LLB Law and French
UCAS code: MR11
Duration: 4 years
Delivery: Full-time
School: Law
College: Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Introducing LLB Law and French
Joint programmes allow you to study law alongside another named academic discipline. Over four years of study you will take a range of courses from both the Law School and the School with which your programme is combined.
Studying a joint degree at Edinburgh provides you with wide-ranging academic foundations and a broader qualification to apply for postgraduate degrees or employment.
The joint LLB in Law and French aims to promote advanced knowledge and understanding of the theory, concepts and rules of the law, as well as enabling you to study a language spoken in 29 countries throughout Africa and Europe, as well as in Canada.
Alongside intensive study of the French language, you will explore Francophone culture – its literature and cinema, but also its fascinating political history and philosophical ideas.
This programme also includes a compulsory year abroad in Year 3 at an institution which teaches in French, offering you the chance to have a culturally immersive experience in another country whilst also developing your legal and language skills.
Accreditation
Our LLB programmes are accredited by the Law Society of Scotland. However, this combined honours programme does not include all courses required to proceed to the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice and thereafter to the legal profession in Scotland.
It may be possible, in discussion with the Law School, for joint honours students to meet these requirements by studying additional courses.
On the joint LLB programme you will study Scots law alongside French.
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 up to 40 specialist courses covering a range of theoretical, practical and historical fields of study.
If you wish to retain the option of practising as a lawyer in Scotland, it may – but not always – be possible to complete the additional courses required.
Where this is an option, it will typically require extra study throughout the programme. Consequently, you must consider the possible impact of this on qualifying as a solicitor.
We highly encourage all students on joint degree honours programmes to discuss their intended pathway with the Law School.
Year 1
You will be introduced to general legal principles and legal techniques and 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 study the compulsory course French 1B. This course will help you develop your written and spoken skills in the French language. You will also engage intensively with modern French literature, culture and civilisation, focusing on social and political events from the Second World War to the 21st century.
Year 2
Your courses may include:
- Property Law
- Jurisprudence
- Public Law and Individual Rights
- Delict
- Criminal Law
- Revenue Law
- International Private Law
- Business Entities
- Commercial Law
- Evidence
- Succession and Trust Law
You will build on the language skills you developed in Year 1 in French, and learn more about Francophone literature and culture.
The focus now shifts to exploring the 16th to the 19th centuries, including world-renowned authors such as:
- Molière
- Montaigne
- Baudelaire
You will also study fascinating writers whose work has been considered marginal to French culture for reasons of gender or colonial politics.
Year 3
During Year 3, you will spend at least 30 weeks on approved study placement in a French-speaking country studying agreed courses in Law and French.
All students who spend Year 3 abroad must also take the compulsory course Advanced Legal Writing (Online).
Year 4
You will receive advanced legal skills training during your honours study and will have the opportunity to specialise in further law subjects, chosen from a wide range of courses, including:
- Commercial Law
- Property Law
- Family Law
- Criminology
You will also study further courses in French and have the option of completing a dissertation in law.
Our facilities
Law
The Law School has been housed in the beautiful Old College since the late 1800s. Our traditional and historic home has recently undergone a complete refurbishment as part of a £35m project.
As a student at Edinburgh Law School, you will benefit from brand new teaching, study, and research facilities that are at once historic and modern.
Designed for the way you study, the outstanding new features include:
- a spectacular law library
- spacious seminar rooms
- dedicated student social spaces
Our library is one of the largest law libraries in the UK.
Within easy walking distance of the highest courts in Scotland and the Scottish Parliament, the Law School is ideally appointed and placed for those studying and working in the law.
French
Teaching in French takes place in and around the University of Edinburgh's Central Area.
You will have access to the University's excellent resources including:
- computing resources
- audiovisual resources
- support services
- social spaces
You will also have access to specialist collections, including one of the best French collections in the UK in the National Library of Scotland.
Edinburgh's French cinema scene is particularly strong, with an annual French Film Festival, and plenty to see and do throughout the year. This includes the nearby recently upgraded and refurbished Institut français, which is an arm of the French Foreign Ministry. The centre promotes French language and culture, co-located with the French consulate on the city's Royal Mile.
The University is also home to the student-led French theatre society, Les Escogriffes, and to the online creative writing magazine, Babble.
Study abroad
During Year 3, you will spend the academic year on approved study placement in a French-speaking country.
How will I learn?
Law
Large group lectures provide the teaching framework for law in Years 1 and 2 complemented by small group tutorial sessions.
Year 1 students will normally have two or three lectures per course, per week. 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 more depth.
All Year 1 students have access to Edinburgh's Law Peer-Assisted Learning Scheme (Law PALS). The Mooting Society also provides you with opportunities to learn and practise courtroom skills.
French
French courses are taught by experienced lecturers and language tutors through a combination of:
- lectures
- seminars
- tutorials
- computer-assisted language learning
How will I be assessed?
You will be assessed by a combination of coursework and exams.
Programme details
Find out more about this programme's aims, what you will learn, how you will be assessed and what skills and knowledge you will develop.
To give you an idea of what to expect from this programme, we publish the latest available information. However, please note this may not be for your year of entry, but for a different academic year.
