PROGRAMME APPROVAL RECORD AND CERTIFICATE (PARC)

PART 1 - GENERAL INFORMATION

Programme title LLM Commercial Law

Award title LLM Commercial Law
Awarding Body/Institution BPP University
Teaching Institution (if N/A
different)
Language of Study English
UCAS Code N/A
Programme Code LS402
Course Aim (HESA) M00
School Law School
Accrediting Bodies (if any) None
Collaborative Partners (if any) None
Interim/Exit Awards Postgraduate Certificate in Commercial Law
Postgraduate Diploma in Commercial Law
UAP 19 June 2018
PASP Approval Date 5 July 2018
AC Approval date 5 July 2018
Validation Period of September 2018 – September 2023
programme
Date of cohort from which the September 2018
PARC applies

DELIVERY METHODS AND LOCATIONS1

Approved Locations Load and duration Mode

London Holborn FT – 1 year Contiguous
PT – 2 years

AWARDS

Award Stage(s) Credits

Postgraduate Certificate in Commercial Law 1 60
Postgraduate Diploma in Commercial Law 1 120
Master of Laws Commercial Law 1 180

Key:

FTA Full Time Accelerated

FT Full Time
PT Part Time
Contiguous Face to Face delivery (plus materials and online support)
Blended Mix of face to face and online delivery
Distance Learning Online (but not excluding voluntary attendance at contiguous elements)

1
Programmes do not always run in all modes and locations

LLM Commercial Law July 2018

Block Online but with required blocks of contiguous delivery

LLM Commercial Law July 2018

PART 2 - PROGRAMME STRUCTURE AND CONTENT

Module Title Status Stage Level Credits Assessment (weighting Overall

within module) weighting
- Specify when towards
components classification
Stage 1
Commercial Law Core 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
(30%) / Unseen
Examination (70%)
10,000 Word Core 1 7 60 Dissertation (100%) 33.33%
Dissertation
Choose 90 credits from the elective modules below:
Comparative Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
Commercial Law (30%) / Unseen
Examination (70%)
The Law relating Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
to Fraud and (30%) / Unseen
Financial Crime Examination (70%)
International Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
Business Law (30%) / Unseen
Examination (70%)
Trans-National Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
Criminal Justice (30%) / Unseen
Examination (70%)
Business and Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
International Tax (30%) / Unseen
Law Examination (70%)
Chinese Finance Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
and Investment (30%) / Unseen
Law Examination (70%)
Islamic Finance Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
Law (30%) / Unseen
Examination (70%)
Islamic Business Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
Law (30%) / Unseen
Examination (70%)
Financial Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
Regulation and (30%) / Unseen
Compliance Examination (70%)
Law of Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
Investigations (30%) / Unseen
Examination (70%)
Chinese Public Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
Law and Human (30%) / Unseen
Rights Examination (70%)
International Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
Corporate Law (30%) / Unseen
and Practice Examination (70%)

LLM Commercial Law July 2018

 Business Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
Organisations (30%) / Unseen
Law Examination (70%)
Comparative Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
Corporate (30%) / Unseen
Securities Law Examination (70%)
UK and Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
International (30%) / Unseen
Banking Law Examination (70%)
Chinese Business Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
Law (30%) / Unseen
Examination (70%)
Corporate Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
Finance Law (30%) / Unseen
Examination (70%)
Advanced Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
Islamic Finance (30%) / Unseen
& Business Law Examination (70%)
Environmental Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
Law (30%) / Unseen
Examination (70%)
International Elective 1 7 30 Memorandum of Advice 16.67%
Dispute (30%) / Unseen
Resolution and Examination (70%)
Arbitration Law

Additional Information (e.g. derogations, delivery partners)

Programme Regulations2
PROGRAMME REGULATIONS: MASTERS IN LAW IN THE SPECIALISM OF:

 Commercial Law

 International Business Law

 Comparative Commercial Law

 Financial Regulation and Compliance

 Trans-national Criminal Justice

 The Law relating to Fraud and Financial Crime

2
The mandatory Conditions for Admission are approved during programme validation. Admissions criteria are
set at the discretion of Deans of Schools and may be raised from time to time. Please check the programme
page on the website for current requirements.

LLM Commercial Law July 2018

  Chinese Investment and Business Law (incorporating Chinese Business Law and Chinese
Investment Law and Finance Law)

 Islamic Investment and Business Law (incorporating Islamic Business Law and Islamic
Investment Law and Finance Law).

