Law (Ordinary and Honours) LLB (Hons), LLB (Ord)

Level: Undergraduate

Subject: Law

Year of entry: 2026

Key facts

UCAS Code

M114

Award

LLB (Hons), LLB (Ord)

Duration of study

4 years

Delivery

Full-time

Study location

Central Area

Start date

September 2026

School

Edinburgh Law School

College

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Study abroad

Available

Accreditation

Available

Placement

No

Open days and events

About the degree programme

The LLB at Edinburgh is designed to prepare you for a career as a lawyer in Scotland, providing the ideal foundation for further professional study. 

In accordance with the requirements of the Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates, we will ensure you gain the legal skills and knowledge needed for a future as either a solicitor, or as an advocate, in the Scottish legal profession.

Our LLB programme will provide you with a range of useful skills in logic and rhetoric, which you can apply to other academic and professional fields. 

This programme aims to promote advanced knowledge and understanding of the theory, concepts, and rules of law in their socioeconomic, institutional, and historical frameworks. 

While the programme is grounded in Scots law and the Scots legal system, you will also learn the law and legal systems in:

  • the other parts of the United Kingdom
  • the European Union
  • the wider world

Start your extraordinary journey with Edinburgh Law School.

How long it takes to complete this degree programme

This programme is studied over 4 years.

A key benefit to studying a 4-year degree programme is that you have the flexibility to study a range of subjects, outside your chosen degree programme, in Year 1 and Year 2.

This allows you the opportunity to study other courses that interest you or enhance your degree. By the end of Year 2, you can decide which of these subject areas you want to focus on in the honours years of your programme.

How long it takes to complete our degree programmes

Programme rankings

  • 13th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings: Law 2024.
  • 21st in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025: Law & Legal Studies.

Programme benefits

  • Edinburgh Law School has been educating and training some of the world’s finest legal minds for more than 300 years.
  • Studying in Scotland’s capital, you will be at the heart of Edinburgh’s legal centre, with the highest courts in Scotland a five-minute walk away.
  • You will benefit from access to some of the best academic law materials in Europe in our law library.
  • You will join a supportive law community and be assigned to a LawPALS group. This is our peer-assisted learning scheme, which is designed to help you adapt to the study of law.
  • You will have access to a number of events and opportunities through the Law School's Career Opportunities Programme.

Find your entry requirements

Use the dropdowns to find out your entry requirements.

  1. Select the country or region where you are studying or where you studied your qualification.
  2. Select the qualification you are studying or studied.
United Kingdom,

Tuition fees for LLB (Hons) Law

View the tuition fees for one academic year of LLB (Hons) Law.

Tuition fees for this programme

Additional costs

On some courses, you will be encouraged to buy additional learning materials for learning and assessments.

If you choose to study abroad in Year 3, additional costs should be anticipated. Costs will vary depending on the country and partner university. 

Additional costs may include:

  • insurance
  • visa requirements
  • accommodation
  • travel

Accommodation and living costs

You need to cover your accommodation and living costs for the duration of your programme.

We estimate that a single student can potentially spend a maximum of £920 to £2,257 on living costs each month, depending on your accommodation.

This estimate covers the costs of:

  • accommodation
  • food
  • utility bills
  • travel within Edinburgh
  • health and wellbeing costs

See a breakdown of living costs

Scholarships and funding

Funding information

You can find detailed information on financial support available, based on where you are living, in our funding section.

Funding

What you will study

On the LLB programme you will study Scots law. 

In Years 1 and 2, you will study foundation 'Ordinary' courses. 

In Years 3 and 4, courses are studied at 'Honours' level, where you will choose from specialist courses covering a range of theoretical, practical and historical fields of study. 

The Honours programme in Years 3 and 4 places a strong emphasis on developing your analytical ability, with importance placed on written and oral skills. 

There are also opportunities to hone your oral skills through participation in legal 'moots' which reproduce a courtroom environment. Mooting is just one of the ways in which the Law School encourages you to develop legal skills through a range of innovative learning methods.

You will be introduced to general legal principles and legal techniques. You will study compulsory courses including:

  • Scottish Legal System
  • Critical Legal Thinking
  • Contract Law
  • Family Law
  • Public Law of the UK and Scotland
  • European Union Law

You will also have the opportunity to select from a range of optional courses, including optional courses in law.

Find courses

The courses you can study will vary from year to year and may be different for your year of entry.

You can get an idea of what you might study by viewing the latest course information for this programme.

