Study Law in UK for Indian Students: 2027 Entry Fees, Routes and SQE

  • Last Updated on: October 6, 2026 by
  • Shiva Sai Bejawada
Study Law in UK
Study Law in UK

To study law in UK universities from India, you take one of three routes. They are a 3-year LLB after Class 12, a 1-year LLM after an Indian law degree, or a conversion course if your degree is in another subject. For 2027 entry, undergraduate law fees for international students start at £16,700 a year at The University of Law and reach £46,210 for Oxford’s BA in Jurisprudence. Each route ends at one deciding step. That’s the Bar Council of India exam if your LLB is from the UK, or an exemption from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA, the solicitors’ regulator) for enrolled Indian advocates.

Written by
Shiva Sai Bejawada
Senior Counsellor (British Council Certified) -UK & Ireland
Shiva Sai Bejawada is a British Council Certified overseas-education counsellor at AOEC India who guides Indian students through UK and Ireland university selection, admissions, and student visa documentation.
6 Years, 96% visa approval rate
Reviewed by
Sridhar Kongara
Managing Director
Mr. Kongara Sridhar, Director of AOEC India, has over 12 years of experience in overseas education consulting, admissions, and student visa guidance.
Over 12 years Experience

Key Takeaways

  • Three routes: a 3-year LLB after Class 12 (4 in Scotland), a 1-year LLM after an Indian LLB, or a conversion.
  • Undergraduate law fees run from £16,700 (₹21.21 lakh) a year at the University of Law to £46,210 (₹58.70 lakh) at Oxford for 2027 entry.
  • Nine UK universities use the LNAT (the law entrance test); Oxford and Cambridge booking for 2027 entry closed on 15 September 2026.
  • A King’s College London LLM costs about £54,152 (₹68.81 lakh) in year one, visa costs and living funds included.
  • Solicitors need both parts of the SQE (Solicitors Qualifying Examination, £5,092, ₹6.47 lakh) plus two years of supervised legal work (QWE), which enrolled Indian advocates skip.
  • If your LLB is from the UK, you must pass the BCI exam for foreign law degrees before you practise in India.
Table of Contents
Law degree routes in the UK for Indian students Scroll here ↓ UK law schools for Indian students: fees, LNAT and degree awarded Scroll here ↓ Cost of studying law in UK: LLB and LLM year one Scroll here ↓ Qualifying as a solicitor or barrister after a UK law degree Scroll here ↓ Practising law in India after a UK law degree Scroll here ↓ Frequently Asked Questions Scroll here ↓

Law degree routes in the UK for Indian students

Find the row that matches where you are now.

You areYour routeWhere you applyNext deadline or step
Class 12 student (CBSE, ISC or state board)3-year LLB (4 years in Scotland)UCAS (the UK’s undergraduate admissions service), plus the LNAT at some schools13 Jan 2027 UCAS deadline; Oxford and Cambridge closed unless your LNAT is booked
Indian LLB graduate1-year LLM (Master of Laws)Each university directlyCambridge closes 8 Dec 2026
Non-law graduate (BTech, BCom, BA)SQE exams to become a solicitor; a law conversion course (GDL) to become a barristerSRA for the SQE; a GDL provider for the BarChoose solicitor or barrister
Enrolled Indian advocateSQE as a qualified lawyer; two-year QWE waivedSRAApply for an SQE2 exemption

Entry marks: for Class 12, Durham asks for 87% across your best four subjects, and Queen Mary 90% from CBSE or ISC, 85% from West Bengal or 95% from other boards. Top schools want IELTS 7.0 to 7.5. For an LLM, most want a 2:1, the UK’s second-highest grade (65% at King’s).

Notes: A qualified lawyer is someone already admitted to practise, such as an enrolled Indian advocate. The SQE2 exemption spares you the second exam and needs your All India Bar Examination (AIBE) pass, Bar enrolment and two years’ practice. Planning to practise in India? A UK LLB means passing the BCI exam for foreign law degrees first.

Decide where you want to practise before you choose the degree, because Delhi and a London law firm need a different mix of degree and exam. In Class 12, the LLB is your direct route; with an Indian LLB, a one-year LLM is the quicker route. Our guide to studying in the UK covers how to match a course to your career goal.

From our counselling desk: The first question families ask us about UK law isn't about rankings: it's whether the degree works back in India. Most applicants we advise already hold an Indian LLB, and those who regret their choice picked the school before the country they'd practise in.

