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LLM in Medical Law and Ethics

The LLM in Medical Law and Ethics by online learning is positioned at the constantly changing interface between medicine and law.

This is an interdisciplinary programme focusing on the important issues affecting medicine, law, and ethics today, within international, European, and domestic settings.


Gerard Porter talks about the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics by online learning at Edinburgh Law School.

This internationally focussed programme covers the core areas of medical law and ethics, including:

  • Medical consent
  • Negligence and confidentiality
  • Issues at the beginning and end of life
  • Patient confidentiality
  • Public health
  • Regulation of medical research
  • Legal and social approaches to biotechnology

The programme also enables you to explore the international and interdisciplinary dimensions of medical law and ethics. You will have opportunities to examine health care policy and the regulation of medicine in different parts of the world. You will also evaluate responses to technology and debate possible futures for medical law.

Daniel Schoenberger Graduate of the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics
The University of Edinburgh's world-class LLM in Medical Law and Ethics helped me grow tremendously as a lawyer and personally.
Daniel Schönberger
LLM in Medical Law and Ethics by online learning, 2018

Medical law is a fascinating field of study in the 21st century as advances in medical research and new technologies shift the boundaries of medicine.

New health issues are emerging and patient rights are increasingly taking centre stage. New and complex medico-legal dilemmas are arising in clinical practice, in the realities of human health, and in the relationships between patients and health care professionals.

The programme has been designed for health care professionals, those working in the health-related professions, practitioners in the pharmaceuticals industry, and legal professionals.

Health care professionals will benefit from new knowledge and perspectives on the day-to-day legal and ethical issues they encounter, as well as from the interdisciplinary nature of the programme.

Lawyers and law graduates joining the programme will be able to develop a much broader understanding of medical law and ethics than simply the specialist practice areas of medical negligence and personal injury.

The programme will be of interest if you are interested in specialising or changing career – to work in the following areas:

  • medical law or health policy;
  • advising medical professionals and/or patients;
  • risk management and regulatory affairs, including in health research or in the pharmaceutical or medical devices industries.

We aim to provide challenging, research-led teaching with students benefiting from the expertise of a multidisciplinary team of tutors and the results of innovative cross-cutting research of the highest quality.

Edinburgh Law School academics teaching on this programme are exploring highly topical research themes, which you will also encounter on the programme:

  • the governance of new medical technologies
  • e-health, data sharing and privacy
  • the regulation of biomedical research
  • the role of law within the doctor-patient relationship
  • human enhancement

Teaching staff on the LLM programme are also affiliated with the Mason Institute - an interdisciplinary network aimed at investigating the ethical, legal, social and political issues at the interface between medicine, life sciences and the law.

Find out more about the Mason Institute

In this video, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first publication of Mason and McCall Smith's Law and Medical Ethics. It is the UK’s leading textbook in medical law and ethics, which was born and nurtured at Edinburgh Law School.

The Mason Institute has its own podcast series and recorded a special episode to celebrate the seminal textbook, Mason and McCall Smith's Law and Medical Ethics.

The podcast looks at how the textbook came about in the first place, what contributions have been made to the current 12th edition published in 2023, and what the future may hold for the book. 

Listen to the Mason Institute Podcasts

The MacLagan prize is awarded to the best overall online learning graduate on the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics.

The MacLagan fund has been associated with the Chair of Medical Jurisprudence in the University of Edinburgh since the 19th Century and has funded a prize in online learning for excellence in medical law and ethics since 2011. Previous MacLagan prize winners include:

  • Mr Daniel Schoenberger - 2018
  • Dr Gilberto Leung and Mr Mark Davidson - 2017
  • Dr Edward Mugerwa-Sekawabe - 2016
  • Dr Lisa Boden - 2015
  • Miss Qi Ying Teng - 2014
  • Dr Mark Davies - 2013
  • Dr Neil Shorney - 2012
  • Dr Roger Palmer - 2011

Contact us

If you have any questions about the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics by online learning please don't hesitate to contact us.

llm.online@ed.ac.uk

The LLM in Medical Law and Ethics offers a comprehensive range of core courses which cover the fundamental areas of medical law.

The programme consists of 180 credits, comprising taught courses worth 120 credits (60 credits per semester) and a 10,000 word dissertation worth 60 credits. Full programme details including course descriptions are available on the University Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study website.

