Hello and welcome to Birmingham Law
School at the University of Birmingham.
In this video we'll tell you all about
what Birmingham Law School has to offer
for Canadian students. We have a long
track record
of attracting Canadian students to our
programmes, currently we have around 120
Canadian students
studying on our various law degrees.
So
why do Canadian students choose to come
to university of Birmingham?
One key attraction is the fantastic
international reputation of the
University.
Canadian students have been joining us
for many years so we have a strong
alumni network in Canada that ensures
that your degree will be well recognised
when you come to
apply for legal employment in Canada or
elsewhere.
We're a well-established Russell Group
university with a history of over 100
years
of teaching law and we consistently rank
amongst the top
100 universities worldwide.
We have many Canadian students, we have
Canadian teaching faculty
and a really fantastic Canadian
employability program
to help you develop your legal career
whether in Canada or elsewhere.
Another key attraction is the strong
focus of the Law School
on employability. All of the teaching
staff here are really committed to
ensuring
not just that you receive an excellent
academic education
but also that your time at Birmingham
enables you to develop the skills
and the competencies that you need in
order to work successfully in a
professional or
other career in the future.
I chose to study at UoB
because it is a world-renowned
university known for its large
international community
and I felt like it would be a great fit
for me because I
am a person who likes to connect with
people around the world
so I did think that that factor was
really important for me
and I didn't want to study at the
birthplace of common law I am from
Canada
so I did want to see where the root of
our law came from.
it is a Russell Group university and
that appealed to me because I have such
an interest with international relations
and knowing that they do
a lot of global economic work really
came into my interest.
Another reason why I want to study here
is I noticed that they had a lot of
opportunities
for Canadian students. I saw that there
was a history of that which appealed to
me further.
Birmingham Law School offers a variety
of different law degree programs
there's two particular programs that
particularly appeal to our Canadian
students.
First of all the LLB for Graduates this
is
a law degree for students who already
have an undergraduate degree in a
different subject
whether from Canada or elsewhere. The
particular attraction
of this programme is that it's a
two-year law degree
and it's a qualifying law degree which
enables you to move on to
the steps needed to qualify as a lawyer
whether in Canada
or in the UK. So what does this degree
cover?
As I said it's a two-year program and it
covers all the required subjects that
you need
for a qualifying law degree. In addition
there's a unique Decolonizing Legal
Concepts module which we recently
introduced
to look at law from a variety of
different perspectives
rather than just the traditional western
perception of what law is.
In addition a key feature of the LLB for
Graduates is that as well as studying
your core modules
you have the ability to choose three
optional modules
from the wide range of options available
at Birmingham Law School
this enables you to personalize your law
degree and focus on the areas that
really interest you
whether that be business law,
international law,
human rights and in fact we even have a
Canadian Constitutional Law
module to enable you to begin your
studies of the Canadian legal system.
A second program that's very popular
with our Canadian students is our
three-year
LLB this is open to all students and
typically it tends to be Canadian high
school
graduates who join this program on
completion of their high school studies.
It's a three-year program as I said and
again it's a qualifying law degree
which is recognized both in the UK and
Canada as a starting point
for beginning your qualification process
as a lawyer. Within the programme
as usual there's a number of core
modules that are required in order to
receive
a qualifying law degree but there's also
a number of unique modules such as
Decolonizing Legal Concepts,
Legal Communications which looks at
writing about law
in different formats for example
professional legal writing
also writing about law in a journalistic
style.
We also have a Law and Ethics module
which considers ethical aspects
of the legal system. In your final year
you have the ability to choose from a
wide variety of optional modules
and you pick five options which enable
you to personalize your law studies
and focus your degree on the areas that
really interest you
As well as these two programs we have a
variety of other law programs including
Law with Business, Law with Criminology,
Law with French,
Law with German and also International
Law and Globalization.
You'll find the details of all these
programmes and the material that they
cover
on our website. I think what I enjoy most
about
the course at the University of
Birmingham is the interaction with
professors
whether this be in the classroom or in
Seminars. I find
that they're trying to extract
information from you and be interactive
and I think that's such
an important role for me as a student
thinking
back to my studies and learning how to
apply it. Especially as an LLB for Grad
student we have a very tight-knit group
we're all really close with each other
we really support each other
everyone's really friendly and I really
enjoy getting to know people
so the program itself is very
conducive to my type of learning which
is very
problem based and interactive
which I prefer rather to a theory
approach.
