Diploma in English Law & Legal Skills (“DELLS”) Regulations 2024-2025 

The following regulations apply to all Diploma Participants studying for the 1-year DELLS Diploma in 2024-2025 with the British Law Centre (“BLC”). They reflect the agreements concluded between Juris Angliae Scientia (“JAS”), as course provider, and the universities which co-organise the Diploma course (“Host Institutions”).

1. COURSE CURRICULUM

The Diploma is taught by providing Participants with written and audio-visual materials, supported by small-group classes and training exercises with members of the BLC teaching team.

The Diploma focuses on 4 core areas of substantive law (English Legal System, Contract Law, Tort Law and Trusts) which are the subject of 8 x 4hr small-group classes which happen either on weekends (usually Saturdays 10.00-14.00 CE(S)T) or weekday evenings (usually 16.00-20.00 CE(S)T) in accordance with the teaching timetable for each BLC location (see the Calendar section below in section 2.4).

A variety of legal skills are taught in small-group online sessions in addition to the 8 x 4hr classes focusing on substantive law. The precise details of legal skills sessions may vary from year to year but it is usually around 12 x 2hr in total.

The substantive law and legal skills taught on the Diploma are as below:

SUBSTANTIVE LAW

English Legal System

Contract Law

Tort Law

Trusts Law

LEGAL SKILLS:

Legal research and case analysis/preparation

Oral advocacy (inc. making speeches and questioning witnesses in court proceedings)

Contract negotiations

Contract drafting

Statutory interpretation, working with legal precedent

Legal writing and persuasive writing

To successfully graduate the Diploma, you must pass 4 written assignments, one from each of the substantive law modules above. Each assignment involves preparing written work (approx. 2,000 words) to test the knowledge and skills learned during the relevant module. Written assignments are completed at home throughout the academic year, not in a traditional exam-style session. For further details, see ‘Assessment’ in Section 4 below.

2. TEACHING

1. General structure of the Diploma  

Diploma Participants are registered on a dedicated website, from which they can access specially prepared workbooks and other written materials on the relevant substantive law and legal skills modules.

Diploma Participants can access lectures delivered by the BLC teaching team and/or special guests (including expert legal practitioners and academics from renowned UK teaching institutions). Lectures are recorded and made available on the BLC website, but there may also be opportunities to participate in some live lectures streamed online (usually held on weekdays at 18.30-20.00 CET). In total, there are approximately 80 lectures (each 90 mins) available as part of the Diploma course materials (i.e., 100 hrs of available lectures).

Participants receive small-group classes, to complement and deepen their understanding of the legal issues discussed in lectures and written materials. There are 8 small-group teaching sessions throughout the Diploma, each lasting 4hrs (i.e., 32 hours of small-group classes on substantive law). Additional workshops on legal skills are conducted at a variety of dates (usually starting at 18:30 CET), so Participants have a choice of available times. The course calendar (discussed below) contains further details.

The 8 teaching sessions on substantive law are delivered in a 4+4 structure, in which at least 4 teaching visits are taught face-to-face at the chosen BLC location and up to 4 teaching visits may be conducted online. For those who prefer it, a 100% online course is also available.

Teaching sessions take place approximately once per month. This enables Participants with plenty of time to prepare for each of the 8 class sessions.

Before each class, Diploma Participants receive clear information about the materials they should read or watch in order to prepare for that session. They also receive a list of questions or tasks for discussion in the class. These help to develop a practical understanding of the relevant law or skill[s] and should be prepared by Participants in advance.

 

2. Legal Skills  

The Diploma includes components designed to develop a range of legal skills (see the earlier list for details).

The skills training aims to encourage active learning and to help Participants to develop their legal skills. Skill-training sessions involve active participation in skills-orientated exercises or workshops. This might involve individual work or collaborating as part of a team asked to deal with a particular client issue (e.g., Seller or Buyer in negotiations or drafting exercises, or Prosecution v Defence in oral advocacy exercises). The emphasis remains on ‘learning by doing’—i.e., focusing on practical, active learning rather than passive and theoretical approaches.