View the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics by online learning degree structure for 2023/24

Courses shown below are scheduled to run in the 2023/24 academic year.

You must complete these courses:

  • The Fundamentals of Law and Medical Ethics (20 credits)

    This course examines the integral relationship between medical law and ethics, and considers the roles and relationships within the clinical setting and in a wider context. It will equip you with an understanding of foundational concepts that are central to your programme. The core aims of the course are:

    • To foster a critical understanding of the principal elements of medical jurisprudence
    • To develop a critical appreciation of the principal theories, principles and concepts that inform the relationship between medical ethics and medical law
    • To support students to demonstrate originality and creativity in the application of their knowledge, understanding of the law to address current issues facing healthcare professionals and medical lawyers in everyday aspects of medicine
    • To encourage development of original and creative responses to problems and issues thrown up by medical practice for law and ethics, especially where the current legal response is wanting or absent
    • To equip students to deal with complex ethical and professional issues and to make informed judgements on issues not addressed by current professional and/or ethical codes or practices.
       
  • Fundamentals in Bioethics (20 credits)

    This course serves as a foundation for critical engagement with the core elements of doing bioethics. It will introduce you to three pillars of rigorous bioethical analysis:

    1. defining and distinguishing concepts
    2. understanding theories
    3. recognising and constructing robust arguments.

    It will equip students with the skills to develop and defend ethical arguments, and to apply these to legal, regulatory and policy issues in health, medicine and the biosciences.

  • Law and Ethics at the Start and End of Life (20 credits)

    This course provides students with an opportunity to apply their knowledge about fundamentals in medical law and ethics to dilemmas arising across the human lifecycle, from start to end of life. It will draw upon and deepen your understanding of the core concepts, roles and responsibilities covered earlier in the programme.

You must select between 40 and 60 credits from the following courses:

  • Clinical Negligence and the Law (10 credits)

    This course is a detailed exploration of the law of clinical negligence. It is designed to equip students with in-depth knowledge and understanding of relevant legal principles and case law. Students will be encouraged to apply this knowledge in seminars by formulating reasoned and persuasive arguments for or against particular legal propositions. Whilst focusing on the law in the UK, the course will have a strong comparative dimension. The clinical negligence action will be viewed in its social, economic and political context and students will be encouraged to reflect critically on the various factors driving law and policy in this area.

  • Public Health Ethics (20 credits)

    This course explores public health ethics through the lens of social justice (distributive justice, relational justice, structural and epistemic injustice). It does so in conversation with other key concerns of public health (e.g.: efficiency, welfare maximisation, individual liberty) and key concepts (e.g. equality, responsibility, vulnerability, collective action, solidarity). The foundational concepts and key framings will be explored through their application to current public health topics (e.g. infectious diseases, global health emergencies, smoking, nutrition, vaccination, sexual health). Students will have the opportunity to apply the skills of ethical reasoning to a variety of current topics and policies through discussion, writing and case studies.

  • Mental Health Law (20 credits)

    In recent years there has been an increase in talking freely and openly about mental health issues and what it is to experience mental health conditions have become more acceptable in mainstream society. This course, is highly relevant in today's world and recognises the importance of expanding and developing knowledge and understanding of mental health issues and the application of mental health law.

    The main aim of the course is to examine the development of mental health law and how it is applied to related conditions that arise throughout the spectrum of life, beginning with diagnosis of conditions through early years, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and senior years. As well as examining specific legislation, the course (to a lesser extent) will focus on changing societal attitudes to mental health and the growing recognition that mental health is as important as physical health. The course will also consider the provisions in Scots law and that in England & Wales and Northern Ireland, for the care and detention of offenders who have a mental health diagnosis. It should be noted that the basis of this course lies in the law and legislation; it does not seek to focus on medical diagnosis or treatment for mental health conditions. 

  • Shaping and Regulating Modern Healthcare (10 credits)

    This course provides you with an opportunity to explore some of the ways that modern healthcare and its regulation have been (and are being) shaped by key events. In particular, it considers how high profiles failures of care have impacted on law, policy and regulation in the sector, and how this continues to evolve. This course will contextualise and deepen your understanding of the changing landscape of healthcare, as well as providing an understanding of the principal legal and policy frameworks that govern the regulation of health and social care professionals in the UK. The course will enable you to navigate a range of primary and secondary sources in order to advance arguments and positions at this intersection of law, policy and regulation. While this course focuses on the UK as its primary jurisdiction, it also provides scope for students to reflect on the issues raised in relation to their home jurisdictions (if different).

