Pondering the possibility of studying Law at QUT? Interested in legislation, want to learn more about criminality and can’t stop watching true crime? Well, the Bachelor of Laws (Honours) program offered at QUT may be the perfect next step for you.
Below, we’ve compiled everything there is to know about the degree, the units, culture, assessments and what it’s really like to study a Law at QUT.
Let’s crack this case! (Nice).
What is a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) at QUT?
Core Units for this Degree
How to Get into a Bachelor of Laws at QUT
What’s the Teaching Format?
What’s the Faculty and Culture Like?
What is a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) at QUT?
The Bachelor of Laws (Honours) program at QUT is a 4-year undergraduate course that, as you can imagine, covers everything law-related. It’s the perfect pathway to becoming a lawyer, a legal professional or any other role that involves the critical thinking, communication and decisiveness that you’ll develop from a law degree!
It’s a course designed with industry-level knowledge in mind and one that teaches the ins and outs of the modern and historic legal environment. You’ll get plenty of chances to analyse cases, evaluate the efficacy of policies, understand how crime and punishment impacts different communities, and you’ll investigate how society operates as a whole through an extensive legal framework.
The classic law degree is one that’s full of paradoxes. It’s a course that’s competitive but very popular, it’s incredibly broad but you’ll also have plenty of chances to specialise, and a lot of people who do it, don’t necessarily want to become lawyers by the end of it.
The degree can be whatever you make of it. You’ll learn a lot, you’ll read a lot and, naturally, you’ll feel extremely accomplished once you graduate because it’s no easy feat.
Honours
Hence its title, the Bachelor of Laws (Honours) at QUT has the Honours portion built in. So, you won’t have to be searching high and low for your ideal Honours program once you graduate because it’s already there.
Graduating with Honours is a great idea if you’re looking for a competitive edge, enhanced employability or if you’re wanting to specialise in a particular discipline and study Masters or a PhD.
At QUT, the Honours content is integrated throughout the course from years 2 to 4. This means that you’ll be developing an advanced understanding of legal concepts like interviewing, negotiation, drafting, advocacy, and you’ll graduate having completed the final capstone unit where you’ll engage in a placement program at a range of different legal workplaces.
Can you study this degree in conjunction with another?
Yep! There are plenty of double degree options for those wanting to complement their QUT Law degree.
Double degrees are great for anyone seeking a competitive advantage, a broader range of skills, greater career flexibility or if you’re just struggling to choose just one! You’ll be able to fast-track your studies by studying a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) with:
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- Biomedical Science
- Business
- Creative Industries
- Digital Media
- Entertainment Industries
- Film, Screen and New Media
- Industrial Design
- Information Technology
- Journalism
- Justice
- Property Economics
- Psychology
- Science
There’s a lot to choose from. If you’re keen on finding out more, you can scroll down to the ‘Double Degrees’ heading right here!
Career Paths
Once you graduate from the Bachelor of Laws (Honours) at QUT, you’ll be equipped with the essential skills and knowledge to qualify for a range of career possibilities. Whether that’s within the legal realm or beyond, there’s something for everyone.
Some of these career paths include:
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- Barrister
- Solicitor
- Magistrate
- Policy Analyst
- Chief Financial Officer
- Crown Law Officer
- Government Officer
- Coroner
- Journalist
And those are just a few. If you’ve got your eyes set beyond the legal sector, you could consider roles in Human Resources, Politics, Advocacy, or you could commit to some more study and become a Teacher or a Social worker!
If you’re still not convinced that a legal degree will open up an endless amount of professional opportunities, you should definitely check out one of our article on 20 careers to consider as a Bachelor of Laws graduate here!
Core Units for this Degree
To graduate from the Bachelor of Laws (Honours) program at QUT, you’ll need to complete 384 credit points comprising core and elective units.
Credit points are basically QUT’s way of measuring the workload and commitment levels of particular subjects. All universities use the credit point system in a variety of different ways. At QUT, each subject is usually worth about 12 credit points.
