Welcome Letter 2026

Dear Students,

Congratulations and welcome to the School of Law at Queen Mary University of London. We are delighted that you will be joining our vibrant and cosmopolitan student community.

We are one of the largest law schools in the UK, with over 1000 undergraduate students, high quality teaching and internationally renowned research. Much of our global success lies in our ability to attract world-leading academics as well as outstanding students like you.

By combining expert academic knowledge with practical legal skills, we will work with you to ensure that you realise your full potential. We will help you learn how to practise law, as well as to study it. The Legal Advice Centre and George Hinde Moot competition are just two examples of the ways in which you will be able to experience law and legal ethics in a professional context. Careers support and guidance will also be available to you throughout your time at Queen Mary, whether you decide to pursue a career in law or to do something completely different. Several of our modules will teach you practical skills that will assist you in your future career.

By undertaking innovative research and scholarship, your lecturers and tutors influence the development of laws and judicial systems around the world and contribute to critical legal thinking in all its domains. We hope, therefore, that you take every advantage of the extra-curricular opportunities offered during the course of your degree with us.

Preparation

You are not required to purchase any of your module texts before arriving in September. You will receive a welcome pack from the Law School during induction week, which will include The Insider’s Guide to Legal Skills, Sanmeet Kaur Dua (Routledge, 2023). This book introduces you to fundamental legal skills, including legal writing and legal research, and provides a guide to managing lectures and tutorials.

However, if you would like to do some preparatory reading, we suggest the following texts:

• Introduction to the English Legal System, Martin Partington (OUP, 2021)
• Letters to a Law Student: A Guide to Studying Law at University, Nicholas McBride (Pearson, 5th ed., 2022)

Contract Law

You do not need to do any reading in preparation for either of the Contract Law modules. However, if you would like to do so, we suggest, as introductory reading, either Contract Law by Ewan McKendrick (Hart Publishing, 16th ed., 2025) or The Law of Contract by Janet O’Sullivan and Jonathan Hilliard (OUP, 11th ed., 2024). Neither is a core text. Guidance on choosing which core text is best for you will be given when the autumn term module begins.

Public Law

For Public Law, you may want to spend some time watching ‘The Big Picture’ lectures, given by Professor Mark Elliot. There are five lectures in total and they cover a wide range of topics, which will give you some context for the study of Public Law and will highlight some of the key topics we will cover this year. You can access the first of the five lectures here:

Constitutional Law: The Big Picture I – Introduction

Land Law

For Land Law you might look at one of these excellent introductory books. They are Land Law: Themes and Perspectives, edited by Susan Bright and John Dewar (OUP 1998), Introduction to Land Law by Roger Smith, (Pearson, 3rd ed., 2013) and Land Law, Elizabeth Cooke, (Clarendon Law Series, OUP, 2nd ed., 2012 - there is a 3rd edition of this title, published in 2020, but not in paperback). In any event avoid buying any of these books unless you can pick up a really cheap secondhand copy. Recommendations on the core texts will be given when the module begins.

There will be much for you to take in during the early weeks of your degree, but we are here to assist at every stage.

We will be in contact again soon with details of your Welcome Week timetable, enrolment and more. All information from now on will be sent to your Queen Mary email address, so please make sure you have set up your IT account and can access your mailbox. Get in touch with the IT Service Desk if you need help.

We look forward to welcoming you in September, but please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at lawugstudentsupport@qmul.ac.uk if you have any questions.

Best wishes,

Sanmeet Kaur Dua
Director of Education
Department of Law