  • Confidentiality and Data Protection in Biomedicine (20 credits)

    This course provides a detailed exploration of two legal regimes in the biomedical context (comprising both health care and health research, broadly defined) that are of increasing importance: data protection/privacy law and the common law duty of confidentiality. Both of these legal regimes have experienced rapid development in the 21st century. New medical innovations, greater international research collaborations, and the push for Big Data research and digitisation of society generate pertinent, complex questions about what ought to be done (if anything) with our personal (and patient) data, and under what legal and ethical conditions. As part of this exploration, brief consideration will also be given to a third related and emerging legal regime, namely a right of privacy in terms of the common law and the tort of misuse of private information. This course will enable students to explore some of the key concepts, rules, and functions of confidentiality and data protection/privacy laws as they operate in biomedicine. The central focus of the course is the interplay between UK data protection law, the common law duty of confidentiality, and wider frameworks in Europe and at the international level (including the Data Protection Act 2018, the UK GDPR and EU GDPR, European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence concerning Art. 8 ECHR, and Council of Europe and OECD data privacy frameworks). We will analyse and evaluate this interaction drawing on a range of sources, including case law, statute, policy, academic literature, advisory opinions, and domestic and international laws and practices.

  • Ethics of Health Technologies (20 credits)

    The purposes of this course are to introduce students to ethical challenges presented by a range of new and emerging applications of health technologies and big health data, and to equip students with the tools to develop their own ethical responses to these challenges. We will pay particular attention to the ways in which these technologies could affect our identities and relationships, social justice, and human flourishing. The topics covered e.g. health AI, genomics, surveillance represent those of increasing importance to regulation and policy in the fields of health and medicine. Each week, alongside exploration of specific practical ethical questions, each seminar will develop students' deeper understanding of key bioethics concepts and frameworks. The course will introduce students to critical framings including those of feminist bioethics, critical race theory, and disability ethics. Seminars discussions will discussion based, with these discussions based on prescribed readings, materials presented by the teaching academic, and relevant ethical perspectives and examples gleaned by the students from wider reading, policy debates, the news, and the arts. Students will be expected to participate actively in discussions. The teaching and assessment method will require students to develop and defend their own ethical positions, and will be designed to develop students' wider skills in critical thinking and reasoned argumentation. The topics of the 10 weekly seminars will be: (1) Introduction to thinking ethically about technology (2) Intervening in the brain (3) Assisted reproduction from a feminist perspectives (4) Cyborg life (5) Enhancement technologies and ableism (6) AI and decision-making in healthcare (7) The quantified self and remote care (8) Pandemics, surveillance and racialized bodies (9) Identity through the lens of health data (10) (Re)imagining our human future.

Please note that courses 'Shaping and Regulating Modern Healthcare' and 'Clinical Negligence and the Law' are co-requisites and must both be taken in the semester in which they run.

You can choose between 0 and 20 credits from the following courses:

  • Electronic Commerce Law (20 credits)
  • EU Data Protection Law (20 credits)
  • European Competition and Innovation (20 credits)
  • International and European Law of the Media (20 credits)
  • Regulation of Autonomous Systems: the Law of Robotics (20 credits)

Full course descriptions are available on the University Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study website.

View LLM in Medical Law and Ethics by online learning degree structure

You can choose between 0 and 20 credits from the following courses with the approval of your Programme Director:

  • Banking and Financial Law: Case Studies (20 credits)
  • Contract Law in Europe (20 credits)
  • Corporate Compliance: Case Studies in Law & Ethics (20 credits)
  • Comparative & International Corporate Governance (20 credits)
  • Dispute Resolution Methods (20 credits)
  • Information: Control and Power (20 credits)
  • Information Technology Law (20 credits)
  • International Law, Human Rights & Corporate Accountability (20 credits)
  • International Commerce Arbitration (20 credits)
  • Introduction to Intellectual Property Law (20 credits)

Full course descriptions are available on the University Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study website.

