Q79–Bachelor of Laws (Honours)

I thought I’d post the overall learning outcomes for this degree as stated by the OU:

Bachelor of Laws (Honours) - Learning Outcomes

Educational aims

The law degree aims to provide learners of all backgrounds and abilities with the opportunity to explore and develop their interest in the law and legal system of England and Wales. Your studies will: provide you with the opportunity to gain knowledge and understanding of the legal system of England and Wales, provide you with an opportunity to gain knowledge and understanding of the role and function of law in an increasingly globalised world, enable you to become independent learners, and to develop other associated and transferable skills and attributes, provide those who wish to continue their legal education and progress on to the vocational stage of training with the intellectual and practical skills necessary to do this effectively.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

• in-depth knowledge of a substantial range of the concepts, values, rules and principles of the foundation subjects of law, and of the legal system of England and Wales
• an understanding of legal methodology
• an understanding of the social, political, economic, historical and ethical dimensions of law
• an understanding of the principles and methods of legal research.

Cognitive Skills

• apply legal principles and authority in a logical and coherent way
• organise and assimilate legal and factual material and express a reasoned personal view about that material
• identify the relative merits of different legal and policy arguments as articulated in case law and legal scholarship
• present and make a reasoned choice between alternative opinions and solutions
• explore and apply exceptions to legal rules and principles

Key Skills

• communicate effectively and accurately (using appropriate legal terminology)
• organise information and illustrate its relevance to the intended audience
• appreciate the requirements of intended audiences and select an appropriate mode of presentation and style
• appreciate and demonstrate the techniques of legal argument
• read and discuss legal materials (whether statutes, cases or academic commentary) which are written in technical and complex language
• comprehend and use basic numerical information
• use basic keyboard skills and perform basic computer tasks
• use the internet, WWW and some dedicated electronic information retrieval systems to access legal information
• work with a group to find agreed solutions to set problems
• negotiate the performance of (and accepting responsibility for performing) an aspect of a team task.
• reflect critically on your own performance with the assistance of feedback
• take steps to improve your learning and performance with the assistance of feedback
• assess your own progress, identify issues on which assistance is needed and obtain such assistance.

Practical and/or Professional Skills

• identify legal issues in relation to material facts (both real and hypothetical)
• apply legal principles to resolve identified issues
• present arguable and reasoned conclusions
• access, comprehend, interrogate and use legal materials (both primary and secondary sources) using electronic and hard copy methods

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