Find Year 1 courses (2025-2026 academic year)

Your courses will include:

  • Property Law
  • Jurisprudence
  • Public Law and Individual Rights
  • Delict
  • Criminal Law

For professional purposes the following courses are also required:

  • Business Entities
  • Commercial Law
  • Evidence
  • Succession and Trust Law

You will also have the opportunity to select a course from a range of options including optional courses in law.

Find courses

The courses you can study will vary from year to year and may be different for your year of entry.

You can get an idea of what you might study by viewing the latest course information for this programme.

Find Year 2 courses (2025-2026 academic year)

Year 3 is the final year of the LLB (Ordinary) programme.

In this year, you will receive advanced legal skills training during your honours study. You will also have the opportunity to specialise in further law subjects, chosen from a wide range of courses, including:

  • Commercial Law
  • International Law
  • Property Law
  • Family Law
  • Criminology

You will also study the compulsory course Advanced Legal Writing.

Study abroad

If you are studying law with a language, you will spend Year 3 abroad. For other students, study abroad is also an option.

Find courses

The courses you can study will vary from year to year and may be different for your year of entry.

You can get an idea of what you might study by viewing the latest course information for this programme.

Find Year 3 courses (2025-2026 academic year)

This is the final year of the LLB (Hons) programme. You will choose further optional advanced courses to expand your specialist knowledge.

You will also write a dissertation, based on a topic studied in Year 3. This will help you develop your legal research and writing skills.

Diploma in Professional Legal Practice

If you are planning to enter the Scottish legal profession, you will need to complete the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice after you graduate.

You can apply for the diploma during the final year of the LLB programme.

Find courses

The courses you can study will vary from year to year and may be different for your year of entry.

You can get an idea of what you might study by viewing the latest course information for this programme.

Find Year 4 courses (2025-2026 academic year)

Study abroad

You will have the opportunity to study abroad in Year 3 of this degree at one of our partner universities.

If international travel restrictions allow, you may be able to choose where you study from our selection of international partners.

A study abroad experience will allow you to immerse yourself in a different culture, enrich your learning and enhance your future job opportunities.

Your study abroad options

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

Large group lectures provide the teaching framework for law in Years 1 and 2, complemented by small group tutorial sessions.

Year 1 students will usually have two or three lectures per week for each course. You will also have a regular tutorial for each course. 

Years 3 and 4 consist of two-hour seminars, rather than lectures and tutorials, in which students are expected to discuss and explore topics in greater depth. 

All Year 1 students have access to Edinburgh's Law Peer-Assisted Learning Scheme (LawPALS). The Mooting Society provides you with opportunities to learn and practise courtroom skills.

Assessment

You will be assessed by a combination of coursework and exams.

Support for your studies

You will have access to a range of support services if you need them throughout your degree.

We will assign you to a student adviser, and this should be the first person to contact if you need help. They can guide you to other University service teams depending on what support you need.

Support for your studies

Our academic staff

Edinburgh Law School has been at the centre of the teaching and practice of law since its earliest days. Academic staff are experts in their field and passionate and supportive in their teaching. You will have easy, local access to:

  • the Edinburgh Sheriff Court
  • the Supreme civil and criminal Scottish courts
  • the Crown Office
  • the Scottish Government
  • the Faculty of Advocates
  • the Law Society of Scotland

You will come into frequent contact with the personnel of all of these institutions, both through field trips and through external teaching provided by personnel from these institutions on the programme.

Where you will study

Study location

The Law School has been housed in the Old College since the late 1800s. Our traditional and historic home underwent a full refurbishment, completed in 2019. This transformed the building into a 21st century home for the school, while celebrating and preserving the heritage and history of Old College.

The Law School is ideally placed for those studying and working in the law. It is within easy walking distance of the highest courts in Scotland and the Scottish Parliament.

Academic facilities

As a student at Edinburgh Law School, you will benefit from excellent teaching, study, and research facilities. 

Designed for the way you study, the new features include:

  • a law library
  • spacious seminar rooms
  • dedicated student social spaces, including a café

Our library is one of the largest law libraries in the UK.

Accreditation

Our LLB programmes are accredited by the Law Society of Scotland. You will be required to study certain courses to graduate with a fully qualifying degree.

Career paths

After graduating you can progress to the legal profession in Scotland by completing the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice, followed by a traineeship with a legal firm, to qualify as a solicitor. 

You can then opt to go to the Bar, to qualify as an advocate. This requires a period of 'devilling' under the supervision and direction of a practising advocate.

Careers outside Scotland

This programme is intended as a qualifying degree for professional practice in Scotland. There are rules in place which enable a Scots-qualified solicitor or advocate to re-qualify as a solicitor or barrister in England and Wales. 

