Rising student demand leads to creation of yet another law school
The collection of law schools operating under the University of London umbrella is to get a new member as Royal Holloway prepares to launch an LLB.
Royal Holloway will compete with fellow University of London outfits UCL, LSE, Queen Mary and King’s College, plus part-time college Birkbeck, in the legal education game.
The college — which is located a half hour train ride from central London in Egham, Surrey — is aiming to recruit 50 LLB students to start next September, then slowly increase that number over time.
Where Royal Holloway will fit into the hotly-contested University of London law hierarchy will be interesting to observe. Initially at least, as a newbie originating from a not-especially-prestigious institution, it is likely to commence life at the bottom of the pecking order behind the Strand Poly King’s College and Mile End Tech Queen Mary.
Still, Royal Holloway will be buoyed by its pre-existing criminology department and its long-running non-law student law society as it seeks to capitalise on a demand for law degree places that has seen LLB enrolments jump from around 14,000 in 2006 to 20,000 last year.
Training contract numbers haven’t, of course, experienced such a happy last few years — standing at 5,302 last year, which is down from their 2008 high of 6,303 (albeit rising 8% from the 2011-2012 figure of 4,869).
Royal Holloway law school chief Rosie Meek said that the LLB “seemed like the next logical step for us”.