LLM Bar Practice

Why choose Herts?

  • Professional accreditation: Approved by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) as an Authorised Education Training Organisation to deliver bar training (the vocational requirements for qualification as a Barrister of England and Wales).
  • Work-related learning: Real-life scenarios inform your teaching, and you will gain client facing casework experience working in legal services within our award-winning pro-bono Law Clinic providing community-based legal services such as employment tribunals, FRU and Citizen Advice.
  • Advocacy: Over 40 hours of face-to-face advocacy training by experts including Judges, Barristers and Solicitors.  You will have the opportunity to work on authentic, real-life scenarios and practice your skills in our full-scale replica Crown Court.
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Funding available*

Professional Accreditations

The course has been designed to meet the requirements of Bar Vocational Training as prescribed by the Bar Standards Board as well as provide valuable knowledge and skills applicable to any area of legal or professional practice.

The University is authorised by the Bar Standards Board as an Authorised Education Training Provider delivering an approved Bar Vocational Training pathway. 

We can accept applications onto the programme.

About the course

The LLM Bar Practice programme combines the vocational elements of training for a Barrister (previously the BPTC) within an internationally recognised master’s level qualification. Its innovative design and professional support and enhancement programmes focuses on developing you to manage both a face to face and digital practice.

The course is experiential with a focus on developing excellent personal and legal skills which are relevant for professional practice as a barrister or in any other professional career. 

Programme delivery

You will learn by doing and, in several ways. Significant contact time of 10-16 hours a week, supported by small class sizes means you get to practice your skills weekly. The programme is delivered via in-person and and supported by a rich on campus co-curricular programme. You will be taught in small class sizes of 1:6 and 1:12, by qualified legal professionals and academics who have experience in teaching and legal practice.

Advocacy is taught in our multi-million-pound replica Crown Courtroom, and conference skills are taught in groups of 6 students. You will follow several case studies which enable you to take your client from instruction through to completion of their case using your knowledge and developing those essential skills. Your practice is recorded and stored in the cloud, giving you the opportunity to watch and reflect on your practice anytime. Your contact time is supported by rich resources enabling you to learn, practice and reflect in a variety of ways. Using online practitioner texts gives you maximum flexibility over how you use your resources including annotation, bookmarking and printing.

Assessment

The programme has a variety of assessments including oral, coursework, portfolio and examinations. Assessments for the bar training element follow the requirements of the BSB Curriculum and Assessment Strategy (found here).

Your classes will prepare you for your assessments and you will have weekly practice on the MCQs and SBAs needed for the centralised assessments. 

Throughout the programme you’ll develop professional connections through our extensive employability programme and participate in a range of co-curricular courses.

Programme outcomes

At the end of the programme, you will leave us with a valuable master’s qualification, the knowledge and skills required by the legal profession and other potential employers and, with the opportunity to be called to the Bar of England and Wales (subject to you completing your dining obligations and any additional requirements set by the BSB).

If you want to work in the legal profession, the full-time one-year LLM Bar Practice offered by the University of Hertfordshire is the course for you. Our course not only will offer an established route into the legal profession but also enables you to obtain a valuable and internationally recognised masters.

Why choose this course?

The LLM Bar Practice offers you the opportunity to enhance your profile and gain an internationally recognised qualification.