Law
After graduating you can progress on 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.
Please note however that this is only possible following a joint degree programme if you have been able to complete all additional courses required for the Diploma.
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.
Practising in other jurisdictions
There are also opportunities for Scottish-qualified lawyers to practise in other jurisdictions. There are EU rules in place which enable a Scots-qualified solicitor or advocate relatively quickly to re-qualify in France (and in Belgium and in Luxembourg) as an avocat; it is not clear if they will survive the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.
Other opportunities
Graduates who do not choose a legal career often use their skills and experience for employment in finance, management or journalism. Our graduates have also worked with international organisations such as the United Nations and (hitherto) the European Union.
French
Studying a language to degree level, especially when you spend a year abroad as part of your studies, gives you a set of skills and life experiences highly prized by employers.
With a qualification in French, you will know a major language of international communication, the fifth most widely spoken in the world.
The employment statistics for language graduates from the University of Edinburgh are impressive. Our graduates can be found in every kind of career, especially those that place a premium on thinking that is both disciplined and imaginative.
Naturally, many of our former students are working in roles where language skills are of special value, such as;
- outreach
- education
- translating and interpreting (for multinational companies and political institutions)
Standard entry requirement
The standard entry requirement is:
- SQA Highers: AAAAA (achievement by end of S5 preferred). BBB must be achieved in one year of S4-S5. (Revised 19/04/2021 to remove the grade range and provide more accurate information.)
- A Levels: AAA - ABB.
- IB: 36 points with 665 at HL - 34 points with 655 at HL.
Minimum entry requirement
The minimum entry requirement for widening access applicants is:
- SQA Highers: ABBB by end of S6. BBB must be achieved in one year of S4-S5.
- A Levels: ABB.
- IB: 34 points with 655 at HL.
More information for widening access applicants
Required subjects
The grades used to meet our entry requirements must include:
- SQA: Highers: English at B, at first attempt, and a language other than English at B. National 5s: French at B (if not at Higher).
- A Levels: English Literature, English Language or combined English at B, and a language other than English at B. GCSEs: French at B or 6 (if not at A Level). English Language and English Literature GCSE, both at A or 7, are accepted in place of A Level English.
- IB: HL: English at 5 and a language other than English at 5. SL: French at 5 (if not at HL).
Additional requirements
Language requirement
For degrees that have a subject requirement of a language other than English, students may not use their own native language to meet this requirement. In these instances, English or an alternative language other than native will be acceptable.
Find out more about entry requirements
International applicants
We welcome applications from students studying a wide range of international qualifications.
Mature applicants
We welcome applications from mature students and accept a range of qualifications.
You must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies, regardless of your nationality or country of residence.
SQA, GCSE and IB
For SQA, GCSE and IB students, unless a higher level is specified in the stated entry requirements, a pass is required in English at the following grades or higher:
- SQA National 5 at C
- SQA Standard Grade at 3
- SQA Intermediate 1 at A
- SQA Intermediate 2 at C
- GCSE/IGSCE at C or 4
- Level 2 Certificate Grade C
- IB Standard Level at 5 (English ab initio is not accepted for entry)
English language tests
We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:
- IELTS Academic module overall 6.5 with 5.5 in each component.
- TOEFL-iBT (including Special Home Edition) 92 or above with 20 in each section. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
- Cambridge English: Advanced or Proficiency overall 176 with 162 in each component.
- Trinity ISE: ISE II with a distinction in all four components.
We also accept a wider range of international qualifications and tests.
English language qualifications must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the degree you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, or Trinity ISE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.
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.
Please note that some programmes do not have Discover Uni data available.
Tuition Fees
Tuition fees for LLB Law and French
Additional costs
On some courses, you will be encouraged to purchase additional learning materials for assessments.
Funding
For more information on how much it will cost to study with us and the financial support available see our fees and funding information.
- Enquiry Management Team
- Email: futurestudents@ed.ac.uk
14 degrees in Law
- Law (Graduate Entry) (LLB) M115
- Law (Ordinary and Honours) (LLB) M114
- Law and Accountancy (LLB) MN14
- Law and Business (LLB) MN11
- Law and Celtic (LLB) MQ15
- Law and French (LLB) MR11
- Law and German (LLB) MR12
- Law and History (LLB) MV11
- Law and International Relations (LLB) ML1F
- Law and Politics (LLB) ML12
- Law and Social Anthropology (LLB) M1L6
- Law and Social Policy (LLB) ML14
- Law and Sociology (LLB) ML13
- Law and Spanish (LLB) MR14
You may also be interested in
Search the degree finder
14 degrees in Law
- Law (Graduate Entry) (LLB) M115
- Law (Ordinary and Honours) (LLB) M114
- Law and Accountancy (LLB) MN14
- Law and Business (LLB) MN11
- Law and Celtic (LLB) MQ15
- Law and French (LLB) MR11
- Law and German (LLB) MR12
- Law and History (LLB) MV11
- Law and International Relations (LLB) ML1F
- Law and Politics (LLB) ML12
- Law and Social Anthropology (LLB) M1L6
- Law and Social Policy (LLB) ML14
- Law and Sociology (LLB) ML13
- Law and Spanish (LLB) MR14