View LLM in Medical Law and Ethics by online learning degree structure

Having successfully completed 120 credit points of courses within the LLM, you will be ready to move onto a single piece of independent and in-depth research. The 10,000 word dissertation allows you to focus on a preferred topic from within the options available in the programme.

Title

Your dissertation title will be agreed with your supervisor during your final semester of taught study. Dissertation topics must fall within the scope of your programme and will relate to specific courses that you have taken at Edinburgh. Supervision continues throughout the research and writing of the dissertation.

Aim

Your dissertation must demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the relevant literature and an ability to engage in critical analysis. More credit will be given for originality and evidence of independent thinking, whether in terms of the material used, or the manner in which it is presented.

Timing

The dissertation is written in the summer months (April to August) after the taught courses are successfully completed.

Courses are offered once in an academic year. Each semester you will choose the course(s) you wish to study in that particular semester. Courses are then allocated. Details of the courses available will be provided in advance.  Courses are then allocated.

The allocation process is intended to support student choices as much as possible, while taking account of optimum class sizes for specific courses.

Class sizes

Class sizes have typically ranged from 15 to 25 students in the past. If more students request a course than can be allocated, students who need to take the course in order to fulfil core programme requirements will have priority and others may be asked to defer that course choice to a later year of study.

Terms and conditions

Please note the University reserves the right to make variations to the contents of programmes, including the range of courses offered, and the available choice of courses in any given year may change.

Find out more about the University's terms and conditions

Please note that due to unforeseen circumstances or lack of demand for particular courses, we may not be able to run all courses as advertised come the start of the academic year.

Contact us

If you have any questions about the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics by online learning please don't hesitate to contact us.

llm.online@ed.ac.uk

Courses on the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics are taught by a core teaching team made up of individuals who each has an outstanding record of research in the field, as well as in other related areas. Core teaching staff for the 2023-24 academic year are listed below:

Mr Gerard Porter - Programme Director 2023-24

Gerard is a lecturer in medical law and ethics in the School of Law. His research interests include medical law, patent law and the regulation of the life sciences. He speaks Japanese and also conducts comparative research in Japanese law within these subject areas.

He has held visiting fellowships at the Centre for Studies in Ethics and Rights (Mumbai, India), the Centre for Biomedical Ethics, National University of Singapore and with the Program on Science, Technology and Society at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Find out more

Edward (Ted) Dove is Lecturer in Risk and Regulation at the School of Law, University of Edinburgh, and Deputy Director of the J Kenyon Mason Institute for Medicine, Life Sciences and Law.

From 2011 until 2014, Ted was an Academic Associate at the Centre of Genomics and Policy at McGill University in Montreal. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (BA) in Political Science and Civil Law and Common Law degrees(BCL, LLB) from McGill University, a Master of Laws degree (LLM) from Columbia University in New York City and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh.

Ted’s primary research interests are in the areas of regulation of biomedical research, research ethics oversight, health-related data access and sharing, and governance of international research collaboration.

Find out more about Edward Dove

Murray Earle is a Teaching Fellow in medical law. He is a graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand (BA Law & International Relations; BA (Hons) Comparative Literature), and the University of Edinburgh (LLM Medical Jurisprudence &the Sociology of Law; and PhD in Medical Law).

Murray started his career as a lecturer in medical law at the University of Glasgow, while completing his PhD. That was followed by work as a Senior Researcher at the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe, 2000-2011). From there he developed an independent career, writing, and teaching on, a wide range of online postgraduate medical law courses offered by the School of Law, at the University of Edinburgh.

Find out more

Dr. Agomoni Ganguli-Mitra is Chancellor’s Fellow in the Legal and Ethical Aspects of Biomedicine, and Co-director of the JK Mason Institute for Medicine, Life Sciences and the Law. She is also a member of the Wellcome Trust-funded Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society. Dr. Ganguli-Mitra’s background is in bioethics, with a special interest in global bioethics, structural and gender justice. She has written on ethical issues related to global surrogacy, sex-selection, biomedical research in low-income countries, social value in research governance and the concepts of exploitation and vulnerability in bioethics.

Find out more

Emily is an Early Career Fellow in Bioethics. Her background is in philosophical bioethics and policy management. She was awarded her PhD for her thesis ‘Defining Ourselves: narrative identity and access to personal bioinformation’ in 2017.

