Law and Celtic LLB (Hons)

Level: Undergraduate

Subject: Law

Year of entry: 2026

Key facts

UCAS Code

MQ15

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 the four years of study in this programme, you will take a range of courses from both the Law School and the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures. 

The joint LLB Law and Celtic programme aims to promote advanced knowledge and understanding of the theory, concepts and rules of law. Alongside this, you can develop your interests in particular areas, periods and disciplines of Celtic studies.

As well as the history, languages, literatures and cultures of the Celtic world from the Middle Ages to the present, our expertise extends to:

  • theoretical and practical issues of current sociolinguistics
  • language policy
  • language revitalisation

If you choose to study Scottish Gaelic, it does not matter if you are a complete beginner; we stream our Year 1 classes to suit all levels of prior knowledge or none.

If you continue your language study into your honours years, you will develop the professional competence to speak and write confidently in Scottish Gaelic about a variety of topics including current affairs and cultural issues.

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.
  • 13th in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025: Modern Languages.

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 also 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.
  • Edinburgh has a well-established Gaelic community and a lively contemporary cultural Celtic scene. Its collections for the study of Celtic are outstanding.

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 Celtic

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

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

On the joint LLB programme you will study Scots law alongside Celtic. 

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

In Years 3 and 4, courses are studied at 'Honours' level, where 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 is sometimes (but not always) possible to complete the additional courses required. 

This will typically require extra study throughout the programme. This means 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.

Law

You will be introduced to general legal principles and legal techniques. You 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
Celtic

You will choose between:

  • taking a single, year-long course in the Scottish Gaelic language
  • taking two shorter courses in Celtic Civilisation
Language pathway: Scottish Gaelic

If you take the language pathway, your course will be determined by how much Scottish Gaelic you already know.

If you have no previous knowledge, you will gain confidence in written and spoken Scottish Gaelic by taking our Gaelic 1A course.

If you are an advanced speaker, our Gaelic 1B course will develop your language skills and deepen your experience of Scottish Gaelic literature.

Celtic Civilisation pathway

The Celtic Civilisation pathway is made up of two courses:

  • Celtic Civilisation 1A: Barbarians, Saints and Scholars
  • Celtic Civilisation 1B: Domination, Dislocation and Defiance

Together, they seek to place the Celtic languages of the past and present into a wider historical and contemporary context.

On these courses, you will consider the impact of modern Celticness on how the past has been understood and will be introduced to Celtic Studies in the medieval and modern periods.

There is also the opportunity to combine the study of Celtic Civilisation with our basic language learning course, Introduction to Gaelic Language and Culture.

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
Celtic

You will choose between:

  • taking a further, single, year-long course in the Scottish Gaelic language
  • taking two shorter courses in Celtic Literatures
Language pathway: Scottish Gaelic

If you took Gaelic 1A in Year 1, you will take Gaelic 2A. If you took Gaelic 1B in Year 1, you will take Gaelic 2B.

In both cases, you will refine your language skills and learn about linguistic structure. You will also learn more about Scottish Gaelic culture and literature, exploring verse and prose.

Celtic Literatures pathway

If you take this pathway, you will gain an overview of key literary genres and texts from various Celtic literatures:

  • Heroes, Wonders, Saints and Sagas covers medieval Welsh and Irish material
  • Songs, Sword, Rebels and Revivals looks at texts from Gaelic Scotland and Early Modern and Modern Ireland

Texts are presented in English translation.

Find Year 2 courses (2024-2025 academic year)

Law

You will receive advanced legal skills training during your honours study and will have the opportunity to specialise in further law subjects, chosen from a wide range of courses, including: 

  • Commercial Law 
  • International Law 
  • Property Law 
  • Family Law 
  • Criminology

You will also study the compulsory course Advanced Legal Writing alongside additional, honours-level option courses in Celtic.

Celtic

This is the first of your honours years, when you will specialise in the aspects of Celtic which interest you most by choosing from a range of courses.

Modern courses

These courses are available to students who took Scottish Gaelic in Years 1 and 2.

They explore literary, cultural, and historical aspects of Gaelic Scotland and Ireland — such as linguistics and sociolinguistics — from around 1600 to the present day.

If taking advanced language courses, you will learn to speak and write confidently in Scottish Gaelic about a variety of topics including current affairs and cultural issues using appropriate vocabulary, grammar, and idiom.

Medieval courses

These courses are available to all students on the programme; no knowledge of Scottish Gaelic is required.

They introduce the Early Irish and Medieval Welsh languages and will develop your study of literature, history, and culture.