3. Small-class teaching sessions

As noted above, there are 8 x 4hr teaching sessions on substantive law during the Diploma, at least 4 of which will be face-to-face and up to 4 of which may be taught online. Amongst other things, the possibility of online teaching enables the BLC to involve law lecturers and professionals based in the UK, who otherwise be unable to teach on the course. Each small-class teaching session seeks to achieve the following objectives:

• Clarifying the substantive law content – we aim to ensure that Diploma Participants understand the law dealt with in the written materials and lectures. We also elaborate and explain any issues that may be causing difficulties, and respond to any other queries the Diploma Participants may have.

• Building confidence to make legal arguments and practically apply the law to factual situations – a substantial part of each visit is devoted to developing Participants’ ability and confidence in applying the law. Typically, this involves analysing ‘problem questions’ (i.e. questions which describe a series of events and circumstances which affect fictional characters, who then seek legal advice). Diploma Participants work together with the BLC teacher to advise the characters on their rights and obligations. Participants are expected to to propose what they view as the best advice in the given circumstances. The BLC teacher supports and guides the process, explaining the approach expected in English university education when dealing with such questions. Developing such skills not only helps Participants to prepare for the written assignments which need to be completed (see ‘Methods of Assessment’ in Section 4 below), but also helps to develop the advisory skills that are crucial for practising lawyers.

• Developing practical legal skills – we organise practical legal skills workshops in addition to the classes on substantive law. For details of the relevant legal skills, see the table above.

Attendance and participation in classes

Participants are expected to attend all 8 teaching sessions. However, we accept that there may be occasions when this is not possible. If you know that you will be unable to attend any particular teaching session[s], please inform us in advance. Where the relevant teaching session is happening online, we may be able to offer you the possibility to attend the same online teaching session on a different date.

All lectures and any online classes (taught as part of the 4+4 teaching structure mentioned above) are recorded and can be made available to participants who were unable to attend the relevant class.

4. Diploma Timetable and Website Calendar

Each BLC location has a slightly different timetable. Diploma Participants are provided with a timetable at the beginning of the Diploma course showing the dates/times of the lectures and the 8 small-class teaching sessions. An online G-calendar is also available on each individual centre page, which can be added to participants’ personal calendars. If any amendments are required to the original timetable, participants will be consulted and given as much prior notice as possible, but we aim to avoid such changes unless these are absolutely necessary.

3. COURSE FEES (INC. PAYMENT INSTALMENTS)

Course fees are published on the BLC’s website (see the tab called “Fees and Applications”) together with the other information applicable to a particular BLC location. The Host Institution at some of our locations charge Participants an additional administrative fee to cover their own costs. Where this applies, it is indicated visible on the website (in “Fees and Applications” tab of the information regarding each individual location). It is also explained in the Payment Instructions you are sent after registering.

The following rules on BLC course fees apply mutatis mutandis to any administrative fees that a Host Institution imposes on Diploma Participants, save that any local fee may be subject to different payment dates and rules on making payment in instalments. Any reference below to payment reductions shall apply solely to fees payable to the BLC (i.e. not to any local fee payable to a Host Institution).

Once we offer you a place on the Diploma, we will send you the Payment Instructions, which constitute an integral part of these Course Regulations.

You are entitled to pay a reduced fee (“Student Fees”) if you provide us with evidence confirming your status as a full-time University student or a current student of a vocational course which must be passed before you can practise as a lawyer. Details of the respective amounts are given on the BLC’s website and in the Payment Instructions sent to you by email before you confirm your participation in the Diploma course. Unless you provide us with credible evidence of your eligibility to pay the Student Fees rate, you will be obliged to pay the Non-Student Fees rate.

