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View BCL/MJur course e-brochure
Among legal practitioners and legal academics alike,
Oxford's Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) degree is the most highly esteemed masters-level qualification
in the common law world. The BCL standard is higher than that required
in a first law degree, such as a BA, LLB, or JD. This is reflected
in more demanding classes, harder work, and tougher
examination standards. Courses are not introductory and those who
choose subjects in which they have no background at all should expect
to invest heavily in independent preparation. The programme is emphatically
a full-time residential commitment, running from mid-September to
mid-July. It cannot be studied part-time, or by credit accumulation
over more than one year, or by distance learning.
Only those
with outstanding first law degrees from common law jurisdictions
are admitted. Students are expected to analyse complex material critically and to consider it
from different perspectives. Attention to legal puzzles is often combined with
discussion of underlying policy problems,
and you are expected to make your own contribution to the debate. In the
seminars you are likely to find students from a range of jurisdictions and
backgrounds. Many are attended by MJur as well as BCL students, and some by
research
students too. This diversity among contributors also helps to stimulate
variety and depth in discussions.
BCL students choose their courses from
a selection of 30 or so. Each
student takes either 3 or 4 BCL courses. Teaching
on the BCL is shared between the faculty and the colleges. A typical
BCL course might have one or two faculty-level events per week (e.g. a seminar
and a lecture). At some point in the year there will also be a course of three
or four tutorials in each course at college level. A tutorial is an hour or so
of intensive discussion between one tutor and typically two or three
students. However teaching methods vary somewhat, as do class sizes.
Different courses or different parts of a single course may take place in different
terms. All examinations (except the essay-based examination for Jurisprudence
and Political Theory) take place at the end of the year, in early July.
The
BCL courses and the rules about combining
them.
Admission
to the BCL: requirements and procedures, links to forms,
etc.
About
the MPhil, a one-year add on research degree
for BCL/MJur students
Information about fees (please note the that the BCL/MJur fee has increased for 2010-11)
More
about funding for postgraduate students.
General
questions about life as a BCL student?
Check out our FAQs.
Statement
of Provision for BCL & MJur Students (pdf)
The
BCL programme specification (pdf), an official document setting out
our programme objectives and learning methods in a standard format.
The
most recent BCL examiners' report
(pdf), which comments on performance
generally and in each course, and helps you to understand what is
expected.
Our
postgraduate handbook (pdf), which explains in more detail what to
expect as a BCL student.
The
current Law Faculty lecture list, including this year's diet
of lectures and seminars for BCL courses. Tutorials are not shown
on this list because they are scheduled by individual tutors in
consultation with individual students.
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