The Faculty of Law is delighted to announce the launch of a major new outreach initiative, Exploring Law: Studying Law at University.
Exploring Law is an innovative, open-access online course, designed primarily for 16 to 18-year-olds who are considering whether to study law at a university in the UK. It is free for anyone to access and complete.
The course is a key outreach initiative for the Faculty of Law, intended to help any student, whatever their background, and whatever their particular university aspirations.
The course aims to give potential law students a real taste of what studying law at university involves. Its primary aim is to demystify the study of law and in that way help potential students to feel more confident in deciding whether a law degree is right for them. It also helps to develop understanding and skills that will assist them when applying to university and then when first starting out as a law student.
During the course’s six weekly modules, students are introduced to fundamentals of the law – its nature, sources and major categories – and explore in depth some fascinating questions of criminal law, public law and private law. They also gain valuable insights into, and have a chance to practise, skills that every law student needs. The final course module provides useful advice on how to make an effective university application.
The Exploring Law course is intended to be a positive, engaging and rich experience. Academic experts guide students as they work through online activities that allow them to learn about, and interact with, the law in different ways. In addition, in each weekly module, students hear first-hand from six university law students about their experiences, and from inspirational figures from the world of law. Throughout the course, they also have the opportunity to interact with other students, sharing their experiences, thoughts and ideas.
The Exploring Law course will run for the first time from Monday 18 October 2021. It is possible to register for the course immediately, and at any time before 29 November 2021, via the Exploring Law course page. The course will be offered again on a regular basis in the future.
For further information about enrolling on the course, see the Faculty of Law’s Exploring Law: Studying Law at University webpage.
Responding to the launch, Professor Mark Elliott, Chair of the Law Faculty said:
"I am delighted that the Faculty of Law at Cambridge is launching this new initiative. Through our Access and Widening Participation Programme, we are committed to ensuring that studying Law at university is an opportunity open to all talented prospective students irrespective of their background. Our new Exploring Law programme reflects the Faculty’s ambition not only to encourage applicants from a broad range of backgrounds to apply to study Law at Cambridge, but as importantly, to demystify Law as a subject for anyone who might be contemplating studying it at degree level at a UK university."
The course aims to give potential law students a real taste of what studying law at university involves. Its primary aim is to demystify the study of law and help potential students to feel more confident in deciding whether a law degree is right for them. Stephen Watterson
How has the course been 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, President of the Law Society; Lord Burrows, Supreme Court Justice; Professor Sarah Green, 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.