Law - LLB

Our LLB programme at University College Cork (UCC) is a postgraduate law degree offering a distinct pathway for both Law and non-Law graduates.

Pathway for Law Graduates
If you have already been awarded a law degree our LLB offers you an opportunity to expand your portfolio of legal knowledge across a wider area of law in preparation for a specific practice or for further study.

Our one-year full-time course includes a wide choice of modules which would allow you to choose a combination that best suits your interests. In particular, it offers you an opportunity to study additional fields of law, such as medical law, environmental law or human rights law, which may not have been available to you at the undergraduate level.

Pathway for Non-Law Graduates
If you are a graduate from a non-law discipline the LLB is a two-year postgraduate law degree that offers you sufficient core and optional law modules to undertake, should you wish, professional legal training at the end of the degree. It is designed to ensure that graduates will have strong legal training at the end of their two years of study (full time) along with a suitable critical understanding of core legal issues.

Beyond preparing you for legal professional qualifications, the LLB is also suitable for students who wish to pursue a career in a variety of areas such as business, journalism, civil service/government, and human rights.

Course Practicalities
This course involves a combination of lecture hours, tutorials/guided study, and reading hours in the library. Lectures generally take place from Monday to Friday. The course offers flexibility in delivery where available, and LLB Students may have the option of attending some of the modules on offer for the evening Law degree which take place from 5–9 pm Monday to Thursday.

Programme Content
Law Graduates

As a student with substantial legal knowledge already, you will be required to take 60 credits during your degree. Only Law of Property is compulsory leaving you with 50 elective credits. However, if you have already studied Property Law, or an equivalent module, you will be free to take the full 60 credits as electives. In addition, you may also seek to study up to 10 credits of LLM modules; permission of the Programme Director and relevant LLM Module coordinator will be required.

You will have the opportunity to widen your legal knowledge in areas such as:

Commercial Law
Corporate and Financial Services Law
Consumer Law
Immigration and Refugee Law
Human Rights Law
Welfare Law
Medical Law
Employment Law
Environmental Law
Non-Law Graduates

The LLB offers non-law graduates an opportunity to pivot towards a career in law. Our 2-year LLB places an emphasis on developing not just legal knowledge but also your skills base. You will be required to take 60 credits in each academic year, which will include a combination of compulsory and elective modules and a skills module.

While we recognise our primary responsibility is to provide legal knowledge, we also aim to ensure that you develop advocacy skills, experience teamwork and gain expertise in legal research, as well as gain a range of transferable skills.

As a non-law graduate, you will take core modules which are the foundation topics required for professional exams such as FE1s and Kings Inn exams. These include:

Criminal Law
Constitutional Law
Contract Law
EU Law
In addition, you will also have the option to study subjects such as:

Human Rights Law
Employment Law
Environmental Law
Corporate and Financial Services Law
Commercial Law
Visit the School of Law page for more information on our school.

See the College Calendar and Book of Modules for a more detailed description of course content and modules.

Additional Teaching Mode Information
Law Graduate LLB - Part-Time

The part-time option is taught during weekday working hours over 2 years.

Non-Law Graduate LLB - Part-Time

The part-time option is taught during weekday working hours over 4 years.

Modules

Further details on the modules listed above can be found in our Book of Modules. Any modules listed above are indicative of the current set of modules for this course but are subject to change from year to year.

University Calendar

You can find the full academic content for the current year of any given course in our University Calendar.

Candidates must be approved by the School of Law and must normally hold a Second Class Honours in a primary honours degree (NFQ, Level 8).

Applicants meeting the initial entry requirements and who have a Second Class Honours in a primary honours Law degree (NFQ, Level 8) or have equivalent professional qualification/s and experience in law, as determined by the School of Law, should apply for the 60 credit route.

The number of places available in any given year is dependent on resources and all qualified candidates may not be admitted.

The Law School uses a system of offer rounds to facilitate decision-making and early notification to applicants. Candidates are encouraged to apply as early as possible. Candidates who do not have their final degree marks available may be made a conditional (provisional) offer.

New applications will continue to be reviewed at each round if there are still programme places available.

English Language Requirements
Applicants that are non-native speakers of the English language must meet the university-approved English language requirements. Please visit our PG English Language Requirements page for more information.

For applicants with qualifications completed outside of Ireland
Applicants must meet the required entry academic grade, equivalent to Irish requirements. For more information see our Qualification Comparison page.

International/Non-EU Applicants
For full details of the non-EU application procedure visit our how to apply pages for international students.

In UCC, we use the term programme and course interchangeably to describe what a person has registered to study in UCC and its constituent colleges, schools, and departments.

Note that not all courses are open to international/non-EU applicants, please check the fact file above. For more information contact the International Office.

The closing date for non-EU applications is 30 June 2023

How Do I Apply
1. Check Dates: Check the opening and closing dates for the application process in the fact file boxes at the top of the page.

For Irish and EU applicants we operate a rounds system and you can check the rounds closing dates here.
Note that not all our programmes are subject to the rounds system so check the opening and closing dates for your specific programme in the fact file boxes above.

2. Gather Documents: Scanned copies of supporting documents have to be uploaded to the UCC online application portal and include:

Original qualification documents listed on your application including transcripts of results from institutions other than UCC.
Any supplementary items requested for your course if required.

3. Apply Online: Apply online via the UCC online application portal. Note the majority of our courses have a non-refundable €50 application fee.

Any questions? Use our web enquiry form to contact us.

Additional Requirements (All Applicants)
Please note you will be required to provide additional information as part of the online application process for this programme. This will include the following:

You may enter the details of professional or voluntary positions held. We strongly encourage you to complete this section with all relevant work experiences that will support your application.

In addition to your previously declared qualifications, please outline any additional academic courses, self-learning and professional training relevant to this programme.

Please describe your motivation and readiness for this programme.

Please enter the names & email addresses of 2 referees.

Written exams will take place before Christmas and in May. Not all modules will have formal examinations. Many modules use other types of assessment.

The skills modules are assessed on a pass/fail basis and include group work, presentations and oral advocacy.

Individual module assessments can be viewed in the Book of Modules

PAC course codes: CKL13 FT/CKL32 PT - 60 Credits; CKL44 FT/CKL45 PT - 120 Credits.

Law Graduate LLB - 1 Year Full-time or 2 Years Part-time;
Non-Law Graduate LLB - 2 years Full-time or 4 years Part-time

Start Date 7 September 2020

Skills and Careers Information
This is a challenging and highly rewarding postgraduate degree course which allows graduates from both law or other disciplines to develop strong legal knowledge and skills in a one or two year period. The majority of students continue from the LLB degree into the legal profession or to more specialised study on one of our LLM programmes and at doctoral level. Our LLB graduates enter a wide variety of careers including the legal profession, academia, banking, public service, the regulatory sector, management and journalism.