Law and Social Policy LLB (Hons)

Level: Undergraduate

Subject: Law

Year of entry: 2026

Key facts

UCAS Code

ML14

Award

LLB (Hons)

Duration of study

4 years

Delivery

Full-time

Study location

Central Area

Start date

September 2026

School

Edinburgh Law School

College

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Study abroad

Available

Accreditation

Available

Placement

No

Open days and events

About the degree programme

Our joint programmes allow you to study law alongside another academic discipline. Over four years of study, you will take a range of courses from both the Law School and the School of Social and Political Science. 

Social policy is the study of the distribution of welfare and wellbeing within societies and the policies which influence that distribution. 

The joint LLB Law and Social Policy programme aims to promote advanced knowledge and understanding of the theory, concepts and rules of law.

You will also gain an understanding of how political debate and policy-making can influence and alleviate the effects of social change. Current political and social issues are explored in a Scottish, UK-wide, European, and international context.

How long it takes to complete this degree programme

This programme is studied over 4 years.

A key benefit to studying a 4-year degree programme is that you have the flexibility to study a range of subjects, outside your chosen degree programme, in Year 1 and Year 2.

This allows you the opportunity to study other courses that interest you or enhance your degree. By the end of Year 2, you can decide which of these subject areas you want to focus on in the honours years of your programme.

How long it takes to complete our degree programmes

How a joint degree programme works

A joint programme allows you to gain a well-rounded learning experience. You will have more exposure to different disciplines, allowing you to expand your knowledge and expertise.

Teaching on joint programmes is split across the two subject areas, and teaching will take place in locations associated with both subjects.

You will gain a different perspective through studying more than one subject and have a wider skill set that is highly attractive to future employers.

Programme rankings

  • 13th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings: Law 2024.
  • 21st in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025: Law & Legal Studies.

Programme benefits

  • Edinburgh Law School has been educating and training some of the world’s finest legal minds for more than 300 years.
  • Studying in Scotland’s capital, you will be at the heart of Edinburgh’s legal centre, with the highest courts in Scotland a five-minute walk away.
  • You will benefit from access to some of the best academic law materials in Europe in our law library.
  • You will join a supportive law community and be assigned to a LawPALS group. This is our peer-assisted learning scheme, which is designed to help you adapt to the study of law.
  • You will have access to a number of events and opportunities through the Law School's Career Opportunities Programme.

Find your entry requirements

Use the dropdowns to find out your entry requirements.

  1. Select the country where you are studying or where you studied your qualification.
  2. Select the qualification you are studying or studied.
United Kingdom,

Tuition fees for LLB (Hons) Law and Social Policy

View the tuition fees for one academic year of LLB (Hons) Law and Social Policy.

Tuition fees for this programme

Additional costs

On some courses, you will be encouraged to buy additional learning materials for learning and assessments.

If you choose to study abroad in Year 3, additional costs should be anticipated. Costs will vary depending on the country and partner university. 

Additional costs may include:

  • insurance
  • visa requirements
  • accommodation
  • travel

Accommodation and living costs

You need to cover your accommodation and living costs for the duration of your programme.

We estimate that a single student can potentially spend a maximum of £920 to £2,257 on living costs each month, depending on your accommodation.

This estimate covers the costs of:

  • accommodation
  • food
  • utility bills
  • travel within Edinburgh
  • health and wellbeing costs

See a breakdown of living costs

Scholarships and funding

Funding information

You can find detailed information on financial support available, based on where you are living, in our funding section.

Funding

What you will study

In this joint LLB programme, you will study Scots law alongside social policy. 

In Years 1 and 2, you will study foundation 'Ordinary' courses. 

In Years 3 and 4, you will study at the 'Honours' level. You will choose from up to 40 specialist courses covering a range of theoretical, practical and historical fields of study. 

If you wish to retain the option of practising as a lawyer in Scotland, it may sometimes (but not always) be possible to complete the additional courses required. 

Where this is an option, it will typically require extra study throughout the programme. You must consider the possible impact of this on qualifying as a solicitor. 

We highly encourage all students on joint degree honours programmes to discuss their intended pathway with the Law School.

You will be introduced to general legal principles and legal techniques and will study compulsory courses, including:

  • Scottish Legal System 
  • Critical Legal Thinking 
  • Contract Law 
  • Family Law 
  • Public Law of the UK and Scotland 
  • European Union Law

You will also study the compulsory social policy courses:

  • Politics of the Welfare State 
  • Social Policy and Society
Find Year 1 courses (2024-2025 academic year)

Law

Your courses may include:

  • Property Law 
  • Jurisprudence 
  • Public Law and Individual Rights 
  • Delict 
  • Criminal Law 
  • Revenue Law 
  • International Private Law 
  • Business Entities 
  • Commercial Law 
  • Evidence 
  • Succession and Trust Law 
Social Policy 

You will take Comparative Social Policy: Global Perspectives. This course compares different approaches to social policy in European and non-European countries.

