University of Essex

Essex is a university where curiosity prevails and where exploring new ways of thinking and pushing boundaries isn’t just encouraged, it’s expected. Set on a beautiful green campus just under one hour from London, committed to two things: excellence in teaching and excellence in research. Essex puts student success at the heart of their mission, supporting every student from every background to achieve outstanding outcomes; preparing their students to thrive in their future lives. 
 

Study at Essex Law School

When you join Essex Law School, you become part of one of the most international and diverse communities of scholars, practitioners, students and alumni in the world. Essex Law School brings about change at the global, regional, national and local levels, earning the Essex community worldwide recognition and acclaim particularly in the fields of Law and Human Rights.

Essex Law School takes pride in its world-leading research. Academic staff have held roles as practitioners acting for and advising the United Nations and many other international organizations, governments, law firms, businesses and industry, and civil society groups.

Essex Law School is always looking ahead to shape the Law of today, and tomorrow, an exercise which is critical in today's fast-moving world. Essex teaching staff integrate this vast experience and knowledge into how they teach, putting you ahead of the curve as thought-leaders and change-makers of the future. 

Areas of Legal Expertise at the University of Essex 

Essex Law School degrees ensure that you gain a full set of research, critical thinking, writing and presentation skills to maximize your preparedness to launch a successful career in your chosen field.

The undergraduate LLB degree at Essex ensures you will learn about subjects that will equip you with the tools you need to become a successful solicitor, barrister or legal professional in the future. For example, you will learn about Land Law, Equity and Trusts, Public Law, EU Law, Criminal Law, Legal Skills and Ethics. In addition, Essex Law School offers a wide range of optional modules, on topics such as International Environmental Law, Banking Law, Public International Law, Canadian Constitutional Law, and Jurisprudence.

At Essex, you can combine your legal studies with related subjects, such as LLB Law with Business, LLB Law with Politics, or LLB Law with Human Rights. These combined programmes allow you to acquire and develop a multidisciplinary perspective on the topics you are most passionate about.

Essex Law School also offers a number of postgraduate programmes in International Law, Commercial Law, Maritime Law, and various aspects of International Human Rights.

Among the most comprehensive concentrations of human rights experts globally, the Human Rights Centre of the University of Essex is at the forefront of human rights practice, engaging with national, regional and international human rights actors to advance and defend human rights. The Human Rights Centre offers world-leading interdisciplinary human rights perspectives, facilitates experiential learning through the Human Rights Centre Clinic, and supports students to participate in international competitions involving human rights and international humanitarian law. 
 

Life on Campus

Student life at the University of Essex is vibrant, diverse, and community-driven, with a strong Students’ Union, lively nightlife, and plenty of opportunities to get involved in sports, volunteering, and cultural activities. Essex is home to two campuses, Loughton, which is the home of their East 15 Acting school and Colchester. Essex is known for its international student body, creating a multicultural environment where you’ll meet people from all over the world. At the heart of the University of Essex is their Student Union where every student automatically becomes a member. The SU runs clubs, societies, volunteering groups, and events year-round, making it the heart of student life. 
 

STUDENT SUPPORT AT university of essex 

Student support at the University of Essex is comprehensive, accessible, and designed to cover academic, personal, financial, and wellbeing needs. The university offers a central Student Services Hub, specialist teams, and tailored support for international students.

The main point of contact for advice and guidance is the Student Services Hub where Staff can help with registration, fees, funding, and general enquiries.

Essex has a Careers team who are a free service located in the centre of their campus and offer dedicated services to help students with CVs, interview prep, internships, and graduate opportunities. They will also run networking events throughout the year, bringing employers and alumni onto campus to meet with students.  

Wellbeing & Mental Health support is also readily available at Essex for students who need it.  Essex have professional counselling and mental health services for students experiencing stress, anxiety, or other challenges, out of hours support as well as a 24/7 security team on campus who are all first aid and mental health trained.  

The University has a wide range of scholarships and financial assistance available to their students – please ask the team at Canada Law from Abroad for more information!  

In addition, every student at Essex Law School has an academic advisor (coach or personal tutor) throughout their degree. Law Stars are 2nd and 3rd Year students who provide you with support and guidance on life at Essex Law School. You can also count on Essex Law School staff dedicated to student support, including the Director of Education, the Director of Undergraduate Studies, the Director of Student Support, and Year-group Coordinators.  
 

University of Essex Facilities

The University of Essex offers a wide range of modern facilities across its two campuses, designed to support both academic and social life. At the Colchester campus, the largest of the two, students benefit from extensive teaching and research spaces, including state-of-the-art laboratories, computer suites, and specialist centres for subjects like psychology, business, and the social sciences. The Albert Sloman Library is a central hub, providing access to thousands of books, journals, and digital resources, alongside quiet study areas and collaborative workspaces.

