Education

LLB Programmes

Undergraduates studying our LLB programmes cover the Foundations of Legal Knowledge such as public law, land law and criminal law. Through modules on UK Human Rights, International Human Rights, Climate Justice, Justice, and Ethics graduates are prepared to support fairer, more accountable and inclusive institutions.

Learning Law Through Access to Justice

The Queen Mary Legal Advice Centre combines legal education, public legal education and law reform, enabling students to learn through direct engagement with clients, communities and policymakers. Working under the supervision of qualified lawyers, students interview clients, research legal problems and prepare written advice, gaining first-hand experience of legal practice, professional ethics and access to justice. In 2024/25, the Centre provided 505 student opportunities and received more than 2,700 client enquiries, while its Social Welfare Benefits Tribunal Project passed the milestone of securing more than £1 million in disability benefits for clients whose claims had previously been refused.

Students also take legal education into the community through the Legal Advice Centre’s Public Legal Education and Street Law programme. In 2024/25, they delivered 84 public legal education workshops reaching 1,945 participants, including 1,595 school students through programmes such as SPITE for Schools and School Tasking.

 Alongside this, the Centre's new Social Justice Policy Clinic enables students to work with academics, lawyers and civil society partners on current social justice issues, contributing to evidence submissions on topics including access to justice, environmental harms, immigration and children's online safety. Through the Centre's broader policy work and its Clinical Legal Education, Access to Justice and Pro Bono Law Summer School, students learn how legal advice, public education and evidence can influence policy, strengthen the rule of law and improve access to justice.

Centre for Commercial Law Studies 

The Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS) runs Executive Education programmes designed for legal, policy and government professionals. The programmes focus on areas directly relevant to policy- and law-makers, including international investment law, arbitration, taxation, procurement, trade and sustainable development.

The 10-week International Investment Law and Arbitration programme is designed for government officials, judges, treaty negotiators and public-sector lawyers. Participants develop practical skills in treaty interpretation, investor-state dispute resolution and state obligations through a combination of academic research, practitioner-led teaching and case-based learning. The programme supports policy- and law-makers in applying international investment law within government and legal practice.

In 2025, Queen Mary strengthened its longstanding partnership with the Office of the Judiciary of Thailand through a new agreement on judicial training and executive legal education. The collaboration builds on years of work with Thai judges, including Supreme Court justices, and supports the development of training that responds to emerging legal issues and the changing needs of the judiciary.

qLegal – professional skill development

At postgraduate level, qLegal gives students practical experience of commercial law while providing free support to entrepreneurs, start-ups and non-profit organisations. Students work with real clients through legal advice, public legal education, legal design and externships. By July 2024, qLegal had created 1,349 experiential learning opportunities for students and supported 2,316 start-ups with free legal and business advice.

The 2024/25 Externships Programme placed 32 postgraduate students with 26 start-ups. Students worked alongside founders on real legal and business challenges, gaining experience of professional practice while the participating organisations received additional legal and commercial support. qLegal also embeds experiential learning within the curriculum through credit-bearing modules in entrepreneurship law, public legal education, legal design and legal internships.