Course fees to Juris Angliae Scientia Ltd (i.e. the educational charity which runs the British Law Centre and has its registered office at the Faculty of Law, Cambridge University) are payable in two instalments. There is also an option to further split payments into a maximum of three instalments in accordance with the following Standard Payment Timetable:

• First Payment (within 14 days of us offering you a place on the course): unless you notify us that you are withdrawing from the Diploma course within 14 days of us having offered you a place on the Diploma course, then you must pay a €200 part of the total course fees (the ‘First Payment’) within those 14 days. After your €200 First Payment is made, this amount is deducted from the total course fee you owe. You will then receive access to the course page and available materials. To benefit from the Earlybird fee reduction (see below), the €200 First Payment must be paid by 30 June at the latest.
• Second Payment (by 31 October):  The amount of the second payment depends on whether you are a) a student or non-student and b) eligible for the Earlybird fee reduction (i.e., because you paid the First Payment before 30 June). The Second Payment is ordinarily either €300 (students) or €400 (non-students), but if you are eligible for the Earlybird fee this is reduced to €225 (students) or €350 (non-students). To help you choose which payment option applies to you, we have created a payment questionnaire, available here.
• Third Payment (by 28 February): By this date, you must have fully paid your course fees. The payment questionnaire can help you identify the applicable fees you need to pay, available here.

If you choose to pay course fees in two instalments, the Second and Third Payments are combined, with the full payment due by 31 October.

Earlybird fee reduction

An Earlybird fee reduction applies if we receive your €200 First Payment by 30 June.

As an example of the fee payment schedule using the Earlybird discount, if you owe €625 as the Student Earlybird Fee level and made the €200 First Payment by 30 June, you must pay another €225 by 31 October.  By 28 February, you must have paid the Third Payment of €200. If you owe €725 as the Student Fee level because you paid the €200 First Payment later than 30 June, you must pay at least €300 by 31 October. By 28 February, you must have paid the Third Payment of €225.

We cannot offer course fees reductions other than as described above, but it may be possible for you to agree an Individual Payment Timetable for payment of your course fees if your financial situation necessitates this. Please contact us to discuss this possibility.

 

Withdrawing from the Diploma Course

After we offer you a place on the course, you have 14 days within which to inform us by email that you wish to withdraw, otherwise you become obliged to pay the non-refundable €200 First Payment. You will be formally registered as a Diploma Participant and granted access to the BLC’s website, from which you can access the course materials.

If you choose to withdraw from the course, for whatever reason, after having been granted access to the BLC’s website containing the course materials, you must email us to clearly state this. Until we receive an email from you clearly stating that you are withdrawing from the course, you are deemed to be an active course Participant. For the avoidance of doubt, merely failing to attend Diploma classes or unsubscribing from the BLC’s group email address will not suffice to communicate to us that you are withdrawing from the course.

The timing of your withdrawal will have the following effect on the course fees you owe:

Withdrawal date	Impact on fees still owed
Within 14 days of us having accepted your application and offered you a place on the course*	No fees are payable
More than 14 days after we accepted your application and offered you a place on the course*	€200 First Payment must have been paid (and remains due if not paid). But no further course fees are payable.
After 31 October	You are obliged to pay the full course fees, but can pay in instalments if you wish. The Second Payment  must be paid by this date.   At this stage, you may also choose to: (i)      transfer to another BLC location; or (ii)    transfer to/from an Online group to another BLC location. (iii)  suspend your participation in the Diploma until the following academic year (and ‘freeze’ the price payable, so that you not be affected if course fees have increased by the time you return). However, before exercising any of these options, you must first pay the full course fees.
After 28 February	100% of your course fees must have been paid by this date, if they were not already paid earlier

* The 14-day period will be deemed to have expired on 31 October in any case (e.g. if someone is offered a place on 20 October, the 14-day period will be deemed to have expired on 31 October).

