that entail additional costs beyond fees (or, after fee liability ends, continuation charges) and living costs. However, please note that, depending on your choice of research topic and the research required to complete it, you may incur additional expenses, such as travel expenses, research expenses, and field trips. You will need to meet these additional costs, although you may be able to apply for small grants from your department and/or college to help you cover some of these expenses.

Please note that you are required to attend in Oxford for a minimum of 30 days each year, and you may incur additional travel and accommodation expenses for this. Also, depending on your choice of research topic and the research required to complete it, you may incur further additional expenses, such as travel and research expenses. You will need to meet these additional costs, although you may be able to apply for grants from the Faculty or your College to help you cover some of these expenses.

Living costs

In addition to your course fees, you will need to ensure that you have adequate funds to support your living costs for the duration of your course.

For the 2024-25 academic year, the range of likely living costs for full-time study is between c. £1,345 and £1,955 for each month spent in Oxford. Full information, including a breakdown of likely living costs in Oxford for items such as food, accommodation and study costs, is available on our living costs page. The current economic climate and high national rate of inflation make it very hard to estimate potential changes to the cost of living over the next few years. When planning your finances for any future years of study in Oxford beyond 2024-25, it is suggested that you allow for potential increases in living expenses of around 5% each year – although this rate may vary depending on the national economic situation. UK inflationary increases will be kept under review and this page updated.

If you are studying part-time your living costs may vary depending on your personal circumstances but you must still ensure that you will have sufficient funding to meet these costs for the duration of your course.

Students enrolled on this course will belong to both a department/faculty and a college. Please note that ‘college’ and ‘colleges’ refers to all 43 of the University’s colleges, including those designated as societies and permanent private halls (PPHs). 

If you apply for a place on this course you will have the option to express a preference for one of the colleges listed below, or you can ask us to find a college for you. Before deciding, we suggest that you read our brief  introduction to the college system at Oxford  and our  advice about expressing a college preference . For some courses, the department may have provided some additional advice below to help you decide.

The following colleges accept students for full-time study on this course:

• Balliol College
• Blackfriars
• Brasenose College
• Campion Hall
• Christ Church
• Corpus Christi College
• Exeter College
• Green Templeton College
• Harris Manchester College
• Hertford College
• Jesus College
• Keble College
• Lady Margaret Hall
• Linacre College
• Lincoln College
• Magdalen College
• Mansfield College
• Merton College
• New College
• Oriel College
• Pembroke College
• The Queen's College
• Regent's Park College
• St Anne's College
• St Antony's College
• St Catherine's College
• St Cross College
• St Edmund Hall
• St Hilda's College
• St Hugh's College
• St John's College
• St Peter's College
• Somerville College
• Trinity College
• University College
• Wadham College
• Wolfson College
• Worcester College
• Wycliffe Hall

The following colleges accept students for part-time study on this course:

Before you apply

Our  guide to getting started  provides general advice on how to prepare for and start your application. You can use our interactive tool to help you  evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive .

If it's important for you to have your application considered under a particular deadline – eg under a December or January deadline in order to be considered for Oxford scholarships – we recommend that you aim to complete and submit your application at least two weeks in advance . Check the deadlines on this page and the  information about deadlines and when to apply  in our Application Guide.

Application fee waivers

An application fee of £75 is payable per course application. Application fee waivers are available for the following applicants who meet the eligibility criteria:

• applicants from low-income countries;
• refugees and displaced persons; 
• UK applicants from low-income backgrounds; and 
• applicants who applied for our Graduate Access Programmes in the past two years and met the eligibility criteria.

You are encouraged to  check whether you're eligible for an application fee waiver  before you apply.

Readmission for current Oxford graduate taught students

If you're currently studying for an Oxford graduate taught course and apply to this course with no break in your studies, you may be eligible to apply to this course as a readmission applicant. The application fee will be waived for an eligible application of this type. Check whether you're eligible to apply for readmission .

Do I need to contact anyone before I apply?

You do not need to make contact with academic staff before you apply. However, it is suggested that you consult the  list of research and subject groups on the Law website  to check that your research interests fall within an area in which the Law Faculty has research expertise.

You may also wish to refer to the  list of academic staff  for details of individual Law Faculty members' research interests.

Completing your application

You should refer to the information below when completing the application form, paying attention to the specific requirements for the supporting documents . 

If any document does not meet the specification, including the stipulated word count, your application may be considered incomplete and not assessed by the academic department. Expand each section to show further details.

Proposed field and title of research project

Under the 'Field and title of research project' please enter your proposed field or area of research if this is known. If the department has advertised a specific research project that you would like to be considered for, please enter the project title here instead.

You should not use this field to type out a full research proposal. You will be able to upload your research supporting materials separately if they are required (as described below).

Proposed supervisor

If known, under 'Proposed supervisor name' enter the name of the academic(s) who you would like to supervise your research. Otherwise, leave this field blank.

Referees: Three overall, academic strongly preferred

Whilst you must register three referees, the department may start the assessment of your application if two of the three references are submitted by the course deadline and your application is otherwise complete. Please note that you may still be required to ensure your third referee supplies a reference for consideration.

Academic references are strongly preferred, but a professional reference will be accepted as long as you also provide two academic references. If you are currently completing a course at Oxford, then at least one reference must be from someone who has taught you on that course.

Your references will support intellectual ability, academic achievement and motivation.

Official transcript(s)

Your transcripts should give detailed information of the individual grades received in your university-level qualifications to date. You should only upload official documents issued by your institution and any transcript not in English should be accompanied by a certified translation.

More information about the transcript requirement is available in the Application Guide.

A CV/résumé is compulsory for this course. Most applicants choose to submit a document of one to two pages highlighting their academic achievements and any relevant professional experience.

Research proposal: A maximum of 600 words

You should submit a detailed outline of your proposed research, written in English. The overall word count may exclude any bibliography or footnotes.

If possible, please ensure that the word count is clearly displayed on the document.

This will be assessed for:

• the coherence of the proposal
• the originality of the project
• evidence of motivation for and understanding of the proposed area of study
• your ability to present a reasoned case in English
• the feasibility of successfully completing the project in the time available for the course.

It will be normal for your ideas subsequently to change in some ways as you investigate the evidence and develop your project. You should nevertheless make the best effort you can to demonstrate the extent of your research question, sources and method at this moment.

Written work: One essay, a maximum of 2,000 words 

An academic essay or other writing sample from your most recent qualification, written in English, is required. This may be an extract from a longer piece - in such cases, the piece should be prefaced by a note which puts the work in context.

The work must be on a legal topic and written in English. The word count does not need to include any bibliography or footnotes.

This will be assessed for comprehensive understanding of the subject area; understanding of problems in the area; ability to construct and defend an argument; powers of analysis; and powers of expression.

Start or continue your application

You can start or return to an application using the relevant link below. As you complete the form, please  refer to the requirements above  and  consult our Application Guide for advice . You'll find the answers to most common queries in our FAQs.

Application Guide   Apply - Full time Apply - Part time

ADMISSION STATUS

Closed to applications for entry in 2024-25

Register to be notified via email when the next application cycle opens (for entry in 2025-26)

12:00 midday UK time on:

Friday 19 January 2024 Latest deadline for most Oxford scholarships Final application deadline for entry in 2024-25

*Three-year average (applications for entry in 2021-22 to 2023-24)

Further information and enquiries

This course is offered by the Faculty of Law

• Course page  and FAQs on the faculty's website
• Funding information from the faculty
• Academic and research staff
• Faculty research
• Social Sciences Division
• Residence requirements for full-time courses
• Postgraduate applicant privacy policy

Course-related enquiries

Advice about contacting the department can be found in the How to apply section of this page

✉ [email protected] ☎ +44 (0)1865 271496

Application-process enquiries

See the application guide

Visa eligibility for part-time study

We are unable to sponsor student visas for part-time study on this course. Part-time students may be able to attend on a visitor visa for short blocks of time only (and leave after each visit) and will need to remain based outside the UK.

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Entry requirements

Fees and funding.

• What's next?

The PhD in Law facilitates research in a wide range of areas that are represented through the Essex Law School's eight research clusters. These relate to: human rights, law and technology, business law, socio-legal studies, public law, law and society, health law and criminal justice.

Essex Law School is also home to specific inter-disciplinary research centres including the Human Rights Centre, the Essex Armed Conflict and Crisis Hub, and the Essex Transitional Justice Network. Additionally, through the strong relationship between the Essex Law School and the Human Rights Centre, other inter-disciplinary clusters and initiatives have developed which include the Essex Business and Human Rights Project, the Human Rights and Big Data Project, and the Human Rights and Environment cluster.