Find Year 3 courses (2024-2025 academic year)

This is the final year of the LLB (Hons) programme. You will choose further law courses to expand your specialist knowledge.

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

You will also study further courses in Celtic, choosing between modern and medieval courses.

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

Law 

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

During Year 1, you will normally have two or three lectures per course, per week. You will also have a regular tutorial for each course. 

Years 3 and 4 consist of two-hour seminars, rather than lectures and tutorials. These seminars allow you to discuss and explore topics in more depth. 

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

Celtic

Your classes will typically fall into three categories:

  • lectures
  • tutorials
  • seminars

In addition to these classes, and to get the most out of your courses, you will need to read widely.

We make extensive use of our audio and visual resources, and you will also be encouraged to use online materials.

If you choose to study Gaelic, language tutorials allow you to develop your linguistic skills in a range of real-world tasks under the supervision of an experienced language teacher.

There is an emphasis on interaction and developing fluency, and on building the strong linguistic competencies required for careers in the Gaelic world.

Assessment

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

If studying Scottish Gaelic, your exams will include oral exams to test your spoken language skills.

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

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.

Celtic and Scottish Studies

Through the Gaelic Algorithmic Research Group (GARG), an international team researching modern technologies for Gaelic, we have led the development of the world’s first working Automatic Speech Recognition system for Scottish Gaelic.

We are also founding members of Faclair na Gàidhlig, a collaborative project to publish a historical dictionary of the language.

We work closely with Bòrd na Gàidhlig, the national Gaelic development agency, of which Professor Rob Dunbar is a Board Member (2023 to 2027).

Rob also sits on the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. This is the only treaty in the world designed to protect and promote regional and minority languages and to enable speakers to use them both in private and public life.

Where you will study

Study location

Law

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.

Celtic

Teaching in Celtic takes place in and around the University of Edinburgh's Central Area. 

Our resources for the study of Celtic are largely held over three sites clustered around George Square:

  • the Main University Library and its Centre for Research Collections
  • the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC) and its Celtic Class Library
  • the School of Scottish Studies Archives and its Scottish Studies Library

Academic facilities

Law

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.

Celtic

Across the Main University Library, LLC and the School of Scottish Archives, you will find:

  • more than 400,000 rare books
  • six kilometres of archives and manuscripts
  • 33,000 recordings of songs, music, stories, rhyme, and verse in Scots, Gaelic, and English, as well as in extinct dialects
  • thousands of works of art, historical musical instruments and other objects
  • thousands of photographs and rarely-seen historic documents which capture exceptional and everyday aspects of Scottish culture and heritage

Highlights for the study of Celtic include:

  • the Carmichael-Watson Collection
  • the Donald MacKinnon Collection
  • the David Laing Collection

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

Law

After graduating you can progress 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. 

Please note however that 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.

Celtic 

Thanks to an ever-broadening international reach, Celtic languages, literatures and cultures have a steady stream of enthusiastic new speakers and audiences.

In Scotland particularly, developments such as the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005, the creation of BBC Alba (the Gaelic digital television service), and the ongoing expansion of Gaelic-medium education have increased demand for highly educated Gaelic speakers and specialists in Celtic culture. In some areas, there are more Gaelic-related jobs than there are people qualified to fill them.

Employment prospects are particularly high within:

  • education, outreach, advocacy and training
  • journalism, broadcasting and media
  • politics, policy work, diplomacy, civil service and law
  • publishing, culture, heritage and the arts

Read an interview with Isla Parker, the University's Gaelic and Community Relations Officer

Your transferable humanities skills and intercultural competence will also set you apart in sectors such as:

  • business, finance, commerce and tech
  • communications, marketing, advertising and public relations
  • leisure, tourism and travel
  • research, development, consultancy and venture acceleration
  • translating and interpreting

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

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

Edinburgh is a world-leading festival city filled with cinemas, theatres, galleries, libraries and collections. Its resources for studying Law and Celtic are exceptional.

Many national collections are located close to the University's Central Area, making them easy to access between classes. Highlights include the:

  • National Library of Scotland
  • National Museum of Scotland
  • Scottish Poetry Library
  • Scottish Storytelling Centre

The city has a long-established Gaelic community and a lively contemporary cultural scene. There are conversation groups for practicing Gaelic socially, fèisean for performers, and an annual festival, Seachdain na Gàidhlig.

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

Related degree programmes

You may also be interested in

Discover Uni data

This information is part of a government initiative to enhance the material that higher education institutions provide about their degree programmes.

It is one of many sources of information which will enable you to make an informed decision on what and where to study.

Some programmes do not have Discover Uni data available.