How To Register For Mlf

Students sitting on concrete steps

The amphitheatre at the Saïd Business School

MSc in Law and Finance

About
Entry requirements
Resources
Funding and costs
College preference
How to apply

About the course

The MSc in Law and Finance (MLF) is taught jointly by the Law Faculty and the Saïd Business School. It will provide you with an advanced interdisciplinary understanding of economic and financial concepts and their application to legal topics. The MSc combines a highly analytic academic core with tailor-made practical applications derived from collaboration with professional and regulatory organisations.

Course structure

Students studying the MLF take three core courses and then choose either to take the law or finance stream. There are also pre-sessional courses in maths and financial reporting.

Core courses

There are two core finance courses (Finance and First Principles of Financial Economics), and a core interdisciplinary course (Law and Economics of Corporate Transactions). Finance is taught during the first and second terms. First Principles of Financial Economics is taught during the first term and Law and Economics of Corporate Transactions is taught during the second and third terms.

Law stream

In addition to the core MLF courses, students selecting the Law Stream will take two law electives from a tailored list of about 10 law courses that are available to students on the Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL). Students may choose to select two half options in law in place of a law elective, thereby allowing students to study a wider range of subjects. The list of law electives comprises courses that are business law-oriented and thus are intended to complement both each other and the MLF course as a whole. In taking these electives, you will be joined by students taking the Law Faculty's other taught graduate courses, the BCL and the Magister Juris (MJur). These electives may be taught by a combination of lectures, seminars and tutorials over the duration of the academic year, except for the dissertation option, which involves one-to-one sessions with an assigned supervisor. Outside of the seminars and tutorials you will be expected to read extensively in order to acquire the necessary knowledge to engage with course material at an appropriate level.

Finance stream

Currently, as an alternative to taking two law electives, MLF students can select the Finance Stream, which is taught by interactive classes at the Saïd Business School during the second and third terms. By selecting the Finance Stream, you will take only one law elective. In lieu of the second law elective, you will take a mandatory finance course, Corporate Valuation, in the second term and one finance elective in the third term. The menu of finance electives has been selected from those offered by the Saïd Business School for the Master of Business Administration (MBA) and MSc in Financial Economics (MFE), comprising finance courses intended to complement the MLF programme. The electives are studied at the Saïd Business School alongside MBA and MFE students. It is anticipated that the Finance Stream will be available in future years, subject to notice.

Supervision

The allocation of graduate supervision for this course is the responsibility of the Law Faculty and/or the Saïd Business School and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. Under exceptional circumstances a supervisor may be found outside the Law Faculty and/or the Saïd Business School.

Assessment

MLF students undertake assessment and/or examinations in each of the three terms of the programme. The core course of Finance, Law and Economics of Corporate Transactions and First Principles of Financial Economics use a range of assessment methods which may include group work exercises, timed examinations and formal coursework.

Most law elective subjects are assessed by means of timed examinations at the end of the course but some subjects use assessed essays written over a longer period. Further information about forms of assessment is provided on the Law Faculty Admissions page. Those taking the dissertation option are required to submit a dissertation in the third term.

Finance Stream elective subjects are assessed by formal coursework and/or practical work and/or a timed examination during the third term. The mandatory Finance Stream course, Corporate Valuation, is assessed during the second term.

Graduate destinations

Typically, over half of each class of MLF graduates go on to employment within the legal sector in London or internationally, usually at large, corporate law firms, at training contract or associate level, as well as in a variety of in-house roles. Others go on to work in fields such as investment banking, private equity, consulting and policymaking. Each year, a small number of students also embark on a career in academia.

As an MLF student, you will have access to the University Careers Services as well as to some relevant support from the Saïd Business School's Careers Service, and to dedicated MLF careers support as you consider your career strategy and move into the application and interview processes.

Additional speaker events are run to complement the MLF programme, which facilitate contact with senior practitioners of law and finance, and MLF students will be a member of both the SBS and wider University alumni networks.

All graduate courses offered by the Faculty of Law

All graduate courses offered by the Saïd Business School

Entry requirements for entry in 2022-23

a first-class or a very strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in law.