Research in the Essex Law School and the Human Rights Centre is cross-cutting and has had a wide range of applications at the national and international levels. Many of our staff have strong working relationships with international organisations such as the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Health Organisation. At the national level many of our staff are consulted by governments at home and abroad. Essex Law School continues with a tradition of undertaking cutting-edge research that has practical application to the challenges that face citizens, governments, business and the international community. Through the excellence that Essex Law School has exhibited it is ranked as 51st in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021.

We also have an excellent record of winning major research grants from funding bodies including the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust. Our former students have gone on to work in legal practice, international organisations, commerce and industry, NGO's and academia, including Essex Law School at Essex.

In addition to the PhD programmes, we also offer an MPhil in law which can be an appropriate option for those interested in undertaking in-depth research that is shorter in length than a PhD.

Part-time study is also an option for those research students who wish to spread their research over a longer period.

Funding Schemes

We belong to the CHASE consortium (Consortium for the Humanities and Arts South-East England) which provides doctoral scholarships for UK and international students related to a number of different areas of study, including law. Further details can be found here.

We are also a member of the SeNNS consortium (South-East Network for Social Sciences) that provides doctoral scholarships for UK and international students related to a number of different areas of study, including socio-legal research projects. Further details can be found here .

In addition to these, a range of other alternative funding sources can be found on our Scholarship Finder .

• We are ranked 47th for Law in THE World University Rankings by Subject 2023.
• We are 3rd in the UK for research power in law (THE research power measure, REF2021).
• Many of our staff have strong working relationships with organisations such as the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Health Organisation.

Our expert staff

Within Essex Law School, you will be allocated two supervisors whose roles will be to guide you through the different stages of your research degree. One of the strengths of Essex Law School's PhD programmes is the dual supervisor system which enhances the supervisory process itself, ensures continuity in the event of staff research leave and provides you with the opportunity to draw on different types of expertise applicable to your research project.

The support provided by your supervisors is a key feature of your research student experience and you will have regular one-to-one meetings to discuss progress on your research. Your supervisors will also provide guidance relating to training needs, future career plans, publishing, presenting at conferences and where applicable building an appropriate network.

Twice a year, you will have a supervisory board meeting, which provides a more formal opportunity to discuss your progress and agree your plans for the following six months.

Specialist facilities

Within Essex Law School, many activities are run throughout the year that you may wish to be involved in.

All research students are encouraged to engage actively with one or more of the eight research clusters. These provide the opportunity for students to present their work within a friendly and supportive environment and also to become involved in ongoing projects that the clusters are engaged with. Apart from the clusters themselves, the various centres and initiatives such as the Human Rights Centre, the Essex Business and Human Rights Project, the Essex Transnational Justice Network, the Essex Armed Conflict and Crisis Hub, the Human Rights and Big Data Project, provide opportunities for research students to actively engage in work at the cutting edge of legal development. For example, some students engage in advocacy and consultancy work, the preparation of policy documents, organising conferences, and contributions to amicus curiae briefs.

Each student is provided with support through the University's ‘Proficio' system which enables you to access training that relates to your own specific training and developmental needs.

Essex Law School also runs a Postgraduate Research Roundtable which meets on a regular basis and provides a space in which research students can discuss specific thematic issues with other students and members of staff, learn from the experiences of others, and present their own work in a supportive environment.

Your future

Essex Law School research graduates have gone on to a wide variety of careers including those in international and intergovernmental organisations, governments throughout the world, commerce and industry, non-governmental organisations and, as might be expected, in the legal profession and the judiciary.

UK entry requirements

International & eu entry requirements.

We accept a wide range of qualifications from applicants studying in the EU and other countries. Get in touch with any questions you may have about the qualifications we accept. Remember to tell us about the qualifications you have already completed or are currently taking.

Sorry, the entry requirements for the country that you have selected are not available here. Please select your country page where you'll find this information.

English language requirements

Course structure.

The structure of PhD programmes in the Law School provides you with the opportunity to investigate a chosen topic in real depth and reach a profound understanding. In communicating that understanding, through a thesis or other means, you have the rare opportunity of generating knowledge in a particular field.

To facilitate this, a clear structure throughout the course of a PhD with regular supervision and milestones enables you to develop your work in a well-supported environment. PhD programmes do not include formal compulsory taught modules, but specific training to support you in your own area of research is made available. As such all students will undertake training needs analysis to assist in identifying the training that would be most useful. For example, you may need specific support in developing their methodological skills, interviewing skills, presentation skills and the necessary training can be made available.

With this structure in place, a research degree in the Law School at Essex will allow you to develop new high-level skills, enhance your professional development and build new networks. It can open doors to many different types of careers.

Following the impact of the pandemic, we made changes to our teaching and assessment to ensure our current students could continue with their studies uninterrupted and safely. These changes included courses being taught through blended delivery, normally including some face-to-face teaching, online provision, or a combination of both across the year.

The teaching and assessment methods listed show what is currently approved for 2022 entry; changes may be necessary if, by the beginning of this course, we need to adapt the way we're delivering them due to the external environment, and to allow you to continue to receive the best education possible safely and seamlessly.

Components are the blocks of study that make up your course. A component may have a set module which you must study, or a number of modules from which you can choose.

Each component has a status and carries a certain number of credits towards your qualification.

The modules that are available for you to choose for each component will depend on several factors, including which modules you have chosen for other components, which modules you have completed in previous years of your course, and which term the module is taught in.

Modules are the individual units of study for your course. Each module has its own set of learning outcomes and assessment criteria and also carries a certain number of credits.

In most cases you will study one module per component, but in some cases you may need to study more than one module. For example, a 30-credit component may comprise of either one 30-credit module, or two 15-credit modules, depending on the options available.

Modules may be taught at different times of the year and by a different department or school to the one your course is primarily based in. You can find this information from the module code . For example, the module code HR100-4-FY means:

COMPONENT 01: COMPULSORY

This is for Postgraduate Research Students Only.

View Law - Research on our Module Directory

Dissertation

Within our Essex Law School, your PhD thesis must normally be submitted for examination within four years of first registration. The maximum length for a PhD thesis by research is 80,000 words, excluding appendices and the maximum length of an MPhil thesis is 50,000 words.

Home/UK fee

£4,712 per year

International fee

£17,900 per year

Fees will increase for each academic year of study.

Masters fees and funding information

Research (e.g. PhD) fees and funding information

What's next

We hold Open Days for all our applicants throughout the year. Our Colchester Campus events are a great way to find out more about studying at Essex, and give you the chance to:

• tour our campus and accommodation
• find out answers to your questions about our courses, graduate employability, student support and more
• talk to our Fees and Funding team about scholarship opportunities
• meet our students and staff

If the dates of our organised events aren’t suitable for you, feel free to get in touch by emailing [email protected] and we’ll arrange an individual campus tour for you.

2024 Open Days (Colchester Campus)

• Saturday 15 June 2024 - June Open Day
• Saturday 21 September 2024 - September Open Day
• Saturday 26 October 2024 - October Open Day

You can apply for this postgraduate course online . Before you apply, please check our information about necessary documents that we'll ask you to provide as part of your application.

We encourage you to make a preliminary enquiry directly to a potential supervisor or the Graduate Administrator within your chosen Department or School. We encourage the consideration of a brief research proposal prior to the submission of a full application.

We aim to respond to applications within four weeks. If we are able to offer you a place, you will be contacted via email.

For information on our deadline to apply for this course, please see our ‘ how to apply ' information.

Visit Colchester Campus

Set within 200 acres of  award-winning  parkland - Wivenhoe Park  and located two miles from the  historic city centre of Colchester – England's oldest recorded development. Our Colchester Campus is also easily reached from London and Stansted Airport in under one hour.

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If you live too far away to come to Essex (or have a busy lifestyle), no problem. Our 360 degree virtual tour allows you to explore the Colchester Campus from the comfort of your home. Check out our accommodation options, facilities and social spaces.

Exhibitions

Our staff travel the world to speak to people about the courses on offer at Essex. Take a look at our list of exhibition dates to see if we’ll be near you in the future.

At Essex we pride ourselves on being a welcoming and inclusive student community. We offer a wide range of support to individuals and groups of student members who may have specific requirements, interests or responsibilities.

