Law at Murray Edwards College

The Course

The traditional B.A. in Law is assessed by way of examinations taken at the end of each of the three years (Parts IA, IB and II of the Law Tripos). On graduation, you will gain a "qualifying law degree" which will grant partial exemption from further exams for those who intend to practice in law. For full details of the structure and content of the Cambridge Law course, see the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law Handbook, or visit the Faculty of Law website.

The European Option

The Cambridge Faculty of Law has an undergraduate exchange programme (the Erasmus scheme), which enables a limited number of students each year to spend their third year at the University of Poitiers in France, the University of Regensburg in Germany, the Universidad autonoma de Madrid in Spain and the University of Utrecht in Holland. Applications for the Erasmus scheme are only made to the Faculty once a student has completed her first year of study, but Murray Edwards College strongly encourages those students who are interested in participation in the Erasmus scheme.

How is the Teaching organised?

As a Law student at Cambridge, you will attend lectures relating to the papers which you are taking. These are organised centrally by the University for students from all the different colleges, and they take place in the Law Faculty building. This is conveniently located for Murray Edwards College students, five minutes away by bicycle. Lectures are mostly in the mornings, and you might typically have two or three per day, from Monday to Friday. The focus of your work, however, will be your supervisions. These are arranged by your College. Your supervisor will direct your reading in her/his subject, and will set you questions to think about, and essays to write, which she/he will mark. The small-group teaching in supervisions (3-4 students) ensures an efficient approach to learning, whereby you are encouraged to discuss specific legal topics and have the chance to ask questions about anything you may not have understood at lectures or in the reading.

The Students

Murray Edwards College is a friendly, small-to-medium sized College, with just over 300 undergraduates across all subjects. On average, we admit eight students per year to read Law, though we are flexible when we have an outstanding set of applications (as happened in 2005/6, when ten offers were made). This usually means that more than twenty undergraduates study law at Murray Edwards College at any one time. In 2006/7, two students made a First in their year (we aim to maintain and improve this success rate) and two recent college alumnae have studied the LLM at Harvard.

Jade, a New Hall graduate and former President of the the Cambridge University Law Society, says: "Studying Law at New Hall combines the academic challenges presented by the Tripos, with a friendly and diverse collegiate atmosphere. Supervisions are not dominated by overly arrogant types- allowing you to explore the legal challenges presented to you in a supportive and open manner. New Hall is a very open and interactive college and lawyers at New Hall mix very well with other lawyers form across the University...We are proud to be known as a down-to-earth, sociable and friendly group and as such have wide circles of friends around the University. Law is a very demanding subject, but an appropriate balance can be found between studies and extra-curricular activities very easily. Studying Law at Cambridge is no easy feat, but the people, support and overall 'personality' of the college ensures that New Hall lawyers get the most from their University careers, and thoroughly enjoy the three years that they spend as a New Hall 'lawyer'..."

To find out what a current student thinks of studying Law at Murray Edwards see our student profiles.

The Teaching Staff

Dr Sophie Turenne is the Neil Allam/Clifford Chance University Lecturer at the Faculty of Law and was appointed Director of Studies at Murray Edwards College in 2004. She lectures in French law and Comparative Law and supervises in Constitutional Law and EU Law. Her book on the jurisprudence of civil disobedience was published in May 2007 and her latest article on freedom of expression is published in the (2007) Criminal Law Review 866.

What Does Murray Edwards College Offer its Law Students?

The Howarth & Smith Internship

A link between Murray Edwards College and a leading Los Angeles law firm, Howarth & Smith, means that every year a graduating student from the College is offered the chance to spend six months in the United States as an intern, seeing something of American legal practice. Those who have taken up the internship have enjoyed it immensely and learned a lot from their first-hand experience of "L.A. Law"!

