The Legal Cheek View
Having offered a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate law courses since its formation by Nottingham Trent University (NTU) in 1964, Nottingham Law School (NLS) is one of the more recognisable names on the legal education scene. Housed in the Chaucer Building and celebrating its 60th year in 2024, the law school is located in the heart of Nottingham at NTU’s city campus.
On offer for undergrads, along with the classic Law LLB, are a staggering number of interesting LLB variations, including a Business Law LLB, International Law LLB, Law with Psychology LLB, Law with Criminology LLB and Law with Business LLB to name a few.
Popular postgrad offerings for those eager to specialise even further, which include LLMs covering technology, sport, health, environmental, corporate and international law.
A number of professional courses are on offer including the Postgraduate Diploma in Law (PGDip), a recently revamped Barristers Training Course (BTC) and a collection of prep courses for the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE). These SQE preparation courses at NLS are available on a full-time or part-time basis.
Solicitor hopefuls will have a number of options depending on whether they have completed a law or non-law undergrad. For example, law graduates can complete a SQE1 prep course before moving on to the SQE2 prep course. NLS is also offering a range of master’s programmes for law graduates that incorporate SQE prep and are eligible for postgraduate funding. Its most comprehensive LLM covers both SQE1 and SQE2 prep.
Non-law grads, meanwhile, are required to complete a longer SQE LLM which incorporates SQE1 prep, before the option of moving on to the SQE2 prep course. Luckily for both law and non-law grads, the SQE2 prep course on the SQE1 exam – a real saving grace considering the current pass rates!
All NLS law students can volunteer at NLS Legal, an award-winning, in-house teaching law firm. Established in 2006, NLS Legal is a regulated teaching law firm, advising real clients on a wide range of legal issues under the supervision of qualified solicitors. The firm is headed up by Laura Pinkney, previous partner at national law firm Cartwright King Solicitors. One student volunteer with NLS Legal tells us that she has “helped out on five NLS Legal cases, three criminal law cases and two family law matters”. She remarks that “it was such hands-on experience that I would be unlikely to get anywhere else.” NLS have partnered up with Support Through Court (STC) and host it’s Nottingham office. Support Through Court is a charity that provides practical and emotional assistance to people who are going through court without representation. All law students will have the opportunity to volunteer at Support Through Court, online and in-person.
Outside of studying, there are a plethora of opportunities to get involved with local communities at the university. “I joined the Feminist Society and Women’s Welfare” one student says, “which has inspired me to volunteer with the Safer Living Foundation in conjunction with the law school.” She emphasises that “there are so many opportunities at
NTU to gain work experience and to volunteer internally, that you don’t even need to look externally for these roles.”
For those destined for the wig and gown, NLS’s Bar Training Course (BTC) is an attractive offering. One hopeful barrister at NTU labels the course as “undeniably challenging”. But, she says, the support from tutors at the law school means that “you’re never alone and you always feel supported”.
With small tutor groups, students on the BTC can expect to become “very close”, with peers on hand to “read through your pupillage applications” and “grab a coffee together in the library’s own Starbucks branch”. The BTC at NTU comes in a one-year LLM variety or hopeful barristers eager to qualify sooner can choose the slightly shorter BTC (PGDip) over the course of seven months.
One beauty of NLS’ law programmes undeniably lies in its mock courtroom facilities, which are integrated into its law courses through emphasis on practical learning. NLS has a mock criminal courtroom and civil courtroom for criminal, family and civil mock trials which are exact replicas of working courtrooms. These are “really helpful”, according to one interviewee, “because it prepares you really well for qualification”. “When you’re doing advocacy training”, be that at undergrad, on an SQE prep course or undertaking the BTC, “it feels like you’re practising in a real courtroom, without the pressure of handling a real-life case”. These are also used for NLS’s various mooting competitions and the Mooter’s Guild to help students build on their presentation skills and confidence.
Based at NTU’s City centre campus, the NLS location is “really great” for accessibility. The law school is just a short 20-minute walk from the train station, and there’s a tram stop just outside of the Chaucer Building. It also stands directly opposite the NTU’s Boots library which is open 24/7, so there’s “no excuse not to study!” And, the school is just a stone’s throw from the stunning Nottingham Arboretum, Nottingham’s oldest public park which provides a “great place to rest and relax”.
One NLS student interviewee cites the support at the law school, as one of the key attractions of studying there. “The pastoral support on my course has been amazing. Throughout the course, the tutors regularly check-in to see how you’re doing, and to provide occasional hints and tips to get you through your studies.” “It really feels as if they do care”, she tells us, “and they’re not just there to deliver content.”