Career development

The University of Edinburgh is ranked 23rd in the world for student employability (Emerging Global Employability University Rankings).

Graduates of our online programmes progress to a range of careers in law and related fields, including work in:

  • local and international law firms
  • government legal departments
  • other public institutions
  • international organisations
  • academia.

Our LLM programmes are also an ideal platform for advanced research.

 

What our students say

David Foster, LLM in Information technology Law, talks about his experience of studying online and how it impacted his career.

The Careers Service

The University of Edinburgh's Careers Service plays an essential role in your wider student experience at the University. It offers a range of tailored careers and personal development guidance and support.

The Careers Service will support you during your studies and after graduation to help you tap into your talent and build your employability with confidence and enthusiasm.

The Careers Service provides a range of services including:

  • careers advice
  • CV writing
  • interview practice
  • Employ.ed internships
  • career fairs
  • alumni events.

Find out more about the University's Careers Service

Contact us

If you have any questions about our online programmes please don't hesitate to contact us.

llm.online@ed.ac.uk

Learning and assessment

At Edinburgh Law School, we encourage an interactive approach to learning. Not only do you learn from academic staff, but you develop your learning through online discussion and collaboration with your fellow students.

What do we mean exactly by participation? In general, it means contributing in a meaningful way to online discussion, focused around a specific topic suggested by your course leader. In a typical week on our Online Learning programmes, you will:

  • read about a particular subject
  • reflect on the questions and issues raised
  • post your responses and comments in online discussions
  • read and respond to contributions from fellow students and your tutor.

We strongly believe that students in our programmes can learn a great deal from each other. Our students welcome the exchange of views and experience, and value the different perspectives and diversity of fellow students. The more you can engage with other learners and your tutors, the more productive and enjoyable your learning will be.

While a strong focus of our programmes is on students' active, self-directed learning, academic staff play a key role in designing and tutoring each of our online courses. They have the in-depth knowledge and understanding of their discipline, but they are also experienced teachers - in the online environment and on-campus.

You will meet them regularly in the VLE where they will be stimulating discussion, answering questions, and helping to weave individual contributions into coherent new directions. From time to time, we also involve specialist guest tutors, who come in alongside the regular tutors to lead a focused discussion on a particular topic.

Our courses are assessed using a range of different assessments. Each course will have a number of different summative assessments, which may include

  • an essay to be submitted at the end of the semester;
  • a coursework assignment to be completed during the semester;
  • a contribution to a debate on a particular topic;
  • a reflective blog post;
  • a problem-based exercise; or
  • contributions to online discussions throughout the semester.

Each assessment element on a course will test your knowledge and skills and will ensure that the course’s learning outcomes are met. None of our online courses are assessed by a formal examination.

Students on our online programmes have full access to all University of Edinburgh services available online, including a full range of academic journals and e-books, and access to key legal databases including Westlaw, LexisNexus and HeinOnline.

Before joining our degree programme, you may have been away from formal education for some years, and you may never have studied online before. You may have an educational or professional background in a non-legal discipline, or you may have completed your legal training and practice in a different jurisdiction. At Edinburgh Law School, we recognise and celebrate this diversity. To help you make the most of your studies, we provide self-study materials which outline essential background knowledge and can help you to develop critical legal research and study skills, to help you be successful on your programme.

Contact us

If you have any questions about our entry requirements please don't hesitate to contact us.

llm.online@ed.ac.uk

Benefits of online learning

Delivered online and available full-time or part-time over 20, 24, 32, or 36 months, our postgraduate masters programmes are ideal for those who wish to gain a world-class award from an internationally renowned university while maintaining professional and personal commitments.

  • You study at times that are convenient for you.
  • You become part of a rich and varied online community of people in your field.
  • You earn a qualification from a university that is recognised worldwide.
  • You learn the latest developments from academics who work at the leading edge in your field of study.

The innovative nature of our programmes and their online delivery have enabled us to attract students from all over the world, at all stages of life, from policy making, professional practice, business, and industry.

Our online LLM programmes are academically equivalent to our on-campus qualifications and involve the same level of work overall.

The qualification you get is of equal value, and your degree certificate will not mention that you studied the programme online.

Our courses and programmes are built around the principle of flexibility, helping you to fit your studies around work and other commitments. You learn at times and in places convenient to you, while maintaining a sense of community with your fellow students. Our teaching approach emphasises and supports participation in learning activities, and our tutors are present in the online discussions to help develop your understanding. We believe that a sense of community is essential to a successful Online Learning environment, and we work hard to achieve this.