A number of graduates also go on to qualify and practise law in other jurisdictions, in Europe and elsewhere. To do this, you must comply with the local conversion requirements and complete any further study non-Scottish jurisdictions require.

Non-legal career opportunities

The LLB is not only a gateway to practising law. Many of our graduates choose not to practise law. They find the LLB to be an excellent grounding for many other careers in areas such as:

  • financial services
  • politics
  • journalism
  • public policy
  • government work

Careers Service

Our Careers Service can help you to fully develop your potential and achieve your future goals.

The Careers Service supports you not only while you are studying at the University, but also for up to two years after you finish your studies.

With the Careers Service, you can:

  • access digital resources to help you understand your skills and strengths
  • try different types of experiences and reflect on how and what you develop
  • get help finding work, including part-time jobs, vacation work, internships and graduate jobs
  • attend careers events and practice interviews
  • get information and advice to help you make informed decisions

Visit the Careers Service website

Further study

Students intending to enter the Scottish legal profession must take, in addition to the professionally required LLB courses, the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at a Scottish University. Application for entry to the Diploma is made during the final year of the LLB degree.

Graduate profiles

Jamila Archibald

Degree: LLB (Hons) Law, PGD

Year of graduation: LLB, 2017 and PGD, 2018

Current work: In-house legal counsel

Alumni profile - Jamila Archibald

How to apply

You must submit a full application through UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) before the relevant deadline.

Guidance on applying through UCAS

What you need to apply

As part of your application, you will need:

  • your academic qualifications
  • a personal statement
  • evidence of your English language skills (with relevant qualifications)
  • a reference

How we select

If you have met, or are predicted to meet, all our entry requirements by the relevant deadline, then your application will go into our selection process.

As part of this selection process, we will review all the information you submit in your UCAS application when we decide who to select for this degree programme.

How we select applicants

When to apply

  • 2026 entry UCAS deadline: 14 January 2026 (6:00pm GMT)

This is the deadline for all UK, EU and international applicants to non-medicine and veterinary medicine programmes.

To find out if any degree programmes have spaces after 14 January 2026, search the University of Edinburgh on the UCAS website.

Search degrees that are open on the UCAS website

Key application dates and deadlines

After you apply

After you have applied for your degree programme, we suggest you have a look at the following information to help you prepare for university:

Applying as an international student

As an international student, you apply for this degree programme through UCAS.  

Find out more about applying through UCAS  

Visas and immigration 

If you do not have the right to live in the UK, you will need to apply for and secure a Student visa before the start date of your degree programme.  

Our Student Immigration Service can help you with the Student visa application process. 

Applying for a visa  

Agents  

An education agent is someone who can help you with the application process as an international student. 

We work with education agents around the world and have a list of local offices you can contact.  

Find contact details for an education agent

What our students say

Miguel, a graduate of the LLB programme, talks about what it's like to study at Edinburgh Law School.

Accommodation

We guarantee an offer of University accommodation for all new, single undergraduate students from outside Edinburgh. To be eligible, you need to meet all criteria and apply for accommodation by 16 August in the year of your entry to the University.

University accommodation website

Accommodation guarantee criteria

If you prefer to live elsewhere, we can offer you advice on finding accommodation in Edinburgh.

Accommodation information from the Edinburgh University Students' Association Advice Place

Societies and clubs

Our societies and sports clubs will help you develop your interests, meet like-minded people, find a new hobby or simply socialise.

Societies

Sports clubs

At Edinburgh Law School, students also have the opportunity to take part in a wide range of activities alongside their studies, which give them the chance to develop their skills and interests and to fully take part in the Edinburgh Law School community.

Find out more about the Law School's student groups and societies

The city of Edinburgh

Scotland's inspiring capital will form the background to your studies — a city with an irresistible blend of history, natural beauty and modern city life.

Find out more about living in Edinburgh

Health and wellbeing support

You will have access to free health and wellbeing services throughout your time at university if you need them.

The support services we offer include:

  • a student counselling service
  • a health centre (doctor's surgery)
  • support if you're living in University accommodation
  • dedicated help and support if you have a disability or need adjustment

Health and wellbeing support services

Contact us

Contact us through our enquiry team if you have any questions about this programme.

Open days, events and visits

Find out when our next open days will be taking place

Open days, events and visits

Chat to our students on Unibuddy

Related degree programmes

You may also be interested in

Discover Uni data

This information is part of a government initiative to enhance the material that higher education institutions provide about their degree programmes.

It is one of many sources of information which will enable you to make an informed decision on what and where to study.

Some programmes do not have Discover Uni data available.