So I've gotten into these colleges as I've mentioned in another post:
Manchester
Bristol
Aberdeen
Leicester
Dundee
Birmingham
Leeds

Bristol just came in today. I've taken advice from plenty of people and they're all in agreement that Manchester's the best of the lot and that I should worry more about what modules are up for offer.

Following the same, I've come to the conclusion that the best choices for me right now are Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham. The course is international commercial law in all cases except bristol's (only commercial law) but I'm pretty sure its just a difference in the use of terminology.

I wanted the module of commercial arbitration in my studies but find that Bristol doesn't offer it. Perhaps as a part of international dispute settlement but not otherwise. I've been told that for my chosen field, (int.comm law) Bristol has the best to offer. And overall, Manchester holds a better reputation. Birmingham's been thrown into the mix upon receiving a semi-convincing, first hand review.

I'd really appreciate any info that'd help make my choice easier and help me answer the questions...

1.Manchester or Bristol for International Commercial Law?
2.Whether Birmingham is worth considering

In my honest opinion you should go for Manchester. Its a good university and as far as I know they are ranked very high in the list :)

Thanks for the prompt reply Pucca :) I'd appreciate it if you could substantiate.

As far as I've been told, the ranking system is not to be relied on 100%. I've been given to understand that the system grades colleges on a variety of relevant factors such as RAE and Quality of Staff. However, I'm also aware that factors such as student satisfaction and entry standards play a part in influencing the rank. Further, its been said that a great deal of the information submitted is easy to fabricate and difficult to verify, thereby allowing universities to enhance their image via exaggerated figures. Also, the fact that the student opinion ratio considers both ug and pg student feedback. These factors taken into consideration, the fact that Manchester is ranked high does not seem to be sufficient grounds to make my decision in favor of their university.

In addition to the above, as far as the ranking system goes, the latest Complete University Ranking states that in regard to law, Manchester has fallen from its former place at rank 16 to rank 22.

The above facts taken into consideration, ranks do not seem the best way to judge the university. And even if they are, Manchester has dropped considerably over a period of 2 years, while Bristol has wavered only slightly, back and forth in its ranks.

Manchester has a wonderful reputation, but so does Bristol. Manchester may be very facilitative of commercial practice, but Bristol is close to London and thereby nullifies the potential argument that the job and practical learning opportunities are better in once place or the other.

Thanks for your time :) I'd really like to know why precisely you'd advocate Manchester over Bristol.

My opinion would be to go for Aberdeen, it's a really weel ranked university, but I'm in the same situation you are, I can't have precise adivces and opinions to help me make a choice...

Where should I go between :
Queen Mary London
Durham
Bristol
Leicester
Kent
??

I think that Aberdeen is the best choice. Maybe Durham would also be a good ideia, but I still vote for Aberdeen.

Thanks guys. I'd go to Aberdeen if I were interested in Oil and Gas laws, but I'm not, and sadly, the job prospects in that field are of no interest to me at all either. I'm into the commercial side and prefer the reputations of bristol and manchester in that field. As has been stated by other posters, the reputation of the college when you come to this level is pretty much the same. It really depends on how capable they are at educating you with the best possible, and which field you want to be in. For me, in your list, I'd choose Bristol if you were into commercial law, Queen Mary's if you're worried about the slight differences in reputation...

As far as I've been told, Durham is also an excellent choice when it comes to the reputation of the University. However, since i have not applied there, I have not looked into any of their course details and strengths. But by word of mouth, its pretty well placed even amongst the 3rd tier colleges and is probably borderline 2nd tier.

Manchester has a good reputation, but its LLM is generally pants (a bums-on-seats type affair). I'd opt for Durham or Aberdeen.

Take no notice of rankings! They don't reflect reality!

