Exploring Law Course: Studying Law at University

Exploring Law: Studying Law at University is an innovative, open-access online course designed primarily for 16 to 18-year-olds who are considering studying law at university in the UK. It is intended to help any student, whatever their background, and whatever their particular university aspirations, decide whether law is the right subject for them.

What can the Exploring Law course offer me?

The Exploring Law course has been designed by the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law to give you a real taste of what studying law at university involves.

The major ambition is to enable you to decide whether a law degree is right for you, as well as to help you develop understanding and skills that will assist you when applying to university and then starting out as a law student.

During the course, you will be introduced you to fundamentals of law – its nature, sources and major categories – and explore in depth some fascinating questions of criminal law, public law and private law. You will also gain valuable insights into, and have a chance to practise, key skills that every law student needs. The final module of the course provides useful advice on how to make an effective university application.

The course is intended to be a rich and engaging experience. In each module, academic experts from the Faculty of Law will guide you as you work through activities that allow you to learn about, and interact with, the law in different ways. In addition, you will hear first-hand from current university law students about their experiences and from inspirational figures from the world of law, and you will have the opportunity to interact with other learners, sharing your experiences, thoughts and ideas.

How can I access the course?

The Exploring Law course is free to access and complete. It can be accessed via the Exploring Lawcourse page on the FutureLearn online course platform. To take the course, you only need to follow a very simple registration process.

If you opt to enrol on the course for free, you will have full access to the course for six weeks. During that time, the six course modules will become available to you on a weekly basis, and you can work through each module, as it becomes available, at your own pace. Although FutureLearn describes this as "limited access", you will enjoy the full course experience during your free enrolment, and you will be supported throughout that time by our course facilitators.

The course is offered twice a year, beginning in the last week in January and the third week in July.

The course will re-start on 25 January 2027. Learners can register for the course immediately via the Exploring Law course page, and at any time before 8 March 2027.

All learners are required to comply with FutureLearn’s Code of Conduct. Please also bear in mind FutureLearn’s guidance for staying safe online.

How much time will I need to take the course?

The course has six weekly modules. To gain most benefit from the course, you should expect to spend around 4 hours per module.

How was the course developed?

The Exploring Law course is hosted by the FutureLearn platform. It has been designed and developed by the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law in collaboration with expert online learning designers and developers at Cambridge University Press.

Within the Faculty of Law, the Exploring Law project has been led by Stephen Watterson, with the assistance of Okeoghene Odudu and Amy Goymour. The project has drawn on the expertise of six colleagues: Rachel Clement Tolley and Tom Hawker-Dawson (Criminal Law), Emily Hancox and Stevie Martin (Public Law), and Jodi Gardner and Liron Shmilovits (Private Law).

The Faculty of Law owes a very great debt of gratitude to the team at Cambridge University Press for the considerable time and work involved in bringing the course to fruition, to the six law students who volunteered to be filmed, and to the six inspirational figures who gave their time so generously in contributing to the course: Stephanie Boyce, former President of the Law Society; Lord Burrows, Supreme Court Justice; Professor Sarah Green, former Law Commissioner of England and Wales; Lady Hale, former President of the Supreme Court; Musa Okwonga, author, podcaster and musician; and Alexandra Wilson, barrister and activist.