The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its programme specification is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can be necessary to make changes, for example to courses, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include, but are not limited to: strikes, other industrial action, staff illness, severe weather, fire, civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack (whether declared or not), natural disaster, restrictions imposed by government or public authorities, epidemic or pandemic disease, failure of public utilities or transport systems or the withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to courses may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications . The University would inform and engage with you if your course was to be discontinued, and would provide you with options, where appropriate, in line with our Compensation and Refund Policy.

The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.

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• School of Law
• Postgraduate
• PhD and research degrees

PhD research degree in law

Queen Mary School of Law is the ideal place to embark on this transformative journey. My experience here underscores the School's dedication to nurturing future changemakers. Esther Jaromitski researching the role of social media platforms in international crime

The PhD in Law programme at Queen Mary is one of the largest in the UK, with more than 120 research students. As a PhD student at the School of Law, you will be part of a diverse and cosmopolitan research community, as students come to Queen Mary from all over the world. Have a look at the research profiles of some of our current students .

The School of Law’s thriving PhD programme is competitive. Successful applicants usually have first-class undergraduate degrees and distinctions at Masters-level or the equivalents. While most applicants will have LLB and/or LLM degrees, we value interdisciplinary research projects, and welcome candidates with relevant non-law degrees. Candidates with professional experience in a field of law or institution relevant to their research project will also be considered.

You can apply to attend on a full-time or a part-time basis. Before you apply, you will need to:

• Develop a strong research proposal for a PhD thesis
• Make contact with a potential thesis supervisor
• Consider how you will fund your PhD study
• Gather your application documents and check our programme entry requirements
• Find out about the application process and submit your application

These webpages also contain information on what completing a PhD at the School of Law entails .

The Deadline for application submissions for entry in September 2024 is midnight on Wednesday 5 June 2024 . If you are applying for a Queen Mary studentship, the deadline is Wednesday 6 December 2023 . The application process for the September 2025 intake will begin in October 2024. Applications received after the deadline cannot be considered.

Postgraduate research students are usually registered initially for the degree of PhD. Your initial studies, under the guidance of an academic supervisor, will prepare you for confirmation of your PhD registration, which takes place within two years (full time), and provide you with the essential foundation to help you make an original contribution to knowledge in your chosen field.

Introducing your degree

PhD in Law (min 2 years) Gain expert knowledge in a specialist legal field, develop your research skills, and benefit from joining our academic community with its national and global networks, by joining our postgraduate research programme in Law. Foster your capacity for originality and analysis throughout this research degree to expand your knowledge of important and fundamental aspects of the law, working towards your PhD.

Programme Overview

View the doctoral programme profile for this course

What's related

• Research Centres and Institutes

Entry Requirements

Typical entry requirements, applying for a research degree.

The School of Law welcomes applications to undertake research from suitably qualified. candidates. Applications may be made at any time during the academic year, to commence study at any time, although it is usual to commence research at the start of the academic year.

What is required to apply?

• Completed application form -  form available to download  
• Research proposal -  Advice on Writing a Research proposal  
• 2 references, at least one of which must be academic, the other should be academic or relevant professional
• Your Academic transcript

Selection process

For further information on  making an application please see the main University site, and for the  on-line application for Research degree please see the application forms page.

This page contains specific entry requirements for this course. Find out about equivalent entry requirements and qualifications for your country.

Programme Structure

Typical course content.

The PhD has no modules per semester, instead it is an entirely research-oriented programme in which students conduct original research under the guidance of their supervisors.

Fees & funding

Tuition fees.

Fees for postgraduate research degrees vary across the University. All fees are listed for UK, EU and international full-time and part-time students alphabetically by course name.

Scholarships, bursaries, sponsorships or grants may be available to support you through your course. Funding opportunities available to you are linked to your subject area and/or your country of origin. These can be from the University of Southampton or other sources.

Study locations

Southampton Law School, Highfield Campus

Situated on the Highfield Campus; occupying building 4, Southampton La... Find out more

• University of Bradford
• Postgraduate

PhD (School of Law)

Suitable for applications.

Our Law PhD programme enables you to conduct legal research under the supervision of our international, experienced, and highly committed faculty.

You will be supervised by two academic members of staff, and take part in a research training programme which provides you with the knowledge and skills to design and carry out a rigorous PhD research project.

You also have opportunities to present your work in the School of Law’s research seminars and the Faculty’s annual postgraduate research student conference. This will enable you to discuss your research with fellow PhD students and staff in the School and the wider Faculty.

We encourage and support you to prepare and submit papers to academic conferences and journals. This provides you with an opportunity to gain feedback from experts in your research field and helps you in developing your academic writing skills.

Upon completion of your PhD, you will have acquired the skills of an independent researcher and have opportunities to pursue an exciting career opportunities in academia, international institutions, industry, government, legal profession (if you already possess relevant professional qualifications) and consultancy.

The School of Law is interested to receive PhD proposals relating to all core law subjects, and those relating to the specialist areas of its staff (including banking and finance, company law, employment law, environmental law, the law of evidence, intellectual property law, the law of the internet and legal pedagogies and practice). The Law School has a strong commitment to the promotion of social justice, and PhD proposals emphasising such themes are particularly encouraged.

Entry requirements

All candidates must meet one of the following conditions:

• A good honours UK Bachelor’s degree (a first or upper second class honours) or equivalent qualifications
• A Master’s degree in Law or related subjects with average marks of 60% or equivalent
• A professional qualification of degree standard obtained by examination

English language requirements

All candidates whose first language is not English must meet one of our English Language requirements specified below:

• IELTS: a minimum score of 6.5 with no sub-test less than 6.5
• TOEFL Internet based test: an overall test result of 94 (minimum scores apply for each subtest)

Please note the English test score only has a fixed two-year validity period. If you don’t have a current English test score, please indicate the date that you will be taking the English test in your application.

If you do not meet the IELTS requirement, and you have a UKVI approved IELTS, you can take a University of Bradford pre-sessional English course. See the Language Centre for more details . For further information on English Language requirements please see the dedicated international entry requirements page .

What you will study

Training modules consist of:

• group exercises
• class projects
• other online (WRDTP) and face-to-face delivery modes

Learning and assessment

Assessment strategies include individual papers, individual projects and reflective essays.

The development of the doctoral thesis will be guided by two supervisors and the assessment includes Viva Voce.

Fees, finance and scholarships

Tuition fee 2023.

Please see the tuition fees website for the relevant tuition and writing up fees:

• Home students
• International students

Additional costs

There may be additional costs that you may incur as a student. Though these are not essential to your programme of study you need to be aware of them as a student of the University. A list of the sort of costs you might expect can be found on our fees and finance section.

Financial support

See our fees and financial support section.

Scholarships

Every year we award numerous non-repayable scholarships to UK, EU and international students on the basis of academic excellence, personal circumstances or economic hardship. For full details, visit our  scholarships  section.

Career prospects

During your time studying at the Faculty of Management and Law you will have the opportunity to take part in our distinctive career booster programme throughout the duration of your course. The programme is designed to equip you with the necessary skills and graduate attributes to be job-ready when seeking employment with leading innovative organisations. The Career Booster Programme offers you the opportunity to gain certificates in:

• The European Computer Driving License (ECDL) - the benchmark for digital literacy
• Sage 50 Accounting and Sage 50 Payroll - training that will allow you to develop leading accounting and payroll software skills
• Project Manager Professional certificates - giving you the edge when seeking to become a Certified Project Manager
• Big Data analysis and reporting skills - using Software and Services (SAS) that will lead to certification

In addition, the programme will also include activities to promote teamwork, confidence, communication and many other skills sought by employers.

Developing a portfolio of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Certificates will demonstrate to employers that you are not only ambitious but also take responsibility for your own professional development.

Career support

The School of Law supports students on the PhD programme in a variety of ways. Those on campus can attend workshops, but for the most part support to PhD students is via one-to-one guidance - in addition there are training and development opportunities included in our unique and flexible Postgraduate Research Framework .

PhD students are often seeking a post in academia, and our careers and academic staff are able to provide guidance on this.

Study support

Support for you personally and in your programme of study is provided both by the University and the PhD programme team.

We are a small, dedicated and friendly law school, allowing our academic and support staff to get to know students personally and offer individual support and teaching.

We make sure that your time with us is as rewarding as possible and we will do everything we can to help you reach your potential.

You will be allocated a personal tutor who is someone with whom you will be able to talk about any academic or personal concerns.

Colleagues responsible for the administration of the PhD are available to help you with day-to-day queries about the programme.

The programme team is committed to continuous improvement of the PhD programme.

Student feedback plays a critical part in the monitoring, review and improvement of the programme.

