Courses

Admissions Criteria

Academic Requirements

The minimum academic entry requirement for the LL.M. is normally a First class degree in law from a UK university, or the equivalent from an overseas institution. For overseas students this typically means they will have placed in the top 5-10% of their class.

Students who are currently undertaking legal studies can apply before completing their degree. Successful applicants in this category are likely to have academic conditions attached to their offer. If your offer is subject to academic conditions October the Faculty of Law and the Board of Graduate Studies must receive final evidence of your having met the conditions by the end of July of the same year in order for you to join the LL.M. in October. If your results only become available after that date, you cannot be admitted to the LL.M. course.

The LL.M. Admissions Committee does consider applications from those with a non-Law first degree, provided that in addition to their degree they have either substantial relevant professional legal experience or have obtained a professional legal qualification with the equivalent of a First Class result. However, a first degree in Law is the preferred preparation for the Cambridge LL.M.

Cambridge does not normally offer a place on the LL.M. course to an applicant who already holds or is currently studying for an LL.M. from a UK institution. However, exceptions might be made in cases where applicants plan to use the Cambridge LL.M. to develop their studies in a different direction to their previous UK LL.M.

Language Requirements

If you have not carried out your prior academic work in English you will need to take a language proficiency test to show you have the necessary command of the language to get the most out of your course. IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is the university's preferred test. Where the IELTS test is not available you may take the Princeton TOEFL test (Test of English as a Foreign Language).

For all law courses, including the LL.M, the IELTS minimum overall score is 7.5 with a minimum of 7.0 in the reading, writing, listening and speaking components. For the TOEFL the minimum score is 637 in the paper-based test, plus 5.5 TWE. The minimum score in the internet based TOEFL test is 110 overall, with a minimum of 25 in each individual component of reading, writing, listening and speaking.

Please note that during the current admissions round, the LL.M. Admissions Committee will only consider applications for 2012-13 and not for subsequent years.

The University welcomes applications from students with disabilities and evaluates them on the same academic basis as those from other candidates (see 'Students with disabilities' for more information). The Faculty Building is fully accessible to those with mobility difficulties.