Bachelor of Civil Law BCL

University of Oxford

The Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) is a world-renowned taught graduate course in law, designed to serve outstanding law students from common law backgrounds. The academic standard is significantly higher than that required in a first law degree, and only those with outstanding first law degrees are admitted.

The programme comprises approximately forty full options (including a dissertation option) and eight to ten half-options. A list of the options can be found on the course page of the Law Faculty website.

Students must choose either four full options, or three full options and two half-options, or two full options and four half-options. All options are taught by a combination of seminars and tutorials (some also offer lectures) with the exception of the dissertation, which involves one-to- one sessions with an assigned supervisor.

Seminars are normally led by a senior member of academic staff but are typically interactive in nature, and you will be expected to participate in the discussions arising from the material covered. Tutorials involve an intensive discussion between a tutor and a small group of students, usually between two and four, providing an opportunity for you to present your ideas and discuss your work with leading academics. Typically, seminars will introduce you to a particular area of study and familiarise you with general concepts and ideas which will then be investigated in greater depth in the tutorials. For most tutorials you will be expected to write an essay, which typically will be marked and returned to you at the next tutorial.

Outside of the seminars and tutorials, you will be expected to read extensively in order to acquire the necessary knowledge to engage with course material at an appropriate level. The balance between teaching and independent study will vary from option to option, but as a rough guide, a student may expect a ratio of four hours of independent study to every one hour of teaching.