Research-active staff undertake world-leading research addressing management and organisational issues.

In the 2014 Research Assessment Framework, 65% of our research was judged internationally recognised or world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour.

Almost 90% of our research demonstrated considerable impact on business practice and policy.

How to apply

PhD study is substantially different from other types of postgraduate work as each candidate devises their own independent research project. At the University of Bristol Law School, comprehensive research training is provided by expert academics, who also offer guidance and supervision of your research project. If you are undertaking socio-legal research, initial research training can take the form of the MSc Socio-Legal Studies programme, which is recognised by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

As a PhD Law student you will join a vibrant and diverse research community that includes primary units organised around research specialisms and a variety of centres of research excellence. You will be invited to participate in the Law School's staff seminar programme and many other frequent research events that happen in the school. There may also be opportunities to undertake some part-time teaching within the school. Travel and conference funding is available for research students.

World-leading research

The University of Bristol is ranked fifth for research in the UK ( Times Higher Education ).

94% of our research assessed as world-leading or internationally excellent.

Entry requirements

A minimum of an upper second-class honours degree in law (or equivalent) and normally at least a merit at master's level (or equivalent). Alternatively, a first-class honours degree in law (or equivalent) and evidence of ability to conduct independent and original research.

See international equivalent qualifications on the International Office website.

Read the programme admissions statement for important information on entry requirements, the application process and supporting documents required.

If English is not your first language, you will need to reach the requirements outlined in our  profile level B.

Further information about  English language requirements and profile levels .

Fees and funding

Fees are subject to an annual review. For programmes that last longer than one year, please budget for up to an 8% increase in fees each year.

More about tuition fees, living costs and financial support .

Alumni discount

University of Bristol students and graduates can benefit from a 25% reduction in tuition fees for postgraduate study.  Check your eligibility for an alumni discount.

Funding for 2024/25

The Faculty of Social Sciences and Law has an allocation of 1+3 (MSc and PhD) and +3 (PhD) ESRC scholarships. Applicants may also be interested in applying for funding from the AHRC, the University of Bristol scholarship fund or the Law School Graduate Teaching Assistantship scheme.

ESRC funding: Internal deadline - 11 December 2023. ESRC deadline - 12 January 2024 at 12 noon.

For details on applying for ESRC funding, please visit the South West Doctoral Training Partnership (SWDTP) website .

There may be a graduate teaching assistantship available in the Law School. Visit the school's fees and funding webpages for further information.

Further information on funding for prospective UK and international postgraduate students.

Career prospects

The PhD offers useful preparation for several different careers. The first of these is academic work, particularly if the thesis or parts of it are published in well-respected academic journals. The ability to plan, research and write a sophisticated thesis, including an ability to conduct, for example, detailed doctrinal analysis, to think in broad theoretical terms and to engage in empirical research can provide a firm foundation for a career in the academy.

A second possible career is that of working for an NGO or policy organisation, drawing on skills in research and writing, which are invaluable for work of this kind. A third possibility is working within governments, again building on analytical, doctrinal or empirical research skills developed through the PhD, which incorporate both an ability to undertake rigorous research and to see the bigger picture.

Finally, some students choose to enter the legal profession, carrying with them a rich understanding of legal principles and practice.

Research groups

A wide variety of subject areas are covered in the Law School. This reflects a range of different approaches to legal research - doctrinal, socio-legal/interdisciplinary and theoretical. The school has a strong portfolio in immigration and citizenship, socio-legal studies, environmental law, gender and law, legal history, corporate governance and regulation, international law, employment law, and health law and policy.

The school usually has 80 research postgraduates at any one time, working in a wide variety of subject areas and adopting a range of different approaches to legal research.

Please visit our research webpages for more information on our vibrant research community.

Explore the various research areas that the academic staff in Law are particularly interested in supervising on our website .

How to apply

Apply today via our online application system. Please see the guidance for how to apply on our webpages and further information here .

The closing date for a September start date is 1 June 2024.

For details on applying for ESRC funding, please visit the  South West Doctoral Training Partnership (SWDTP) website .

Postgraduate Admissions Administrator

Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

University of Bristol Law School

Explore more

Find out about the bristol doctoral college.

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Course type

Qualification, university name, phd degrees in law.

105 degrees at 70 universities in the UK.

Customise your search

Select the start date, qualification, and how you want to study

About Postgraduate Law

A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Law through distance learning offers a flexible platform for in-depth legal research and scholarship. It caters to those who wish to combine an advanced higher education qualification with their existing work or personal commitments by providing the ability to study from anywhere globally. You’ll be able to undertake the majority of your research at an off-campus location.

There are 19 such courses in the UK, and full-time students are expected to complete their work within three years. Courses are competitive, and a first class or upper second-class honours degree in law (or a subject related to the proposed area of research) is usually required.

What to Expect

The distance learning Law PhD spans approximately 3 to 6 years, depending on whether you choose to study with full-time or part-time enrolment. The programme is predominantly research-based, requiring candidates to produce a lengthy thesis that offers a significant, original contribution to the legal profession. This involves rigorous independent research, under the guidance of experienced faculty members who provide academic oversight and support through online communication.

Candidates are required to engage in critical analysis of legal texts, case studies and contemporary legal issues, demonstrating critical thinking and analytical skills. Online seminars and workshops are integral to the curriculum, promoting academic development and networking within the legal community.

Upon completion, graduates possess a thorough understanding of their chosen area of law, prepared for careers in academia, legal research, policy development or high-level advisory roles.

Related subjects:

• PhD Arbitration
• PhD Civil Law
• PhD Company Law
• PhD Constitutional and Public Law
• PhD Criminal Law
• PhD European Law
• PhD International Law
• PhD Jurisprudence
• PhD Labour Law
• PhD Law and Legal studies
• PhD Law of Specific Areas and Countries
• PhD Legal Practice
• PhD Legal Practice and Procedures
• PhD Legal Rights (Law)

• Course title (A-Z)
• Course title (Z-A)
• Price: high - low
• Price: low - high

Law and Social Change at Birkbeck PhD

Birkbeck, university of london.

The School of Law's full-time MPhil/PhD programme in Law and Social Change is offered under an international consortium arrangement led by Read more...

• 4 years Full time degree

University of Hull

About our programmes We welcome applications for postgraduate research into many areas of law at PhD level. Our particular range of Read more...

• 3 years Full time degree: £4,712 per year (UK)
• 5 years Part time degree: £2,356 per year (UK)

PhD Postgraduate Research in law

University of east anglia uea.

UEA Law School is one of the top law schools in the United Kingdom. We want your research to make a real difference. Our inspiring Read more...

• 6 years Part time degree: £2,356 per year (UK)

MPhil/PhD Law

University of chester.

The University of Chester Law School provides a rich and supportive environment for postgraduate research and welcomes students wishing Read more...

• 3 years Full time degree: £4,786 per year (UK)
• 4 years Part time degree: £2,393 per year (UK)

Law MPhil/PhD

Ucl (university college london).

UCL Laws has a strong international and multidisciplinary research environment, focused around all sixteen of our research centres, Read more...

• 3 years Full time degree: £6,035 per year (UK)
• 5 years Part time degree: £2,930 per year (UK)

Bangor University

Bangor School of Law welcomes applications from suitably qualified graduates to read for the degrees of PhD, MPhil and LLM Res by Read more...

• variable - to suit the learner Full time degree: £4,712 per year (UK)
• variable - to suit the learner Part time degree: £2,356 per year (UK)

SOAS University of London

The School of Law accepts candidates for research work leading to a PhD. The central feature of PhD work is the close relationship Read more...

• 3 years Full time degree: £4,860 per year (UK)
• 6 years Part time degree: £2,430 per year (UK)

Oxford Brookes University

We have a lively and supportive research culture with a number of specialist research groups led by internationally recognised Read more...

• 4 years Part time degree: £2,356 per year (UK)

PhD Security, Conflict and Human Rights

University of bath.

This course brings together research perspectives from disciplines such as political science, sociology and psychology, as well as Read more...

• 2 years Full time degree: £4,800 per year (UK)
• 3 years Part time degree: £2,400 per year (UK)

University of Kent

Our Research Students benefit immensely from a vibrant research community, a supportive environment and many opportunities to engage Read more...

• 3 years Full time degree
• 5 years Part time degree

Law PhD (Doctor of Philosophy)

Kingston university.

Whether you are planning a career as an academic within the education sector, or as a professional researcher within the public or Read more...

