Hi everyone,

I am trying to draw up a shortlist of unis that I should be looking at. So I am hoping everyone here can help me out by just stating listing the top five British universities / law schools (in order beginning with the highest).

Please also state which country are you from and comment on whether your ranking reflects the perception in your own country.

I think this will be generally helpful for most people.

I'll start.

1. Oxford
2. Cambridge
3. LSE
4. UCL
5. King's College London
I'm from Hong Kong, and I think this is quite an accurate reflection of their rank in Hong KOng.

1. Oxford
2. Cambridge
3. Big 3 in London; seen as roughly equal (UCL, LSE, KCL)

I am from Malaysia, and I would say this reflects the opinion in Malaysia.

Hello.....

Have you guys heard of a certain University called University of Warwick or is Hong-kong and Malasyia that outdated???

Of course we have heard of Warwick. But the original post did ask for the 'top 5'. I would say Warwick, Durham, Nottingham and Bristol would come in Tier 3, below Oxbridge (Tier 1) and the Big 3 London colleges (Tier 2).

1. Cambridge
2. Oxford
3. Durham
4. UCL
5. LSE

- Cambridge
- Oxford
- LSE
- KC/ Imp Coll
- Edinburgh

-UCL
-Cambridge
-Oxford
-LSE
-Durham

1. UCL
2. Oxford
3. Cambridge
4. Imperial
5. LSE

Imperial does not offer an LLM, though...

1st tier: Oxbridge, UCL
2nd tier: KCL, LSE
3rd tier: Nottingham, Durham, Bristol
4th tier: Others

People, it will help our understanding of your evaluation if you let us know what informed your grading/rankings of the schools. Why for instance is UCL better than Oxbridge?

Hello there,

In France, the ranking should be something like :

1- Cambridge
2- Oxford
3- LSE
4- King's College London

Others are not very known, i.e. the four Universities listed below are the ones French will probably aim to get at first glance. I know this is unfair for top Universities such as UCL or Durham and may not reflect the current UK ranking.

Anyway, what is important for french recruiters is to have a LLM from a good University with a good and coherent content, i.e. they really look also the content of your LLM and do not focus only on the University. That is why even if French recruiters know especially the four Universities listed below, they are open to hire people from another Universities who made something interesting or rare.

It appears also that LLM from the US are especially, not to say a bit more, popular and some (but not all) recruiters told me they really prefer US LLM from top 15 lawschools.

I think the above should reflect the current trend in France. For information purpose, I have chosen to go to UCL just not to follow the trend....lol

Cheers,
Ronin

I think there is no doubt that Oxford's BCL is the most highly regarded by quite a distance. Similarly, the Cambridge LLM is clearly the next best regarded by quite a distance. After that, I would say that UCL edges out LSE for third. I couldn't comment beyond that point.

Hi everyone!

sorry guys but i regret to disagree with almost all of u!
i seriously think that the supposed "big london" cannot be considered a 2nd choice after oxbridge! indeed i'd select them as a 3rd choice after universities such as Durham, Manchester and Nottingham. a serious and not superficial analysis wouldnt bring to a different result and this is also confirmed by rankings from the last 2 years.
i guess london universities still enjoy huge reputation, but practically speaking there are better and more convenient alternatives.
ciao for now

Vincenzo

As far as UK schools go, I'm only interested in SOAS. Where do they fall on this list? Also, is it a relatively easy school to get into?

(I'm a Canadian law grad)

1. Cambridge
2. Oxford
3. Durham
4. Kings
5. LSE

QM for IP

Dear Vincenzo,

I think you have misread the question. The author is asking which institutions are the 'most highly regarded internationally', not which institutions do you think are the best in the UK. I for one would not have formulated the same table if it was the latter question.

i think you're right James, but then when it comes to "international reputation" why not just taking into account the Times and Guardian rankings, instead of being mislead by trend and fashion?? From my perspective and experience, i can tell you that in Italy for exemple people will always choose london as it's "fancy", regardless of rankings, reputation and convenience.
said that i have to admit that there's a point of bias in my words as i'm doing my llm in manchester; it was one of the eight univs i applied for, none of them was based in london though.

ciao for now

Ciao Vin,

I have to disagree. In Australia, the reputation and prestige is in London. This is ofcourse behind Oxford and Cambridge.

Accordingly, Warwick is unheard of among many and thus does not carry the same panache. The uni's you metion are considered behind London.

The city itself has much to do with it as London is full of international firms and thus most firms view a london degree favourably. I think the experience of living and potentially working in london is a huge factor.

Manchester is the largest uni in the UK and has solid committment toi being a top 25 world uni. I am actually quite impressed by manchester and regret that I will not apply as they are very commercial orientated.

Accordingly, Warwick is unheard of among many and thus does not carry the same panache.

... hmmm, sayaks from Warwick Law School will hit back at your classification of Warwick.