The University of Law

The University of Law is one of the UK's longest-established specialist providers of legal education. We can trace our origins to 1876 with the formation of leading tutorial firm Gibson & Weldon. With a rich heritage and a reputation for innovation and contemporary teaching practices, we continuously focus on developing the best legal minds. What really sets us apart from other universities is the guiding principle that the current and future lawyers we teach should only ever learn in a realistic, professional and contemporary context with plenty of practical, interactive engagement. That's why we keep our contact hours high and our teaching groups small.

All of our courses – from our undergraduate law degrees to our diverse range of postgraduate courses and professional development programmes – are designed with a unique, varied and innovative learning approach that’s proven to deliver self-reliant lawyers who can compete in the fast-changing world of legal services. With a focus on developing skills in problem-solving, weighing up arguments, critical thinking, and commercial awareness, our courses are designed to prepare you for the real-life challenges of the working world.

The University of Law is one of the UK's longest-established specialist providers of legal education. Our origins can be traced back to 1876 with the formation of the leading tutorial firm Gibson & Weldon, and later on, with the establishment of The Law Society School of Law. In 1962 the two were amalgamated to establish The College of Law. We were the first-ever independent institution to be granted degree awarding powers and not long after, in 2012 we gained university title.

We’re at the heart of legal education as the acknowledged leader in innovative, professional legal education for prospective lawyers and professional development training for those already qualified. Over the years, we have worked with virtually every UK law firm to help meet their training and development needs, with many firms sending their trainees exclusively to us.

We made history in 2006 by becoming the first independent institution to be granted degree awarding powers by the Privy Council, leading to the development of our professionally-focused Bachelor and Master of Laws degree programmes. With a rich heritage and a reputation for innovation and contemporary teaching practices, we continuously focus on developing the best legal minds.

In 2012, we were granted full university title and changed our name from The College of Law to The University of Law. This was an important development in our long history, reinforcing our absolute commitment to providing professional legal education of the highest quality to serve the needs of the legal profession and future generations of lawyers.

Our sale in 2012 resulted in a fund of circa £200m which allowed the creation of The Legal Education Foundation – one of the largest independent educational charities in the UK, dedicated to promoting the advancement of legal education and the study of law for future generations of students. It also allowed us to establish a University of Law scholarship fund of circa £400,000 per year.