Royal Holloway, University of London

The multidisciplinary Department of Law and Criminology is home to applied, theoretical and doctrinal research across Criminology, Forensic Read more...

• 4 years Full time degree: £4,786 per year (UK)

PhD (School of Law) Doctorate

University of bradford.

Our Law PhD programme enables you to conduct legal research under the supervision of our international, experienced, and highly committed Read more...

• 6 years Part time degree: £2,342 per year (UK)

Mphil Phd School of Business and Law

University of east london.

The School gives postgraduate research students the chance to learn from the best academic minds and industry experts. You’ll be studying Read more...

• 3 years Full time degree: £5,740 per year (UK)
• 5 years Part time degree: £2,870 per year (UK)

PhD Human Rights

University of essex.

Our PhD Human Rights was established to meet the demands of our students who have an established interest in human rights and wish to Read more...

• 7 years Part time degree

University of Glasgow

Our staff are experts from across all areas of the law, supervising top-calibre international research students. Our academic staff Read more...

Law PhD, MPhil - Socio-Legal Studies

University of leicester.

Leicester Law School is a research-led department, recognising the important relationship between excellence in research and in teaching. Read more...

• 6 years Distance without attendance degree: £4,333 per year (UK)
• 6 years Part time degree: £2,393 per year (UK)

Law LLM (by research), MPhil, PhD

Newcastle university.

Our Law LLM by Research, MPhil and PhD are courses of independent research under supervision. Join us for your Law LLM by Research or an Read more...

• 36 months Full time degree: £4,712 per year (UK)
• 72 months Part time degree: £2,356 per year (UK)

University of Nottingham

With well-established research centres and links to leading institutions around the world, the School of Law is a dynamic centre for PhD Read more...

• 3 years Full time degree: £5,100 per year (UK)
• 6 years Part time degree

University of Plymouth

The law group has diverse interests with specific, discipline-leading, strengths in intellectual property, cyberlaw, discrimination, human Read more...

• 3 years Full time degree: £4,500 per year (UK)
• 4 years Part time degree: £3,030 per year (UK)

1-20 of 105 courses

Course type:

• Distance learning PhD
• Full time PhD
• Part time PhD

Qualification:

Universities:.

• University of Warwick
• University of West London
• Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London
• Liverpool John Moores University
• City, University of London
• University of Portsmouth
• Cardiff University
• University of Suffolk
• University of Buckingham
• University of Sussex
• University of Aberdeen
• The University of Edinburgh
• King's College London, University of London
• Ulster University
• University of Salford
• University of Reading
• University of Sunderland
• Birmingham City University
• London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London
• University of Lincoln

Related Subjects:

PhD, MPhil Law

Research opportunities.

You can study a PhD or an MPhil in Law. A PhD in Law requires three years of full-time study full-time while an MPhil requires one year of full-time study.

The Strathclyde Law School also welcomes part-time PhD and MPhil students. Part-time research degrees provide a great opportunity to research in an area that relates to your profession. They also enable you to undertake postgraduate research and gain a PhD or MPhil without having to leave employment.

Our expertise

The Law School has expertise in the following areas:

• Socio-legal studies
• Access to justice & the provision of legal services
• Constitutional & administrative law
• Dispute resolution
• Environmental law & governance
• Human rights
• Law, crime & justice
• Law, technology & regulation
• Scottish private law
• International & EU migration law & governance
• EU & UK competition law
• EU & UK labour law
• EU external relations
• Law & society
• Finance law
• Internet law & policy
• Intellectual property
• Data protection
• Law and technology
• Gender, sexuality & the law

Further information on members of staff’s areas of expertise can be found under the supervisors' tab and on their  staff profile pages .

View our current research opportunities

John anderson research studentship scheme (jarss).

John Anderson Research Studentship Scheme (JARSS) doctoral studentships are available annually for excellent students and excellent research projects.

There are two main sources of funding:

• Central University funding
• Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council - Doctoral Training Partnership (EPSRC - DTP) funding.

The JARSS 2023/2024 competition will open in October 2023 and students successful in this competition will commence studies in October 2024. Faculties will set their own internal deadlines for the competition.

Academics/Supervisors make the applications for this scheme and there are various deadlines across the Department and Faculties, therefore, in the first instance, all interested students should contact the Department where they would like to carry out their research.

Read what our students say

Kathryn McKenzie

I have found the research community at Strathclyde to be very engaged. Anytime I feel the need to discuss a topic or ask for assistance on anything, I know there is someone I can turn to.

Graham Hamley

The support that I have received thus far at Strathclyde has been exceptional. I set up regular meetings with my supervisors, who help me define the focus and direction of my research.

John Hughes

As a part-time, mature student working mainly overseas, the University was very flexible with my study timescales, attendance at courses and meetings with my supervisors.

Bryan Yan Wang

My supervisors always give me very helpful feedback. Instead of giving me direct answers, they always encourage me to the find the answer by myself, which is helpful in developing critical thinking skills and independent study skills.

The university also offers a range of training courses for PhD students on topics from tutoring to presenting your research, which is useful not only in the context of completing the PhD but preparing for the next steps of your career.

Tania Nascimento

I’ve been lucky to have had the opportunity to choose my supervisors, so I chose the best! They have been a source of intellectual inspiration as well as giving fantastic guidance, advice, and support whenever needed. It is rare to find people in academia that let your ideas flourish and your voice be heard - I have been very lucky to find supervisors who possess all these traits.

Strathclyde encourages critical thinking. Our master courses focus on discussion. During the seminars, students have the opportunities to share their views based on their cultural background, experiences and readings. This communication inspires the students to understand the world from different angles.

Fees & funding

All fees quoted are per academic year unless otherwise stated.

Entrants may be subject to a small fee during the writing up period.

Fees may be subject to updates to maintain accuracy. Tuition fees will be notified in your offer letter.

All fees are in £ sterling, unless otherwise stated, and may be subject to revision.

Annual revision of fees

Students on programmes of study of more than one year (or studying standalone modules) should be aware that tuition fees are revised annually and may increase in subsequent years of study. Annual increases will generally reflect UK inflation rates and increases to programme delivery costs.

Please note: the fees shown are annual and may be subject to an increase each year. Find out more about fees .

Postgraduate research at the Strathclyde Doctoral School

The Strathclyde Doctoral School provides a vibrant and comprehensive student-centred research and training environment in order to grow and support current and future research talent.

The School encompasses our four faculties and is committed to enriching the student experience, intensifying research outputs and opportunities, and ensuring training is at the highest level. As a postgraduate researcher, you'll automatically become a member of the Strathclyde Doctoral School.

Research student Jess talks about studying for a PhD at Kent.

About Kent Law School

Kent Law School (KLS) is the UK's leading critical law school. Its research has been ranked second in the UK by the Times Higher Education. A cosmopolitan centre of world-class critical legal research, it offers a supportive and intellectually stimulating place to study postgraduate taught and research degrees.

In addition to learning the detail of the law, students at Kent are taught to think about the law with regard to its history, development and relationship with wider society. This approach allows students to fully understand the law. Our critical approach not only makes the study of law more interesting, it helps to develop crucial skills and abilities required for a career in legal practice.

You study within a close-knit, supportive and intellectually stimulating environment, working closely with academic staff. KLS uses critical research-led teaching throughout our programmes to ensure that you benefit from the Law School’s world-class research. 

It has established a number of research centres and groups that focus on particular areas of law, and postgraduate research students are encouraged and welcome to become involved with those that are close to their own research interests

Everything you need to know.

Entry requirements, study support.

A first or good second class honours degree in law or a relevant subject. A Master’s degree which incorporates a separate dissertation component is strongly recommended. Particular attention will be paid to your demonstrated ability to undertake a sustained piece of academic research and writing.

All applicants are considered on an individual basis and additional qualifications, professional qualifications and relevant experience may also be taken into account when considering applications. 

Please see our International Student website for entry requirements by country  and other relevant information. Due to visa restrictions, students who require a student visa to study cannot study part-time unless undertaking a distance or blended-learning programme with no on-campus provision.

English language entry requirements

This course requires a Very Good level of English language, equivalent to a high B2 on CEFR.  

Details on how to meet this requirement can be found on our  English Language requirements webpage . 

Examples:  

IELTS 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component 

PTE Academic 67 with a minimum of 59 in each sub-test 

A degree from the UK 

A degree from a Majority English Speaking Country 

Postgraduate research is a fantastic opportunity and significant investment in your future, enabling you to expand your knowledge, skills and career options – all while making a meaningful impact and contribution to an area you are passionate about.