  • Enhancing employability: Throughout the programme, you’ll develop professional connections through our extensive employability programme and participate in a range of co-curricular courses. 
  • Professional accreditation: A internationally recognised master’s degree incorporating the vocational requirements for qualification as a Barrister of England and Wales
  • Work-related learning: Our award-winning Law Clinic covers a number of practice areas and pro bono opportunities which will enable you to put the skills you learn on the programme into practice in the community. You can choose to get involved in the law clinic as part of your LLM, which provides you with practical, real-world, client-based experience.
  • Advocacy: Over 40 hours of face-to-face advocacy training by experts including Judges, Barristers and Solicitors.  You will have the opportunity to work on authentic, real-life scenarios and practice your skills in our full-scale replica Crown Court.
  • CV-enhancing activities: An extensive array of co-curricular activities including trial advocacy led by a former member of the judiciary, client interviewing, conferencing, debating, commercial awareness and mooting.
  • Strong industry links: Hertfordshire Law School has close links with the Law Clinic and Careers Service providing you with the skills and support you need to make the most of your time on the programme and succeed in your chosen career.
  • Fantastic facilities: We are one of the few providers of legal education in the country with a full-scale multi-million-pound replica Crown Courtroom which is fully equipped with the latest technology to enable you to perform your Advocacy skills and prepare you for practice.
  • Teaching excellence: You’ll be taught by experienced practitioners in the legal field including Barristers, Solicitors and former Judges as well as academics, all of whom understand the context of the modules in practice.
  • Award-winning: Voted Best Contribution by a Team of Students helping vulnerable people at risk of homelessness in Hertfordshire (Law Works Student Pro Bono Awards, 2022), and ranked 3rd overall for law in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES, 2024).

What will I study?

This one-year intensive full-time course consists of on campus teaching over three days coupled with significant independent learning on your non-teaching days. Assessments may fall on any day of the week.

In your third semester, depending on your elective choices, your study days may vary. In the first semester you will study the following modules:

  • Professional Ethics
  • Conference Skills
  • Submission Advocacy

    These modules will be assessed at the end of the semester in December / January.

You will also start studying for:

  • Civil Litigation
  • Criminal Litigation, Evidence and Sentencing
  • Trial Advocacy

These modules continue into the second semester, where you will also study:

  • Drafting
  • Opinion Writing & Legal Research

These modules will be assessed in April and May

All your modules contextualise and develop your knowledge together with practising core skills, and you can expect to find ethical questions appearing across all modules.

Finally, in the third semester, you will complete your Masters by studying from a choice of four modules:

  • Advanced Civil Litigation
  • Advanced Criminal Litigation
  • Company / Commercial
  • Pro Bono Experience (Bar)
    (modules run subject to student numbers) 
  • Level 7
    ModuleCreditsCompulsory/optional
    Conference15 CreditsCompulsory
    Drafting15 CreditsCompulsory
    Advanced Criminal Litigation15 CreditsOptional
    Advanced Civil Litigation15 CreditsOptional
    Family Law15 CreditsOptional
    Company & Commercial Law15 CreditsOptional
    Trial Advocacy30 CreditsCompulsory
    Professional Ethics0 CreditsCompulsory
    Civil Litigation15 CreditsCompulsory
    Criminal Litigation, Evidence and Sentencing15 CreditsCompulsory
    Pro Bono Experience (Bar)30 CreditsOptional
    Submission Advocacy15 CreditsCompulsory
    Opinion Writing and Legal Research15 CreditsCompulsory
  • Further course information

    Course fact sheets
    LLM Bar Practice Factsheet Download
    Programme specifications
    LLM Bar Practice Download
    Additional information

    Sandwich placement or study abroad year

    n/a

    Applications open to international and EU students

    Yes

    Student experience

    At the University of Hertfordshire, we want to make sure your time studying with us is as stress-free and rewarding as possible. We offer a range of support services including; student wellbeing, academic support, accommodation and childcare to ensure that you make the most of your time at Herts and can focus on studying, building your career and having fun.

    If you need support, we are here for you. Hertfordshire Law School is a warm, welcoming community where you will find staff who encourage you through your studies. You will have your own academic support tutor for the duration of your time here. Plus, our friendly cohort leaders are available to speak to. If you need some personal support we have a wellbeing leader and many members of teaching staff are trained and accredited in mental health first aid.

    For additional help with study skills you will have access to our academic support services. You can attend workshops, 1:1 sessions and online tutorials. Both our Learning Resource Centres (LRCs) run drop-in study skills sessions.

    Find out about how we support our students

    You can also read our student blogs to find out about life at Herts.