BA Law and...

Program Overview

Key Information

Duration

3 or 4 years

Start of Programme

September

Attendance Mode

Full-time

Location

On Campus

Fees

• Home: £9,535
• International: £22,870

Entry Requirements

• AAA
• Contextual: ABB
• Applicants with standard qualifications such as A levels, IB or other high school qualifications considered equivalent to A levels) are not required to take the Law National Aptitude Test (LNAT), but the School of Law will consider making lower offers (eg AAA, AAB, ABB or 37, 36, 35 in International Baccalaureate) to candidates who do so and perform promisingly in the test.
• We also encourage applicants with non-standard qualifications (including Access to Higher Education Diploma and Foundation Courses) all of whom are required to take the LNAT. We also encourage students taking the SOAS Foundation Course at IFCELS to apply. Students offering level 3 BTEC qualifications either on their own or in combination will be required to take the LNAT.

International Entry Requirements

• Austria: Reifeprufungszeugnis / Maturazeugnis: four subjects at 1, 1, 1, 2
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Belgium: Diploma van Secundair Onderwijs: 85% (8.5/10, 17/20) overall
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Bulgaria: Diploma za Zavarsheno Sredno Obrazovanie: 5.7 and 5.5 in two State Maturity Exams
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Canada: High School Diploma: 85% with 5 acceptable Grade 12 subjects (most territories). British Colombia: AAAAA in Grade 12 subjects.
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• China: Senior Secondary Graduation Certificate + Gaokao: 83% overall in Gaokao PLUS 85% overall in Senior Secondary School Graduation Certificate (year 11 and 12)
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Croatia: Matura Certificate: 5 overall with 5 in 3 Higher level subjects
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Cyprus: Apolytirion with 2 A-Levels: Apolytirion 19/20 + A-level grades AA
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Czech Republic: Matura Certificate: 1, 1, 1, 2
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Denmark: Studentereksamen; Hojere Forberedelseseksamen; Hojere Handelseksamen; Hojere Teknisk Eksamen: 10 plus 10, 10, 10 in three Level A subjects
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Estonia: Gümnaasiumi lõputunnistus with the Riigieksamitunnistus: 4.5 with 85% in 3 state exams
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Finland: Ylioppilastukint / Studentexamen: four subjects at 7, 6, 6, 6
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• France: French Baccalaureat or Option Internationale du Baccalauréat (OIB): 15/20
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Germany: Abitur: 1.4
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Greece: Apolytirion of Geniko Lykeio with Pan Hellenic exams: 19/20
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Hong Kong: Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education: 555 in two electives and one core module (all other subjects grade 3)
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Hungary: Maturitná skúška / Maturita / Vysvedčenie o maturitnej skúške: 5.5 overall
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Iceland: Stúdentspróf: 8.5
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• India: Standard XII: 85% (CBSE, CISCE, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra & West Bengal boards), 90% (all other state boards)
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Ireland: Irish Leaving Certificate: H1, H1, H2, H2, H2
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Israel: Bagrut: Overall grade of 8-10, 90% with 3 subjects at 5-unit level
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Italy: Diploma Consequito con L’Esame di Stato: 90% overall
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Latvia: Certificate of General Secondary Education: 90% in four State subject exams
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Lithuania: Brandos Atestatas: 9/10 and 90% in three State Exams
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Malta: Advanced Matriculation Certificate: AA (Advanced) + AAA (Intermediate)
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Netherlands: Voorbereidend Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs: Overall 8 with 8, 8, 8, 8 in four subjects
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Norway: Vitnemål vidergaende opplaering: 5 overall
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Poland: New Polish Matura: 85% in three Advanced Level subjects
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Portugal: Diploma de Ensino Secundario: overall 18.5/20
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Romania: Diploma de Bacalaureat: 9.5 overall
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Singapore: Polytechnic Diploma (Nanyang, Ngee Ann, Singapore, Temasek and Republic Polytechnic): GPA 3.7
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Slovakia: Maturitná skúška / Maturita / Vysvedčenie o maturitnej skúške: four subjects at 1, 1, 1, 2
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• South Africa: National Senior Certificate: 77776
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Spain: Curso de Orientación Universitaria / Título de Bachillerato: 8.5 (sobresaliente)
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Sweden: Slutbetyg / Examensbevis från Gymnasieskolan: A in 1800 credits and no grades below D / 18.5 / mainly A overall (MVG)
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Switzerland: Federal Maturity Certificate: 5
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Tanzania: Advanced Certificate of Secondary Education: ACSE with AAA in 3 principle subjects
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Trinidad and Tobago: CAPE: Six CAPE units with grade 1 (+two double-unit courses = grade 1)
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• Turkey: Lise Diplomasi: 82-87% (depending on high school)
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB
• USA: High School Diploma plus ACT, SAT, or AP exams:
  • High School Diploma GPA 3.2 plus SAT 1300 or ACT 29 and 2 AP's at 5,5/ 3 AP's at 5,4,4 or
  • High School Diploma GPA of 3.4 plus 2 AP's at 5,5/ 3 AP's at 5,4,4 or
  • High School Diploma of 3.6 plus SAT 1380 or ACT 30 or
  • 2-year Associate degree GPA 3.3
• A Level equivalent: AAA
• Contextualised offer: AAB