At Kent, we also recognise the significant financial investment that comes with postgraduate study, and we offer a range of scholarships for our postgraduate researchers, to help keep your mind on your studies, and off your finances.

Scholarships can be broad, or specific to your situation, background or even country – so please do use our scholarships finder to discover the options available to you.

We also have research partnership funding with research councils and government schemes in specific areas of interest that can help you take your research to the next level with additional financial support.

Find out more on our fees and funding page and discover what option is right for you.

Postgraduate resources

Postgraduate students at Kent Law School have access to a postgraduate computing room, study area and common room with wireless internet access. The Law School has an active and inclusive extra-curricular academic and social scene, with weekly graduate seminars, a postgraduate student group for all students, and a regular guest lecture programme organised by our research centres and groups (which include the Centre for Critical International Law, the Kent Centre for Law, Gender and Sexuality, the Kent Centre for European and Comparative Law, the Kent Centre for Interdisciplinary Spatial Studies, the Center for Critical Thought and the Social Critiques of Law Research Group).

Award-winning Law Library

Our Law Library has long been a leader in the development of electronic resources for legal teaching and research. The extensive and up-to-date law collection in the University’s Templeman Library is particularly strong on electronic material, and the Electronic Law Library includes numerous legal databases, which are increasingly invaluable tools for research. In addition, you can access the text of thousands of law journals online. Our law librarian is available to train you to use these resources and runs regular legal research classes with postgraduate students.

We have a dedicated postgraduate office, offering support from application to graduation. Research students benefit from a research training programme in the first year. An academic staff member acts as postgraduate research co-ordinator and runs a weekly postgraduate study group, at which students present and discuss research. The Law School provides research students with an allowance for conferences and other research expenses, and an annual printing allowance.

Dynamic publishing culture

Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. Recent contributions include: Modern Law Review ; Social & Legal Studies ; The Canadian Journal of Law & Society ; Legal Studies ; Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society ; Law and Critique ; Law Culture and The Humanities Journal .

Researcher Development Programme

Kent's Graduate School co-ordinates the Researcher Development Programme for research students, which includes workshops focused on research, specialist and transferable skills. The programme is mapped to the national Researcher Development Framework and covers a diverse range of topics, including subject-specific research skills, research management, personal effectiveness, communication skills, networking and teamworking, and career management skills.

Criminal Justice

Much of the School's research activity in criminal justice takes place in co-operation with the School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Research and under the auspices of the Kent Criminal Justice Centre. Established in 1996, the Centre co-ordinates and encourages research in the field of criminal justice, and develops teaching and education initiatives, especially in co-operation with local criminal justice agencies.

Critical Commercial Law and Business Law and Regulation

Kent Law School has established a rich tradition of critical scholarship on the legal regulation of the business practices and commercial relations of market economies. Our experts inform research-led teaching in such fields as consumer debt and bankruptcy, secured credit, intellectual property, International Financial Institutions, economic development, international trade and business transactions, commercial arbitration, international labour regulation, corporate governance, regulation of personal financial services, e-commerce, and the law relating to banking and information technology.

Critical Obligations

Our expertise in the area of obligations shares a commitment to challenging the apparently coherent and common-sense rules of contract and tort. We do this by identifying the conflicts in the world outside of the textbook that shape and destabilise the operation of these rules, and by revealing the ideological, political, and distributive biases that the rules of contract and tort help to perpetuate.

Environmental Law

The Law School has long been established as a recognised centre of excellence in research and graduate teaching in environmental law, spanning international, EC and national law and policy. Current research interests include climate change, the aquatic environment, biodiversity conservation, regulation and enforcement, and trade.

European and Comparative Law

European and Comparative Law is being conducted both at an individual level as well as at the Kent Centre for European and Comparative Law, which was established in 2004 with a view to providing a framework for the further development of the Law School’s research and teaching activities in this area. Research and teaching reaches from general areas of comparative and European public and private law to more specialised areas and specific projects.

Gender and Sexuality

Home to the Kent Centre for Law, Gender and Sexuality, Kent Law School makes a significant contribution to the development of feminist perspectives on law, nationally and internationally. The Centre produces wide-ranging interdisciplinary work, drawing on a broad range of intellectual trajectories in addition to legal studies, including political theory, philosophy, sociology, political economy, cultural studies, geography, history, and drama. The Centre explores how sexuality is produced through political categories of difference and how it is governed. The research carried out by the Centre demonstrates a shared preoccupation with inequality and social change.

Governance and Regulation

Legal research involves studying processes of regulation and governance. This research cluster focuses on the character of regulation and governance to critically understand the different modes through which governing takes place such as the conditions, relations of power and effects of governance and regulation. Work within this area is methodologically diverse. Intellectually, it draws on a range of areas including socio-legal studies; Foucauldian perspectives on power and governmentality; Actor Network Theory; feminist political theory and political economy; postcolonial studies; continental political philosophy; and cultural and utopian studies.

Healthcare Law and Ethics

A number of Kent Law School (KLS) staff have interests in the area of Health Care Law and Ethics, focusing in particular on issues relating to human reproduction. Much of the research carried out by scholars in this area is critical and theoretical and has a strong interdisciplinary flavour. In addition to conducting their own research projects, staff have developed strong and fruitful collaborations with ethicists and medical professionals.

International Law

The starting point for research in international law at Kent Law School is that international law is not apolitical and that its political ideology reflects the interests of powerful states and transnational economic actors. In both research and teaching, staff situate international law in the context of histories of colonialism to analyse critically its development, doctrines and ramifications. Critical International Law at KLS engages with theories of political economy, international relations and gender and sexuality to contribute to scholarly and policy debates across the spectrum of international law, which includes public, economic, human rights, criminal and commercial law. Scholars at the Centre for Critical International Law engage in the practical application of international law through litigation, training, research and consultancies for international organisations, NGOs and states.

Law and Political Economy & Law and Development

Law and its relation to political economy are addressed from a variety of angles, including the exploration of the micro and macro level of economic regulations as well as theoretical aspects of law and political economy.

Legal Theories and Philosophy

Identifying the fact that several academics do work in cultural, philosophical and political theory (including on normative concepts, religion and the state). Feminist and critical legal theories, including law and humanities approaches, as well as classical jurisprudence and philosophy of law, are focal points at Kent Law School.

Property Law

Kent Law School's property lawyers have a range of overlapping interests in both global and local property issues, as well as theoretical and historical ones. Their work covers indigenous people’s rights, the environment, housing, community land, social enterprise, cultural heritage law and urban design, as well as the question of intellectual property. They have links with anthropologists working at the University and have run a very successful series of workshops exploring common interests. Their research draws on a multiplicity of theoretical perspectives including postcolonialism, feminism, and Foucault.

Other research areas within KLS include:

• human rights
• law and culture
• law, science and technology
• legal methods and epistemology
• race, religion and the law
• legal history
• law and philosophy.

Staff research interests

Kent’s world-class academics provide research students with excellent supervision. The Law School is recognised for the international quality of its research, with expertise across many areas of law.

Profiles for each member of academic staff and their research interests are listed on the School’s website, and we encourage intending students to review them to identify a potential supervisor. You can also use Kent’s ‘find a supervisor’ function to search the profiles, searching by member of staff or by keyword related to your area of academic interest.

We also welcome and encourage you to contact the Law School prior to making an application; to discuss your proposed research, and to ensure that our expertise matches your research interests.

Employability is a key focus throughout the University and at Kent Law School you have the support of a dedicated Employability and Career Development Officer together with a broad choice of work placement opportunities, employability events and careers talks. Details of graduate internship schemes with NGOs, charities and other professional organisations are made available to postgraduate students via the School’s Employability Blog.

Law graduates have gone on to careers in finance, international commerce, government and law or have joined, or started, an NGO or charity.

The 2024/25 annual tuition fees for this programme are:

Full-time: Home - £TBC | EU - £18,600 | Overseas - £18,600

Part-time: Home - £TBC | EU - £9,300 | Overseas - £9,300

See the  Tuition Fees table for the most current information.

For students continuing on this programme fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.* If you are uncertain about your fee status please contact  [email protected] .

General information

For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide .

For students continuing on this programme, fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.* 

Your fee status

The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from  UKCISA  before applying.

Additional costs

General additional costs.

Find out more about  general additional costs  that you may pay when studying at Kent. 

Search our  scholarships finder  for possible funding opportunities. You may find it helpful to look at both:

• University and external funds
• Scholarships specific to the  academic school  delivering this programme.