Authority

1. These regulations are made under the authority of the University College’s General Academic
Regulations, Part A, Paragraph 7, and in accordance with these provisions, are cited as the
Masters in Law Programme Regulations.

Conditions for Admission

2. A degree from a UK university or an internationally recognised university, in law or a related

area of study such as criminology and criminal justice, or a degree in which there is a
substantial proportion of study devoted to law.

3. The degree should be classified as a lower second class degree, unless there are exceptional
circumstances justifying admission on the basis of a lower qualification

4. A degree in a non-legal area of study may, provided there is sufficient evidence of

professional knowledge and experience, justify admission in particular to the LLM in Financial
Regulation and Compliance and the LLM in Trans National Criminal Justice.

5. For the avoidance of doubt, call to the bar or admission as a solicitor in England and Wales
or the equivalent in another jurisdiction may be considered equivalent to the requirements
set out in 2 above.

6. For applicants whose first language is not English the University’s general admission
requirements in relation to the English language must be satisfied e.g. an IELTS score of 6.5
or equivalent, with a minimum of 6.0 in each element or equivalent.

Conditions of Acceptance

7. An offer of a place on the programme is subject to the terms and conditions stated in the
documentation accompanying the offer, these regulations and the General Academic
Regulations, as in force at the time of interpretation. The acceptance of the offer is taken as
agreement to these regulations.

Specialisms and Prerequisites

LLM Commercial Law July 2018

 8. To qualify for the award in one of the following specialist areas:

LLM in International Business Law

LLM in Comparative Commercial Law
LLM in Commercial Law
LLM in Financial Regulation and Compliance
LLM in Trans-national Criminal Justice
LLM in the Law relating to Fraud and Financial Crime

the candidate must take the designated core module in that specialist area, three elective
modules and complete the dissertation on an approved topic within the designated area.

9. To qualify in LLM Chinese Investment and Business Law, a candidate must take two cores -
Chinese Investment and Finance Law and Chinese Business Law, two elective modules and
complete the dissertation on an approved topic within the designated area.

10. To quality in LLM in Islamic Finance and Business Law, a candidate must take two cores -
Islamic Finance Law and Islamic Business Law, two electives and complete the dissertation
on an approved topic within the designated area.

11. There are no prerequisite modules within the programme. The pathways to designated
awards shall be set out in the programme specification.

Conditions for Progression

12. A student may not submit the dissertation until they have passed the core and elective
module(s).

Reassessment of Failed Assessment(s)

13. A student who fails one or more assessment component(s) will only be reassessed in the
failed assessment component(s). An assessment ‘component’ is an individual assessment
within a module that must be passed irrespective of the scores achieved on the other
assessments in the module. An assessment element is an individual assessment the marks of
which may be aggregated with the marks of other assessment elements within the module
to achieve a pass, even though the individual element itself may not be at the pass mark.

14. A student who fails an element of an assessment but passes the module overall shall not be
required to be reassessed in that element.

15. A student who fails an element of an assessment and fails the module overall will be
reassessed in all elements of the assessment.

LLM Commercial Law July 2018

 16. A student shall be permitted three attempts at each assessment component; one first sit and
two re-sits. Further attempts may only be permitted in accordance with the regulations on
appeals and the rules on concessions.

17. Where a student re-sits and passes an assessment component the component mark shall be
capped at the pass mark. The capped mark shall be aggregated with the original mark(s) of
the other component(s) and the aggregated mark shall appear on the transcript.

Condonation

18. A student may be condoned by the Board of Examiners once in one module where the student
has:

(1) achieved a mark in the range 45%-49%; and,

(2) has no other fail marks; and
(3) has otherwise met the intended learning outcomes of the module.

19. Condonation shall not be applied to:

(1) programmes of fewer than 120 credits;

(2) modules greater than 30 credits;

(3) modules comprising a research project;

(4) modules excluded in the programme regulations.

20. Condonation will be granted prior to the final Board of Examiners for the award only where
the student has exhausted all permitted attempts at the assessment and would otherwise be
required to permanently withdraw from BPP University College.

Conditions for the Granting of Awards

21. A student who completes an approved programme of study, as described in the Programme
Specification shall be awarded a Masters in Law in the approved specialism.

22. Those students who choose to exit the Programme without completing it may nevertheless be
entitled to exit with an award as indicated below:

 PG Certificate in Law provided they complete an approved programme of modules and the
learning outcomes for such award as set out in the Programme Handbook

 PG Diploma in Law provided they complete an approved programme of modules and the
learning outcomes for such award as set out in the Programme Handbook.