So, we can work out that you’ll be completing about 32 subjects throughout the 4 years of your degree. That means you’ll be taking 8 classes per year and 4 classes each semester, which is a pretty standard subject load.
Let’s now dive into the nitty-gritty. Your Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree at QUT will be made up of:
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- 19 core units (or 240 credit points)
- 2 introductory law electives (or 24 credit points)
- 8 general law electives (96 credit points)
- 24 advanced law electives (either 2 x 12 credit points or 1 x 24 credit points)
First Year
In the first year of your Bachelor of Laws (Honours) program at QUT, you can expect to be gaining the foundational knowledge needed to understand the more complex topics that you’ll be covering in the future. So, you’ll be getting to know the law of torts, legal interviewing, legal problem solving, criminal law and the variety of legal contexts that Australian legislation operates in.
Some of these classes will include:
Introduction to Law
This will be your very first class as a QUT law student so it’ll be a class to refresh your knowledge and get around new legal concepts that you’ll be introduced to. You’ll focus on the key legal skills like reasoning, problem solving, legal writing and research.
Criminal Law
In this class, you’ll be focussing on the criminal law that’s enacted in Queensland, so you’ll get to know a variety of criminal law offences and their defences to grasp the types of behaviour permitted in the state.
Torts
Here’s where you’ll be able to apply the content that you covered in your previous class, Introduction to Law. You’ll get to know how torts operate in a real world context and how a knowledge of tort law is required for legal professionals in Australia.
Second Year
In your second year, your main focus is going to be on developing skills in contract law, legal research, equity and trusts, constitutional law, administrative law and commercial and personal property law. This will also be a year where you can select two general law electives. A couple of these subjects include:
Contract Law
In this unit, you’ll begin to understand and apply the knowledge that you’ve learned about contract negotiation, interpretation and drafting, legal problem solving as well as working on your oral communication skills.
Equity and Trusts
This subject directly follows the previous Contract Law unit. So, you’ll utilise your other common law units to focus on critical analysis and legal writing with the complexities of equity and trusts in mind.
Administrative Law
This class will be all about the ways in which the executive branch of government is legally responsible, especially in their dealings with individuals. You’ll learn all about the structures and operations of Australia’s federal system of government to understand administrative action.
Third Year
As you progress to your third year, you’re going to be mainly developing the foundational knowledge that you’ve gained throughout your first couple years. You’ll get to choose two general law electives while taking classes in real property law, corporate law, evidence, ethics, civil procedure and commercial resumes.
Some of the specific classes that you’ll take in your third year include:
Real Property Law
This subject is one of the core units in your law degree and makes up a significant portion of legal practice in government departments, general practice and specialist law form. So, it’s pretty important. You’ll learn to understand and apply the foundations of property law which will branch into areas like family law, environmental law, corporate law, bankruptcy and succession law.
Commercial Remedies
In this unit, you’ll be getting to know all about the law of remedies. These include the remedies under common law, equity and statute, used to support common commercial practice and in dealing with commercial disputes.
Evidence
This class is another core unit in your law degree and covers the various rules of evidence and the procedures used to deal with evidence in courts. So, you’ll be understanding how to analyse evidence, the ethics around evidence and the impact it has on cases.
Fourth Year
Your last year! Unless, of course, you choose to study a double degree. This year will comprise 4 general electives and 2 advanced electives where you’ll develop some essential practical skills.
You’ll get to know topics like commercial contracts in practice, health law, public international law and the various theories of law. In your last year you’ll also be required to undergo the research capstone project (we’ll get into this a little later).
Some of the subjects that make up the General Law Elective List include:
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- Media Law
- Family Law
- Sports Law
- Animal Law
- Japanese Law
- Succession Law
- Mining and Resources Law
- The Law and Ethics of War
- International Arbitration
The options that you’ll have when choosing the subjects on the Advanced Law Elective List include:
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- Commercial Contracts in Practice
- Health Law and Practice
- Public International Law
- Independent Research Project
- Insolvency Law
- Theories of Law
- Competition Law
- Advanced Criminal Law
You can take a look at all of this yourself right here!
