Bachelor of Law in Law (with Integrated Foundation)

at University of Buckingham United Kingdom

The main BA Digital News and Media (2-year degree) comprises study and training in a wide range of aspects of the subject area, including online media, news management, PR, advertising, photojournalism, broadcast journalism and legal/ethical issues in journalism, and is intended for those considering careers in these and related fields.

The degree consists of a combination of practical modules in all aspects of design and content production in online, broadcast and print media together with courses in communication and English language studies in order to professionalise students’ writing abilities.

You will encounter the canon of great authors, from Shakespeare onwards, but you also study themes like Film, Gender, and Empire. In other words, the degree combines traditional and contemporary aspects of the subject. Buckingham’s unique tutorial system makes for highly personalized teaching. If you’d like to try out a tutorial, come along to one of our free taster sessions.

What is Buckingham English?

• It is an encounter with the complexity and beauty of great literature
• It aids you on your journey to becoming a professional-level writer, able to write fluently and well in any context
• Like philosophy, it teaches you to argue and debate your ideas
• As a central liberal arts subject, it is a clear space to address the big questions of meaning and existence

We don’t think that formal essays are always the best way of assessing how students understand a subject, so you will find that you have opportunities to write a book review, reportage, poems and short stories, even part of a screenplay. You will learn a number of skills, not least how to write fluently and persuasively. As a result, our graduates go on into a range of careers in media, teaching, publishing, academia, business, and marketing.

Our fast-track 2-year Economics programme will explore these topics and many others. The course is designed to equip students with the quantitative and analytical skills to progress into economics-related jobs in finance, business and consulting, as well as preparing them for master’s level study.

As a student, you will blend theory in econometrics, macroeconomics, financial markets and microeconomic behaviour, together with practical real-world analysis and policy applications. We regularly host events and seminars where you can see the latest research from our own academics.

Our academics offer a supportive, diverse and creative environment for you to explore your interests and ensure a successful educational experience. You will join an international community of students, staff and alumni.

A dedicated professional development course runs through the degree covering academic and job market skills. You will also benefit from internships and research opportunities in the Vinson Centre for Economics and Entrepreneurship.

There are also many optional choices built into the programme that allows you to tailor your degree to suit your career or academic preferences.

Many graduates continue their studies with us at master’s level or careers in banking and financial markets, corporate finance, economic consultancy and think tanks.

We are the beneficiaries of a substantial endowment from Nobel prize winning economist Ronald Coase and offer several generous scholarships for students with a passion for Economics. We especially encourage women and ethnic minorities to apply.

The course includes a series of seminars (see below), given by a range of eminent guest speakers, to supplement students’ private research. These will provide a broad chronological survey of the period and an introduction to major themes in the political and social history of 20th century Britain. The seminars will take place at the elegant Reform Club in Pall Mall, and supervisory meetings will be held at the Humanities Research Institute offices at 51 Gower Street in Bloomsbury.

The programme’s major concentration will be on politics and society, but there will be a subsidiary focus on cultural history and historiography. Guest speakers will include the contemporary historians Sir David Cannadine, Lord Hennessy, David Kynaston and Michael Bentley.

Assessment is via a dissertation of approximately 25,000 words on a topic of the student’s choosing, which is completed under the guidance of a supervisor and submitted at the end of the academic year.

This cutting-edge programme is unique to Buckingham. A course with wide appeal, it is aimed at anyone who has an interest in biography or in researching and writing a biography for themselves. The varied mix of backgrounds and interests that students bring to the course, the experience and commitment of the programme director and the friendly small-group setting allow a lively, enjoyable and intellectually rigorous exchange of ideas. Graduates have gone on to publish their own books, and to win prizes. Some have embarked on further research for the PhD in Biography.

When it was founded in 1996, the Biography MA was the first of its kind. Since then Life Writing has become part of the postgraduate menu, but the Buckingham course has kept its distinctive edge. Unlike most Life Writing degrees, it is not linked to Creative Writing, and there is a strong emphasis on research and historical biography. The programme is consistently rated ‘excellent’ by external examiners and inspectors.

Course structure

Students have a choice between following the taught MA or opting for the MA by Research. The taught MA gives an opportunity to produce written term papers on a variety of topics as well as a dissertation of up to 20,000 words. Students accepted for the MA by Research are required to produce written work which includes an extended dissertation of up to 40,000 words. All students produce coursework for the Research  Methods module: an annotated bibliography and a short biography, with supporting material, produced according to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography format.

Guest seminars on the course are led by leading biographers, critics, publishers and agents. Teachers and speakers on the course have included Andrew Motion, Kathryn Hughes, Frances Wilson, Frances Spalding, Caroline Dawnay, Andrew Lownie, Miranda Seymour, Anne Wroe, Angela Thirlwell, David Lough and Ophelia Field.

The BSc Accounting and Finance 3-year programme is designed for individuals who wish to study an undergraduate degree but have non-standard academic qualifications.

Year one will follow the Foundation Pathway programme, and introduce students to key concepts and study skills. In years two and three students will build on these skills and enhance their knowledge, understanding and practice in core subjects. Throughout the three years a student will be equipped with the skills to reach their potential in academic studies.