For recreation and wellbeing, Essex has impressive sports facilities. The Colchester campus houses a large sports arena, gym, fitness studios, and outdoor pitches for football, rugby, and cricket. There’s also a climbing wall and courts for basketball, tennis, and squash. These facilities are complemented by the Essex Sport membership, which gives students affordable access to classes and equipment.

Social life is supported by the Students’ Union spaces, including Sub Zero nightclub, SU Bar, and various cafés and restaurants on campus. The university also has performance venues like the Lakeside Theatre, which hosts student productions and professional shows, and creative spaces for art and music. Accommodation is located on or near campus, with options ranging from en-suite rooms to shared flats, ensuring students can live close to their classes and social activities.

Finally, Essex invests heavily in student support facilities. The Student Services Hub provides advice on finance, wellbeing, and academic matters, while international students benefit from dedicated arrival and visa support. Combined with green spaces like Wivenhoe Park, the facilities at Essex create a balanced environment where students can study, socialize, and thrive.

In addition, Essex Law School has a number of special facilities, including a Mooting Room, and a Clinic Room, for the multiple clinical projects on Business Law, Human Rights Law, Legal Reform, Homelessness, and Environment and Sustainability, for example. 
 

Law Societies and Sports at the University of Essex

The Colchester campus is a thriving self-contained community with all the sports and social facilities you need to enjoy life between your studies, right on your doorstep. The University sports facilities include a gym, multi-purpose Sports Arena, indoor courts, outdoor pitches, a climbing wall, and a disk golf course.

The Colchester campus gym is home to over 160 fitness stations, on-site parking, machines with TV and audio systems, and 300 fitness classes every month! Then there's the University 250-metre climbing wall with bouldering and top roping facilities to take your fitness levels to the top. Plus, over 20 indoor courts, including basketball, volleyball, squash, netball, and futsal.  

The University Essex Sport Arena at Colchester campus is a multi-purpose space, used for sporting events, exhibitions, dance events and more. It is also home to their professional basketball and volleyball teams, the Essex Rebels, who compete in top-level national leagues.

If competitive sport isn't your thing, Essex student social sports programme is an exciting and different way to get involved with sport on campus.

Fancy being part of a club? The Essex Blades contains 44 clubs and over 4,500 members, so there's bound to be a club you'll enjoy at Essex!

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned pro, there is something for everyone at Essex

Several of the 70+ societies at the University of Essex are of particular interest to students of the Law School, such as the Law Society, Women in Law, Amnesty International, UNICEF, Model UN.
 

Accommodation at the University of Essex

At Essex, student accommodation isn’t just about a bed — it’s a base for study, social life, and settling into university. The campus offers a wide variety of housing types, so you can pick what fits your style: self-contained flats, ensuite rooms, shared flats, and more — all with bills (heating, Wi-Fi, utilities, insurance) included.

Guaranteed for you throughout the duration of your studies and located within walking distance of all campus amenities, their accommodation is safe, convenient and moderately priced with prices starting at £127.89 per week.

You will have a private room here at Essex as well as access to a shared kitchen and communal area. Depending on your budget and preferences, you will have an en-suite or shared bathroom/toilet residence.  

It's your place to connect and thrive, make friends for life, and embrace the moments that make you. It's your chance to live at the heart of a vibrant campus community with shared values and diverse interests, in an environment where you will succeed. It's your safe space to unwind in at the end of the day.

For students wanting to live off campus, Essex has a service called SU Homes. Run by the University Student Union, SU Homes work exclusively with their Essex student community, helping their students find homes, not just houses, outside of Essex wonderful campus.
 

Canadian Focus and Internationalization 

The University international outlook is evident in their research, changing the world for the better. The University also embed internationalism into their teaching, encouraging students to become global citizens and to spend time studying or working abroad. The University student body represents over 140 nationalities and supports over 30 different cultural societies. Essex has a strong Canadian presence within their Law school, particularly those studying their LLB Senior Status Programme. Because of the large volume of Canadians studying Law with us at Essex, the University have recently introduced a Canadian Constitutional Law module that students can take while they’re studying with Essex.

The University also has a strong partnership with the University of Waterloo which sees students join Essex from the university each year.  

Because of the shared Common Law heritage, a number of Canadian students decide to come to the UK, and Essex in particular, to pursue their legal studies. Studying at Essex opens up the possibility of returning to Canada to engage in the qualification process there via the Canadian students who return home after completing their studies at Essex must demonstrate their legal competence to the satisfaction of the Canadian National Committee on Accreditation (NCA).
 

Professional Connections

You can find Essex alumni in leading academic, policy, industry, government and civil society positions around the world. Wherever you want to go, Essex alumni have probably paved a way for you, and the shared Essex ethos can be a very valuable asset as you plan and pursue your own future.

