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Undergraduate Study

 

Law at the University of Cambridge allows you to understand law in its historical and social contexts, and to examine its general principles and techniques.

This course will prepare you to become qualified as a solicitor or barrister. As part of the course you will be able to specialise from second year and study other legal systems from outside the UK.
 

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Overview
Number 1 in the UK for Law (The Complete University Guide 2025)

Law at Cambridge 

This course allows you to explore the law beyond the fundamental subjects to consider its interdisciplinary relationship with philosophy, economics, ethics, criminology, social policy, and history.  

In your first year you’ll study a range of topics such as Criminal Law and Constitutional Law.  

You will then be able to specialise and explore your interests from your second and third year. 

The Faculty and University Law Society organise numerous activities, including: 

  • public lectures 
  • careers events with leading barristers’ and solicitors’ firms 
  • social events 
  • mooting competitions (debates about hypothetical legal cases)

Teaching and facilities

Teaching

You’ll be taught by experts in the field at the Faculty of Law.

Facilities

The Faculty of Law facilities include the David Williams Building, which has: 

  • lecture theatres 
  • seminar rooms 
  • a moot court, where you can take part in mock trials 
  • the Squire Law Library, one of the finest academic law collections in the UK. The Library offers an extensive collection of printed and electronic resources and excellent computing facilities. 

Along with all other students at Cambridge, you'll also have access to: 

  • our impressive Cambridge University Library, one of the world’s oldest university libraries 

Student exchange schemes 

You may have the opportunity to spend a year studying abroad at one of our partner institutions in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, New Zealand and Singapore. The year abroad takes place after you complete the first 2 years of the course. 

You would then return to Cambridge to complete Part II of the course as a fourth year. 

You may be given financial support for your year abroad, if needed, through a Turing Scheme grant. This is subject to funding being awarded to the University by the Department for Education. Funding is awarded on an annual basis. Eligibility may change depending on the level of funding awarded each year.

Find out more about the student exchange schemes 

Course costs

When you go to university, you’ll need to consider two main costs – your tuition fees and your living costs (sometimes referred to as maintenance costs).

Your living costs will include costs related to your studies that are not covered by your tuition fees. There are some general study costs that will apply for all students.

Find out more about general study costs.

There are no compulsory additional course costs for Law. If you choose to buy your own copies of course books, they usually cost around £15 each.

If you have any queries about resources/materials, please contact the Faculty.

Becoming a solicitor 

If you want to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales you will need to sit two Solicitors Qualifying Examinations (SQE1 & SQE2) after you complete this course. For more information visit the Solicitors Regulation Authority website.  

Becoming a barrister 

If you want to qualify as a barrister in England and Wales, your undergraduate degree will satisfy the academic component of training for this if you study the following papers throughout the course: 

  • Criminal Law 
  • Law of Tort 
  • Constitutional Law 
  • Land Law 
  • Contract Law 
  • Equity 
  • European Union Law 

You can then study vocational courses that lead to professional accreditation. For more information about qualifying as a barrister visit the Bar Standards Board website.

Course outline

Teaching

Teaching is provided through lectures, seminars and small-group supervisions.  

You will usually have 10 to 12 hours of lectures, and one supervision for each paper you’re studying, every 2 weeks.

Before you take Part IA of the course, you’ll need to complete an online pre-arrival course. The self-study programme focuses on ‘Legal Skills and Methodology’ and will help you to develop your legal understanding and associated skills. You’ll receive details about the course before you come to Cambridge.

Assessment

Assessment is mostly through examinations which you take at the end of the year.

You will also have the option of taking a seminar course, which is assessed by a dissertation.

You won't usually be able to resit any of your exams.

Year 1 (Part IA)  

You take 4 papers.  

In previous years, papers have included: 

  • Civil Law in Context
  • Constitutional Law 
  • Criminal Law 
  • Law of Tort 

Year 2 (Part IB) 

You choose 5 papers from a wide range of options, which may include: 

  • Law of Contract
  • Land Law
  • Administrative Law
  • Advanced Civil Law
  • Criminal Procedure and Criminal Evidence
  • Criminology, Sentencing and the Penal System
  • Family Law
  • Human Rights Law
  • International Law
  • Jurisprudence
  • Legal History 

Year 3 (Part II) 

You choose 5 papers. You can also take 2 half-papers as one of your 5 options.  

Full paper options may include: 

  • Aspects of Obligations
  • Commercial Law
  • Company Law
  • Conflict of Laws
  • Intellectual Property
  • Labour Law
  • Equity
  • European Union Law

 Examples of half-papers that may be on offer include: 

  • Banking Law
  • Comparative Law
  • European Environmental and Sustainable Development Law
  • Landlord and Tenant Law
  • Law of Succession
  • Personal Data Protection Law
  • Topics in Legal and Political Philosophy
  • Topics in European Legal History
  • Animal Rights Law

You can also choose a seminar course, instead of one paper. Seminar courses vary each year but may include:  

  • Select Issues in Criminal Law and Criminal Justice
  • Family in Society
  • Law and Ethics in Medicine
  • Private Law
  • Public Law
  • Select Issues in International Law 

For further information about this course and the papers you can take see the Faculty of Law website

Changing course

It’s really important to think carefully about which course you want to study before you apply. 

In rare cases, it may be possible to change course once you’ve joined the University. You will usually have to get agreement from your College and the relevant departments. It’s not guaranteed that your course change will be approved.

You might also have to:

  • take part in an interview
  • complete an admissions test
  • produce some written work
  • achieve a particular grade in your current studies
  • do some catch-up work
  • start your new course from the beginning 

For more information visit the Faculty website.

