Graduate Diploma in Law

Course information

Our GDL programme has an excellent reputation for its approach to teaching and learning, its outstanding student achievement, and its stellar successes in external mooting and client interviewing competitions. Our teaching team includes academic staff with internationally recognised research expertise and qualified practitioners. This ensures that students are taught by lawyers who have a deep understanding of the subject area and close links to the profession. You’ll have access to an excellent range of employability and established pro bono opportunities, including internships, solicitor and barrister mentoring schemes. 

• QS world rankings: For four consecutive years, Law at Oxford Brookes has ranked as an elite subject in the top 50 world universities that are under 50 fifty years old (QS rankings, 2021).
• Legal professional competitions: From 2021, Oxford Brookes is the home of the prestigious ESU-Essex Court Chambers National Mooting Competition. You will have the opportunity to be coached by three members of the Advisory Board for this competition.
• Teaching staff: Our staff have taught and designed materials for legal professional training courses and have a deep understanding of progression on to the vocational stage of training.
• Location: The School of Law is located in Headington Hill Hall and is surrounded by beautiful gardens. Lectures and workshops take place a short walk away in the modern state of the art facilities on Headington Campus. 
• Learning: Full-time students study a maximum of four subjects at a time, and the combination of weekly lectures and extended workshops ensures that students have significant opportunities to engage with and develop a detailed understanding of the foundations of legal knowledge as well as developing an appreciation of how to apply the law in professional practice
• Assessment: Assessments are spread throughout the year so that students are able to build on regular feedback rather than being required to sit all their exams at the end of the year.
• Legal Research Project: You will have the opportunity to develop your research skills through a supervised legal research project on a topic of your choice and which aligns with your professional legal interests. 
• Part-time students: have timetabled teaching on two fixed days each week across both years and they are fully integrated into the full-time programme.
• Internship and pro bono: opportunities include internships with Turpin & Miller; an established court-based family law pro bono project; and training to work with the death row charity Amicus.

Find out more about this course here

Apply for full-time course through LawCAB using the GDL/law conversion application form.

Apply directly to Oxford Brookes for the part-time option.

Course length

12 months - full-time

24 months - part-time

Eligibility requirements

You will normally have, or be predicted to have, a second class degree or above and your application should also demonstrate a commitment to the legal profession. All applications are considered on their merits and we'll consider applicants who do not have an upper second class honours degree who can demonstrate a commitment to pursuing a legal profession and have other strengths or evidence of achievement such as awards, scholarships and work experience - paid or unpaid.

Applicants who (i) hold a degree from an institution based outside the UK/Republic of Ireland and wish to undertake the GDL for the purpose of qualification as a barrister, or (ii) hold a UK/Republic of Ireland postgraduate degree but have not obtained a UK undergraduate degree, are advised to get their Certificate of Academic Standing (CAS) from the Bar Standards Board (BSB) before starting the GDL, but this is not a condition of entry. 

Graduate Visa eligibility

Yes

Read about the graduate visa

Qualification Level

Level 6 / 180 credits

Find out here what the different qualification levels mean