LLM in Human Rights

The LLM in Human Rights will give you the knowledge and skills to deal with some of the biggest challenges facing society today, opening up exciting career opportunities in the field of human rights.

You will gain an in-depth understanding of the challenges for human rights around the world and possible responses through legislation, policy and practice.

This LLM programme is taught by human rights experts and designed around outstanding research – our impact case study on children’s human rights achieved the highest possible rating in the latest independent assessment of research quality (REF 2014).

Why Human Rights at Swansea?

As a postgraduate student at the Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law, you will be part of a globally recognised law school, with a thriving academic environment committed to excellence in teaching and research, and offering an exceptional student experience.

• Swansea University is ranked 26th in the UK for research quality and 22nd for research impact (REF 2014)
• Our impact case study on children’s human rights achieved the highest possible rating of 4* (REF 2014)

Your Human Rights Experience 

You will gain the knowledge and experience to develop into a 21st-century lawyer or legal service practitioner with specialist and in-depth understanding of human rights issues.

The course offers:

• A programme designed around high calibre research.
• Academics who have strong relationships with external partners in the field of human rights.
• An interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach.
• A focus on diverse challenges in human rights.
• Opportunities to address a range of human rights topics across various thematic areas.

You will also learn through:

• Guest lectures by expert practitioners.
• Workplace learning through voluntary work and/or placements.
• Involvement in collaborative research projects with research partners.
• Engagement with the School’s projects, such as the Cyberterrorism Project, Observatory on Human Rights of Children and the Sex Work Consortium.

Entry Requirements

• If you’re passionate about Human Rights we want to hear from you! We welcome applications from students around the world.
• Ideally, you’ll hold a 2:1 undergraduate degree, or equivalent, in a relative area (such as law, criminology, politics or sociology – other disciplines may also be relevant).
• We also consider candidates with a 2:2 degree based on overall performance.
• Candidates with relevant experience are strongly encouraged to apply.
• If English is not your first language, you will need an acceptable pass in an approved English Language qualification. We consider a wide range of qualifications, including the Swansea University English Test, the British Council IELTS test (with a score of at least 6.5 and 6.0 in each component) and TOEFL (with a score of at least 88 and at least Listening: 21, Reading: 22, Speaking: 23, Writing: 21).

Tuition fees for years of study after your first year are subject to an increase of 3%.

Careers and Employability

• Specialist human rights lawyer.
• Human rights institutions.
• International human rights bodies.
• Public sector - government, civil service, political & policy advice.
• Private sector - global business & business sector.
• Non-Governmental sector e.g. UNICEF, Amnesty or Save the Children.
• Research and academia.