Academic Entry Requirements and Visas
Academic Entry Requirements
This information will help you to decide whether our courses are for you. It tells you about our policy for enrolling (registering) students and what to do if you need a visa.
Legal English, especially the style and vocabulary that lawyers use in commercial contracts, is very different from ordinary, general English. We often find that a group of international students have varying levels of general English, but are all starting from the same point when studying legal English.
For this reason we do not insist that any student has any particular formal qualification in English in order to take part in our courses and we do not insist that you pass any formal test as an entry requirement. Many of our students are already working in a pressured legal environment and do not have the time available to study general English at a higher level. Similarly, many of our students have recently been accepted as trainees in international law firms and need a quick, intensive boost to their language skills before starting work. It is therefore part of our mission statement to take a practical approach and to support any lawyer, law student or legal translator who needs an improved level of legal English in his or her workplace. All of our teachers and administrative staff have a modern, plain English approach to communicating with you. We will make the course as accessible to you as we possibly can.
If you hold formal qualifications such as IELTS or TOEFL, please tell us about it. It is useful for us to know your academic history before you study with us. If you are worried about your level of English you can ask us to assess it by sending us an email and asking for feedback or arranging to speak to one of our teachers in a telephone assessment. We will tell you if we think you can benefit from our course or not at this stage.
It has been our experience that when you study with us you will find a group of international colleagues with varying levels of general English who are prepared to learn together in an environment of support and co-operation.
Obtaining a visa for entry into the UK
Some students need a visa to enter the UK. If you are not sure about this please email or call us and we will advise you. You need to get a visa, or what is sometimes called ‘entry clearance’ into the UK by applying to your nearest British High Commission or British Embassy.
Cambridge Law Studio has successfully passed inspection for the purposes of allowing students to enter the UK in order to study on our legal English courses. The rules set out by the UK immigration authorities are as follows:
All UK schools now need to be accredited in order to issue students with offer letters for the purposes of obtaining a visa. Cambridge Law Studio has been inspected by the ASIC as a Premier Status College. Our registration number is AS37074/0609.
As our courses are for less than 6 months we are advised by the UK Borders Agency that our students require a STUDENT VISITOR VISA.
To obtain a student visitor visa you must:
- be at least 18 years old
- be able to demonstrate that you have the financial resources to support yourself in the UK
- have no intention of staying in the UK for longer than 6 months or applying to stay longer
- have no intention of working in the UK, even if the work is unpaid
- have been accepted on a course listed on the register of education and training providers
It is very important to know that we are told that any of our students applying under Tier 4 will AUTOMATICALLY BE REFUSED A VISA. This is because Tier 4 applies only to students who wish to enter the UK for six months or more. Therefore, please DO NOT apply to enter the UK under Tier 4. Please DO Apply for a Student Visitor Visa.
If you wish to study in the UK and stay for longer than 6 months or you wish to work in the UK you must enter the UK as a student and not a student visitor.
Useful website address for further information on all types of visa are:
The UK Borders Agency Visa Services website at: www.ukvisas.gov.uk
The UK Council for International Student Affairs website at: www.ukcosa.org.uk
Citizens of the EEA
If you are a citizen of the European Economic Area (the EEA) you do not need a visa to enter the UK. The EEA member states are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
*Switzerland is not a member of the EU or the EEA but Swiss nationals have had rights which are similar to those of nationals of EEA countries and do not require a visa to enter the UK.