I find the university was very
supportive to me as an international
student
of course with its international office
they've answered questions from me in
regards to accommodation or visa
restrictions
but I find for myself personally the
most
accommodating thing that the university
has done for me as an international
student
is the law mentor program. They were
able to have second third and fourth
year students
kind of advise and introduce first years
to the University
and that really helped me integrate with
the culture as well as meet other
students in my cohort but also
other students which was fantastic.
Let's look at how we support our
Canadian students. We have a large
number of Canadian students currently
over 120 students from Canada
therefore whatever class you're in
you'll find a few other Canadian
students
who are experiencing the same learning
as you.
We have two Canadian faculty one of whom
is herself
a graduate of our LLB for Graduates
program
we have our Canadian constitutional law
module to help you learn more
about the Canadian legal system
we also have a university-wide Canadian
Society where you can network and build
links with other Canadian students not
just those
in the Law School. We understand that
many of our Canadian students will be
looking to develop legal careers in
Canada
and in order to be able to do that it's
really important that you have access to
networks and information about the
Canadian
legal sector for instance we run an
annual Canadian careers conference
featuring speakers from the Canadian
legal profession
we also have an International Careers
Week which involves many
different sessions focusing on aspects
of Canadian legal careers in particular
we often invite back our alumni
to speak to students about their pathway
to successful legal careers
in Canada.
Coming to the University in my
first year I noticed that there was a
wide variety of societies available on
campus which was
fantastic to choose from. In my first
year I was able to be
successfully put on the committee for
ELSA the European Law Students
Association.
This society has a wide network across
various countries throughout Europe so
it's fantastic being able to network
with other people who are international
students as well. From the moment we
came and arrived in the UK I was
contacted by someone from the University
who was asking me
how my travel to the UK was how I'm
settling in
and if I needed anything or any support
and
I felt like it was really helpful to
have that personal
contact with someone from the University
it made it feel
a little bit more at home I didn't feel
like I was alone
I did have a group of people that
reached out to me
and even offered to meet up with me
to answer some of my more difficult
questions that I could not really convey
over the phone
and in general they've been amazing with
connecting me with past students who
are now alumni and have gone down the
same path as I have.
I noticed the University had a lot of
opportunities for talks and webinars
with recent alumni that are Canadians.
There are several that have been
studying in Canada practicing in Canada
so that was really great to experience
however coming to the University I
noticed that there were also several
talks about
barristers and solicitors here in
England
which really curved my interest
actually and moving with that I applied
to a few vacation schemes in England
however there was one specific Pinsent
Masons held a first year program through
the University of Birmingham
which i successfully obtained and I feel
as though that
really piqued my interest and I'm now
looking to stay in England as a result.
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 and 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 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.
I've been fortunate enough to be
successful doing the pro bono at the
University
specifically the Environmental Law
Matters where I'm able to advise third
parties
or other individuals who are looking to
seek advice.
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 the major
legal centre outside of London
Birmingham also provides
excellent legal opportunities for work
experience
and also gaining exposure to the legal
sector.
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.
Birmingham is such a great city to study
In, one because of the
diversity I think that there's
everything
if you have an interest in art and
business there's tons of independent
shops here
I think it covers a wide variety of
interests
but I also find I come from a very small
town in northern Ontario
and coming here although it is such a
big place there's still
a small town feel to me and I really
appreciate that.
Let's now look at how you can use your
Birmingham law degree if you want to
qualify as a lawyer.
Obviously it's an English law degree so
one option that's increasingly popular
for Canadian students is to use their
degree to qualify in the UK
where there's a huge variety of
international law firms.
The majority of our Canadian students
though do seek a return
to Canada. Our qualifying law degree is
well recognised in Canada
and you would simply need to complete
the NCA
process in order to progress your legal
training
in Canada this can be done either by
self-studying for your NCA
conversion exams or else completing a
master's degree at a number of different
Canadian law schools
which meets the NCA requirements. I
would
advise Canadians looking to come here is
to look at the advantages
of the University as I've mentioned
there's tons of curricular activities
available
whether that's through the Law School or
something you want to do with students.
I think the professors here as well are
globally renowned and that's something
that
students should take advantage of. 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.