Essex Law School prides itself for its international community of students and renowned alumni. The Essex Law student body comes from around the world to study in Colchester. The Essex alumni community spans the globe, with several former students covering positions in institutions such as United Nations UN Human Rights Councils’ Special Procedures and Treaty Bodies, international organizations like Amnesty International and the International Committee of the Red Cross, and law firms and barrister chambers in the UK and internationally.
 

Internships and Study Abroad Options

Studying abroad gives you the opportunity to study or work for a term or a full year at one of the University partner institutions around the globe.

You have the chance to immerse yourself in another culture and develop your independence and cultural awareness - all of which are enormous advantages when you enter the global job market. It will give you a fresh perspective of the world and your subject, whilst offering you the chance to experience a different educational system.

The University has over 150 study abroad partner institutions throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, the pacific and North and South America.

Essex also offers a competitive LLB License in English and French Law, which gives you the rewarding intellectual experience of discovering the richness of both the French and English legal cultures. Essex is one of only a few universities in the UK that put students on the right path to qualify for legal practice in both England and Wales and France. The first two years of this LLB are spent at Essex, where students take the required modules in English Law, meeting the requirements for the academic stages of training to become a solicitor or barrister in the UK. During this time in the UK, students also learn French Law, taught in French. The third year is spent at a partner institution in France (in Paris-Nanterre, Lyon, Tolouse, Nice or Lille), where students follow modules in French Law to obtain the Licence en Droit. 
 

Employability and Career Opportunities

Experiential learning is at the heart of legal education at Essex. The modules and extracurricular activities at the University of Essex enable you to gain valuable experience working on real-world issues, including competing in mooting, advocacy and negotiation competitions, the commercial awareness programme, credit-bearing optional placement modules for work-based learning in a legal environment, and working with actual clients in the award-winning Essex Law Clinic, the Human Rights Centre Clinic, the Business Law Clinic, and the Law and Sustainability Clinic.

There are multiple career options after your studies in Law at Essex. For example, barristers solicitors provide legal advice and representation, working closely with clients on a range of various issues; they also represent clients in negotiations and court proceedings. Solicitors Barristers specialize in advocacy, representing clients in court hearings, trials and tribunals presenting legal arguments, and cross-examining witnesses. In addition, Essex Law students may pursue careers as in-house legal counsels, paralegals, legal secretaries, or in other management and policy-oriented jobs where a legal education can be for real value.

The University of Essex student career services will help you prepare and give you the tools to get ahead. Whether you need guidance on your career path, help brushing up your CV or the chance to practice your interview technique, Essex has everything you need for exploring your options after university.

They know it's not easy to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life.  But don't worry! At Essex, they have a great team of professional careers advisers who can support you through your journey, as you develop your passions and sharpen your focus. Whatever choices you make in life, having a firm foundation of skills and knowledge around career planning, finding a job, networking and understanding your own motivations will give you a head start.

Some of the ways in which the University supports you will include; Careers Events, CV/Interview workshops, a job search tool, career planning support and various networking opportunities.  
 

Study in Colchester

Essex is the culturally vibrant county that's home to their two campuses; Colchester and Loughton. Beyond the eastern edge of London, Essex is home to a fascinating mixture of both modern and traditional towns and villages and has one of the longest coastlines in Britain.

Home to 15,000 students from more than 130 countries, Essex Colchester Campus is the largest of their two sites, making Essex one of the most internationally diverse campuses on the planet - the University likes to think of ourselves as the world in one place. It’s also the home of the University world-renowned Law School.  

Set within 200 acres of award-winning parkland - Wivenhoe Park and located two miles from the historic city centre of Colchester – England's oldest recorded development. The University Colchester Campus is also easily reached from London and Stansted Airport in under one hour.

Colchester, often celebrated as Britain’s oldest recorded town, blends deep Roman roots with a lively modern atmosphere. Visitors can explore its impressive Norman castle, stroll through quaint, historic streets, and enjoy vibrant arts, food, and cultural scenes. Whether you’re into museums, music, or just good food with friends, Colchester offers a little bit of everything in a friendly, walkable setting. 
 

Why Study at Essex Law School

Essex Law School is dedicated to offering a transformational education to all members of a global, multicultural student community, and supporting every student from every background to achieve outstanding outcomes. Essex undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Law allow you to learn, apply and practice the law. Essex students work with experts who combine real-world experience with cutting-edge research in a wide range of areas related to Law and Human Rights. Student experience is at the heart of Essex’s mission to provide a transformative education to all. Essex has a strong and growing network of alumni who have taken a wide variety of career paths.

And what better place to do this on a beautiful, campus-based University, less than an hour from London!