Murray Edwards College Law Society

The College has an active student Law Society which organises a variety of events, from mooting competitions, through get-togethers with Law students from other colleges at Formal Hall, to an annual Law Dinner. Baroness Hale (the only female judge ever to sit as a judicial member of the House of Lords) is the Honorary President of the Murray Edwards College Law Society and attends the annual dinner in person.

Murray Edwards College Law Reading Room

Murray Edwards College has a Law Reading Room which is separate from the main College library, and which contains a good stock of leading textbooks, a set of law reports and statutes, and a range of the main legal periodicals. The Law Reading Room, which is accessible at all times of the day, complements well the excellent facilities of the central Squire Law Library, which is housed in the Law Faculty building.

And after Murray Edwards College ...?

Most of our graduates qualify as solicitors or barristers. This can mean working for a large London firm or a small partnership in the provinces, in a law centre, in central or local government, or in industry. But a number of college law graduates have chosen careers outside the legal profession, including banking and accountancy, the civil service, journalism and broadcasting. There are also opportunities for postgraduate study in Law, whether at Cambridge or elsewhere.

Admission

What A levels are required?

Law is a subject for which almost any combination of A level subjects is appropriate. The logical mind and problem-solving abilities of the scientist and the essay-writing skills of the arts student are equally desirable qualifications.

Applications are welcomed both pre- and post-A level, and for deferred entry. Conditional offers are usually A*AA at A-level but individual circumstances may be taken into account in deciding upon the appropriate conditions.

What about any other equivalent education?

We welcome applicants with an education equivalent to A levels, such as the IB (we normally ask for 40 or above in the IB as our entry requirement). We regularly admit 'overseas' and European students and do strongly encourage applications from all over the world.

What about the Interview?

Murray Edwards College has a policy of interviewing most candidates who apply to the College. (We decline to interview only in cases where a candidate's academic record suggests that there is no realistic prospect that she could cope with the rigour of a law degree.) The usual practice in Law is to give each candidate two "subject" interviews of around 20 minutes in length with a Law Fellow. We do not expect any particular knowledge of the law, and do not favour applicants studying Law at A-Level, but we would want candidates to demonstrate an interest in, and enthusiasm for, the subject. In at least one of the subject interviews, we will normally give you some kind of legal "exercise" to do, to be carried out orally in the interview. For example, it might be a hypothetical set of events, about which you might then be asked to think how the law might apply. In addition to subject interviews, all candidates have a shorter general interview, lasting around 15 minutes, with the Admissions Tutor or one of the other College Fellows. This is a chance to talk about yourself more generally, including your extra-curricular interests, and to explore why you have chosen to apply to Cambridge.

The Cambridge Law Test

This is a new test in use by most of the Cambridge Colleges. It is intended to complement the other elements of our admissions process, such as interviews, and consideration of academic performance to date. Candidates sit the test in Cambridge when attending for interview and will be required to answer one question in one hour. Specimen questions and answers are available via the department website . The questions will not require any prior knowledge of the law. (We no longer ask applicants to sit the LNAT.)

Some Suggested Reading

Glanville Williams' book, Learning the Law (published by Stevens, latest edition edited by Prof. A T H Smith, June 2002) is an excellent book for giving you a flavour of what it is like to study Law. Two other very good books to get you thinking about legal issues and the legal system are Marcel Berlins and Clare Dyer, The Law Machine (Penguin) and Helena Kennedy, Eve was Framed: Women and British Justice (Chatto & Windus). All three are available in paperback, and you should be able to get hold of them in your local public library.

Any questions?

The best way to find out more about Law at Murray Edwards College is to come to one of the College's Open Days. If you are not able to make any of the dates, do contact the Admissions Office in advance and we will try to arrange for you to be shown round by one of the students, and possibly also to meet for an informal chat with either of the Fellows in Law or the Admissions Tutor.

What students do next

Other web pages show more about the careers of students from this College who studied your subject in the past.

Dr Sophie Turenne, Director of Studies

Updated by HB, March 2012