If we inform you that, for whatever reason, we are unable to conduct at least 4 of the 8 teaching sessions as face-to-face visits to your BLC location, you will be entitled to choose between the following options:

• Transferring to another BLC location or transfer to an Online group;
• Continuing the course at the same location but with fewer than 4 face-to-face visits (“Modified Course”); or
• Deferring your participation on the Diploma course until the following academic year (at no additional cost, even if course fees have increased in the year in which you return after deferral). NB. This only applies if the Diploma course is actually conducted at the same location in the following year, otherwise you will be entitled to any of the other options outlined here); or
• Withdrawing from the Diploma course. (In this event, you must email us to clearly state this, within 14 days from the date on which we informed you that we would not be able to deliver at least 4 of the 8 teaching visits face-to-face. Otherwise, we will assume that you intend to continue with the Modified Course mentioned above). The above rules on communicating your withdrawal from the course shall apply.

 

Important note on banking charges

If you pay via a bank transfer to JAS’s account (which is located in the UK), you must cover all charges that apply in connection with your payment[s], whether imposed by your bank or by JAS’s bank. If we receive an amount which is less than the course fees you owe, you remain liable to pay the shortfall.

 

Incomplete Studies and Returners’ Fees

We aim to ensure that you will be able to graduate the Diploma course at the end of the academic year in which you started studying with us. However, sometimes personal circumstances can prevent this (e.g., due to other commitments, illness, etc.). If you are unable to successfully pass all four of the modules assessed by written course assignments (see section 4 ‘Assessments’ below) in the academic year when you commenced your BLC studies, you are entitled to extend your BLC studies and complete the Diploma by passing any uncompleted module(s) by assessment in the subsequent academic year. We refer to such Diploma Participants as “Returners”.

A “Returners’ Fee” is payable for each module not passed which you seek to pass in the subsequent academic year (NB. passing a module means passing the relevant assignment for that module, see section 4 ‘Assessment’ below).

The Returners’ Fee payable by those who do not complete assessment for all modules in 2024-25 and need to complete in 2025-26 is €150 for each module not yet successfully passed, e.g., if you need to pass the assessment for one module (e.g., Contract law), you must pay €150; if you need to pass the assessment for two modules in 2025-26 (e.g., Tort law and Trusts law), you must pay €300 etc.

If you extend your BLC studies in this way and pay the appropriate Returners’ Fee, you will be granted full access to our website (including any updated materials) and be welcome (but not obliged) to join any/all lectures, classes and workshops offered on the Diploma in the academic year in which you are a Returner.

The Returners Fees Timetable uses the same dates/amounts as the Standard Payment Timetable (above), subject to the possibility that the First Payment may be €150 if you only need to complete assessment for only one module (i.e., if your full Returners’ Fee is only €150).

You are only entitled to return to the BLC and pass any incomplete module(s) in the year immediately following the academic year in which you commenced your BLC studies or in the subsequent academic year.

e.g., If you commenced BLC studies in 2025-26 but did not pass the assessment in all modules in that academic year, you are entitled to return and complete the Diploma during the 2026-27 or 2028-29 academic years, but not later.   

4. ASSESSMENT

You must pass one written assignment in each of the four substantive law modules taught (i.e. 4 written assignments in total, each of which is 2,000 words) in order to receive the Diploma in English Law & Legal Skills.  

Written assignments are either essay-style questions, involving discussion of a specific legal hypothesis, or problem-based questions, requiring participants to advise fictional clients on their rights and obligations arising from a given factual scenario.

The 4 written assignments are completed throughout the duration of the course – i.e. they are not completed in one session at the end of the course, but as milestones as the course progresses. When teaching finishes on a particular module, the assignment question for that module is made available (e.g. when the contract law module finishes, the assignment question is made available). This means that you will receive feedback on your writing as you progress throughout the course, which enables you to implement the advice and suggested improvements into your later essays.   