UK law schools for Indian students: fees, LNAT and degree awarded

Nine UK universities use the LNAT (National Admissions Test for Law), and central London LLBs cost £35,900 to £37,500 a year for 2027 international entrants. LNAT booking for Oxford and Cambridge closed on 15 September 2026, so your next LNAT choices are King’s, LSE and UCL, which take the test until 31 December 2026.

UniversityDegree awardedInternational fee per year (fee year)LNAT required
University of OxfordBA in Jurisprudence£46,210 (2027 entry), ₹58.70 lakhYes
King’s College LondonLLB£35,900 (2027-28), ₹45.60 lakhYes
London School of EconomicsLLB£37,500 (2027/28), ₹47.63 lakhYes
University College LondonLLB£36,800 (2027/28), ₹46.74 lakhYes
University of CambridgeBA (Hons) in Law£30,798 tuition (2027 entry), ₹39.12 lakh; College fee extraYes
Durham UniversityLLB£29,250 (Sept 2026 entry; 2027 fee not yet confirmed), ₹37.15 lakhYes
University of EdinburghLLB in Scots law£31,100 (2027/8), ₹39.50 lakhNo
Queen Mary University of LondonLLB£30,950 (Sept 2027 entry), ₹39.31 lakhNo
University of GreenwichLLB£17,975 (2026-27), ₹22.83 lakhNo
The University of LawLLBFrom £16,700 outside London (₹21.21 lakh) or £17,550 in London (₹22.29 lakh) (2026 and 2027)No

Don’t be put off by the name: Oxford’s BA counts as a law degree for the barrister route. Edinburgh’s four-year LLB teaches Scots law for practice in Scotland, so practising in England means requalifying.

Durham and Bristol want the LNAT taken by 13 January 2027; most other LNAT schools, such as Glasgow and SOAS, take it until 25 January. If you study law in the UK straight after school, our guide to studying in the UK after 12th covers board rules. English bars differ by school:

LLM fees for Indian LLB graduates (our list of top UK universities for master’s adds more):

UniversityProgrammeInternational fee (fee year)
OxfordBCL (Oxford’s LLM)£52,630 (2027-28), ₹66.85 lakh
CambridgeLLM£48,252 (Oct 2027 intake), ₹61.29 lakh
UCLLLM£40,800 (UCL 2027 fee schedule), ₹51.82 lakh
LSELLM£39,900 (2026/27), ₹50.68 lakh
King’sLLM£38,300 (2026/27), ₹48.65 lakh
Queen MaryLaws LLM£34,650 (Sept 2027), ₹44.01 lakh
GreenwichLLM Law£18,700 (2026-27), ₹23.75 lakh

Your grades will rule out more LLM schools than the fees will. Oxford’s BCL and Cambridge’s LLM want a first, the top UK grade, which is not the same as an Indian first class, so ask each university what percentage it accepts from yours. LSE wants a first or very high 2:1 with IELTS 7.5, and King’s College London and UCL a 2:1 of at least 65%. Queen Mary reads a 2:1 as 60% to 70% from an Indian bachelor’s of three years or more, depending on which university you attended.

Cost of studying law in UK: LLB and LLM year one

A one-year LLM at King’s College London, priced at its 2026/27 fee, costs about £54,152 in year one. That covers tuition, the visa fee, the Immigration Health Surcharge and nine months of living money at the visa’s new £1,570-a-month London rate from 30 November 2026. Greenwich’s LLM comes to £34,552.

Year-one costGreenwich LLM (London, 1 year)King’s LLM (London, 1 year)
Tuition£18,700 (₹23.75 lakh)£38,300 (₹48.65 lakh)
Visa maintenance funds, 9 months at £1,570£14,130 (₹17.95 lakh)£14,130 (₹17.95 lakh)
Student visa fee£558 (₹73,795, the Home Office rupee fee on 2 Oct 2026, above a market conversion)£558 (₹73,795, the same rupee fee)
Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), visa of about 17 months£1,164 (₹1.48 lakh)£1,164 (₹1.48 lakh)
Year-one total£34,552 (₹43.92 lakh)£54,152 (₹68.81 lakh)

The IHS (your UK healthcare payment) is £1,164. A 12-month course comes with a visa of about 17 months, and that is charged as one and a half years. The funds row covers nine months, so budget three more months of rent.

