Law Foundation Year

The Law Foundation Year at Northumbria University, Newcastle, is designed to help you develop a solid foundation in legal knowledge and academic skills before progressing to the LLB (Hons) undergraduate law degree. It is a one-year full-time programme that prepares students who do not meet standard entry requirements for direct entry into the law degree.

Accredited as part of an integrated LLB with a foundation year, this course covers key modules such as Law and Society, Law and Ethics, Academic Practice for Law, Law in Action, and the Project: Lives, Trials, and the Law. When you complete the foundation year, you’ll progress onto the LLB (Hons) programme and gain the knowledge needed for the Qualifying Law Degree, covering the seven foundations of legal knowledge, including Constitutional and Administrative Law, Contract, Crime, Equity and Trusts, EU Law, Property and Tort.

In this programme, you’ll learn through a mix of lectures, seminars, problem-based workshops, case discussions, practical activities, and group work. Aside from guided sessions, you will also learn independently (self-study).

Assessment is done through a combination of examinations, coursework, portfolios, presentations, and a project. This approach helps you apply what you learn in both practical and theoretical ways.

The public university, Northumbria University, is situated in Newcastle, in the northeastern region of England. Established in 1877, Rutherford College became a university in 1992.

The university, which has about 38,300 students, provides a range of undergraduate and graduate programs in addition to professional development classes. These fields include the arts, design, and social sciences; engineering and the environment; health and life sciences; and business and law.

In order to prepare students for the impact of the real world, the university prioritises research and keeps close business relationships. The university is the most eco-friendly in the Northeast, according to the People and Planet rankings. This shows that it is working hard to promote eco-friendly projects and safeguard the environment.

These are the typical entry requirements to study the Law Foundation Year at Northumbria University, Newcastle:

Grade Requirements

• Applicants are expected to have 80 UCAS points from an acceptable level 3 qualification, such as A-levels, BTECs, or the International Baccalaureate Diploma.

English Proficiency

• International applicants whose first language is not English are expected to demonstrate proficiency in the language. To do this, they must possess an IELTS (Academic) overall score of 6.5, with a minimum of 5.5 in each of the four components. 

The tuition fee to study the Law Foundation Year at Northumbria University is £19,350. This fee does not include additional costs such as the placement year fee and personal items.

Northumbria University provides its students, especially those from abroad, with funding and scholarship opportunities.

For example, if international students apply for undergraduate programmes at the Newcastle Upon Tyne campus, they may be eligible for a £4,000 tuition fee reduction in their first year of study.

Graduates of the Law Foundation Year from Northumbria University can work in roles such as the following:

• Legal Assistant
• Paralegal
• Legal Secretary
• Court Administrative Officer
• Compliance Assistant
• Legal Researcher

Applications for this course typically go through the university’s website or the UCAS platform. For more information on the application process, our experienced counsellors are available to assist.