We have a range of subject-specific awards and scholarships for academic, sporting and musical achievement.

Ready to apply?

Please see the Kent Law School's guide to writing a research proposal for advice and guidance.

Learn more about the  application process  or begin your application by clicking on a link below.

You will be able to choose your preferred year of entry once you have started your application. You can also save and return to your application at any time.

Need help deciding?

Our friendly team is on hand to help you with any queries you have.

Find the right supervisor for your and your research project.

Experience our stunning campuses.

Everything you need to know about applying to Kent from abroad.

Apply for entry to Law

• Full-time at Canterbury
• Part-time at Canterbury

Join our community

Supporting your success

We are here to support your postgraduate journey.

Kent ranked top 50 in The Complete University Guide 2024 .

Support for funding so you can focus on your studies.

Research excellence.

Kent has risen 11 places in THE’s REF 2021 ranking, confirming us as a leading research university.

It’s easy to study on or off campus at Kent – discover what is right for you.

Recommended pages

• Undergraduate open days
• Postgraduate open days
• Accommodation
• Information for teachers
• Maps and directions
• Sport and fitness

Law PhD by Distance Learning

What is a phd by distance learning.

A PhD by Distance Learning allows you to undertake the majority of your research at an off-campus location. You are therefore able to do the research required for your PhD in a location of your choosing; only making one annual visit to the University.

Why study by distance learning?

The main advantage of studying by distance learning is the opportunity to undertake research supervised by one of our world-renowned academics without having to relocate geographically to the Birmingham region. The flexibility offered by distance learning will allow you to combine study with other commitments, including work and family.

Is the distance learning route for you?

The distance learning route to PhD study is not for everyone. You need to have a very clear idea of your research project and be able to motivate yourself. Undertaking PhD study off campus can sometimes be quite isolating, so the ability to proactively seek out connections from within relevant research communities is important. This route is well-suited to those who have a project associated with their work or particular interests and where resources are available locally to support your research e.g. appropriate archives and data collections.

Can I study by Distance Learning in the UK?

Distance Learning courses can be undertaken from anywhere in the world, including the UK. 

However, it is worth noting that supervisory sessions for Distance Learning students will take place via audiovisual communications, such as Skype or Facetime, rather than in person. 

While this 21st Century approach has proved effective, for those applicants who would prefer to visit the campus for face-to-face meetings with their supervisor, the traditional part-time study option would be more appropriate. 

• One return economy flight per year for the required two-week campus visit in September
• Accommodation at the University for the required two-week campus visit in September
• One return economy flight at the end of the study period for the three-day PhD viva examination
• Accommodation at the University for the three-day viva examination

How will I be supported?

You will receive the same level of support and supervision as on-campus students. The only difference is that supervisory sessions will take place via audio and visual communication services such as Skype or Facetime, rather than in person.  

When would I start?

We encourage you to start your PhD in the month of September so that you can attend an induction along with other PhD candidates beginning their research at the same time as you. However, other arrangements may be possible with agreement from your supervisor.

How often will I need to be on campus?

Although you may be able to undertake the majority of your study at an off-campus location, you will be fully funded to make one compulsory visit to the University per year of study. This will enable you to meet your supervisory team, undertake intensive research skills training and make a start on your doctoral studies. You will then be invited to attend the University for annual meetings which will give you the opportunity to interact with other doctoral students both socially and academically, undertake important progress meetings and carry out necessary training. You will also generally be required to be present on campus for your viva voce.

Am I eligible?

Before we can offer you a place it is important that you have agreement from your potential supervisor and that they are satisfied that you will be able to undertake the PhD on an off-campus basis. This may mean that slightly different entry requirements apply, such as English language and more extensive research skills training. Agreements will also need to be reached regarding some of the more practical aspects of undertaking the PhD in this way (for example attendance requirements, suitability of the chosen residency etc). It is important that arrangements are discussed early so that all parties involved know what to expect and to ensure you are able to successfully complete your studies.  

UCL Faculty of Laws

• Short Courses

Competition Law and Policy Workshop: A Foresight Approach

04 June 2024, 8:30 am–6:30 pm

A Cambridge-UCL Competition Law and Policy Hub event

Event Information

The Cambridge-UCL Competition Law and Policy Hub is delighted to invite you to 'Competition Law and Policy Workshop: A Foresight Approach', a conference aimed to engage with groundbreaking scholarship on the current and future challenges of competition law, taking a foresight perspective.

The workshop will be held at UCL Faculty of Laws on Tuesday 4th June 2024 from 11 am to 17.45. It will be preceded by the UCL Competition Law and Policy Book Fest to which you are all cordially invited to attend (from 9.00 - 11.00).

About the workshop

We aim to provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of groundbreaking research on new approaches, concepts, tools and themes in EU and UK competition law scholarship that will make an impact in a fast changing world. We are eager to involve junior and mid-career researchers based in the UK (or in the EU) in order to present their recent research that fits the overall theme of the conference.

Each session will be an interactive discussion that will involve a short presentation of the papers by their authors, discussion by a commentator and time for a Q&A session with the audience.

We are particularly eager to promote inter-disciplinary perspectives in competition law scholarship.

09.30 Welcome: Prof. Ioannis Lianos & Prof. Okeoghene Odudu

09.35 1st UCL Competition Law and Policy Book Fest

This session will proceed to four book launches for books recently published by UCL related authors. A short presentation by the author, followed by brief commentator remarks and then 10 minutes of discussion and questions.

Chair: Okeoghene Odudu (Cambridge)

• Amber Darr's Competition Law in South Asia – comment by Dina Waked (Sciences Po Paris)
• Ioannis  Lianos', Alexey Ivanov's & Dennis Davis' Competition Law and Global Food Value Chains – comment by Eleanor Fox (NYU) & Julian Nowag (Lund)
• Gonenc Gurkaynak's Innovation Paradox in Merger Control – comment by Pablo Ibanez Colomo (LSE)

10.30 Coffee Break

10:45 - 11:00 Igor Nikolic's Licensing Standard Essential Patents – comment by Robin Jacob (UCL)

11.00  Session 1: New Challenges to Competition Law: Digital Ecosystems, AI Chair: Pablo Ibanez Colomo (LSE)

• Pankhudi Khandelwal (EUI), ‘Interoperability in Digital Markets: Extending the regulatory and technical framework from the financial sector’
• Quentin B. Schäfer (Strathclyde), ‘AI, IP, and Competition Policy: Adjusting Policy Levers to a new GPT’
• Deni Mantzari (UCL), ‘FRAND in Article 6(12) DMA: a pragmatic approach with unintended consequences’
• Ioannis Lianos (UCL), Klaas Hendrik Eller (U Amsterdam), Tobias Kleinschmitt (Humboldt), ‘Towards a Legal Theory of (Digital) Ecosystems’

13.00  Lunch

14.00  Session 2: Law and Political Economy of Competition Law in the 21st century: the complexity challenge Chair: Ioannis Lianos (UCL)

• Oles Andriychuk (Newcastle Univ), ‘EU Digital Competition Law: The Socio-Legal Foundations’
• Stavros Makris (Glasgow), ‘A Smithian Political Economy Approach for the Competition Law of the 21st Century’
• Amber Darr (Manchester), ‘Human development and the Potential of Competition: a South Asian Perspective’
• Andrew McLean (Edinburgh), ‘Innovation Against Change’

Commentator:  Justin Lindeboom (Groningen)

15.30  Coffee Break

15.50 Session 3: Trends: Main Themes in Competition Law Scholarship Chair: Despoina Mantzari (UCL)

• Grigoris Bacharis (LSE) and John Kwan (CMA), ‘Public Redress in UK Competition Enforcement: A Study of Rationales and Techniques’
• Matthew Twendell (Geradin and Partners/UCL), ‘Restitutionary relief for competition law infringements’
• Todd Davies (UCL) and Spencer Cohen (Oxford), ‘Error costs, Platform Regulation and Democracy’

Commentator: Julian Nowag (Lund)

17.30 Conclusions and Launch of the Valentine Korah Funding initiative

17.45 - Reception

The Cambridge-UCL Competition Law and Policy Hub is a joint initiative of the Centre for Law, Economics and Society at UCL Faculty of Laws and the Centre for European Legal Studies at Cambridge University and is directed by Professor Ioannis Lianos (UCL Faculty of Laws) and Professor Okeoghene Odudu (University of Cambridge).

The aim of the Hub is to enhance the research exchanges between academics and PhD students in the areas of competition law and economics and more broadly regulatory policy, between UCL and Cambridge University, but also beyond, and provide a forum for the presentation of groundbreaking research in these areas and of interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and reflections on topics of common interests.