Is there a built-in internship program?
Sure is! In the fourth and final year of your Bachelor of Laws (Honours) program, you’ll be spending a semester undertaking a legal research capstone project, where you’ll get to engage with and participate in law-related companies to gain the valuable skills needed to take the legal world by storm.
You’ll get involved in real world legal issues and develop your professional reflective and participatory skills to see first hand how law is practised. It’s basically like your transitional period from uni into work life.
You can take a deeper look at the workplace experience offered at QUT right here!
How to Get into a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) at QUT
To get into the Bachelor of Laws (Honours) program at QUT, you’ll need to receive at least an 87 ATAR. If you didn’t quite hit the mark, don’t fear, QUT offers a couple alternative pathways for those still keen on the degree. QUT understands that 1 mark is in no way an effective indicator of your skills, interests and passions.
You should look into checking out whether you’re eligible to apply for one of QUT’s ATAR adjustment schemes. You can apply for as many as you think you qualify for and your ATAR can be adjusted by a maximum of 10 marks.
So, if you’ve got an ATAR above 77, you’ve still got a solid chance! These adjustment schemes are awarded to:
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- Students in difficult circumstances like financial hardship, tricky home environment, illness or disability or if your education has been disrupted
- Elite Athletes
- Students who have excelled in particular Year 12 subjects
You can take a more extensive look right here!
If you’re an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander student, you should check to see whether you’re eligible to apply through QUT’s Centralised Assessment Selection Process.
Early Entry
If you’re looking to ease a bit of stress on results day, QUT offers plenty of early offer schemes that you can apply for. They’re usually based on Year 11 and 12 academic success, advanced athleticism or community engagement. So, if you’re nearing the end of exams and already know what you’d like to do at uni, you may as well apply!
You can take a look at QUT’s Early Offer Scheme options right here!
Any assumed knowledge?
As long as you’ve graduated from Year 12 with English or Literature under your subject belt, you’re good to go. Otherwise, QUT makes it clear that without these subjects you can still apply for the course since there’ll be plenty of opportunities to take special bridging classes that may help with what you didn’t cover in high school.
If you’re choosing your Year 11 and 12 subjects now, a legal related class like Legal Studies would be a great foundation for the Bachelor or Laws degree, but in no way essential!
Scholarships
QUT offers current and potential students plenty of scholarships to help soften the financial load of a university education. Whether you’re an Indigenous Australian, migrant or refugee, have exceeded academically, are struggling financially, come from a non-English speaking background, QUT has a scholarship for you.
You could check out the QUT Faculty of Law Founders’ Scholarship, BDO Learning Potential Fund Scholarship, Brian Gray Scholarship or the QIC Indigenous Tertiary Scholarship.
Take a browse for yourself right here!
What’s the Teaching Format?
As a student in the Bachelor of Laws (Honours) program, you can expect to undergo your studies through the semester system. This means that you’ll spend two sessions each year getting through your course content with a pretty generous break in between.
Law at QUT is taught in lectures and tutorials, which we’ll dive into right now!
Class Structure
Since your lectures and tutorials are around 1 to 2 hours each and you are required to attend both for each of your classes, you can expect to be on campus for at least 15 hours a week. On top of that, you’ll be spending a good few hours in the library studying, completing quizzes and getting a head start on assignments.
Lectures
A lecture is going to be your preparatory session to get your head around the weekly subject material. You’ll have a lecture for each of your classes and they’ll last around 1 to 2 hours, with up to 100 students in a lecture theatre at a time.
Here’s your guide to envisioning the perfect lecture: you’ll travel to uni, check out which lecture theatre your class is in, you’ll fly through the doors, pick the best seat in the house and tuck in for a couple hours to listen to the lecturer (who may be a tutor or guest speaker) and take notes as you listen. It’s a pretty passive experience but one that will come in very handy as you start your assessments.
