Program Overview

Postgraduate Study - PhD and Research Degrees

Law

Overview

The Law School has a worldwide reputation for excellence in teaching and research, attracting academics, visiting lecturers and students from across the globe. As a postgraduate student at the School you will be part of a diverse and dynamic community.

Our researchers' specialist interests collectively encompass a wide range of legal fields. Our academic staff come from a number of different jurisdictions and work in a breadth of legal fields from the historical and theoretical to the socio-legal.

The subject-matter of your research is of course chosen by you, although we will give you advice and guidance in formulating an appropriate research proposal. Please feel free to contact staff directly if you have any questions as to the viability of your research ideas.

Research Culture

As well as forming a close relationship with your supervisor, who will have the expertise appropriate to your chosen area of study, you will be a valued part of our research culture, attending workshops where research papers are presented, and with opportunities to hear eminent scholars such as those who give the Hamlyn and Lasok Lectures.

We hold regular Presentation Days where students can develop their ideas and presentation skills; School staff and other postgraduates attend and contribute. We organise ‘mini-vivas’ annually.

Research Areas

• Family law and policy
  • Children's voices
  • Family justice
  • Money/property
  • Parenting
  • Protection
  • Relationships
• Legal history
  • Administration of justice
  • Business association
  • Comparative legal history
  • Criminal justice
  • European courts and legal system
  • Legal profession
  • Legal methodologies
  • Medico-legal history
  • Property and trusts
  • Social history of the law
  • Tax
  • Tribunals and arbitration
  • Visual representations of justice
• European law
  • European human rights law
  • EU security and defence
  • European constitutionalism
  • EU competition, commercial and corporate law
  • Cyber security law
  • European aspects of immigration and asylum law
• International law
  • International criminal law
  • Democracy and human rights law
  • Public international law: humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict
  • International security law
  • Immigration and asylum law
  • Feminist legal theory
  • Labour/employment law
  • Migration and multiculturalism
• Commercial and corporate law
  • Corporate governance and social responsibility
  • Energy and environmental law
  • Charity law
  • Insolvency law
  • Competition law
  • Consumer protection
  • Contract law
  • Insurance and reinsurance law
  • International arbitration
  • Finance, banking and credit law
  • International trade
  • Maritime law
  • Business structures
  • Investment law
  • Intellectual property, copyright & cultural heritage, and patent law
• Science, culture and the law
  • Intellectual property law
  • Technologies
  • Information law
  • Human rights
  • Legal personhood
  • Bioethics
  • Psychoanalysis
• Human Rights and Democracy
  • Human rights and human dignity in theory and practice, especially under the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights
  • Intersections of public law, private law, criminal law, criminal justice, and international law with questions of human rights and democratic principles
  • Comparative and domestic constitutional law and politics
  • Legal and political dimensions of non-democratic systems and threats to democracy, including past authoritarian regimes and the resurgence of populism and illiberalism.

How to Apply

• MA by Research in Law
  • You should have a good first degree either in Law or another subject that could prepare you for a research project within the School of Law.
• MPhil/PhD Law
  • Normally students will have a good undergraduate Honours degree (UK Upper Second Class Honours or equivalent) and a Masters degree with a dissertation component. If you are seeking funding through one of the Research Councils (UK/EU students only), you will need to hold a minimum Upper Second Class Honours degree, although often these awards are won by those with First Class Honours due to high levels of competition.
• MPhil/PhD Legal Practice
  • We require you to have a first degree in Law, or a first degree in another discipline and have passed the Common Professional Examination/Diploma in Law, and have held a professional qualification for at least five years.

Requirements for International Students

• If you are an international student, please visit our international equivalency pages to enable you to see if your existing academic qualifications meet our entry requirements.

English Language Requirements

• International students need to show they have the required level of English language to study this course. The required test scores for this course fall under Profile E: view the required test scores and equivalencies from your country.

Fees and Funding

• Fees 2025/26
  • Home: £5,006 full-time; £pro-rata part-time
  • International: £23,500 full-time
• Fees 2024/25
  • Home: £4,786 full-time; £pro-rata part-time
  • International: £22,600 full-time

Supervision

• You can expect:
  • High-quality research supervision to develop and nurture your potential
  • A tailored supervision approach to help best suit your requirements
  • Accessible supervisors who are enthusiastic about working directly with postgraduate research students
  • Regular timetabled meetings with your supervisor
  • 'Open door' policy to all postgraduate students - instant access to world-leading researchers who will share their expertise and ideas with you
  • Regular meetings with your supervisory team, other members of your research group, and mentors

Degrees

• MPhil/PhD Law
  • Undertaking a PhD is a stimulating and rewarding experience and allows you to undertake research into a legal issue that interests you. In order to gain the award of PhD your thesis must bring a new and original standpoint to the study of law either through the development of a novel doctrinal and/or theoretical perspective on the legal issue(s) under discussion and/or through empirical research that creates new insights into a legal issue.
• MPhil/PhD Legal Practice
  • This postgraduate research degree programme is designed for lawyers wishing to achieve academic recognition based on their professional profile and practical expertise. The programme is normally undertaken on a part-time basis alongside professional work.
• MA by Research Law
  • Our MA by Research in Law has been developed to allow you to undertake a research project in an area that interests you, within a shorter timeframe than the MPhil or PhD. If you are interested in converting to an MPhil or PhD at a later stage, the MA by Research is sufficiently flexible to allow you to do so.

Careers

• The award of MA by Research is clear evidence to employers, whether academic or professional, of your ability to conduct independent research to produce original material within a prescribed timescale.

Facilities

• The Law School is based in the Amory Building on the Streatham Campus in Exeter. We have outstanding facilities, including recently developed learning spaces which emulate the look and feel of professional legal and business settings.
• Technology-rich learning space
  • The Law School includes the ‘Amory Law Wing’, a purpose built technology-rich learning space which provides a highly professional environment for students. The facilities include a custom-built Moot Court for simulated legal hearings and four large executive boardrooms designed to support group learning. The Moot Court and boardrooms are equipped with the latest technology, including high-spec video conferencing. The Amory Law Wing provides a professional atmosphere for students to work in virtual law firms, emphasising the connections between a rigorous academic education and the world of professional work.
• Lasok Law Library
  • The Lasok Law Library has moved to a new location within the Forum Library where students can enjoy the full advantages of the Forum building including 24/7 access to materials, a variety of study spaces and other facilities.
• Online services
  • Extensive online services are available providing access to all official European databases, court reports and current official documents, and to a range of subscription databases, including LexisNexis, Westlaw and European Sources Online.