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Law (LLB)

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Law (LLB)

Studying Law in the UK vs. Canada

In Canada...

  • Students must first complete an undergraduate degree or some years within an undergraduate degree before gaining admissions to a law school. The first professional degree granted by law schools is the Bachelor of Law (LLB)or, as has become common in recent years, the Juris Doctor (JD).
  • To gain admissions to almost all English language law schools in Canada, students must sit the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). The LSAT score is then taken into account as part of the admissions criteria.
  • Upon completion of an LLB or JD degree, to qualify as barristers and solicitors in their chosen province or territory, students must then fulfil the relevant Law Society's requirements which generally include a course work or self study component as well as a work experience component.

In the UK...

Students may enter law school directly upon graduation from high school.  UK Law schools generally do not require applicants to sit the LSAT (or LNAT - the Law National Aptitude Test). Instead applicants are assessed based on their high school record, along with their personal statement and references. Applicants for 2-year Accelerated programmes (please see below) at the University of Aberdeen are assessed based on their undergraduate record, along with the personal statement and references.

 

Law at Aberdeen

The School of Law at the University of Aberdeen offers a range of Law programmes including:

For a complete list of programmes, please refer to the School of Law website.

 

Scots Law and English Law

At Aberdeen, students can choose to pursue our traditional LLB degree in Scots Law or the LLB with English Law. Both the LLB and the LLB with English Law are also offered as two-year Accelerated options, for students who already have a good undergraduate degree.

LLB degrees give students full exemption from the professional examinations of Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates. Further qualifications are nevertheless required (as would be required of all LLB graduates from Scottish Universities) to become a solicitor (please see Law Society of Scotland) or an advocate in Scotland (please see the Faculty of Advocates).

Additionally, the LLB with English Law degrees, both the 4-year and the 2-year Accelerated degrees, cover a suite of English Law courses which help prepare students who are interested in practising law in England and/or Wales. For those seeking a career as a solicitor, courses from the degree will help them prepare for the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (please see Solicitors Regulation Authority). For those pursuing a career as a barrister, courses from the degree can help fulfil the academic component of the training for the Bar (please see Bar Standards Board).

For students wishing to practise law in Canada, the LLB with English Law degrees offer a suite of English Law courses which can help pave the way for gaining qualification to practise law in Canada (other than in Québec).

 

Transferring your Law degree to Canada

To gain their qualification to practise law in Canada (other than in Québec), all lawyers trained outside of Canada must apply to the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) which is a part of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada that assesses the legal education credentials of those trained outside of Canada seeking to gain admission to a law society in a Canadian Common Law jurisdiction.      

The NCA uses a uniform standard to determine the requirements that each applicant must meet to satisfy the requirements for practising law in Canadian Common Law provinces and territories.  It considers applications on a rolling basis. However, it would only do so once an applicant has received the final law school transcript. The NCA assesses each applicant on an individual basis and takes into consideration a number of factors.  These factors include:

  1. The law courses and the degree programme which have been completed abroad;
  2. The applicant’s academic performance in these courses;
  3. The applicant’s professional legal experiences (if any). 

Among the core Common Law subjects required by the NCA are Contracts, Torts, Property, and Business Organisations – subjects which are covered within our suite of English Law courses.  In addition, the NCA also requires a further 5 Canada-specific core subjects:  Canadian Administrative Law, Canadian Constitutional Law, Canadian Criminal Law, Foundations of Canadian Law, and Canadian Professional Responsibility.  The NCA may also assign further course requirements based on the factors considered for each applicant on a case by case basis.  For full details, please visit the NCA website.

There is a variety of ways for meeting the Canada-specific core subject requirements as well as the applicant-specific subject requirements. Students may self-study to prepare for the NCA challenge examinations, students may complete the assigned subjects at a Canadian law school, or undertake a combination of self-study and taking the assigned subject at a Canadian law school.  

How to Apply to the University of Aberdeen Law School

Students can apply for LLB programmes through UCAS. The deadline for home students is January 15th. International students can apply up until June 30th. 

Entry Requirements - LLB

  • LLB and LLB with English Law - Our website lists the minimum requirements which students need to meet in order to be considered for admission. 
  • LLB (Accelerated) and LLB with English Law (Accelerated) - Our website lists the minimum requirements which students need to meet in order to be considered for admission, however the general requirement for either of our LLB Accelerated programmes is a cumulative GPA of 3.3 (or equivalent).

Programme Enquiries

Dr Catherine W Ng
Senior Lecturer, School of Law
B Comm (UBC, Vancouver), LLB (U of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario), LLM (Osgoode Hall Law School, York U, Toronto), DPhil (Oxon, Oxford) 
e: c.w.ng@abdn.ac.uk
t: +44 1224 273897

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