There are two possible opportunities to write the assignment for each module during any given academic year (Topic 1 and Topic 2). Topic 1 is made available immediately when a module finishes (e.g. when the contract law module finishes, the Topic 1 Contract Law Assignment is made available). You will have approx. 30 days to submit your answer to this assignment. The Topic 2 question for the same module (e.g. contract law) is made available at a later date, for those who did not complete Topic 1. 

The dates on which the Topic 1 and Topic 2 questions will be made available for each module are shown on the location-specific calendar for each BLC location, which are available at: https://www.britishlawcentre.co.uk/centres/

Marking standards and procedures

All assignments are marked on a percentage basis reflecting the criteria and standards applied by UK universities.

A pass mark is any grade higher than 40% and a “first class” mark is signified by a mark of 70% or above. Any assignment which fails to reach the minimum pass grade of 40% is simply indicated as a “FAIL” (or “0” on Moodle, where only numerical grade can be entered). This does not mean that the work achieved 0%, but merely that it did not reach the requisite 40% pass mark.

 

Requesting a review of assignment marking

If you wish to query the grade awarded or to raise any other query in relation to an assignment, you must first do so with the relevant BLC teacher (this information is given on each of the assignments you will received throughout the year). This must be done within 14 days of the date on which your graded assignment was returned to you, directly or via Moodle. The BLC tutor will review your grade and discuss whether a grade modification is in order. Either you or the tutor may decide to refer your work to the BLC’s Academic Committee for further consideration.

 

Assignment feedback

All assignments are originally marked by members of the BLC teaching staff. These are returned to participants with comments indicating areas of strength and areas where improvements can be made.

 

Moderation of marking by external examiners

BLC assignments are subject to external evaluation (“moderation”) by senior teaching staff of the University of Cambridge. Accordingly, any grades awarded by BLC teaching staff are “provisional” until they have been approved by our external examiners, which occurs as part of as an annual review of our marking quality and standards.  This review can last for 2-3 months after all assignments for the year have been completed and graded, so the fact of your graduation is usually confirmed in autumn of the year after which you completed the Diploma assignments.

 

Failed assignments and retakes

If you submitted and failed an assignment (i.e. did not receive a grade of 40% or higher), you will automatically be assigned a grade of 0% until you pass a retake assignment in that same module.

Retake submissions are assessed on a pass/fail basis. A retake pass (i.e. a pass following an original fail) is graded as 40%, with no possibility of a higher grade. If, at the end of the relevant academic year, you have not passed all 4 assignments, you would need to complete the relevant assignment[s] in the next academic year (and pay any applicable Returner’s Fee).

5. COMPLETION AND CERTIFICATION

Once you have successfully passed all 4 written assignments, you will be recommended for the Diploma. The formal decision to award the Diploma is subject to completion of the external examiners process (as mentioned above). Following this, you will be formally informed of your status as a graduand and, if applicable at the relevant BLC location, of the details of any graduation ceremony. This process can last for 2-3 months, so graduation is usually confirmed in autumn of the academic year after which the Diploma was completed.

Diploma certification:

Those who successfully complete the course receive a Diploma in English Law & Legal Skills. signed by senior representatives from Juris Angliae Scientia  (currently Prof. Richard Fentiman – director of JAS and Professor of Private International Law at the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Law). At most BLC locations, the Diploma is also jointly awarded by the Host Institution (i.e. the university at which the teaching sessions took place). Please contact us for details if you are uncertain whether this applies at your chosen location.

The Diploma is categorized into Pass, Merit or Distinction according to the level of grades obtained during the course and participation in BLC classes and activities. Categorization is based on ‘bell curve’ marking which reflects a Participant’s performance vis-à-vis the entire student cohort of the relevant graduation year.