I just got an acceptance from nottingham today. So now thats a contender... As far as the ranks go, this site/system shows a further breakdown of department based grading. I notice that Manchester is at 29, Bristol at 32 and Nottingham at 86 overall. However, in the arts & humanities field, nottingham(@126)is far higher than manchester(lowest @ 66) and Bristol(@90). I was wondering if any of you know if this system is any better to refer... Its a 2008 list and I was hoping someone could point me in the direction of something like this that is pertinent to 2009:- http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/worlds-best-colleges/2008/11/20/worlds-best-colleges-and-universities-top-200.html?PageNr=1

Any in depth info as to whether I ought to consider Nottingham over Manchester... since I've already pretty much landed on Manchester due to its having the modules I want, existing reputation and RAE at 2.50, is Nottingham's 2.90 rating THAT much better?

I'd go to Nottingham. It's a much higher brand and I've heard (can't really say if it's true, but I've heard) that Manchester has too many big classrooms and it make the learning process difficult and reduces the attention professors give to the students. But, "rumors" aside, the school of law of the University of Nottingham (and not Trent) is very well regarded in the UK and I think you should grab that offer.

Thanks for the prompt reply yet again :)

Nottingham's a good choice as far as other sources are concerned, as well. However, it doesn't have all the modules I want. Further, I'm most likely going to be returning to India soon after, so I'm not too sure that Nottingham's reputation in the UK is noteworthy for me. Manchester seems to have better international repute.

Nottinham is an excellent university and has more international reputation than Manchester...that s for sure mate.
I am going to Durham, but I was hesitating with Nottingham..

Last year, I got the LL.M offer from Manchester, Durham, Bristol and Edinburgh. I decided to study at Manchester (Inter Finance Law). Thus, I would say that Manchester is one of the good universities in term of quality of teaching and resource. However, it is likely that lots of students here have to face bad situation when the exam result were coming. Many of them cannot pass the LL.M. Therefore, please consider concerning how easy to pass the exam in each university before diciding.

It seems that Birmingham is not too popular with people here, and yet I regard it as a far better law school than Manchester. Birmingham was the only law school (outside Oxbridge and London) to have finished in the top ten in both the Times and Guardian rankings. Manchester was well down the list. Birmingham also finished above Durham and Bristol. It also finished 7th for law in the RAE. Clearly it is a top ten law school. It also has a great location, close to central Birmingham, which is the UK's second city, and it has a prestigious history, being the first of the "redbrick" Universities. I think you should choose out of Nottingham and Birmingham, depending on which course you like best.

http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings/results/2008/overall_rankings/fullrankings/

Personally, I trust only this ranking even though it includes all areas.

It is precisely because it covers all areas that the above ranking should not be trusted or relied upon when choosing a law school.

I agree with you that it cover all subjects. However, I have three reasons to look at this ranking. Firstly, Law is one of the major school which might affect the whole ranking. Secondly, When you study at university, you may know people from different school. Therefore, if the overall ranking is good, you will have an opportunity to meet good people from different areas. Thirdly, I don't believe in time online ranking. This is because each year the ranking are dramatically change. In my opinion, one year is not much change.

For these reasons, I trust only topuniversity ranking. Also, you can see Arts & Humanities ranking if you want to know more specific.

These is only my opinion and I don't have the evidence to support.

Yes, law will have a bearing on the rankings, but it will be highly diluted by the other schools, so again I don't really think it should be relied upon. You can meet good people at most Universities, although I don't think that is the reason most people go to law school. It is more about their own legal education and career prospects. I think all the rankings seem to change quite a lot, even the one you quoted. I noticed that some Universities moved as many as 20 places in one year.

I second GeorgeP. I would not rely on this ranking 1) because it is not about law schools 2) it is published by an unkown private company and the methodology is dubious.

I would always prefer the law school rankings published by renowned UK newspapers: The Times, Guardian and Independent.

In fact, topuniversities.com is behalf of the Times Higher Education. Also, usnews publish this ranking on their website as link below.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/worlds-best-colleges/2009/06/18/worlds-best-colleges-top-400.html