LLM in the UK for Indian Students: Fees and Entry Requirements

A UK Master of Laws (LLM) is a one-year full-time degree. At the four universities we checked, full-time international tuition runs from £29,800 to £38,300 a year, and most want a bachelor's degree at upper second class or the overseas equivalent. Whether that degree must be in law depends on the university and the course.

One point trips up many applicants. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) route to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales does not list an LLM as a requirement. It needs a degree in any subject or an equivalent, two assessments called SQE1 and SQE2, two years of qualifying work experience and passing character checks. An LLM can deepen your knowledge, but it is not that route.

These are four universities, not the whole market, and they are for specific courses. Fees differ by course, so a different LLM at the same university can cost something else. The years also differ: King's states 2026/27, Manchester's page shows 2027 entry, Edinburgh's fee table is for 2027/8, and Bristol's page does not name the fee year, so we have shown exactly what each page says rather than lining them up as one year.

Edinburgh's degree finder fee table for its full-time Law (LLM) shows £33,600 a year for International and EU students in 2027/8, against £16,800 for Scotland and the rest of the UK. Its law school page lists a £1,500 deposit for 2027-28 entry and a 10% discount for Edinburgh graduates. Edinburgh runs other LLM routes too, so check the fee for your own course, and check any university's own course page before you plan around a number.

The three universities ask for similar levels but publish different detail, and only Manchester states a figure for Indian degrees. Manchester's Law page for Indian applicants asks for a minimum overall average of 60%, or a CGPA of 3.2/4.0 or 7 to 8.0/10, in a bachelor's degree from a well-ranked institution, and does not define well-ranked. It also does not say whether a three-year or five-year law degree is accepted.

King's standard requirement is a high 2:1 bachelor's degree with a final mark of at least 65%. Its international-equivalents section on the page we read was a country selector with no listed qualifications, so we have no India-specific conversion for King's. Its English language band is B, and the application fee is £130. Bristol asks for an upper second class honours degree or an international equivalent.

Manchester's Law page for Indian applicants says that for all its LLM courses, except the LLM Healthcare Ethics and Law, it requires an undergraduate law degree. But the page for the LLM in Public International Law says the bachelor's degree can be in any discipline, while noting that the LLM remains a law-focused degree.

We cannot resolve that from the pages, so treat it as a question for the admissions team before you apply. Bristol says a law degree is not required for its International Law LLM and accepts related fields. If you studied a three-year bachelor's degree outside law, the safest course is to ask the university in writing which of its LLMs will accept it.

The SRA's page on the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) route for England and Wales lists what you need: a degree in any subject or an equivalent level 6 qualification, both SQE1 and SQE2, two years' full-time or equivalent qualifying work experience, and passing its background checks and suitability requirements. The page does not mention an LLM. It also has a section for already-qualified lawyers, which we have not read in detail.

So an LLM is an academic degree in a chosen area of law, not a licence to practise. It does not by itself make you a solicitor in England and Wales. This article does not cover the rules for practising law in India after a UK LLM, which are set by Indian regulators, so check those directly before you choose a course.

For the Student visa, the Home Office asks you to show one year of course fees plus living costs of £1,529 a month in London or £1,171 a month elsewhere, for up to 9 months, held for 28 consecutive days. King's is in London, while Manchester and Bristol are not, so the same degree can change the amount you must show. Our cost-of-living guide compares these with what universities actually estimate.

After the course, the Graduate visa lets you stay and work: 2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026, and 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027, with a £937 application fee. While you study, a full-time degree-level course allows up to 20 hours of work a week in term time.

An LLM in the UK is a one-year, roughly £30,000 to £38,000 degree at the universities we checked, and the entry rules turn on your bachelor's degree and the specific course. It is a good fit if you want specialist legal study. It is not the route to becoming a solicitor in England and Wales, so decide your career path first, then choose the course and confirm its entry rules with the university in writing.