I am thinking to do LLM in commercial law at one of the above universities. Now, I am leaning toward Edinburgh because of its reputation and beautiful scenary. I came to know, through this website, many advantages of Edinburgh, but I really want to know its drawbacks, too, from a fair viewpoint.

Actually, I found some complaints in this website, which were about library, quality of teaching, etc. from a present LLM student at Edinburgh.

In order to make a right decision based on facts, any information or comments from all of you will be very helpful to me.

Of course, any information about other universities are also welcome.

Thank you for your cooperation in advance.

I think I would vote for Edinburgh or Queen Mary, especially since you want to study commercial law. I think Edinburgh, you are right, has a more prestigious overall reputation. That said, Queen Mary has a particularly strong commercial law program, and you can find some good discussion of its instructors and courses on this site, if you look.

They are also located in very different environments, to my mind, and that would probably be a factor for me. I'm pretty cynical about educational choices and so would choose Edinburgh, I think. It would not be an easy choice for me, however.

i would actually go for nottingham or bristol. both are amazing faculties, with amazing campuses. bristol's law school is really great, and it's a beautiful city. ideally visit all four and see for yourself..

Good Gosh is right!!!

Bristol hands down! The department is excellent. You can't go wrong with Bristol.

i think i would choose edinburgh both the city and the school

Thank you very much everyone.

Even after having read your opinions, I am still lost ....
it is actually difficult decision.
I will wait for more information or advice.

Anyway, I appreciate.

I would say Bristol.

Bristol, together with Oxbridge, are the most highly favoured law schools in the City and particularly in Chambers. I've heard this first hand from both city recruiters and barristers at leading chambers in London.

My comment only applies for Bristol's domestic reputation. Internationally, the school is also well regarded. Last time I checked the university was ranked 27th in the world. Am not so sure how the law school ranks internationally (I don't really know whether there's an authoritative law school world ranking out there...).

Edinburgh and Nottingham are also highly regarded, Queen Mary has some good strengths, but overall, my ranking would be as follows:

-Bristol
-Edinburgh
-Notts
- QM

Good luck!

Edinburgh has a particularly strong programme and has been hiring more staff for the LLM programme of late. Edinburgh has a very prestigious reputation outwith the UK and Europe. As per the complaints from this year's student, I suspect it has to do with the fact that the course organiser was off sick for most of semester 1 but these things happen in life. It was very last minute thus practitioners were brought in to cover for the course organiser. Practical vs theoretical application is a tricky balance at the LLM level. As to the library, this has been a complaint for years at Edinburgh. The law faculty is located on the same site as it has been for over 300 years. The law library has just undergone some renovation but space is always tight, even at the hugely renovated main library. That being said, the resources are all in place and if something is not available, Edi students can get reader's tickets for the National Library which is just around the corner--plenty of space and no undergrads chatting! Plus they have every published book available or will get it for you. Quite a useful resource.
Best of luck with your decision.

Easy decision: Skins was filmed in Bristol :)

Apart from that, Bristol and Edinburgh both have a strong reputation (at least here in Central Europe).

i just accepted an unconditional offer to study at edinburgh! is anyone starting an LLM at edinburgh, starting this september?!

RAE ranks Nottingham 5th, Edinburgh 10th, QMUL 11th and Bristol 16th - but they're almost exactly the same: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2008/dec/18/rae-results-2008-law-degree
You've chosen four excellent universities and law departments - so make your decision based on where you want to live. You have two capital cities and two big provincial cities. They all have good nightlife and beautiful scenery close by.

If international name recognition matters to you Edinburgh should probably be your first choice. Otherwise, Bristol, Queen Mary and Nottingham are all among the best law faculties in the UK. Nottingham, in general, seems also to be quite popular with employers in the UK and worldwide. In the Future 500 Global Survey 2011 which detemined the number of graduates from a particular university among the CEOs of the world's 500 largest companies the University of Nottingham finished 2nd(after Oxford) in the UK and 13th (tied with Stanford) worldwide.

Hi there

I start an LLM in international law this september too... I spoke to a extremely successful professor in the UN and he said out of all the places to live Edinburgh is definitely the best. However he still believes that the universities that get you in the front door in terms of an LLM are Notts and LSE

I am also debating among these universities. But, I'm looking for a qualifying degree, so the LLMs do not work for me.

Edinburgh LLB Graduate Entry or Bristol MA in Law? Why so?

Thanks in advance!