Executive Master of Laws (ELLM)

Programme Code: TMLL2EX

Department: Law School

For students starting this programme of study in 2023/24

Guidelines for interpreting programme regulations

Classification scheme for the award of a taught master's degree
Exam sub-board local rules

1. The general regulations for MA and MSc Degrees and the Code of Practice for Taught Masters Programmes in the online Calendar apply to the Executive LLM programme except in the event of inconsistency when these regulations for the Executive LLM take priority.

2. In order to obtain the Degree, students must complete eight Executive LLM courses (see list below). Students must complete the requirements as a part-time student over a period of four years, or with the approval of the Programme Director within a period of six years. The minimum period within which the Degree can be completed is three years.

3. Alternative exit points are available to students who are not able to complete the Degree. An LSE Diploma in Legal Studies is available on completion of six courses and a Certificate of Legal Studies on the completion of four courses. There is no minimum period for completion of the alternative exit points of Certificate of Legal Studies or Diploma in Legal Studies. Please see the footnote at the bottom of this regulation for more information.

4. Courses should be chosen from the list below and are subject to availability as not every course will be offered each year. Subject to the availability of teaching staff, it is intended that every course be offered at least once within the four year degree period. No other courses at LSE or elsewhere may be taken as part of the Executive LLM programme.

Intensive Teaching

5. The Executive LLM courses will be taught in short intensive week-long sessions, which will typically be taught in the first half of April, September and December. Each course will provide between 24 and 26 hours of contact teaching time. Teaching will normally run from Monday to Friday. However, in the exceptional event where a course cannot be taught on the set weekday/s (e.g. due to last minute teacher illness), teaching may be extended to the Saturday and Sunday morning of that week. Accordingly, students are expected to book trains or flights for the day before teaching commences and should, where possible, book return trains or flights on the Sunday afternoon or evening following the completion of the course.

6. Where there is student demand we may elect also to offer some courses in two intensive weekends. The two weekends will not be more than four weekends apart. Where courses are offered in the intensive weekend format the same course will also be offered in week-long intensive format at least once every four years.

Payment of Fees

7. All Executive LLM offer holders will be required to pay a Registration Fee within 14 days of receiving their offer of admission. The registration fee is non-refundable. Only on receipt of the registration fee, may students register onto the programme. Registered students are then required to pay a per course tuition fee in advance of their chosen course date, to secure their place. Students will only be permitted to attend a module if payment is received in time. Fee payment deadlines can be found here.

8. The registration fee is non-refundable. If you withdraw from the course before starting a session or are unable to attend a session for which you have registered, all module fees will be credited to a module in a later session. You must inform the Programme Manager if you are unable to attend a module you are registered for. In exceptional circumstances, at the Director's discretion, the funds paid for that session will be refunded. Changes in fee levels may occur over the course of the programme. The student will remain liable for any difference between the fees chargeable at the later session and the fee credit from the module which the student withdrew from. Module fees are non-refundable, and will not be credited to another session, if you have attended classes but withdraw before the assessment.

9. It is our intent to offer each advertised module at least once during the four year degree period. This may not always be possible due, for example, to teacher illness or resignation. It is possible that a module may need to be cancelled at short notice, such as where the teacher is unavailable or participant numbers are very low. If this happens, students will be given the option of taking another module during the same session or, alternatively, the fees paid towards that module will be held in credit for your next chosen module/session or refunded if preferred. Students will be informed of the withdrawal of a module no later than two weeks prior to the commencement of the module.

Assessment

10. All Executive LLM courses are assessed by either take-home examination or 8,000 word extended essay.

11. To comply with the Department's writing requirement at master's level, all students are required to write one extended essay of 8,000 words as the assessment for one of their courses to obtain the Degree, the Diploma or the Certificate. Students are not permitted to take more than three courses assessed by extended essay to obtain the Degree or the Diploma or more than one course assessed by extended essay to obtain a Certificate.

