Great news if you want to study law: there’s no need to waste four years faffing around for four years studying ‘liberal arts’ and the take two more years at $60,000 each to get your law degree, because in England the route to an LLB (Batchelor of Laws) starts right after high school. For the legal minded, this should come as immensely exciting news.

In England and Wales, a law degree is normally at three year affair, however at Surrey, should you want to, you can put yourself well ahead of your peers by adding a placement year. This means that in just three to four years, you could be ready to sit your bar exam in your state or continue the path to solicitor or barrister in England.

You may wonder without courses like ‘pre-law’ how you’ll fare studying law straight after finishing your AP English Lit and ACT exams, and at least a Surrey, there’s no need to be anything but excited. In your first year, you’ll get started with Contract, Criminal, Property, and EU law. However, if you’re interested in expanding your degree, you can opt for Law with Criminology or Law with International Studies, the latter of which I’ve opted for. This means that rather than studying Property in my first year, I’ve taken an International Relations module and a module on the history of the European Union. Even for those geared up for a law degree, this may sound a bit daunting. Fear not, though, because at Surrey we get a lecture and a tutorial (a small group of about 10, more akin to a class like you’re already used to) for each module every single week, whereas some other UK universities will only offer them fortnightly.

Whether you’re considering or have your heart set on law, I recommend you have a look here for more details, and feel free to email us at northamerica@surrey.ac.uk, or me individually at rf00149@surrey.ac.uk!