Programme specification: MPhil/PhD Law
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Awarding Body
LSE
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Details of accreditation by a
professional/statutory body,
e.g. ESRC; BPS etc
Name of final award
Programme Title
Duration of the course
N/A
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Based in the Department/Institute:
Relevant QAA subject benchmark
statements (See Subject Benchmark
Statements)
UCAS Code
First written/last amended
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The programme aims to:
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11.
M3ZL
October 1998 / November 2010
Tutor students in the requisite skills and competencies to produce a lengthy piece of
academic writing to a high standard of academic writing;
Develop students ability to produce original research which makes a significant
contribution to the literature in their chosen field;
Provide students with opportunities to present their work to audiences of peers and to
gain experience in responding to feedback;
Equip students with the skills necessary to undertake high quality research such as library
skills and information retrieval;
Make students aware of good practice in Higher Education in relation to submitted work
for publication and making job applications.
Programme outcomes: knowledge and understanding; skills and other attributes
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12.
MPhil/PhD
PhD law
The normal period of registration is 3-4 years;
full time students must complete within four
years and part time within 6 years.
Law
Demonstrable and deep knowledge of the academic area that students have selected to
undertake advanced research in;
Understanding of where that work can be positioned in the field and the methodological
and theoretical issues which have and could frame knowledge acquisition in the given
area;
The ability to critique the work of others and provide constructive criticism;
The capacity to develop original ideas and to express them in a convincing way;
The capacity to garner evidence to support and argument and to assess the credibility of
different sorts of evidence;
The ability to write coherently and to a high standard;
The ability to present complex ideas to an audience of peers and experts in a competent
way;
Awareness of academic networks relevant to the field of study;
Knowledge of good practice in submitting work for publication;
Experience of presenting academic papers at workshops or conferences.
Teaching, learning and assessment strategies to enable outcomes to be achieved and
demonstrated
Teaching and learning strategies:
Students undertaking the MPhil/PhD are required to undertake training in the Department and the
School. The training programme can be tailored to individual students needs but has compulsory
and voluntary components. In addition to progressing with their research, students are expected to
take the listed training and transferable skills courses. Students may take courses in addition to
those listed, and should discuss this with their supervisor.
Year One
Training courses
Compulsory (not examined)
MY400 Fundamentals of Social Science Research Design (H) or LL4L5 Socio-legal Theory and
Practice (H)
Transferable skills courses
Compulsory (not examined)
LL500 Doctoral Research Seminar
MY593A Authoring a PhD and Developing as a Researcher: Getting Started
Optional (not examined)
Staff Seminar Series
Year Two
Training courses
Compulsory (not examined)
Minimum of three workshops of MY530 Advanced Qualitative Analysis Workshops
Optional (not examined)
Staff Seminar Series
Year Three
Training courses
Compulsory (not examined)
PhD lunchtime seminar series
Optional (not examined)
Staff Seminar Series
Year Four
Transferable skills courses
Optional (not examined)
Staff Seminar Series
Assessment strategies:
Students get the opportunity to undertake formative assessments in the form of giving a
presentation about their work in the course of LL500, as part of the upgrade procedure and in the
student seminar series. All students are also required to submit regular drafts of their work for
appraisal by their supervisors.
Materials submitted for upgrade are read by two readers independent of the supervisory team. The
readers provide detailed feedback to the student and can make themselves available for discussion
with the candidate and supervisory team if necessary.
13. Programme structures and requirements, levels, modules and awards
See the MPhil/PhD Law programme regulations for more information.
Additional information
14.
Criteria for admission to the programme
The normal entry requirement for the MPhil/PhD. programme is an average of 70 per cent on the
LLM or equivalent qualification. The requirement will be applied flexibly, in particular to candidates
who have performed exceptionally well in a dissertation or who have an outstanding undergraduate
qualification. Students must indicate the title of a broad general area in which they wish to undertake
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research, and a detailed outline (three or four pages) of a specific topic within that field indicating the
ways in which they consider that extended scholarly research and analysis in the field will make a
significant and original contribution to knowledge. They are required to give some indication of the
materials they expect to use, where they expect to find them and the methods of analysis they
propose to use. If the proposal takes the form of a theoretical hypothesis, they are asked to indicate
how they propose to test it. All students shortlisted for a place are interviewed with the Deputy DPD
and at least one subject specialist.
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Indicators of quality
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Entrance requirements (please see details in no.14);
Research quality: 5*A in 2001 RAE;
Authorship of key texts: members of the Department have written key texts in many of the
LLB subject areas;
Members of the Department serve or have served on the editorial boards of many leading
journals;
The School participates in the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) which
provides indicators of student satisfaction with various aspects of their research degree
programme. Results from this survey have been positive for the School;
Examiners’ reports from viva examinations are considered centrally within the School and
provide indicators on the quality of the research student experience and supervision
quality;
The LSE Careers Centre website provides data on career destinations of LSE research
graduates.
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Methods for evaluating and improving the quality and standard of teaching and
learning
School mechanisms:
 The Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC) runs the Postgraduate Research Experience
Survey (PRES) and distributes results to departments. Survey results are considered by
School Committees (Research Degrees Sub-Committee & Teaching, Learning and
Assessment Committee) as well as within academic departments. Any issues arising
from the PRES would be addressed by the appropriate body/department.
 Taught courses on MPhil/PhD programmes are included in the School’s internal student
satisfaction survey, where such courses are provided at the Masters’ level, as conducted
by the Teaching Quality Assurance and Review Office.
 Departments review their programmes according to their own system of periodic review.
 The Methodology Institute offers methodological training across all MPhil/PhD programme
and transferrable study skills training courses are offered by the TLC for all MPhil/PhD
students: this central resource enhances the standard of teaching and learning for all
research students across the School.
 TLAC Review of the Department once every 5 years.
Departmental mechanisms:
a. Annual progress reports
b. Upgrade procedure from MPhil to PhD
c. Monitoring of completion and pass rates.
d. Staff student liaison committees are held once a term and are open to all students. Two
student representatives a year are appointed to represent the student body.
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