More information about the Hub see https://www.ucl.ac.uk/cles/research-initiatives/cambridge-ucl-competition-law-and-policy-hub

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Didier Tuscan Hawkey viva success 2024

We am pleased to announce that Didier passed his PhD viva voce examination on Wednesday 15 May 2024.

Didier's thesis ‘Autonomous Vehicles and their interaction with section 2(1) of the Consumer Protection Act 1987' was supervised by Richard Hyde (Professor of Law, Regulation and Governance, University of Nottingham) and Peter Cartwright (Professor of Consumer Protection Law, University of Nottingham).   

The internal examiner was Dr Nicholas Gervassis (Assistant Professor in Law (Technology and Data), University of Nottingham) and the external examiner was Professor Christopher Willett (University of Essex).  Dr Timothy Masiko (Assistant Professor in Law, University of Nottingham) served as the chair of the examination.

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Can university protest camps be removed? What does the law say?

Associate Professor of Law, Deakin Law School, Deakin University

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Maria O'Sullivan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Deakin University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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Students have been protesting on university campuses across Australia for several weeks now, calling on their institutions to cut ties with weapons manufacturers supplying arms to Israel. Some have noted their intention to stay for months if necessary.

So far, these protests have been largely peaceful . But there have been concerns about student safety. And universities have become increasingly concerned about some of the terms used by some protesters.

Last week, some university leaders sought advice from Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus about whether they should act to remove protesters (Dreyfus replied that he did not provide legal advice).

Police in Victoria have also expressed concerns about the camps escalating into violence.

This raises important legal questions: what does the law say about protests at universities and at what point could either the police or university authorities remove protesters from their campuses?

Freedom of speech and the right to protest

The right to protest – made up of the freedom of speech and assembly – is a central component of a functioning democracy .

Australian universities are a part of this structure as they are established to facilitate learning, knowledge and debate. Additionally, many universities recognise they should promote critical and free enquiry, informed intellectual discourse and public debate.

Most universities in Australia are public institutions and campuses are open to the public. So students and non-students are permitted on university land to protest.

However, the right to protest is also subject to limitations in human rights law. First, the right to protest is limited to peaceful assemblies .

The United Nations has clarified that the right of peaceful assembly cannot be exercised using violence. This includes acts such as physical force against others that is likely to result in injury or death or serious damage to property.

What about hate speech?

But what about the use of hate speech on campuses? Would this be grounds for closing down the protests? There has been concern about the use of terms such as “intifada” during the protests and phrases such as “from the river to the sea”.

In my view, it would be unlawful under human rights law to close down an entire protest simply on the basis that some protesters are using that language.

Human rights law requires limitations on protests to be reasonable and proportionate . Removing entire encampments could be considered a disproportionate response in this case.

How could individuals respond?

Some Jewish students say they do not feel safe on campuses where these protests are happening.

Individuals can lodge complaints to federal and state human rights commissions about the use of hate speech.

For example, section 18C of the federal Racial Discrimination Act makes it unlawful as a civil matter to “offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate” a person in public on grounds of their race, colour, national origin or ethnicity.

Individuals can make a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission, which will investigate the allegation and conduct a conciliation process .

But it does not constitute a criminal offence, which would be grounds to remove the entire protest.

How could police respond?

The powers of police to deal with protests is governed by different state and territory laws. But, generally, police have powers to deal with breaches of the peace and other public disorders.

For instance, in New South Wales, police have special powers to respond to “a riot or other civil disturbance that gives rise to a serious risk to public safety”. Criminal offences such as property damage, assault and physical violence would also allow the police to intervene. So, police could intervene in the protests when criminal acts are taking place.

However, the police would still be expected to react with a proportionate response, and criminal offences by a few protesters would not warrant the removal of the entire encampment.

On top of this, police in the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Queensland would be required to consider the human rights charters that exist in those jurisdictions.

At what point could universities limit the protests?

The power of universities to intervene is more complicated. This is because Australian public universities are established under federal and state legislation and so they are not wholly private institutions. This means they are not free to stop people coming onto their property in the same way that a private company is.

But as a place of work, they also have legal obligations to ensure the safety of all people who work and study at their campuses.

In addition, most have academic freedom policies where they commit to allowing freedom of speech on campuses, as well as codes of conduct governing appropriate behaviour, which would apply to staff and students participating in the protests.

So, university heads would need to consider the complexities of all of these laws and policies in planning any intervention.

Essentially, the power of universities to intervene would depend on the nature of the protests.

For example, if the protests are disrupting classes or exams, this would not be grounds to remove the entire encampment, but may empower the university to ask the protesters to move to an area that is less disruptive. Importantly, universities in the ACT, Victoria and Queensland would be obliged to act in accordance with their human rights charters and not act disproportionately when dealing with protesters.

On a practical level, given the numbers of protesters involved, universities would probably need police to help disperse them. They do have university security, but not at the levels required to move protesters safely.

So, if there is going to be any limitation or removal of the protests in a lawful manner, it needs to happen only where necessary, reasonable and proportionate to do so.

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Association of Law Teachers’ Annual Seminar 2024

COMMUNITY AND PURPOSE IN THE LAW SCHOOL

Select date and time

• Wednesday June 26 12:00 PM
• Thursday June 27 9:30 AM

Queen's University Belfast - School of Law

About this event

Queen’s University Belfast

26th and 27th June 2024

Moot Court Room, Main Site Tower

Wednesday 26th June

12:00 Welcome

Joan Loughrey (Queen’s University Belfast)

12:10 Opening remarks

Alice Diver (Queen’s University Belfast)

12:15 Keynote I: Roundtable discussion on leadership in teaching and learning

Chair: Norah Burns (Queen’s University Belfast)

Sarah Hamill (Trinity College Dublin)

Director of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning

Ronan Condon (Dublin City University)

Teaching and Learning Convenor

Martin Regan (Queen’s University Belfast)

Director of Education

13:00 Lunch

14:00 Panel I: Redesigning the law school

Chair: Liam Sunner (Queen’s University Belfast)

Anthony O’Dwyer (Technological University Dublin)

Locked into technology and out of society: 20 years of social media in the class room

Alice Harrison (University of Portsmouth)

From induction to graduation (and beyond): a law programme inclusive and accessible by design

Emma Roberts (Salford University)

Leading a university law school in times of change: Are we nearly there yet?

15:30 Coffee

15:45 Panel II: Teaching internationally

Chair: John Taggart (Queen’s University Belfast)

Philip Bajon (Aston University)

Beyond Brexit: Teaching European Union law in the United Kingdom

Victoria Barnes (Queen’s University Belfast) and Patrizia Hobbs (Brunel University London)

International PhD recruitment and employability

Liam Sunner (Queen’s University Belfast)

Risk, rewards, and (E)U

17:15 Keynote II

Chair: Martin Regan (Queen’s University Belfast)

Meryl Dickinson (Brunel University London)

A joined up and holistic approach to community and wellbeing in Higher Education

18:00 Closing remarks

Norah Burns (Queen’s University Belfast)

18:10 Drinks reception

19:00 Dinner for presenters

Thursday 27th June

9.15 Keynote III

Eimear Brown (King’s Inn)

Community and Purpose in the Law School: Student Engagement in a Post-Pandemic Environment

Verona Ni Drisceoil (University of Sussex)

Who does the labour? Critiquing commitments to community, belonging and inclusion in today’s law school

10.45 Coffee

11.00 Panel IV: Instilling professional identities, bonds and ties

Susan Breau (Institute of Advanced Legal Studies)

Creating a learning community amongst PhD students at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies

Deborah Chay and Bridget Lavin (Brunel University London)

Embedding professional skills in the curriculum

John Taggart (Queen’s University Belfast) and Jason Elliott (Ulster University)

Invoking the vocation: Examining the purpose of undergraduate legal study

12:30 Lunch

13:30 Panel V: Ameliorating the modern law school

Chair: Alice Diver (Queen’s University Belfast)

Tony Bradney (Keele University)

Reasons to be cheerful: The future of university legal education

Zi Yang (Aston University)

‘It’s not you. Commercial law is just not fun’: Teaching law to non-law students

Maebh Harding (University College Dublin) & Aoife O’Donoghue (Queen’s University Belfast)

‘Doing Feminist Legal Work’: Feminist pedagogies in Ireland and Northern Ireland

14:45 Closing Remarks

Victoria Barnes (Queen’s University Belfast)

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