LLM Commercial Law July 2018

 Classification of Award

23. The following classification will be adopted:

Distinction 70% or above aggregate score

Merit 60-69% aggregate score
Pass 50-59%

Anonymity

24. All student work submitted for assessment for taught master’s programmes shall be
anonymised for the purposes of marking except where the form of presentation precludes
such anonymization e.g. personal presentation and performance. All items of assessment
should be identified by candidate number only.

Word Length

25. Where an assessment carries a maximum word length, the number of words in an assessment
shall be calculated in accordance with the principles stated in the Programme Handbook or
assessment rubric provided to students in advance of that assessment.

26. Words in excess of the stipulated word limit for an assessment shall not be marked.

Confidentiality

27. A student’s assessment results shall be confidential to the student concerned unless the
student grants permission to release the results to a third party.

LLM Commercial Law July 2018

PART 3 - PROGRAMME OUTCOMES

Core module aims

To provide candidates with the opportunity to:
 Acquire a detailed knowledge and understanding of selected key principles, rules and
concepts of commercial law in the UK, including their application in a practical context
and to complex fact scenarios;
 Evaluate the extent to which commercial law has adapted to the modern business
environment in relation to those subjects within the syllabus;
 Investigate and discuss selected proposed reforms in commercial law;
 Research and analyse current issues in commercial law and to research the law of other
jurisdictions in order to undertake a comparative analysis with UK law;
 Develop the practical and cognitive skills appropriate for practice in commercial law; and
 Develop the transferable skills appropriate for general professional employment.

Programme outcomes: knowledge and understanding; skills and other attributes

Knowledge and Understanding
Students should be able to demonstrate a:
1 deep and systematic understanding of key legal principles, rules and concepts not only in
regard to the core module but also the electives.
2 deep and systematic understanding of key aspects and important research issues relating
to the content of the relevant core module and electives.
3 knowledge and understanding of current developments in the law not only in regard to
the core module but also the electives.
4 knowledge and understanding of selected and current topical issues within the scope of
the core module and electives.
Cognitive Skills
Students should be able to:
1 critically analyse and evaluate legal rules, principles and policies within the scope of the
core and elective modules.
2 synthesise information from diverse sources, supported by research, to form the basis of
a critical analysis or evaluation.
3 creatively apply the law to problem based scenarios within the scope of the core and
elective modules.
4 form sound legal judgments that are based on incomplete data and/ or required in
uncertain situation within the scope of the core and elective modules.
Professional Skills and Attitudes
Students should be able to:
1 plan and conduct independent research into different aspects of the core and elective
modules.
2 formulate and present in discussion concise, logical, clear and well-structured legal
arguments pertaining to issues within the scope of the core and elective modules.
3 formulate and present in writing clear, concise, informed, logical and well-structured
arguments which are tested in practice questions and in the unseen examination.
4 apply a systematic approach to the analysis of the law and legally relevant issues within
the scope of the core and elective modules.

General Transferable Skills

Students should be able to:

LLM Commercial Law July 2018

 1 work independently, collaboratively and competitively.
2 demonstrate initiative, personal responsibility, time management capabilities and
independent learning skills.
3 communicate effectively in writing and orally through different media.
4 demonstrate competence in the application of detailed rules and related practice.

Learning and Teaching Strategy

Each module is taught through lectures and seminars. Students are expected to prepare before
classes and participate, particularly in seminars in class discussions and exercises. For each module
there are 40 contact hours, normally divided into ten hours of lectures and ten seminars. However,
given the nature of some subjects this is not a hard and fast division. Text books and written
materials are not provided given the fact that this is a master’s degree programme, but there is for
each module extensive material made available electronically on the VLE to which each student has
access. Of course, students are expected to resort to the library and access other sources,
particularly when preparing their dissertation.

On the assumption that FT students take two modules each term each week there would be at least
8 contact hours teaching. Most weeks, however, there will also be support and skills training classes
for on average there would be at least 10 hours direct teaching. We also meet with students on a
regular basis to discuss formative exercises and provide fed back.

We recommend (require) a further 20 hours independent learning. Students are required to present
and interact in seminars (and to some degree in lectures) and, of course, mandatory assessments
are set within the first five weeks of each term.

LLM Commercial Law July 2018