Prior to her doctoral research she worked in policy roles at the Scottish Government in the fields of public health and environmental justice. She was also project leader and co-author of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics 2013 report ‘Novel Neurotechnologies: intervening in the brain’. She has published on ethical and legal issues relating to identity development, consent to research participation, secondary uses of health data, and neurotechnology.

Emily’s main research interests lie in exploring the relationships between biomedical information and self-conception, specifically the narrative constitution of self. Emily is Course Organiser for the on-campus and online LLM courses Fundamentals in Bioethics and Biotechnology, Bioethics and Society. She is a Deputy Director of the JK Mason Institute for Medicine, Life Sciences and the Law, with particular responsibility for the Institute’s policy engagement portfolio.

Find out more

Annie Sorbie is a Lecturer in Medical Law and Ethics at Edinburgh Law School, with a research and teaching portfolio. She is a medical lawyer (currently non-practising) with over 14 years’ experience in legal practice in the health, social care and regulatory sector (September 2001 – December 2015, Partner from 2009). She has extensive experience of providing strategic advice on matters of health regulatory practice and policy, both in health and social care regulation, and also more widely within the NHS and private sectors.

Having joined the Wellcome funded Liminal Spaces Project in January 2016, Annie’s doctoral research interrogates the contribution of the public interest to health research regulation in the context of access to identifiable patient information for research purposes without consent. Annie is also a Deputy Director of the Mason Institute for Medicine, Life Sciences and the Law, and co-leads its policy portfolio. In June 2018 Annie was appointed to the Lay Advisory Group of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

Find out more

The staff teaching on this programme are subject to change for 2022-23 and will depend on the core courses offered. Staff listed as on sabbatical will not be available to teach for the duration of their sabbatical.

Contact us

If you have any questions about the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics please don't hesitate to contact us.

llm.online@ed.ac.uk

Find out what it's like to study for an LLM in Medical Law and Ethics by online learning from our current and former students.

Tess, Ireland

Tess studied for a LLM in Medical in Law and Ethics online at Edinburgh Law School, and graduated in 2022. In this video she talks about her experience of studying online and the benefits of studying for an LLM in Medical Law and Ethics.

Omar studied for a LLM in Medical in Law and Ethics online at Edinburgh Law School, and graduated in 2020. In this video he talks about his experience of studying online and the benefits of studying for an LLM in Medical Law and Ethics.

Stephane talks about his experience of studying online for an LLM in Medical Law and Ethics at Edinburgh Law School, the University of Edinburgh.

Eunice, a Consultant General Surgeon from Northern Ireland, studied the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics online at Edinburgh Law School, graduating in 2019. In this video Eunice talks about her experience and the benefits of study online for her LLM in Medical Law and Ethics.

Shigong, a Specialty Registrar, studied the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics part time and online at Edinburgh Law School. In this video he talks about his experience of studying online and the benefits of studying for an LLM in Medical Law and Ethics.

Carolyn Read studied the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics part time over three years by Online Learning and graduated from the University of Edinburgh in November 2018. In this video Carolyn talks about her experience of studying for an LLM degree by online learning.

Brian Harrigan studied the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics online over 32 months with Edinburgh Law School, the University of Edinburgh. Brian graduated in November 2018, here he talks about his experience of studying for his LLM online and visiting Edinburgh for the Graduation Ceremony.

Based in Canada, Karla Bray studied the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics in one year, online, at Edinburgh Law School, the University of Edinburgh. Karla graduated in 2018 and in this video she talks about the experience of studying for an LLM by online learning.

Gilberto, a neurosurgeon from Hong Kong, graduated from an LLM in Medical Law and Ethics in November 2017. Here, he discusses his experience with studying online, and how the LLM has assisted him in his academic career.

Yi Xiong Goh talks about his experience of studying for the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics by online distance learning at Edinburgh Law School, the University of Edinburgh.

Dr Edward Mugerwa-Sekawabe talks about his experience of studying for an LLM in Medical Law and Ethics by online distance learning at Edinburgh Law School, the University of Edinburgh.

Averell Bethelmy talks about his experience of studying for an LLM in Medical Law and Ethics by online distance learning at Edinburgh Law School.