Recent corporate scandals across the world have drawn attention to the importance of accountancy and finance. Our BSc Accounting and Finance Degree programme is designed to meet the demands of the 21st Century, but which still teach the underlying skills, make it an exciting time to be studying BSc Accounting and Finance at Buckingham.

The flagship Accounting and Finance programme (previously known as Accounting and Financial Management) provides an academically rigorous study of the principal accounting and finance disciplines. It also has a strong vocational orientation, providing significant exemptions from the examinations of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

The academic staff in the Applied Computing Department (ACD) are all engaged in research and publications. Considering its modest size, ACD has successfully attracted research funding from various sources in the UK and the EU, including industry, research councils, HEA and EU framework projects such as FP6. Furthermore, ACD has been working and collaborating with many European research institutions.

For the academic year, 2012-2013, two PhD and six MSc students (one in Mathematics) have graduated, four of whom graduated with Distinction. The two PhD students have made it for the March graduation and we expect to have three or four more completing their PhD research programmes for the next graduation. One of our new PhD students in Computing joined the Department last October, and three other PhD students have joined us since. Over the last few years, the number of research students in ACD has grown steadily to (currently) 29 PhD and two Master’s research students.

We have had over 20 refereed conference and journal papers published during the last 12 months, and two of the papers have been awarded best paper awards.

ACD supports diverse research topics addressing varied applied computing technologies such as:

• Image processing and pattern recognition with applications in biometric-based person identification, image super-resolution, digital watermarking and steganography, content-based image/video indexing and retrieval, biomedical image analysis.
• Multi-factor authentication and security algorithms.
• Wireless networks technologies (Multi-frequency Software-Defined / Cognitive Radios, convergence and integration of different wireless technologies and standards such as WiFi and WiMax, IPv4 and IPv6, wireless mesh technologies, intrusion detection and prevention, efficiency and stability of ad hoc networks).
• Hybrid navigation and localisation integrations for mobile handsets, including using Cellular and WiFi in conjunction with GPS and Glonass for seamless positioning indoors, Multiplexed receive chain of GPS/Glonass with on-board handset Bluetooth/WiFi, GNSS signals multiplexing for real-time simulation.
• Cloud computing, including the readiness of mobile operating systems for cloud services and focusing on techniques for fast computing handovers, efficient virtualisation and optimised security algorithms.
• Data mining techniques, including database systems, the application of data mining techniques in image and biological data, human-computer interaction and visual languages.
• Research and development of Apps for mobile devices and smart TVs, particularly for application in the areas of education and healthcare.
• Differential geometry – Einstein metrics, quasi-Einstein metrics, Ricci solitons, numerical methods in differential geometry.

As well as researching the chosen subject, our students engage in delivering seminars weekly, attending conferences and workshops, attending online webinars and discussion forums, attending training and focused group studies, supervising tutorial and laboratory sessions for undergraduate students, peer reviews and final year project supervision, among a host of technical and networking activities to enhance their skills and techniques.

The 3 year LLB Law degree is designed for students who can benefit from an introduction to enable them to study at undergraduate level. The first year of the programme provides a foundation to the more specialist ‘core’ subjects delivered in years two and three.

The unique structure of Buckingham’s LLB degree allows our students to become confident, competent lawyers, able to practise almost anywhere in the world after just three years (eight or nine terms) of study.

With an English ‘qualifying law degree’ from Buckingham you will be recognised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (formerly the Law Society) and the Bar Standards Board as qualified to be exempt from the academic stage of training for entry into the legal profession. Every LLB programme at Buckingham (whether single honours or combined honours) provides our graduates with this qualification.

We can usually accommodate the additional requirements needed for those who wish to practise in other jurisdictions and if you are an overseas student we are happy to discuss exactly which subjects you need to study in order to qualify for your jurisdiction.

During your study for the Buckingham LLB Law Degree  you will become proficient in written and oral presentation, develop and perfect your research techniques and learn to solve problems in a logical and structured way and also acquire the practical skills of oral advocacy

The LLM by Research requires an original contribution to the body of knowledge in a particular academic or professional discipline. It will take approximately one year to complete with full-time study and two years of part-time study.

BA History and Heritage Management is one of the five most popular subjects among UK university students, and with good reason. Having a historical perspective enables people to make sense of today’s rapidly changing world. Employers like it because history teaches you to think for yourself, to work under pressure, and to construct a coherent argument from the evidence. Historical research has never been more exciting than it is today, with the internet making available so many treasures from the archives.

This BA in History and Heritage Management has been carefully designed and fine-tuned by Buckingham’s team of experienced and high-calibre historians. It offers an outline and conceptual modules which concentrate on the period from 1800 to the present day – though we do study some earlier periods too from the 1500s onwards too.  It covers, in particular, empires, the rise in political polarisation, World Wars and the shaping of our modern political systems, whilst considering the relationship between ideology and the historical process.

Students progress to study the history of history and to reflect on historical method. In the last part of the course, we study historical documents and texts and develop research and writing skills through a long essay and a dissertation. So the programme not only teaches history; it also teaches you to think historically and to research and write history.

Heritage Management

This distinctive combination of theoretical and vocational study of the BA History and Heritage Management provides students with a pathway to careers in the heritage sector; our students find employment in museums, galleries, the art market and with prestigious organisations like the National Trust, English Heritage and Historic Royal Palaces. Of course, our students also acquire transferable skills applicable in other fields, such as journalism, law and business.