Legal Studies/Pre-Law
Law, or legal studies, comes into contact with almost every area of human life, touching upon issues relating to business, economics, politics, the environment, human rights, international relations and trade. Legal Studies and Pre-Law courses are designed to introduce you to concepts and ideas within Law and a framework through which to examine and understand different societies and cultures. These degrees are a useful way to decide on whether training as a lawyer is right for you as well as help you prepare for a broad range of professional roles – and indeed, for life in general.
Digging deeper into subject interests can help you in a number of ways:
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Confirm whether this is (or isn't) something you would be interested in enough to want to study it at university either as the focus of your degree or a minor/elective
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Give you some inspiration to use when creating your questions and topics for IA's (coursework) and your Extended Essay
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Provide you with content for your university application writing in the future, enabling you to reflect on the things you've been doing to explore your interests in a way that is academically relevant to the course or institution you are applying for.
Useful Resources
Oxford Transitional Justice Research Seminars | Podcast | Recorded Lecture | Oxford Transitional Justice Research (OTJR) is an inter-disciplinary network of more than 100 Oxford staff and students working broadly on issues of transition in societies recovering from mass conflict and/or repressive rule. OTJR is dedicated to producing high-quality scholarship that connects intimately to practical and policy questions in transitional justice, focusing on the following themes: Prosecutions, Truth Commissions, Local and traditional practices, Compensation and reparations, Theoretical and philosophical debates in transitional justice, Institutional reform and Archives of tribunal and other transitional justice materials. The OTJR seminar programme is held weekly and reflects these aims. | Click Here > | |
Public International Law | Podcast | Recorded Lecture | Lectures on international law issues by eminent scholars, practitioners and judges of national and international courts. The lecture series is brought to you by the Public International Law Discussion Group, part of the Law Faculty of the University of Oxford, and is supported by the British Branch of the International Law Association and Oxford University Press. | Click Here > | |
University of Southampton Podcast Library | Podcast | Recorded Lecture | A library of the Lifelong Learning Talks and Study Days from the University of Southampton. They cover a wide range of topics but are organised by topic and easy to browse. | Click Here > | |
Springpod Subject Spotlights | Recorded Lecture | On demand mini-lectures from top UK universities across a range of degree subject areas | Click Here > | |
LawCareers.Net YouTube Channel | Video | Watch the recordings of webinars on careers in law, including "Meet the Lawyer" interviews and advice on different pathways into the field of law. | Click Here > | |
The Continuing Windrush Scandal | Talk from March 2021 | Video | Talk by journalist and author Amelia Gentleman three years on from the government apology for the Windrush scandal, yet justice remains elusive for so many of those who were affected. | Click Here > | |
Springboard | Video | These videos bring you cutting-edge research from Oxford's graduate students on a wide range of topics - from climate change and colonialism, to microbiomes and mathematical logic. Each video offers an introduction to a new topic, plus lots of activities and further resources to explore. When you click on a topic, you will be asked a few questions and then you will be able to play the video you've chosen. | Click Here > | |
ExeTalks | Video | Recorded Lecture | ExeTalks are a chance to discover some of the fascinating research undertaken at the University of Exeter. | Click Here | |
University of Swansea Webinars | Webinar | Video | This is a collection of recordings from the University of Swansea's subject taster webinar series which they run at various times throughout the year. Browse through to find topics relevant to your interests. | Click Here > | |
Beginner's Guide to a Career in Law | Website | Find out more about what Lawyers do and the pathways to a career in law in the UK from the regularly updated LawCareers.net | Click Here > | |
HE+ | Website | Podcast | Blog | Video | The HE+ website has supercurricular resources created and written by Cambridge students and academics including challenging activities, engaging videos, reflective questions and much more. | Click Here > | |
LIS Learning Hub | Website | Webinar | Recorded Lecture | Blog | Podcast | This is an open source area full of webinars, articles, videos, short reads, mini-lectures, podcasts and more from the London Interdiscipinary school. | Click Here > | |
Springpod Virtual Work Experience | Work Experience | Virtual work experience Opportunities across a range of companies and sectors. Most of them are free. | Click Here > | |
First Steps to Law Virtual Experience Programme | Work Experience | Online Course | A virtual and on-demand experience program with Law Firm Hogan Lovells. It takes 6-7 hours of self-paced engagement to complete and you will gain a certificate for it. | Click Here > |