Lisa Boden, LLM in Medical Law and Ethics Graduate, talks about her experiences of studying for an LLM degree by online distance learning at Edinburgh Law School, the University of Edinburgh.

Wayne studied the online LLM in Medical Law and Ethics, graduating in 2022.

"Completing a LLM in Medical Law and Ethics with the University of Edinburgh Law School has been a challenging, yet rewarding experience, particularly as a novice in jurisprudence and electronic teaching platforms.

Online Medical Law and Ethics Student Wayne

The ongoing virtual interaction with staff and fellow students has generated a feeling of belonging which has translated practically into a mutually supportive atmosphere and mood. From an administrative viewpoint, queries are promptly facilitated with student feedback requested periodically throughout the course in an attempt to evaluate the student experience.

My personal feedback highlighted a need for an increase in alternative audiovisual resources to complement essential reading materials. I was pleased to see such an increase in these resources on the Course Content section of the Learn space as the course progressed. This most definitely suited my auditory learning style."

If you are interested in watching more testimonials from our graduates, you can visit our Youtube channel. 

Visit Edinburgh Law School Youtube channel

Contact us

If you have any questions about the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics by online learning please don't hesitate to contact us.

llm.online@ed.ac.uk

The LLM in Medical Law and Ethics by online learning has start dates in September and January of each academic year. 

We recommend that you apply as early as possible; this is particularly important for applicants who may need to allow sufficient time to take an English language test.

Apply now

Students beginning their LLM studies in January (semester 2 of the academic year) should bear in mind that two of the compulsory LLM courses that lay out key, foundational concepts for the study of medical law and ethics - The Fundamentals of Law and Medical Ethics and Fundamentals in Bioethics – are only taught during the September semester (semester 1).

Whilst most students that start in January are fully able to tackle their first semester law and ethics courses, please be aware that doing so may require some additional foundational work on the part of the student.

The teaching team and Postgraduate Online Support Team can direct students starting in January towards some helpful resources that they can work through independently prior to starting. In addition, some useful training events will run during semester 2 (e.g. a workshop on how to use the Law Library).

Alternatively, postponing the start date for your LLM studies until September can be an option for students who would prefer to study The Fundamentals of Law and Medical Ethics and Fundamentals in Bioethics in their first semester. The Programme Director – Gerard Porter – and/or the Postgraduate Online Support Team are happy to answer and questions on this.

We require a minimum UK 2:1 honours degree from a UK university, or its international equivalent, in law. We also consider candidates with a degree in a related discipline, such as medicine, which includes relevant prior study. We will also consider your other qualifications and professional experience as part of your application.

Entry to this programme is competitive. Meeting minimum requirements for consideration does not guarantee an offer of study.

International qualifications

You can check whether your degree qualification is equivalent to the minimum standard before applying.

Check your degree

Students from China

This degree is Band A.

Find out more about our postgraduate entry requirements for students from China

Postgraduate study in the field of law requires a thorough, complex and demanding knowledge of English, so we ask that the communication skills of all students are at the same minimum standard.

You must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies, regardless of your nationality or country of residence.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

  • IELTS Academic and IELTS Academic Online: total 7.0 (at least 7.0 in the writing component and 6.5 in each other module)
  • TOEFL-iBT (including Special Home Edition): total 100 (at least 25 in writing and 23 in each other module)
  • CAE and CPE: total 185 (at least 185 in writing and 176 in each other module)
  • Trinity ISE: ISE III with a pass in all four components
  • PTE Academic: 70 overall with at least 70 in the writing component and 62 in each other component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old on the first of the month in which the degree begins.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree, that was taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country as defined by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). The UK Government's website provides a list of majority English speaking countries.

View the UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree, or equivalent, that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries.

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about the University's English language requirements

Your application may not be successful if you do not currently satisfy any of these requirements; alternatively, you may be offered a place conditional on your reaching the satisfactory standard by the time you start the degree.

English language support

The University runs a series of programmes for English Language Education, including a pre-sessional English Language Programme intended to strengthen your English Language skills before you start your programme of study.

Find out more about English language support offered by the University

We aim to review applications and make selection decisions throughout the cycle and we monitor application numbers carefully to ensure we are able to accommodate all those who receive offers. It may therefore be necessary to close a programme earlier than the published deadline and if this is the case we will place a four-week warning notice on the relevant programme page.