Course Overview

The SOAS Law combined honours degree produces highly skilled, civic minded and critically engaged graduates, who can effectively contribute to their communities and societies through the knowledge and skills gained on this course.

In an increasingly interconnected world, law is no longer the preserve of single jurisdictions as legal issues are no respecters of national borders. A SOAS Law degree addresses this need by providing our students with an educational experience that equips you with a distinctive set of skills far beyond what is offered by most traditional Law Schools.

The nature of the Combined Honours degree enables you to develop a specialist pathway for yourself by studying a second subject.

The BA Law Combined Honours Degree is aimed primarily at those not wishing to become practicing lawyers, but provides students with a wide range of analytical and transferable skills and is suitable for any profession in which a non-specialised degree is required.

Why study Law Combined Honours at SOAS?

• SOAS is ranked 14th in the UK for Law (QS World University Rankings 2025)
• We're ranked 12th for Academic Reputation (QS World University Rankings 2025)
• Our research publications have been rated first in the UK - and our School of Law rated sixth in the UK - in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.

Combined Courses

• BA East Asian Studies and Law
• BA International Relations and Law
• BA Languages and Cultures and Law
• BA Languages and Cultures and Law including year abroad
• BA Law and Africa and Black Diaspora
• BA Law and Africa and Black Diaspora including year abroad
• BA Law and Arabic (Year Abroad)
• BA Law and Chinese (Year Abroad)
• BA Law and Economics
• BA Law and Global Development
• BA Law and History
• BA Law and Korean (Year Abroad)
• BA Politics and Law
• BA Social Anthropology and Law

Teaching and Learning

Modules are taught through a combination of lectures and tutorials, usually two hours lecture and one hour tutorial a week. Sometimes, one follows the other in a three-hour bloc. Sometimes, the tutorial is at a different time or on a different day than the lecture.

Tutorials are sessions in which students are expected to present reports and take a lead in discussions.

Depending on the size of the class, some intermediate and final year level modules are less strictly divided between a formal lecture and a tutorial discussion, and instead, the topic is briefly introduced by the lecturer, followed by a seminar discussion.

Contact hours

All full-time undergraduate programmes consist of 120 credits per year, in modules of 30 or 15 credits. They are taught over 10 or 20 weeks. The programme structure shows which modules are compulsory and which optional.

As a rough guide, 1 credit equals approximately 10 hours of work. Most of this will be independent study. It will also include class time, which may include lectures, seminars and other classes. Some subjects, such as learning a language, have more class time than others. In the Department of Law, many undergraduate modules have a weekly two hour lecture or seminar. Some modules may also had an additional hour of smaller group classes weekly or fortnightly.

The Independent Study Project (ISP)

This can be taken by final-year students only. Like the Special Subject dissertation, its aim is to provide an opportunity for students to conduct original historical research on their own initiative, to engage in in-depth analysis of particular subjects and to use a range of primary historical sources. It involves no formal classes and is assessed by a single 10,000-word dissertation (including notes but excluding bibliography).

Learning resources

SOAS Library is one of the world's most important academic libraries for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, attracting scholars from all over the world. The Library houses over 1.2 million volumes, together with significant archival holdings, special collections and a growing network of electronic resources.

Fees and Funding

Fees for 2025/26 entrants per academic year

• BA, BSc, LLB:
  • Home students: £9,535
  • Overseas students: £22,870
• BA/BSc Language year abroad:
  • Home students: £1,385
  • Overseas students: £11,430

Employment

SOAS Law graduates leave SOAS as civic minded and critically engaged individuals who can effectively contribute to their communities and societies. With a thorough understanding of the legal dimensions underlying many of our global challenges today, our Law students are valued by employers due to their analytical skills, specialist knowledge, and global perspective.

