What will I learn?

Our Law and Politics IFP is designed to provide you with the knowledge and skills to be able to progress on to Law-related degree courses at university.

You'll be encouraged to develop your critical thinking skills and will learn how to analyse sources and present academic arguments. Throughout the course, you'll be given opportunities to further develop your communication skills and team-working ability - key skills required to be successful in undergraduate studies, as well as throughout your career.

How will I learn?

You will be taught through a combination of lectures and seminars, which is the same type of teaching you can expect at undergraduate level in the UK.

Lectures are where all students on a module are together (this can be up to 100 students on the IFP), and the academic tutor introduces the topic of study. Seminars are much smaller groups (typically no more than 15 students), where you have the opportunity to explore a subject in more detail with your academic tutor and classmates. In your seminars, you will be expected to engage in discussions and debates around the subject matter.

How will I be assessed?

Across your modules you will be assessed through a range of methods including essays, literature reviews, presentations and examinations.

The modules on this programme have been developed to give you a thorough preparation for a range of related undergraduate degrees.

Contract and Tort Law (Full Module)

The Contract and Tort Law module offers you an introduction to these two key areas of civil law. In Contract Law, you will be introduced to the legal obligations arising from contractual agreements, exploring the nature of contracts and the rules that a court applies to determine whether a contract is valid or not. Tort Law offers the opportunity to explore the basis and extent of legal liability arising from negligent (careless) conduct and its impact on others.

You will develop skills in legal research, critical analysis and application of legal knowledge to a variety of different situations. The Contract and Tort Law module aims to develop you into a 'degree candidate' who can demonstrate the necessary tools for unravelling complex information, and able to apply the relevant knowledge and materials in a meaningful way. You should be able to use information effectively to write essays and solve problems, and will gain insights into key concepts in Contract Law and acquire in-depth understanding of the tort of negligence.

Introduction to Criminal Law (Half Module)

In Introduction to Criminal Law, you will be introduced to the requirements for criminal liability, demonstrated through an in-depth study of a range of non-fatal offences and general defences. The module also offers you the opportunity to critically evaluate the law in this area.

You will learn to apply criminal terminology to case studies which will allow you to develop the skills necessary to interpret and argue complex criminal scenarios, and understand real-life decisions for charging and sentencing offenders. In addition, you will develop evaluative skills through an insight into the flaws found in current legal definitions, particularly the non-fatal offences.

Introduction to Data Protection (Half Module)

The law relating to data protection is increasingly relevant to all aspects of our daily lives. This module will offer an introduction to data as a commodity and the need for data protection. You will be introduced to data collection and protection and will discover the rights and protections afforded by GDPR (UK and European protections) and make comparisons with other jurisdictions and their approaches to protecting data.

You will consider the desirability of data collection, and the need for data protection and subject rights to balance interests. Once an awareness of GDPR has been developed, you will consider the effectiveness of protection and identify potential areas for development. You will be able to apply theoretical understanding to an array of real-life examples; this fast-paced and globally significant topic will provide great preparation for future Law study.

Our Inquiry and Research Skills for Law and Social Sciences is a core module on this course, and is delivered in two parts to complement your other modules. The first part of this module looks at developing core research and inquiry skills including academic searching, using sources, teamwork, reflection and problem based learning inquiries. The second part of the module allows you to put everything you have learnt into practice through a research based project.

All students will also study an English for Academic Purposes module. This module is not about developing your conversational or everyday English skills; instead, it will develop your Academic English skills. You will consider how academic essays should be written, including looking at appropriate referencing and paraphrasing, as well as thinking about how presentations should be delivered in an academic context.

Please note that given the interval between the publication of these modules and enrolment, some of the information may change. You can find out more by reading our terms and conditions.

Optional Modules

On the Law course, students will also choose one optional module from the following options:

Politics and International Relations
This module will introduce you to the study of politics and international relations. It is divided into four interlinking parts. The first part challenges you to think about what politics is and where it can be found and engages the question of what is democracy. You’ll be introduced to the core political ideologies of liberalism, conservatism and socialism in the second part, and how these influence UK and international politics. Part three explores the UK political system, its key institutions and place in the global system, before the final part of the course introduces the most important theories of international relations and their application to contemporary global issues. You will leave the course with the ability to engage with scholarly debate in the subject of politics and international relations and to evaluate political issues and events in the national and global context.

History

History on the Warwick IFP is designed to introduce you to the most important developments that have shaped Europe, the world, and the human experience for the last two hundred years. You will learn about the development of western and global society through periods of huge economic growth and upheaval, and through intellectual, political, and technological transformation. You’ll explore the profound international effects of European empires and political revolutions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and how battles between liberal democracy, communism, and fascism transformed the world. The technical business of history will be introduced from the outset, with specific training in understanding historical debates and in particular in the reading of primary sources. You will learn history in part through documents produced in the periods that you’ll be studying, and will have the opportunity to hear guest speakers from Warwick and from other universities giving talks on the subjects of their own research.

A list of our entry requirements, according to country, is available on our Application Information pages. If you have any questions about your qualifications and whether they are suitable for this course, please contact the team.

Students on this course would typically be looking to progress to a range of undergraduate degrees including LLB Law, Law and Business, and Philosophy, Politics and Law.

Are you looking for a course which has more focus on Politics and Social Sciences? Our IFP in Social Science may be more appropriate for you - find out more now.