2024-25 application deadlines

September 2024 entry

Applications for September 2024 will close on the 30 June. Applications for September 2025 will open in October 2024. 

Please note that if you receive a conditional offer of a place on one of our programmes for September 2024, the deadline for meeting the conditions of your offer is 31 July 2024.

January 2025 entry

The deadline for applications for entry in January 2025 is 03 November 2024.

Please note that if you receive a conditional offer of a place on one of our programmes for January 2025, the deadline for meeting the conditions of your offer is 27 November 2024.

Applications are made online via the University Application Service, EUCLID.

Please follow the instructions carefully and make sure that you have included the following documentation with your application:

  • Degree certificates showing award of degree.
  • Previous academic transcripts for all past degree programmes (please upload the full transcript showing results from all years of study). Where academic paperwork is not in English, certified translations must be provided (these must have been produced by a certified translator);
    Find out more about certified translations
  • Details of professional qualifications and any appropriate professional registrations.
  • A reference in support or your application. The reference should be academic and dated no earlier than one year from the start of study on the LLM programme. We may accept a non-academic reference from applicants who have been out of higher education for five years or more.
  • Evidence of English language proficiency, if required.
  • Personal statement - you will be asked to complete a personal statement (maximum 3500 characters - approximately 500 words) as part of your application. 
  • Relevant knowledge / skills - this may include details of any skills or voluntary work that you have undertaken that you feel are pertinent to the programme (maximum 3500 characters - approximately 500 words).

Your personal statement should show that you have thought carefully about why you are interested in this programme of study; what you can bring to the programme and what impact you feel it will have on your future career. Therefore, please ensure that you address the following questions in your statement:

  • What are your motivations for wanting to study this programme?
  • What skills, qualities and experiences have prepared you to undertake this programme?
  • What value do you think you can add to the learning community as part of an internationally diverse group?
  • What impact do you hope to make in your future career, and how will this programme contribute to your aspirations?

If you are currently studying for your degree or you are not in a possession of an English test result you may still apply to the programme. Please note that it is your responsibility to submit the necessary documents.

Students at this University must not undertake any other concurrent credit bearing studies in this (or in any other) institution, unless the College has granted permission. The College must be satisfied that any additional credit-bearing studies will not restrict the student’s ability to complete their existing programme of study. Students will not be permitted to undertake concurrent degree programmes in any circumstances.

If you are studying at this or another institution just prior to the start of your postgraduate studies you must have finished these studies before the start of the programme to which you have an offer.

After your application has been submitted you will be able to track its progress through the University's applicant hub.

Application processing times will vary however the admissions team will endeavour to process your application within four to six weeks of submission. Please note that missing documentation will delay the application process.

You will be informed as soon as possible of the decision taken. Three outcomes are possible:

  • You may be offered a place unconditionally
  • You may be offered a conditional place, which means that you must fulfil certain conditions that will be specified in the offer letter. Where a conditional offer is made, it is your responsibility to inform the College Postgraduate Office when you have fulfilled the requirements set out.
  • Your application may be unsuccessful. If your application has not been successful, you can request feedback from us or refer to our guidance for unsuccessful applicants, which explains some of the common reasons we why we reach this decision.
    View the University's guidance for unsuccessful applicants

You can find full and detailed application guidance on the University's website.

Find out more about applying to the University of Edinburgh

Applicants receiving an unconditional offer of admission will be asked to pay a deposit of £1000 to secure their place on the programme

The deposit fee will be deducted from the first tuition fee instalment you have to pay and so enables you to spread the financial cost of the LLM.

January 2023 applicants

The deposit must be paid within 28 days of the date that the unconditional offer was made or by 01 December 2022, whichever is sooner.  

September 2023 applicants

The deposit must be paid within 28 days of the date that the unconditional offer was made or by 07 August 2023, whichever is sooner.  

January 2024 applicants

The deposit must be paid within 28 days of the date that the unconditional offer was made or by 01 December 2023, whichever is sooner.  

Find out more about our deposit policy

The University’s terms and conditions form part of your contract with the University, and you should read them, and our data protection policy, carefully before applying.

University of Edinburgh admissions terms and conditions

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Contact us

If you have any questions about applying to the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics please don't hesitate to contact us.

llm.online@ed.ac.uk