Recent graduates have been hired by:

• Allen & Overy
• PwC LLP
• BLM Law
• BloombergNEF
• British Medical Association
• Clifford Chance
• DAC Beachcroft LLP
• Department for Work and Pensions
• EY
• HM Treasury
• Latham & Watkins
• Legal Cheek
• Linklaters
• Simpson Millar Solicitors
• The Economist
• Travers Smith
• United Nations
• Vodafone
• World Cancer Research Fund

Key Staff

Head of School

• Professor Eddie Bruce-Jones

Research Areas

• Human Rights Law
• British Colonial Indentureship
• Law & Humanities
• Comparative Equality Law
• Citizenship & Migration
• Critical Theory

Related Courses

• NLUD-SOAS Joint LLM/MA in Environmental Justice in South Asia
• LLB Single Honours at SOAS University of London

School of Law, Gender and Media

The School of Law is dedicated to the legal systems and challenges of the developing world, with complementary strengths in human rights, international law and institutions, environmental law, and international trade and commerce.

Program Outline

Students take 120 credits per year composed of core and optional modules, which allows for students to design their own intellectual journey while maintaining a strong grasp of the fundamentals.

Students may take a maximum of 60 Law related credits and a minimum of 30 Law related credits a year on this programme.

In Year 1 students are introduced to the core elements and principles of the English legal system, and provided with the key analytical skills necessary for undertaking a demanding law degree program.

In second, third and fourth years’ our students will be even more fully immersed in the distinctively SOAS program. Our students can choose from a wide array of optional courses that draw on the unique research expertise of our staff. The emphasis we place on choice, and research-led teaching, will allow our students to pursue a number of distinct specialisms as their degree progresses, but whichever path they choose to focus on the courses they study will all be imbued with that distinctive SOAS dimension, that stresses critical engagement and understanding of the role of law in the world at large.

Important notice

The information on the website reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session. The modules are indicative options of the content students can expect and are/have been previously taught as part of these programmes. However, this information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability is subject to change.

Year 1 - All students take

120 credits total

Students take the below compulsory modules (60 credits)

And

Students take 60 credits in second subject.

Year 2 - for students doing a qualifying Law degree

120 credits total

Students take the below compulsory modules (60 credits)

And

Students take

Year 2 - for students doing a non-qualifying Law degree

120 credits total

Students take the below compulsory modules (30 credits)

And

Year 3 - for students doing a qualifying Law degree

120 credits total

Students take the below compulsory modules (60 credits)

And

Students take 60 credits in a second subject.

Year 3 - for students doing a non-qualifying Law degree

120 credits total

Students take the below compulsory modules (30 credits)

And

List of modules (subject to availability)

Year 2 guided option modules

Year 3 guided option modules (subject to availability)

UoL options

Up to one 30-credit level 5 or level 6 LLB module in Law taught at another University of London Law School - King’s College, LSE, QMUL, UCL and Birkbeck - subject to approval and provided that a similar module is not taught at SOAS.

Modules are taught through a combination of lectures and tutorials, usually two hours lecture and one hour tutorial a week. Sometimes, one follows the other in a three-hour bloc. Sometimes, the tutorial is at a different time or on a different day than the lecture.

Tutorials are sessions in which students are expected to present reports and take a lead in discussions.

Depending on the size of the class, some intermediate and final year level modules are less strictly divided between a formal lecture and a tutorial discussion, and instead, the topic is briefly introduced by the lecturer, followed by a seminar discussion.

Contact hours

All full-time undergraduate programmes consist of 120 credits per year, in modules of 30 or 15 credits. They are taught over 10 or 20 weeks. The programme structure shows which modules are compulsory and which optional.

As a rough guide, 1 credit equals approximately 10 hours of work. Most of this will be independent study. It will also include class time, which may include lectures, seminars and other classes. Some subjects, such as learning a language, have more class time than others. In the Department of Law, many undergraduate modules have a weekly two hour lecture or seminar. Some modules may also had an additional hour of smaller group classes weekly or fortnightly.

The Independent Study Project (ISP)

This can be taken by final-year students only. Like the Special Subject dissertation, its aim is to provide an opportunity for students to conduct original historical research on their own initiative, to engage in in-depth analysis of particular subjects and to use a range of primary historical sources. It involves no formal classes and is assessed by a single 10,000-word dissertation (including notes but excluding bibliography).

Learning resources

SOAS Library

SOAS Law graduates leave SOAS as civic minded and critically engaged individuals who can effectively contribute to their communities and societies. With a thorough understanding of the legal dimensions underlying many of our global challenges today, our Law students are valued by employers due to their analytical skills, specialist knowledge, and global perspective.

Recent graduates have been hired by:

Find out about our

Careers Service