Number of places: 650 FT, 100 PT

Fees (2011/12):£9,960

A state-of-the-art redevelopment of the law school took place in 2011 ready for the new academic term. The law school building has a new mock courtroom, moot room and high-spec teaching rooms. Underpinning the whole philosophy of Nottingham Law School is flexibility, innovation and dynamism, and this is reflected in the structure of its LPC. In Stage One, students choose either the corporate or general course. For those sure of a corporate career, the course includes a section on regulatory crime, introduced in 2010, while the general LPC is better suited to those students aiming for the high street or smaller firms. This route seems to be more popular among students as it doesn't narrow down their career options. Another tier of tailoring is introduced via the skills pathways: commercial; public legal services; and a third ‘hybrid’ option. Core skills exercises on the LPC such as drafting, interviewing and research are thereafter based on the particular pathway the student has chosen. Teaching is delivered in a cocktail of large and small group sessions, and the new ‘blended’ learning approach, which mixes face-to-face teaching, online group work, video simulations and independent online learning. The online provision has been expanded for the elective stage, where students can take their pick from any of 12 subjects. Full-timers tend to be off on a Friday, while part-timers have large and small group sessions at the weekend. Lectures are also available online.

“You get that close-knit university feel,” say students about Nottingham; they also comment on the “excellent” teaching and “really supportive” tutors. The different course concentrations and pathways help students tailor their CVs towards the firms they apply to and, indeed, the school places a huge emphasis on employment. Students go on to a range of firms – from City, American, regional and commercial players to local authorities, the CPS and central government. There are three dedicated careers advisers in the law school and each student is assigned one to help with applications, CVs and interviews. Events and seminars are organised with practitioners, and there is also a mentoring scheme in place with local law firms. In 2011 Nottingham is commencing a professional practice series of lectures focusing on how law firms operate and to be delivered by practitioners who then network with the students. “Students need to understand how the business of being a law firm works and how other businesses work, how clients make their money: it's a gap we are trying to plug.”

Students can get heavily involved in pro bono – a new suite opened in 2010 – and the school has an employment tribunal representation unit running in connection with the Free Representation Unit (the first unit to run outside London). There’s also an Innocence Project, the opportunity to train at the CAB over the summer, and a mooting team that won the 2010 International Commercial Mediation Competition in Paris. Having completed the LPC, students can again put pen to paper and by submitting a dissertation achieve an LLM.