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Law Placement

Module description

This module forms part of the LLB Law with Business with Professional Placement and LLB Law with Business with Industrial Placement programmes. When taking this module, you undertake a professional legal placement either with a law firm or an in-house legal team, or undertake a non-law related placement in industry.

You will use one or more placements to gain skills that equip you to work in the global jobs market. You will be encouraged to deepen your understanding of the workplace and issues relating to legal and business professionalism. The module will develop and deepen your understanding of business and legal practices.

Placement durations are as follows:

• for a single placement, a minimum of 28 weeks, excluding statutory and other holidays;
• for two placements, a minimum of 14 weeks per placement, excluding statutory and other holidays.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The aims of this module are to provide you with opportunities to

• develop your personal management skills and experience of learning through work;
• explore the links between the skills developed and the study and practice of law and business in your placement’s setting;
• prepare for the world of work beyond university through increased knowledge and first-hand understanding of a professional working environment;
• enhance your grasp of key transferable skills (such as working with others, problem-solving, communication) through the management of your learning in an independent context;
• develop your capacity of self-assessment through structured reflection on your experience;
• enhance your employability skills.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the area(s) of practice, or sector(s), in which the placement(s) took place.
• 2. Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the workplace including relevant policies, working practices, commercial awareness, strategy and visions of the organisation(s).
• 3. Reflect critically on practical skills developed while on placement.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Demonstrate critical awareness of the similarities and differences in approaches to law and/or business between work experience and academic study.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Develop/enhance practical work-based skills and experience.
• 6. Negotiate the different types of working relationships with staff within the workplace, and others - directly or indirectly - relevant to the placement.
• 7. Identify and reflect on personal challenges and to learn from their resolution.

Syllabus plan

Professional law or industrial placement for the full academic year (minimum of 28 weeks) in one or more placement(s) approved by the University of Exeter.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Please note if students do not achieve a pass mark on the reassessment attempt, they will be placed on the three-year variant of their programme. This module will appear on their transcripts as a fail, and the degree title will no longer include ‘with Professional Placement’/’with Industrial Placement’.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Turnock, C. & Mulholland, J. Learning in the Workplace. A toolkit for placement tutors, supervisors, mentors and facilitators .Kingsham Press, 2007.
• Cottrell, S. (2015), Skills for Success: The Personal Development Planning Handbook. Palgrave Study Guides. London
• Fanthorne, C. (2004), Work Placements – A Survival Guide for Students. Palgrave Study Guides. Macmillan, London.
• Kolb, D. (1984), ‘Experiential Learning: Experience as a source of Learning and Development.’ PHI, New Jersey.
• Longson, S. (1999), Making Work Experience Count. How to Books.
• Neugebauer J (2009), Making the Most of Your Placement (Sage Study Skills Series).