Course overview
Take the first step towards a legal career with our short online Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE) in Law. The study is based around specific law-related issues within the context of cross-functional modules that will develop your communications, presentation, writing, analytical and critical thinking skills. You will gain knowledge of the key legal principles, fundamental features of the English Legal System, and the context in which the law operates.
Law is a widely recognised and highly respected subject and the knowledge gained on our CertHE Law will open up many opportunities for you to develop your career both inside and outside the legal field.
Alongside subject-specific knowledge, this course helps you develop skills in a number of areas including research, presentation and critical thinking.
Job outcomes
Careers in:
- Finance
- Human Resources
- Education
- Local and Central Government
- The Voluntary Sector
- Management
Study method
- Online
- Blended
- In-class
Awards
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Duration study load
- 16 months – part-time
Entry requirements
We believe that education should be accessible for everyone, so we offer an open entry route that means you do not need any previous academic qualifications to start our CertHE Law course.
You will be allowed to start the CertHE Law course and make an assessment of whether it is right for you during the first three weeks. You must pass your first assignment set during this time in order to continue with your studies.
If English is not your first language, your English ability should be equivalent to an IELTS (academic) score of 6.0. If you do not hold an IELTS or equivalent qualification, we require students to pass a free online English test.
Pathways
- LLB (Hons) Law
Course features
You are supported throughout your course by a dedicated student adviser and have the opportunity to regularly interact with fellow students and your tutor. To ensure you receive the support you need from your tutor, we cap our class sizes at 20 students.
Assessment
We adopt an assignment-based approach to assessment instead of exams. CertHE Law assignments are based on real-life work experience and assessed by tutors on an ongoing basis.
You are always aware of your current provisional grade right from the start of the programme, allowing you to evaluate the success of your current study methods and clearly identify areas to improve.
We believe that this transparency gives you the information you need to make the most of your course. We achieve this by:
- Showing your marks clearly in your grade book, which can be viewed whenever you log onto the learning platform
- The rapid turnaround of work assessed to ensure that your grade book is always up to date
- Assessing your work throughout the module rather than waiting for the end of year exams
- Ensuring you have regular contact with your student adviser
- The simplicity and transparency in the design of our assessment criteria
We also have a policy of ensuring that the work submitted by students is authentic. As well as the fact that all work is frequently assessed, we use a well-established electronic monitoring system to check for plagiarism.
Delivery
As we are a 100% online university, we utilise a virtual learning environment instead of a traditional campus. The system tracks and manages the learning process in real-time and provides you with immediate access to your learning materials.
This learning platform allows both students and tutors to actively take part in real-time conversations and you can listen to, and view, live lectures and seminars over the internet. All courses are delivered in English only.
Subjects
The CertHE Law is made up of the following modules and, upon completion, is equal to a total of 120 credits.
- Student online learning orientation
- Introduction to online legal information
- Researching legal issues
- Reading statutes
- Reading cases
- Academic honesty/ originality checking
- Legal writing 1: legal essays
- Legal writing 2: Problem questions/problem solving (Problem-solving, application and critical thinking)
- Applying Law in practical situations: presentation, mooting and negotiation
- Introduction to the English Legal System
- Sources of Law 1: Legislations
- Sources of Law 2: The common law/ The doctrine of precedent
- Sources of Law 3: Statutory interpretation
- Sources of Law 4: EU and Council of Europe
- The structure of the courts
- Dispute resolution 1: The Criminal justice system
- Dispute resolution 2: The Civil Justice System
- Dispute resolution 3: Tribunals and ADR
- Introduction to substantive criminal law
- Actus reus 1: Principles
- Actus reus 2: Concurrence
- Actus reus 3: Causation
- Mens rea
- Homicide 1:
- Homicide 2
- Non-fatal offences against the person 1
- Non-fatal offences against the person 2
- Sexual Offences
- Theft 1: Actus reus
- Theft 2: Mens rea
- Robbery and burglary and criminal damage
- General defences 1: Automatism and insanity
- General defences 2: Intoxication
- General defences 3: Mistake
- ▪General defences 4: duress, duress of circumstances and necessity
- General defences 5: Inchoate offences
- The nature of constitutions
- Sources of the constitution
- Key principles of the constitution: separation of powers
- Key principles of the constitution: the rule of law
- The Executive
- The Executive: Prerogative power
- The Executive: Accountability
- Parliament
- Primary and secondary legislation
- Parliamentary supremacy
- The Judiciary: judicial power and decision making
- Judicial Review: Grounds 1
- Judicial Review 2: Grounds 2
- EU 1: Institutions and law-making
- EU 2: Supremacy and direct effect
- The European Convention on Human Rights
- The Human Rights Act 1
- The Human Rights Act 2
- Introduction and theory of contract
- Offer and acceptance
- Intention to create legal relations
- Consideration
- Promissory estoppel
- Certainty
- Privity and third parties
- Terms
- Unfair terms
- Misrepresentation
- Mistake
- Duress and undue influence
- Frustration
- Illegality
- Remedies 1: Principles of compensation
- Remedies 2: Severity of breach and relationship with damages
- Remedies 3: Assessment of damages
- Remedies 4: specific performance and injunction
About University of Essex Online
Online learning is a cost-effective, convenient and flexible way to enhance your career. Our quality-assured distance learning courses allow you to work towards your qualification in a unique virtual learning environment and still have access to all the support and facilities you would expect to receive on campus.
University of Essex Online courses are delivered by Kaplan Open Learning, an experienced online learning provider, part of Kaplan International Pathways. The University and Kaplan have developed their partnership since 2007 in order to offer high-quality online courses.