Anyone who completed the Diploma at a BLC location where face-to-face teaching takes place will receive their Diploma in hard copy at that location. Some Host Institutions may organise a graduation ceremony, but this differs from year to year. Otherwise, it is possible (for an additional fee) for us to arrange for postal/courier delivery of the Diploma to an address chosen by you. Anyone who completes a 100% online version of the course will receive an e-version of the Diploma. For an additional fee, it is possible to have a hard-copy version of your Diploma sent to you by post/courier. The possibilities and fees for doing this depend upon the location to which the Diploma would be posted.

 

Overall Diploma Grade – Best 3 grades

Although you must successfully pass assignments in all 4 modules, your overall Diploma grade is based on the ‘best 3’ results (i.e. the worst of your 4 grades is ignored when calculating your average).

 

Can I receive ECTS Points?

Host Institutions themselves decide whether to award ECTS points to graduates of the BLC Diploma. Participants who are seeking ECTS points should discuss this with the responsible faculty at the Host Institution. The Local Centre Liaison (see section 6 below) will be able to advise on these matters.

6. MISCELLANEOUS

(i) Email details

When registering for the Diploma course, you must provide us with an email address to be used for all communications related to the Diploma. Your email address will be added to the BLC centre group which you joined, to enable us to send group emails. To avoid any problems in receiving our emails, please add the email domain  “@britishlawcentre.co.uk” as a safe sender (i.e. an email ‘white list’), so that any/all of the BLC teachers can write to you without fear of the email being categorised as spam. If you change your email address, you must inform us immediately, so that we can update your email address in the various locations we use it (website, moodle, mailing lists). Unless/until we receive such notification, we will regard all emails sent to your original email address as received and accessible by you.

(ii) Administrative Queries

The Local Centre Liaison

Any queries concerning the Host Institution’s rules and regulations relating to participation in the BLC Diploma (e.g. the availability of ECTS points) should be directed to the Local Centre Liaison. All participants will be provided with contact details for the Local Centre Liaison at the Host Institution through which they participate in the BLC Diploma course.

(iii) Course Provider and Applicable Law 

The course is provided by Juris Angliae Scientia (JAS), with its registered office at the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, 10 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9BZ, United Kingdom.

The interpretation and application of these regulations is governed by English law to the fullest permissible extent.

By applying to join the Diploma Course, you accept and consent to these Course Regulations, including the rules on paying course fees and the processing and retention of your personal data by the BLC strictly in accordance with our Privacy and Data Retention Policy (see below).

 

(iv) Privacy and Data Retention Policy

When you submitted your online application to us, you provided us with permission to contact you electronically. The permission for which we asked is voluntary and may be revoked by you at any time, for example by sending a message in reply to any electronic correspondence which you receive from us. If you did not provide the permission we requested, or if you subsequently revoke such permission, we will be unable to address any electronic communications to you.

Anyone who applies to join a BLC course provides contact data which we store in accordance with this Privacy and Data Retention Policy and the applicable law.

The personal data you provided is processed by Juris Angliae Scientia Ltd. to enable us to contact you regarding all aspects of the Diploma course and to keep you informed about the activities of the BLC and our sponsor law firms. We guarantee all your rights in this respect, including your right to request access to this data, to transfer such data, to correct such data, to delete such data and to delimit its processing and also your right to object to our processing of your data.

Unless you contact us and request us to delete your data, we retain the contact details you provided for 5 years from when you provided us with that data, and use it to inform you about the activities of the BLC and our sponsors. If you fully or partly completed the Diploma, we retain your contact details and data regarding your grades and attendance records permanently, in order for us to be able to confirm your participation on the course at any future time, if requested by you or any 3^rd party authorised by you or the applicable law to receive such information, and to inform you that we have received such a request.

If, as a result of your objection to us processing your data, it becomes unreasonable or excessively difficult for us to continue contacting you or enabling you to access course materials, assignments etc., we reserve the right to deemed your objection as being equivalent to you withdrawing from the Diploma course.

Please contact us if you have any questions about our data retention policy (e.g. regarding your right to lodge a complaint with an oversight authority, or to ask us to rectify, transfer or delete your data).