Tutorials
Tutorials are basically the closest thing you’ll get to a high school classroom situation (but everyone actually wants to be there). You’re in a smaller space with about 25 other students for, again, 1 to 2 hours.
You’ve got one for each of your classes, so that means you’ll have 4 tutorials each week.
Tutorials are your main chance to ask your tutor questions, get to know your peers, investigate the content introduced in lecture and lead discussions.
As you progress through your degree and hit third and fourth year your tutorials and lectures will typically morph into a lectorial. You’ll sit through a couple a week and it’s basically like your tutorial and lecture combined.
Assessments
Since the QUT Law is very industry-focussed, you can expect your assessments to be practical and hands-on. Even so, you’re going to be faced with a variety of different kinds of assessments to ensure you’re developing the wide scope of skills expected of Law students.
You’ll be graded on things like essays, case analyses, oral communication, open book exams, mock trials and the evaluation of legislation. So, pretty much everything!
Skills You Refine and Learn
You’ll leave Law at QUT having gained a variety of valuable and transferable skills, so not only will you be reading cases and analysing legislation like a pro but you’ll also have some great communication, collaboration and critical thinking skills.
So, it’s going to be a great experience even if you don’t end up becoming a legal professional. The skills that you’ll refine and develop include:
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- Communication
- Attention to detail
- Interpersonal skills
- Problem solving
- Time management
- Research skills
- Organisation skills
- Critical thinking
- Accuracy
Keep in mind that these are all traits that you’ll develop along the way, no one possesses all of them before they begin studying. So, if public speaking isn’t your thing just yet, you’ll learn the best ways to develop those skills as you study!
What’s the Faculty and Culture Like?
As a student in QUT Law, you’ll be fittingly placed in the School of Law. You’ll have access to experienced staff, valuable resources and industry connections.
The School of Law is actually a branch of QUT’s Faculty of Business and Law which is great because you’ll be one step away from school and centres like the School of Accountancy, the School of Management and the School of Economics and Finance. So, if you’re doing an assignment in your Corporate Law subject, you’ll know who to look for if you’re needing support or want to investigate a different angle.
The Law cohort at QUT are a group of friendly but competitive students who are passionate about the legal field and will support each other throughout the program. You’ll be surrounded by welcoming students who, like you, will be on the lookout for a nice new group of friends.
Clubs and Societies
QUT has a variety of clubs and societies on offer for anyone wanting to foster industry connections, network or make new friends. It’s a great place to find students with similar interests to you. You could even take up an executive role and be a treasurer or a President of a particular society to add some spice to your resume!
“I was treasurer of the African Association at QUT, that was a really good experience to meet other students that are African as well, as well as other students that aren’t. It was good to kind of diversify my friendship group at uni. It’s something that I would recommend any students to get involved in the society. It’s a great way to make friends — to connect with different people.” — Lola Popoola
You could join the African Association, School of Design Club, Red Cross Club, Consulting Society, Dog Lovers Society or Bubble Tea Club, the list goes on! You could practically think of any area of interest and you can bet that QUT will have a club about it (and if not, you can just make your own!).
You can check these out for yourself right here!
Resources
QUT offers a range of academic help, support services and counselling facilities for any current or future students that’s looking for a bit more support. If you’re wanting to check out QUT’s upcoming webinars, library resources, student stories or class reminders, you can check out the Resources for Students.
If you’re looking for wellbeing support like counselling services, medical assistance, disability support, LGBTQIA+ support or financial help, take a look at QUT’s Students Page.
Curious about the pros and cons of this degree? Have a read of our article here!
Gemma Billington is a Content Writer at Art of Smart and an undergraduate student at the University of Technology Sydney. While studying Journalism and Social and Political Sciences, Gemma enjoys spending her time at the gym or reading about Britain’s medieval monarchy – ideally not at the same time. She currently creates and administers social media posts for Central News and writes for the student publication, The Comma. After completing her undergraduate degree, she hopes to study a Masters of Medieval History and is very excited about the prospect!
