Continuing Professional Development in Law
The School of Law and Politics offers a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme for professionals interested in studying Masters level modules as single units.
The CPD Programme is designed for busy professionals already committed to a career path, not necessarily in law, and enables students to pace their studies according to their own professional commitments.
The programme offers a flexible study format. Students may choose to study one unit only, thereby earning one LLM unit, or they may wish to go further and obtain a full LLM by successfully completing four modular units and a dissertation.
Special features
- Our CPD modules are accredited by the Bar Standards Council (BSB) and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
Course description
All legal professionals need to keep their generic skills and knowledge up to date and can benefit from participating in the range of CPD activities and resources provided by the School of Law and Politics.
All CPD modules are fully verified by the Bar Standards Board and Solicitors Regulation Authority as well as other relevant professional organisations. Modules are open to all legal professionals, but also those from other backgrounds relevant to the modules that they wish to pursue.
Modules are normally taught over 10 weeks through a mixture of directed and online learning. Directed learning takes place at weekly 2-3 hour sessions at the School of Law and Politics, conveniently situated in Cathays Park in central Cardiff.
On successful completion of each module students receive a School of Law and Politics CPD Award worth 30 credits at M level. Credits may be accumulated and count towards an LLM award should students decide to further their study and apply to one of our popular LLM routes.
Facilities and resources
Library and IT support
General computing support is provided by the University’s Computing Centre and Libraries, with which the School’s computing services are closely linked. Computing Services are available at a number of locations on a 24-hour basis.
We have an outstanding Law Library with over 100,000 volumes and subscriptions to over 200 current periodicals and law reports. The library is conveniently located in the Arts and Social Studies Library, opposite the Law Building. Students can borrow up to 12 books at any one time, with a standard loan period of up to three weeks. Heavily demanded books, such as recommended texts, may be borrowed for shorter periods. The library is fully computerised, enabling you to locate books online, check availability, place reservations and review your account. Self service photocopiers, laser printers and a full graphics service are also available.
In addition, electronic databases and retrieval systems, such as Westlaw UK, Lexis®Library and HeinOnline, facilitate access to many other major reports and journals.
Teaching and learning
For all modules, students are encouraged to work independently to seek out legal materials for themselves, to read and analyse these materials critically and to present structured and reasoned argument under the guidance of their tutors and supervisors. Although there are some lectures in several of the modules, teaching is mainly carried out through seminars. Students will be set, and are required to read, materials relevant to each module in advance of the teaching sessions. These form the basis of lectures, seminars, and workshops.
Entry requirements
UK Honours Degree at second class honours or above, or a qualification recognised by the University at equivalent. Applicants may qualify for admission if they possess a non-graduate qualification deemed by Cardiff University to be of a satisfactory standard for the purpose of admission to postgraduate study, or if their lack of formal qualifications is compensated for by relevant work experience. In determining whether any candidate shall be admitted to the course, individual applicants’ work experience will be considered in addition to formal qualifications.
How to apply
For more information on modules available and the application processes contact the School of Law and Politics Postgraduate Office. The intake date is September each year.