Our Online Learning programmes and courses are delivered via Learn, our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Through the VLE you will access learning materials and interact with your tutors and fellow students. Learn is accessible via a web browser on any device, including a mobile phone, which is connected to the internet.

Our VLE and courses have been designed with your learning in mind, drawing on user feedback and research into online learning pedagogy. To help you make the most of your studies and the VLE, we provide detailed orientation information, user guides, and online support by email.

Throughout your studies at Edinburgh, you will be supported by a dedicated team of staff in the Online Learning Team. They have a wealth of knowledge and experience working with online students and are ready to assist with your queries, however small. In addition to this, you will also be allocated a Personal Tutor, a member of academic staff who is available to support you throughout your academic journey.

You can also make use of support services offered by the University of Edinburgh, including:

  • Academic and personal development resources through the Institute for Academic Development;
  • Email or telephone support from the careers advisers in our Careers Service;
  • Remote, email-based counselling sessions delivered through the Student Counselling Service;
  • Support from the Student Disability Service for students with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, mental health issues, autistic spectrum disorders, chronic illnesses, physical and sensory impairments.

Contact us

If you have any questions about studying online with us please don't hesitate to contact us.

llm.online@ed.ac.uk

Study durations

Flexibility is built into our LLM programmes, with a range of study durations to choose from and start dates in both September and January.

The University of Edinburgh has two, ten-week semesters per year.

2025-26

Semester 1 (September - December 2025)

  • Orientation starts week beginning 01 September 2025
  • Teaching starts week beginning 15 September 2025
  • Teaching ends 28 November 2025

Semester 2 (January - March 2026)

  • Orientation starts week beginning 08 December 2025
  • Teaching starts week beginning 12 January 2026
  • Teaching ends 03 April 2026

2026-27 

Semester 1 (September - December 2026)

  • Orientation starts week beginning 31 August 2026
  • Teaching starts week beginning 14 September 2026
  • Teaching ends 27 November 2026

Semester 2 (January - March 2027)

  • Orientation starts week beginning 07 December 2026
  • Teaching starts week beginning 11 January 2027
  • Teaching ends 02 April 2027

Depending on your start date and the duration of your studies, you have some flexibility to choose how many courses you take in a semester.

Please note that you must take at least one course per semester, and no more than three courses in any one semester.

Study duration Starting month No. of semesters No. courses per semester
1 year September 2 3 courses
20 months January 3 2 courses
2 years September 4 1 or 2 courses
32 months January 5 1 or 2 courses
3 years September 6 1 course

LLM students on the two-year route will either take one course in two semesters and two courses in two semesters; or one course in three semesters and three courses in one semester.

LLM students on the 32-month route will take one course in four semesters, and two courses in one semester.

You should expect to spend around 10-15 hours per week on each course and allow additional time for assessments.

Contact us

If you have any questions about our online programmes please don't hesitate to contact us.

llm.online@ed.ac.uk

Scholarships and funding

The University of Edinburgh offers a range of scholarships for online learning masters programmes. There are also additional sources of funding that you may be eligible to apply to.

Scholarship and funding opportunities are for 2026-27 entry (September 2026 or January 2027) are listed below. Please check this page regularly for updates.

Applications are now closed for the 2026-27 academic year.

This award is open to all applicants who have applied to a taught LLM or MSc programme starting in the 2026-27 academic year at Edinburgh Law School.

Award Amount

Three awards of £5,000 to be used towards tuition fees only.

Eligibility

All applicants who are accepted for admission to any taught LLM or MSc programmes offered by the School (including Online Learning programmes) starting in the 2026-27 academic year.

Award criteria

The award will be made on the basis of academic merit and the strength of a personal statement. Within your personal statement please include:

  • the specific elements of the LLM or MSc programme that attracted you to the University of Edinburgh and why these are meaningful to you; and
  • explain how successful completion of this programme will benefit your career, personal development and / or enable you to contribute to your community/region or country?

Priority will be given to those who have not had the opportunity to study at masters level previously.

Applicants should already have been offered a place at the University of Edinburgh and should have firmly accepted that offer or be intending to do so.

Application Information

Application deadline: 01 May 2026

Applicants must first apply online for a relevant taught LLM or MSc degree programme. Please ensure that you reference on your application that you are applying for the relevant scholarship.

Once you have applied for admission, complete the Edinburgh Law School Scholarship Application Form and send it to pg.law.enquiries@ed.ac.uk

Download scholarship application form [Word doc]

After you have applied you will receive an email notification to confirm receipt of your application form. You will not receive any further communications until the deadline for the scholarship has passed and all the applications have been assessed.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome by the end of June 2026 at the latest.