You can also apply to change to:

You can't apply to this course until you're at Cambridge. You would usually apply when you have completed one year or more of your original Cambridge course.

You should contact your College’s Admissions Office if you’re thinking of changing your course. They will be able to give you advice and explain how changing courses works.

Entry requirements
The listed entry requirements relate to entry in 2026 or deferred entry in 2027.

Minimum offer level

A level: A*AA 

IB: 41-42 points, with 776 at Higher Level

Other qualifications: Check which other qualifications we accept.

We don't ask for any specific subjects to apply to Law. We recommend these subjects for a strong application:

  • English (language or literature) 
  • History 
  • Languages (ancient or modern)

College entry requirements

The following Colleges usually set offers at the minimum offer level. They may sometimes ask for higher grades or an A* in a particular subject:

  • Christ’s
  • Clare
  • Downing
  • Emmanuel
  • Fitzwilliam
  • Girton
  • Gonville & Caius
  • Homerton
  • Hughes Hall
  • Jesus 
  • King's
  • Magdalene
  • Newnham
  • Pembroke
  • Peterhouse
  • Queens'
  • Robinson
  • St Catharine's 
  • St Edmund's
  • Trinity
  • Trinity Hall
  • Wolfson

The following Colleges set extra conditions for some or all offers. For example, they may make a higher offer or specify an A* in a particular subject. For more information check the College websites:

Colleges set additional offer requirements for a range of reasons. If you'd like to find out more about why we do this, check the information about offers above the minimum requirement on the entry requirements page.

IB offers

Some Colleges usually make offers above the minimum offer level. Find out more on our qualifications page.

Admission test

All applicants for Law are required to take the National Admissions Test for Law (LNAT) at an authorised assessment centre. You must register in advance for this test. 

See the LNAT page for further information.

Submitted work

Some of our Colleges will ask you to submit written work. 

The following Colleges require 2 pieces of written work:

  • Pembroke
  • St Edmund's

What Law students have studied

Most Law students (who had studied A levels and started at Cambridge in 2018, 2019 and 2023) achieved at least A*A*A (67% of entrants).

Most had usually studied at least one of the subjects recommended above.

The rest had usually taken at least one of:

  • Economics
  • Law
  • Mathematics
  • Psychology
  • A science subject

Other common subjects included:

  • Classical Civilisation, Further Mathematics, Geography, Politics, Music, Philosophy, Religious Studies or Sociology.

The majority of students who studied IB achieved at least 43 points overall.

This information shows some of the common subjects our applicants have studied. Although these are common subject combinations, this doesn't mean they're favoured. 

When you're choosing your post-16 subjects, it's most important to check whether any subjects are required for your course. You can also check our guidance on choosing your high school subjects for more information.

All undergraduate admissions decisions are the responsibility of the Cambridge Colleges. Please contact the relevant College admissions office if you have any queries.

Next steps

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Discover Uni

Discover Uni data

Contextual information

Discover Uni allows you to compare information about individual courses at different higher education institutions.  This can be a useful method of considering your options and what course may suit you best.

However, please note that superficially similar courses often have very different structures and objectives, and that the teaching, support and learning environment that best suits you can only be determined by identifying your own interests, needs, expectations and goals, and comparing them with detailed institution- and course-specific information.

We recommend that you look thoroughly at the course and University information contained on these webpages and consider coming to visit us on an Open Day, rather than relying solely on statistical comparison.

You may find the following notes helpful when considering information presented by Discover Uni.

  1. Discover Uni relies on superficially similar courses being coded in the same way. Whilst this works on one level, it may lead to some anomalies. For example, Music courses and Music Technology courses can have exactly the same code despite being very different programmes with quite distinct educational and career outcomes.

    Any course which combines several disciplines (as many courses at Cambridge do) tends to be compared nationally with courses in just one of those disciplines, and in such cases the Discover Uni comparison may not be an accurate or fair reflection of the reality of either. For example, you may find that when considering a degree which embraces a range of disciplines such as biology, physics, chemistry and geology (for instance, Natural Sciences at Cambridge), the comparison provided is with courses at other institutions that primarily focus on just one (or a smaller combination) of those subjects.You may therefore find that not all elements of the Cambridge degree are represented in the Discover Uni data.

  2. Some contextual data linked from other surveys, such as the National Student Survey (NSS) or the Destination of Leavers in Higher Education (DLHE), may not be available or may be aggregated across several courses or several years due to small sample sizes.  When using the data to inform your course choice, it is important to ensure you understand how it has been processed prior to its presentation. Discover Uni offers some explanatory information about how the contextual data is collated, and how it may be used, which you can view here: https://discoveruni.gov.uk/about-our-data/.

  3. Discover Uni draws on national data to provide average salaries and employment/continuation data.  Whilst starting salaries can be a useful measure, they do not give any sense of career trajectory or take account of the voluntary/low paid work that many graduates undertake initially in order to gain valuable experience necessary/advantageous for later career progression. Discover Uni is currently piloting use of the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data to demonstrate possible career progression; it is important to note that this is experimental and its use may be modified as it embeds.

The above list is not exhaustive and there may be other important factors that are relevant to the choices that you are making, but we hope that this will be a useful starting point to help you delve deeper than the face value of the Discover Uni data.

Key information

Minimum offer level 
A level: A*AA
IB: 41-42 points, with 776 at Higher Level
UCAS code 
M100
Course length 
BA (Hons) 3 years full-time
Start date 
October 2026
Study at 

All Colleges

Applicant numbers 
2024 cycle:
Applications per place: 7
Accepted: 236
Contact email 
outreach@law.cam.ac.uk
Contact telephone 
01223 330094