Masters study

If for any reason you are unable to travel to campus to start the academic year, all teaching will be available virtually. This means that you can start, or continue, your programme off-campus, wherever you are, with full flexibility to transfer to on-campus learning as soon as you are able to.

Your learning experience will be supported through a variety of ways. In addition to lectures being delivered both online and on campus, you will also still have the ability to interact, ask questions, and engage in discussions, with your tutor and your classmates, regardless of whether you are attending your lectures online or on campus. Your teaching will also be supported by digital tools such as Moodle, which will have advanced features including quizzes. You will also be able to access digital resources such as reading lists and textbooks. We have secured access to the full library of textbooks on LawTrove which will be available for you to use across some of your compulsory modules.

We will continue to run a ‘module options fair’ in the first week of term so that you can gain a better sense of the range of modules and what each entails, i.e. an explanation of the content and scope from those teaching the modules. This fair is likely to be delivered online.

You will be able to get involved in our full package of social activities, including professional skills-based activities, such as client-interviewing, negotiation and mooting competitions, and commercial awareness courses, as well as volunteering opportunities via the Essex Law Clinic and Human Rights Centre Clinic. We are running two series of speaker events; one is specific to human rights and one is based on a series of specialised topics (new ‘Law Matters’ Speaker Series). Postgraduate Human Rights students will also have the opportunity to go on our annual study trip to Geneva in June 2021, depending on how travel restrictions will be.

To find out more about how courses will be delivered next year in the School of Law and Human Rights Centre, what your student experience will involve, and information on what to do if your situation changes, visit our homepage.

We offer practical, real-world opportunities to develop the skills and knowledge learnt on your course. This includes working with practising lawyers to advise clients in our Essex Law Clinic and engaging with pressing human rights issues in our Human Rights Clinic; both of which work with a range of partners including the Essex Business and Human Rights project

We support our students to take part in international competitions such as the Jean-Pictet Competition in Humanitarian Law and simulation exercises such as Simulex, where students work with military officers stationed at Colchester.

You'll also have access to training and networking opportunities organised by our Law Society and Bar Society and we run an ongoing programme of events to expand your knowledge of wider debates in legal research and practice. These include School of Law seminars, Human Rights Centre seminars and Essex Transitional Justice Network events. You can also attend our Essex Summer School in Human Rights Research Methods.

We were first university in the UK to sign a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). This creates internship and research opportunities for our postgraduate students and is based on our long-established expertise in international humanitarian law.

• Listen to Professor Geoff Gilbert talk about our landmark partnership with the UNHCR on SoundCloud

Our courses are offered on a full and part-time basis. Part-time students should note that teaching takes place on weekdays, during working hours.