Hello and welcome to Birmingham Law
School at the University of Birmingham.
In this video we're going to tell you
more about what Birmingham Law School
has to offer
for students from Hong Kong. We have a
long history
of attracting students from Hong Kong. We
have many very successful
alumni from Hong Kong as well, for
example
Geoffrey Ma the well-known Chief
Justice from Hong Kong
graduated from the University of
Birmingham in 1977.
Therefore a University of Birmingham law
degree is very well recognised both in
Hong Kong
and worldwide. So why do students from
Hong Kong choose to study
at Birmingham Law School? There's a
number of reasons but a key one
is the strong reputation of the
University both in Hong Kong and
internationally.
The university of Birmingham is
consistently a top 100 university
worldwide
and we have many successful alumni from
Hong Kong working both in Hong Kong
and internationally. A particular key
attraction at present is the strong
employability offering
within the Law School. We have a real
focus on giving our students not just
academic qualifications but also the
professional
knowledge and experiences that employers
are looking for in Hong Kong.
It's not only because Birmingham is
an excellent University
that delivers excellent education
and good
learning curriculums, what
appealed to me
the most about Birmingham it's
their commitment to diversity and
inclusion
so being Asian and a part of the
LGBTQ+ community
I was really delighted to
find out about
the extensive support Birmingham has for
students like us so they have
a really extensive support system and
they
make you feel really comfortable at
school
in this safe space that you have
created for students.
So there's an International
Student Team
so I went to them when I
first arrived
they helped me with registering
with the GP, the police
and also stuff with student
accommodation and setting up a bank
account and things like all you
need to know you can go to them
and there's also a personal tutor
introduced to you at the beginning of
the semester so
I often go to my personal tutor
when I face
difficult situations or just
anything you can go to them
they're really friendly and helpful so
if you have any situations like
no matter it's academic or personal
issues you can go to them and they
will
try their very best to help in the
best way they can.
Birmingham Law School has a wide variety
of degree programs to choose from.
Our most popular program is the
three-year LLB
this is a qualifying law degree which is
your starting point for qualifying as a
lawyer both in the UK
and also in many international
jurisdictions,
So what does this degree cover during
the three years of study?
As you'd expect there's a variety of
core modules
that all students have to study in areas
like contract law or criminal law
these provide the foundations of your
legal studies.
In addition there's the opportunity to
specialise through the options that you
pick in your final year.
Final year students get to pick five
different options from the list
of options that are available, these
include everything from
business related subjects through to
subjects focusing
on international law to those looking at
criminal law
and human rights. We also have a number
of other
undergraduate law degree programmes
which enable you to combine your study
of law
with another discipline for example Law
with Business,
Law with French or Law with German, Law
with Criminology.
Law complements so well with criminology
so sometimes the things I learn from
criminology
helps me understand the law better
so for example the motives behind
certain legislations.
We also have a program in International
Law and Globalisation which is really
popular
with our international students from
around the world. This is
an almost unique program which enables
you to study
law from a variety of international
contexts including looking at
international
legal systems and institutions. Another
popular programme
is our LLB for Graduates programme.
This is a two-year law degree for
students who already have
an undergraduate degree in another
subject.
The benefit of this program is that it
enables you to complete your studies
in two years and still receive a
recognised law degree.
The Law School also has a
well-established LLM Master’s in Law.
On our master's degree you have the
opportunity to choose from a wide
variety of modules
to focus on different areas of law that
might be of interest to you
for example business law human rights
law or criminal law
are all particular areas of focus. If
that's what you're interested in
one key component of the LLM is the
dissertation
this is an independent research project
in which you get to focus on an
area of law that's really of interest to
you working with a specialist supervisor
to develop your research
and writing skills. A really distinctive
aspect of Birmingham Law School is
CEPLER
our Centre for Professional Legal
Education and Research.
This sits alongside the academic work of
the Law School
to focus on professional aspects of
studying law
ensuring that students are well prepared
for careers in the legal profession
if that's what they want to do. There's a
number of different activities that we
undertake through CEPLER
we have an excellent careers provision
this includes regular
careers talks, workshops, an annual law
fair
and also work placements. Last year we
arranged over 100 work placements
through CEPLER
to enable students to gain invaluable
legal work experience.
CEPLER additionally provides pro bono
opportunities
pro bono is where students deliver
voluntary legal advice to members of the
public.
This enables you not only to give back
to the community
by giving them really useful legal
advice that they couldn't otherwise
afford but also enables you to develop
your professional legal skills and
experience by
undertaking real life legal work
alongside your studies.
In addition CEPLER provides advocacy
opportunities.
For students who are interested in legal
careers verbal communication skills will
be very important
and through CEPLER advocacy you have the
chance to learn skills in negotiation,
Interviewing, debating, and also what we
call mooting
which is where you present a case to
judges
and are judged on your ability to argue
the case persuasively.
So I recently attended a talk
specifically for international students
where
teachers have invited alumnus from
previous years
whom are international and have
secured
a training contract with top law
firms
so they were just giving us tips
on how to perfect our applications
or just
how to do well in assessment centres
and how to impress the firm so I
found it really helpful because
application processes can sometimes be
overwhelming and kind of frustrating if
you don't have sufficient support
and guidance because they're
like really long and it's
yeah a really time consuming process so
the CEPLER events really helped me a lot
in
presenting my cover letter or CV more
effectively and efficiently.
Many international students really
benefit from the opportunities through
CEPLER
these activities provide an excellent
aspect to your CV
and help to make you employable whether
in the UK or internationally.
Birmingham is a fantastic city in which
to complete your law degree.
It's England's second city with over a
million inhabitants
and it's particularly diverse which
means it provides a very welcoming
environment
for international students. As a large
international city there's also a wide
variety of different entertainments
shopping and cultural activities that
you can get involved in during your time
with us.
So coming from Hong Kong where
everyone's hustling and bustling and
there's things happening everywhere like
anytime everywhere
I think Birmingham offers such a
nice change to that, like things are more
slower paced and chill and laid
back
and I also love how
I think the culture and people of a
place really says a lot about the
place so
everyone I've met here like no matter
international or local
they're really friendly they just
greet you with a smile and
ask how you're doing so I really like
that a lot
and so from a student perspective
the accommodations are
not overly priced
and the town is just like 10 or 15
minutes away from the student area so
when you go to town there's so much
to
offer you there's like a huge shopping
mall
there's different shops there's
creative hubs where
there are galleries and performing like
town halls etc so you can really
cater for every of your needs.
I also like the fact that Birmingham has
so much like canals and parks
so if you're a nature fanatic like
me
you're gonna love this place. As
the major legal centre outside of London
Birmingham also provides
excellent legal opportunities for work
experience
and also gaining exposure to the legal
Sector.
Birmingham just tingles the sense of
belonging to me
as much as Hong Kong does it's like a
second home for me
So I'd really highly encourage
you to come to Birmingham
if that's what you want to do because
even despite my short two-year stay
there's
never been an occurrence that I've
regretted my decision to come to the
University of Birmingham.
I hope you've enjoyed finding out more
about Birmingham Law School in this
video. If you want more information have
a look at our website.
On there you'll find lots of information
about our programs,
fees, scholarships, accommodation and also
admissions requirements.
There's also a contact email address
that you can use to get in touch with us
directly
with any questions.