In addition, you will take two social policy courses, which are likely to focus on research skills and the use of evidence in politics and the economy. Further details are subject to our current review of our pre-honours curriculum for Year 2 students.

Find Year 2 courses (2024-2025 academic year)

Compulsory courses

You will study the compulsory courses:

  • Advanced Legal Writing 
  • Analytical Perspectives in Social Policy
Law

You will receive advanced legal skills training during your honours study and will have the opportunity to specialise in further law subjects. 

You will choose from a wide range of law courses, including:

  • Commercial Law 
  • International Law 
  • Property Law 
  • Family Law 
  • Criminology
Social policy

You will also select courses that cover a wide array of policy fields, including:

  • family policy 
  • labour market policies 
  • social inequalities 
  • criminal justice 
  • health policy 
  • education policy
Find Year 3 courses (2024-2025 academic year)

You will choose further courses to expand your specialist knowledge.

You will also write a dissertation. This will help you develop your legal research and writing skills. 

You will also study further courses in social policy. 

This is the final year of the LLB (Hons) programme.

Find Year 4 courses (2024-2025 academic year)

Study abroad

You will have the opportunity to study abroad in Year 3 of this degree at one of our partner universities.

If international travel restrictions allow, you may be able to choose where you study from our selection of international partners.

A study abroad experience will allow you to immerse yourself in a different culture, enrich your learning and enhance your future job opportunities.

Your study abroad options

Teaching and assessment

Teaching

Large group lectures provide the teaching framework for law in Years 1 and 2, complemented by small group tutorial sessions.

Year 1 students will usually have two or three lectures per week for each course. You will also have a regular tutorial for each course. 

Years 3 and 4 consist of two-hour seminars, rather than lectures and tutorials, in which students are expected to discuss and explore topics in greater depth. 

All Year 1 students have access to Edinburgh's Law Peer-Assisted Learning Scheme (LawPALS). The Mooting Society provides you with opportunities to learn and practise courtroom skills.

Assessment

You will be assessed by a combination of coursework and exams.

Support for your studies

You will have access to a range of support services if you need them throughout your degree.

We will assign you to a student adviser, and this should be the first person to contact if you need help. They can guide you to other University service teams depending on what support you need.

Support for your studies

Our academic staff

Edinburgh Law School has been at the centre of the teaching and practice of law since its earliest days. Academic staff are experts in their field and passionate and supportive in their teaching. You will have easy, local access to:

  • the Edinburgh Sheriff Court
  • the Supreme civil and criminal Scottish courts
  • the Crown Office
  • the Scottish Government
  • the Faculty of Advocates
  • the Law Society of Scotland

You will come into frequent contact with the personnel of all of these institutions, both through field trips and through external teaching provided by personnel from these institutions on the programme.

Where you will study

Study location

The Law School

The Law School has been housed in the Old College since the late 1800s. Our traditional and historic home underwent a full refurbishment, completed in 2019. This transformed the building into a 21st century home for the school, while celebrating and preserving the heritage and history of Old College.

The Law School is ideally placed for those studying and working in the law. It is within easy walking distance of the highest courts in Scotland and the Scottish Parliament.

Social Policy

Most of the teaching in Social Policy takes place in the University's Central Area.

Academic facilities

As a student at Edinburgh Law School, you will benefit from excellent teaching, study, and research facilities. 

Designed for the way you study, the new features include:

  • a law library
  • spacious seminar rooms
  • dedicated student social spaces, including a café

Our library is one of the largest law libraries in the UK.

Accreditation

Our LLB programmes are accredited by the Law Society of Scotland.

However, this combined honours programme does not include all courses required to proceed to the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice and thereafter to the legal profession in Scotland. 

It may be possible, in discussion with the Law School, for joint honours students to meet these requirements by studying additional courses.

Career paths

After graduating you can go on to the legal profession in Scotland by completing the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice, followed by a traineeship with a legal firm, to qualify as a solicitor. 

However, this is only possible following a joint degree programme if you have been able to complete all additional courses required for the Diploma. 

You can then opt to go to the Bar, to qualify as an advocate. This requires a period of 'devilling' under the supervision and direction of a practising advocate.