12. Extended essays must not exceed the set word limit and must be submitted by a set deadline. Students must provide evidence of original work or a capacity for critical analysis. Students will be required, at the time of submission of their work, to sign a statement on plagiarism. An oral examination may be held if the examiners so determine.

13. The take-home examinations will be set two months after the completion of the intensive teaching. The date of the examination will be provided at the date courses are available for selection. They will be uploaded and submitted electronically.

14. All students are required to write an extended essay of 8,000 words as the assessment for one of their courses to obtain the Degree, the Diploma or the Certificate. Students are not permitted to take more than three courses assessed by extended essay to obtain the Degree or the Diploma or more than one course assessed by extended essay to obtain a Certificate. The extended essay topic will be set by the course teacher. The student may propose essay topics and ideas to the teacher.

15. All students will be required to be online during the examination period in case there is any need to contact them.

16. Students will be able to re-sit a course examination once. A re-sit examination will be set as soon as possible after the student is notified of the failure. At the Programme Director's sole discretion in lieu of a re-sit or deferred examination the student may be required to submit an 8,000 word essay. This can only occur when the student has not already completed the maximum of three 8,000 word essays.

17. Any student who fails an exam twice in the same course will not be able to proceed to complete the Executive LLM programme. Students will not be able to proceed to take further courses if at the first sit and the re-sit examination are both bad fails or if the failure is not a bad fail but the student has failed another course following the re-sit. If such a student has already successfully completed 4 courses or 6 courses prior to such a failure, the student will be awarded a Certificate of Legal Studies or Diploma of Legal Studies.

Registration

18. The maximum period of registration on the programme is six years. Therefore completion of all the degree requirements (or Diploma, Certificate) must be within a six year period.

Course Completion Rate

19. Students will be expected to take one to two courses per year. Any student who fails to take a course for a two year period will be asked to provide reasons for the failure to complete courses. Any student who following such a request either fails to provide a response to the Programme Director or fails to complete a course in the year following the giving of these reasons, may be deregistered from the programme.

Degree Certificate

20. Students who successfully complete the Executive LLM examination requirements may elect to have one of the following titles attached to their degree certificate if, in the opinion of the Programme Director of the LLM, the title reflects the course of study followed by the student. This would mean taking a minimum of 4 courses within a specialist area. The possible titles are listed below with the courses attached to those areas listed with them. If no such election is made, the LLM degree certificate will state 'LLM' without further specification.

Prerequisite Requirements and Mutually Exclusive Options

# means there may be prerequisites for this course. Please view the course guide for more information.

Exit Options

Diploma

This diploma is classified according to the Scheme for the Award of a Diploma, as a 3 unit programme subject to the following provisions.

Students wishing to earn a diploma will have registered as Executive LLM students and then cease their studies after completing six courses (3 full units). All courses count towards the diploma classification. A Pass mark of 50 must be achieved in all courses for students to achieve an overall Pass in the diploma. Assessments for each of the courses will take place at the beginning of the next teaching session. Students wishing to defer attempting one or more assessments must seek permission according to the General Academic Regulations no later than eight weeks prior to the assessment date except in the case of exceptional circumstances, as set out in the General Academic Regulations. Students are permitted to repeat failed assessments in line with the School’s General Academic Regulations and Regulations for Diplomas.

Certificate

Students wishing to earn a certificate will have registered as Executive LLM students and then cease their studies after completing four courses (2 full units). The certificate is classified on a Pass/Fail basis only. A Pass mark of 50 needs to be achieved in all courses for students to be eligible for the award of the certificate. Higher marks in one course cannot compensate a Fail mark in another course. Students wishing to defer attempting one or more assessments must seek permission according to the General Academic Regulations no later than eight weeks prior to the assessment date except in the case of exceptional circumstances, as set out in the General Academic Regulations. Students are permitted to repeat failed assessments in line with the School’s General Academic Regulations and Regulations for Certificates.

Note for prospective students:

For changes to graduate course and programme information for the next academic session, please see the graduate summary page for prospective students. Changes to course and programme information for future academic sessions can be found on the graduate summary page for future students.