Parents, tuition is the part that changes most from school to school. The maintenance rate is the monthly living money the visa asks you to show. For applications from 30 November 2026 it is £1,570 in London and £1,203 outside, the rates a September 2027 student uses. Our page on UK student visa proof of funds covers how to hold that money.

When we build LLM budgets with parents, this maintenance sum is the item most often counted twice: it’s the rent and food money your child spends, not an extra fee. For LLB families, three years of tuition at year-one rates comes to £52,650 at the University of Law in London and £138,630 at Oxford. King’s comes to £107,700, and its fee can rise after year one. Rent by city is in our cost of studying in the UK breakdown.

Qualifying as a solicitor or barrister after a UK law degree

Solicitors give clients legal advice and handle their legal work; barristers give specialist advice and represent people in court. For most Indian LLM graduates, becoming a solicitor is the realistic route. Very few overseas students win a barrister’s training place. To qualify as a solicitor through the SQE, you:

  1. Hold a degree in any subject, law or not, under the SRA’s SQE route.
  2. Pass two exams: SQE1 (two legal-knowledge papers, £1,003 each) and SQE2 (the legal-skills exam). Together the SQE assessment fees come to £5,092.
  3. Complete two years of Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) at up to four employers, paid or volunteer, in England and Wales or abroad, India included.
  4. Pass the SRA’s background check.

The Bar asks for a law degree, or a non-law degree plus the GDL (the conversion course for non-law graduates), with at least a 2:2 (a lower second, one grade below a 2:1). You must join one of the four Inns of Court (barristers’ professional societies) before the Bar course, then compete for pupillage, a 12-month training post.

Only 2% of Bar students from outside the UK who enrolled in 2020/21 had won a pupillage in England and Wales by November 2024, against over 35% of UK students. The Bar Standards Board notes some never meant to practise in England.

Your stay to build QWE depends on the Graduate visa (the visa that lets you stay and work after your degree). Its length depends on when you apply: 2 years on or before 31 December 2026, 18 months on or after 1 January 2027. A one-year LLM starting in September 2027 ends in 2028, so you’ll apply after the cut-off and get 18 months. That’s six months short of two years’ QWE, so finish it in India, where overseas QWE counts, or on a UK work visa. See our guide to the post-study work visa in UK.

Practising law in India after a UK law degree

A UK LLB alone does not let you practise in India: you must also pass the Bar Council of India’s Qualifying Examination for Indian Nationals Holding Foreign Law Degrees. You need 45 out of 100 in each of its 6 papers, so set aside time to study Indian law when you return.

The six papers, all on Indian law:

  • Constitution of India
  • Contract Law and the Negotiable Instruments Act
  • Company Law
  • Civil Procedure Code and the Limitation Act
  • Criminal Procedure Code
  • The Indian Legal Profession and Code of Ethics

If you study law in the UK and plan to come home, treat the BCI exam as part of the degree; no UK school can waive it. Before you pick a Senior Status LLB (a two-year LLB for people who already hold a degree), get the Bar Council of India’s answer in writing on whether it counts for enrolment. Expect to sit the AIBE too; the SRA itself asks Indian advocates for proof of an AIBE pass. Already hold an Indian LLB and adding a UK LLM? Confirm with the BCI before you rely on the UK LLM for anything in India.

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Frequently Asked Questions

An LLB takes three years in England and four at Edinburgh, where you study Scots law. Durham’s LLB runs three or four years. An LLM takes about a year: 9 months at Cambridge, 10 at UCL and a full 12 at King’s.

Yes. UK universities accept it for LLM entry, usually at a 2:1; Queen Mary reads that as 60% to 70%, depending on your Indian university. You can sit the SQE with any degree, and enrolled Indian advocates skip QWE; with two years’ practice, they can apply for an SQE2 exemption.

Yes, for graduates. For 2026 and 2027 starts, the University of Law charges international students £17,200 (₹21.85 lakh) a year outside London and £18,100 (₹22.99 lakh) in London for its two-year Senior Status LLB. If you plan to practise in India, ask the Bar Council of India in writing whether it will count.

Not as an international student. Every law school in the fee table above charges international tuition, starting from £16,700 (₹21.21 lakh) a year at the University of Law. Our list of UK scholarships for Indian students shows which awards can cut the bill.

Plan on about three years from your LLM start: one year for the LLM, two years of QWE, and passes in SQE1 and SQE2, whose assessment fees total £5,092 (₹6.47 lakh). Enrolled Indian advocates don’t need QWE, and with two years’ practice they can apply for an SQE2 exemption.

Sources

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