Careers outside Scotland

Graduates who qualify to practise may also go on to qualify and practise law in other jurisdictions. There are rules which enable a Scots-qualified solicitor or advocate relatively quickly to re-qualify as a solicitor or barrister in England and Wales. 

Graduates may also go on to qualify and practise in Europe and elsewhere. To do this, you must comply with the local conversion requirements and complete any further study non-Scottish jurisdictions require.

Non-legal careers

Graduates who do not choose a legal career often use their skills and experience for employment in:

  • finance
  • management 
  • journalism

Our graduates have also worked with international organisations such as the United Nations and the European Union.

Careers Service

Our Careers Service can help you to fully develop your potential and achieve your future goals.

The Careers Service supports you not only while you are studying at the University, but also for up to two years after you finish your studies.

With the Careers Service, you can:

  • access digital resources to help you understand your skills and strengths
  • try different types of experiences and reflect on how and what you develop
  • get help finding work, including part-time jobs, vacation work, internships and graduate jobs
  • attend careers events and practice interviews
  • get information and advice to help you make informed decisions

Visit the Careers Service website

Further study

Students intending to enter the Scottish legal profession must take, in addition to the professionally required LLB courses, the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at a Scottish University. Application for entry to the Diploma is made during the final year of the LLB degree.

How to apply

You must submit a full application through UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) before the relevant deadline.

Guidance on applying through UCAS

What you need to apply

As part of your application, you will need:

  • your academic qualifications
  • a personal statement
  • evidence of your English language skills (with relevant qualifications)
  • a reference

How we select

If you have met, or are predicted to meet, all our entry requirements by the relevant deadline, then your application will go into our selection process.

As part of this selection process, we will review all the information you submit in your UCAS application when we decide who to select for this degree programme.

How we select applicants

When to apply

  • 2026 entry UCAS deadline: 14 January 2026 (6:00pm GMT)

This is the deadline for all UK, EU and international applicants to non-medicine and veterinary medicine programmes.

To find out if any degree programmes have spaces after 14 January 2026, search the University of Edinburgh on the UCAS website.

Search degrees that are open on the UCAS website

Key application dates and deadlines

After you apply

After you have applied for your degree programme, we suggest you have a look at the following information to help you prepare for university:

Applying as an international student

As an international student, you apply for this degree programme through UCAS.  

Find out more about applying through UCAS  

Visas and immigration 

If you do not have the right to live in the UK, you will need to apply for and secure a Student visa before the start date of your degree programme.  

Our Student Immigration Service can help you with the Student visa application process. 

Applying for a visa  

Agents  

An education agent is someone who can help you with the application process as an international student. 

We work with education agents around the world and have a list of local offices you can contact.  

Find contact details for an education agent

What our students say

Social Policy

Student testimonials

Hear about what it is like to study with us, and about life in Edinburgh from those who know it best: our students and graduates.

Testimonials from our students and graduates

Check out our student blog

Our team of School of Political Sciences (SPS) student writers share their experiences and thoughts on the things that matter to them on our student blog, for example:

  • writing your first assignment
  • what to do in Edinburgh on the weekend
  • what to expect in Welcome Week
  • living away from home
  • hybrid learning
  • living sustainably

Our SPS student blog

Accommodation

We guarantee an offer of University accommodation for all new, single undergraduate students from outside Edinburgh. To be eligible, you need to meet all criteria and apply for accommodation by 16 August in the year of your entry to the University.

University accommodation website

Accommodation guarantee criteria

If you prefer to live elsewhere, we can offer you advice on finding accommodation in Edinburgh.

Accommodation information from the Edinburgh University Students' Association Advice Place

Societies and clubs

Our societies and sports clubs will help you develop your interests, meet like-minded people, find a new hobby or simply socialise.

Societies

Sports clubs

At Edinburgh Law School, students also have the opportunity to take part in a wide range of activities alongside their studies, which give them the chance to develop their skills and interests and to fully take part in the Edinburgh Law School community.

Find out more about the Law School's student groups and societies

The city of Edinburgh

Scotland's inspiring capital will form the background to your studies — a city with an irresistible blend of history, natural beauty and modern city life.

Find out more about living in Edinburgh

Health and wellbeing support

You will have access to free health and wellbeing services throughout your time at university if you need them.

The support services we offer include:

  • a student counselling service
  • a health centre (doctor's surgery)
  • support if you're living in University accommodation
  • dedicated help and support if you have a disability or need adjustment

Health and wellbeing support services

Contact us

Contact us through our enquiry team if you have any questions about this programme.

Open days, events and visits

Find out when our next open days will be taking place

Open days, events and visits

Chat to our students on Unibuddy

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