Top 10 LL.M. Programs in London

LSE’s Department of Law has a strong international reputation for both teaching and research: in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, it was placed in the top 10 worldwide for law. LSE runs a wide range of niche LL.M. courses in topics ranging from human rights to intellectual property law. The school is also included in LLM GUIDE’s Top 10 Lists in several different subjects, including Business Law and International Tax Law.

The Dickson Poon School of Law is prestigious and renowned around the world for its rigor in research and for experiential learning. The school runs its own legal clinic, for example, where law students offer free legal advice to the public, gaining hands-on experience that is valued by prospective employers. KCL runs a London-based generalist LL.M. with eight niche pathways ranging from international tax law to property and information law. 

UCL Law was ranked second in the UK in The Times Good University Guide 2020. The culture is collaborative rather than competitive, and teaching is underpinned by a world-class research faculty. There are over 70 modules and specialist LL.M. degrees in a range of subject areas, including: energy law, corporate, human rights, environmental, intellectual property and maritime law. 

QMUL’s School of Law is relatively new compared with peers in London, but has grown by leaps and bounds in reputation and quality. The school is featured near the top of the Guardian’s league table for law. LL.M. students can specialize in a wide array of areas, such as: criminal justice, immigration law, insurance, European and medical law. The school also runs a new LL.M. in Technology, Media and Communications Law.

City is on the fringes of the City of London, the UK capital’s preeminent financial center that is home to the offices of a number of leading Magic Circle law firms like Linklaters. This proximity can improve law students’ job prospects. Established in 1852, the school has in recent years grown in reputation, globally. What’s more, in addition to a general LL.M., there are specialist courses in civil litigation, economic law and others. 

The SOAS School of Law offers a truly international learning experience, with expertise in comparative law and specialisms in global law. This is reflected in the LL.M. programs it offers, with a generalist degree complimented by niche programs in Islamic law, sustainable development, human rights and others. 

Originally known as Royal Polytechnic Institution when it was established in 1838, the school became known as the University of Westminster in 1992. Today, Westminster’s Law School offers an extremely wide range of practically oriented LL.M. courses. These include programs in religious law, entertainment law, energy and environmental change law. 

Part of the University of London, the school’s Department of Law has been offering law programs since 1992. Today, the school hosts a range of LL.M. programs, focusing on subjects like Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, Human Rights, Constitutional Politics, Law and Theory, and more.

The University of London’s Institute of Advanced Legal Studies—or IALS, for short—has a strong focus on legal research, hosting centers that focus on topics including financial law, regulation and compliance; and information law and policy. Some of this research informs the LL.M. programs the school offers, in subjects like international corporate governance, financial regulation and economic law, for example. 

In 1968, Notre Dame Law School launched a unique presence in London, which allowed some of its classes to study in the UK’s capital. Since then, the school has grown its London-based offerings, and since 1986 has hosted a LL.M. that focuses on international and comparative law. According to the school, this is the only overseas graduate-degree program offered by an American law school.