You may be able to apply for UK Government funding as well as additional sources of financial support. Further information is available from the University's Scholarship and Student Funding web pages.

Find out more about other sources of funding

Contact us

Please contact us for more information about scholarships and sources of funding that may be available.

llm.online@ed.ac.uk

Tuition fees

Tuition fees for our online programmes in the 2026-27 academic year are listed in the tables below.

The full-time tuition fee for our online learning LLM programmes for the 2026-27 academic year is £24,700, which is applicable to programmes commencing in September 2026 or January 2027. If you choose to study an LLM part time, you will pay a percentage of the full annual tuition fee in each year of study.

Study duration Year of study Fee payable
One year
(September 2026)		 Year 1 £24,700
Two years or 20 months
(September 2026 or January 2027)		 Year 1 £12,350
Year 2 50% of the full-time tuition fee for 2027-28
Three years or 32 months
(September 2026 or January 2027)		 Year 1 £8,230
Year 2 33% of the full-time tuition fee for 2027-28
Year 3 33% of the full-time tuition fee for 2028-29

Tuition fees increase every year in the majority of cases. If you intend to study over additional years, you should take this annual tuition fee increase into consideration when you estimate your fees for a degree. The amount due in future years is a percentage of the full-time annual tuition fee that is set for the academic year.

Successful applicants receiving an unconditional offer will be asked to pay a deposit to secure their place on the programme.

LLM deposit = £1000

The deposit amount will be deducted from the first tuition fee instalment you pay.

September 2026 applicants

The deposit must be paid within 28 days of the date that the unconditional offer was made or by 08 August 2026, whichever is sooner.  

January 2027 applicants

The deposit must be paid within 28 days of the date that the unconditional offer was made or by 03 December 2026, whichever is sooner. 

Payment method

Deposit fees can be paid by credit/debit card (all major cards accepted) online using ePay, the University's online payment system. 

Pay LLM deposit

Pay Postgraduate Certificate in Law deposit

If you are unable to pay online by credit/debit card, please contact us for alternative methods of payment.

Non payment of the deposit

If we do not receive the deposit by the deadline, your application will be withdrawn without further notice.  It is therefore essential that you have funding for your deposit when applying.

Deferrals

If you need to defer the start of your studies, your deposit will be carried forward by the University to your deferred start date. The deposit must have been paid before a deferral is agreed.

Please note that you can only defer once and you can only defer until the next available start date.

Please contact us for more detailed information about deferring your offer.

Refund policy

If you should withdraw your acceptance of offer within 14 days of paying the deposit, you should contact us and a full refund will be made. Refunds will not be made after this period, unless there is an evidenced case of serious medical injury or illness that would make studies impossible in the coming year.

All requests for a refund must be made in writing (by letter or email) to the online learning team by 1 October (September start date) or 1 February (January start date) of the intended year of entry.

Applicants who have deferred their offer and subsequently decline their offer will not have their deposit refunded. 

If an applicant applies again in a future year and receives an unconditional offer, a new deposit will be payable.

The University of Edinburgh offers a 10% scholarship in postgraduate degree tuition fees for all alumni who have graduated with an undergraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh (Please note some programmes are excluded from the Graduate Scholarship Scheme and you should check the list of programmes not covered by this scholarship before applying).

Find out more about the Graduate Scholarship Scheme

 

The University accepts a range of payment methods and tuition fees can be paid in full or in instalments.

Find out more about how to pay your tuition fees

Your LLM tuition fees can be paid on your behalf by a sponsor such as your employer. You will need to provide the Fees and Student Support Team with evidence of the award.

Who can be a sponsor?

A sponsor may be:

  • Employer
  • Government agencies
  • Charitable trusts
  • International government and agencies
  • Foundations
  • Not-for-profit organisations
  • Overseas institutions

A sponsor is not a friend or family member who has agreed to pay your fees.

What you need to do

If your fees are being paid on your behalf by a sponsor, you need to provide the Fees and Student Support Team with evidence of the award on official headed paper including:

  • details of to whom and where any invoice should be sent
  • confirmation of amount or whether sponsor has agreed to pay all or part of the fees

Find out more about sponsorship

The Scholarships and Student funding department provide detailed information about the University's tuition fee policy.

Tuition fee policy

Contact us

If you have any questions about the tuition fees please don't hesitate to contact us.

llm.online@ed.ac.uk

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