The School
Edinburgh Law School is one of the biggest law schools in the UK and home to one of the largest communities of legal scholars in Europe.
For more than 300 years, the School has been rooted in the open, civic-minded, and interdisciplinary traditions of Scots law. Since our foundation in 1707 we have been at the heart of legal education and are now a world-leading law school renowned for our excellence in teaching and research.
A global reputation for excellence
The Edinburgh Law School name is one that has high impact all around the world, and we consistently rank in the top tiers of global Law School ranking tables.
- 11th in the 2022 Times Higher Education World University Rankings for Law.
- 17th in the world and 6th in the UK for law in the 2023 QS World University Rankings by Subject: Law & Legal Studies.
- 4th in the UK for research power, based on the quality and breadth of our research (Research Fortnight Power Rank, REF 2014).
Our research expertise informs our extensive programmes of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and learning, meaning students learn in a high-quality, research-led environment, on programmes designed to encourage them to explore fundamental issues and new perspectives.
Effecting real-world change
Our staff are committed to producing research that makes a difference both locally and globally. Our ambition is to set scholarly agendas that effect civic change across our core fields of public, private, international, and European law, as well as in law-related and interdisciplinary research in socio-legal studies, law and technologies, and criminology.
Read our Impact and Engagement work
A diverse and active community
Along with our international body of academic experts and researchers, we have a thriving community of early career and contract researchers (ECCRs) and PhD candidates, supported by a highly skilled professional services team.
Our students join us from across the globe and a wide range of backgrounds. They go on to varied careers within the legal profession and beyond. Our alumni can be found in some of the most respected positions in the professional world.
