About the Programme

Oxford Introduction to Law in the UK

Participants will be taught by an incredible team of internationally recognised legal experts, gain a taste of the Oxford experience and what it might be like to study at an English university.

The course includes more than 60 contact hours, made up of:

  • lectures, taught with the whole programme group
  • seminars, taught in cohorts of 12
  • tutorials, taught in groups of 4

You will have the opportunity to engage with exciting concepts and practical problems, assisted and encouraged by the tutors who teach Oxford students. Participants will be put into seminars and tutorials with similar levels of experience, to help each group be challenged and develop effectively.

Core Content

The core teaching will be in 8 modules, giving a taste of the traditional bedrock of the law as well as some emerging areas and specialist topics. 

Each module will introduce key issues, rules and important debates about law, challenging participants to think deeply about what law is, what it should be, and how to apply it.

The Core modules include:

Criminal Law Property Law Public Law Contract Law
Human Rights Law Law and Technology  Jurisprudence Environmental Law

Enrichment Activities

We are offering a full package of enrichment activities. They complement the core areas of law, and reach out into new ideas and offer new perspectives. They include:

  • Insight into the lived reality of the legal system and how individuals and communities engage with law, drawing on the expertise of the internationally renowned Centre for Socio-Legal Studies;
  • Unique introduction to the cutting-edge legal research happening at the University of Oxford;
  • Information on careers opportunities;
  • Interaction with distinguished leaders in the legal world; and
  • Sessions on legal reasoning and legal writing.

Daily Timetable

A typical day will follow this schedule: 

08:15 Registration with cohort leader, discussion of issues of interest from day before
08.45  Live "Core" lecture scoping the main area of law for that day and setting work for the seminar
10.00 Break, with cohort online space open for social engagement
10.15 45 minutes personal study; materials to work through for the seminar 
11.00 1 hour seminar with tutors; 12 students and 3 tutors
12.00   "Deep dive" lecture going into depth and preparing for the tutorial
13.00 Break
13.30 Personal study for half an hour to prepare for the tutorial
14.00 Tutorial in groups of 4
15.00 Break, with cohort online space open for social engagement
15.15 Themes Lecture, live but recorded, drawing ideas from the day and linking out to wider issues 
15.45 Enrichment lecture on a different topic, live and recorded or pre-recorded
16.45 Day finishes

Outcomes of the Programme

  • Understand the structure of the UK legal system, roles of key legal actors, legal reasoning and legal culture.
  • Have thought deeply about the ideas underpinning key areas of English law in particular.
  • Considered, through the enrichment sessions, the full range of what a legal system entails, from cutting-edge legal research to understanding the law in context in its lived and social reality.

 

Videos

Professor Matt Dyson Introduces the Summer Programme
The lecture, entitled ‘Arguments about Law’, gives a flavour of what to expect on the 2 week long summer programme, aimed at those over 19 aiming to gain a deeper insight into UK law

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