Equivalent qualifications may include a master's in law or a postgraduate diploma in law or other law professional equivalent.

For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA sought is 3.7 out of 4.0.

Other qualifications, evidence of excellence and relevant experience

Work experience in a relevant field may be an advantage but is not a requirement.
The longer it is since you have been in full-time education, the more attention will be paid to any relevant professional experience.
Publications are not expected. They may, in certain circumstances, advantage an application but it is appreciated that the opportunity to publish may vary considerably depending on factors such as the stage the student has reached in their academic career and the structure of the course(s) they have studied. Consequently, a lack of publications will not be assessed negatively.

Interviews are not normally held as part of the admissions process.

Resources

The Law Faculty is fortunate to have outstanding library facilities provided by the Bodleian Law Library. As part of the Bodleian, the Law Library shares in all the advantages of being part of the largest university library in the country, including the receipt, under legal deposit legislation, of legal material published in the UK and Ireland.

The Law Library offers the vast majority of its holdings - some 550,000 items - on open shelves across four floors. Selected low-use material is housed in a book storage facility and is retrievable within half a day. The library serves a large community of graduate readers and academics in their research requirements. The strength of the collection lies in the depth of its UK holdings, combined with extensive holdings for European and Commonwealth jurisdictions. The international law collection is exceptional, as are the collections for Roman law, jurisprudence and official papers. Other significant fields include the US and comparative law. To complement the paper collection, the Law Library provides a remarkable range of online legal resources.

The library has 40 reader workstations, which provide access to the internet, legal databases, Microsoft Office applications and Endnote. There is a Graduate Reading Room, a large seminar room, two IT rooms and three small 'discussion rooms' for private study or group work. The wireless network extends throughout the library. The law librarians offer a range of classes and one-to-one sessions to support the specific research needs of graduate students.

Further information about funding opportunities for this course can be found on the following faculty websites:

Funding information from the Faculty of Law
Funding information from Saïd Business School

Annual fees for entry in 2022-23

Deposits

If your application is successful, you will be asked to pay a deposit against your course fees at the application stage as a condition of your offer. The deposit amount and date by which payment must be made are shown below.

Amount of deposit	Date by which deposit must be paid
£6,300	Approximately 8 weeks after an offer is made

There are no compulsory elements of this course that entail additional costs beyond fees and living costs. However, as part of your course requirements, you may need to choose a dissertation, a project or a thesis topic. Please note that, depending on your choice of topic and the research required to complete it, you may incur additional expenses, such as travel expenses, research expenses, and field trips. You will need to meet these additional costs, although you may be able to apply for small grants from your department and/or college to help you cover some of these expenses.

College preference

The following colleges accept students on the MSc in Law and Finance:

How to apply

You do not need to make contact with academic staff before you apply.

Official transcript(s)

CV/résumé

Statement of purpose/personal statement:
A maximum of 300 words

Your statement should be written in English and explain your motivation for applying for the course at Oxford, your relevant experience and education, and the specific areas that interest you and/or you intend to specialise in.

The personal statement generally plays a less important role in the Law Faculty's assessment of applications than the references, written work, and academic qualifications.

This will be assessed for your reasons for applying, evidence of motivation for, and understanding of, the proposed area of study, your ability to present a reasoned case in English, and your commitment to the area of law and finance.

Written work:
One essay, a maximum of 2,000 words

The work must be written in English and on a legal topic. Academic work from your most recent qualification is preferred, but work written in a professional context may be submitted if academic work is not readily available.

Your written work may be an extract of the required length from a longer piece - in such cases, the work should be prefaced by a note which puts it in context.

The word count does not need to include any bibliography or brief footnotes.

This will be assessed for a comprehensive understanding of the subject area, an understanding of problems in the area, an ability to construct and defend an argument, your powers of analysis and your powers of expression.

References/letters of recommendation:
Three overall, of which at least two must be academic

You should select referees who can provide an informed view of your academic ability and suitability for the course. One professional reference is acceptable if this is relevant to the course. Please note that personal references, such as those from family and friends, are not acceptable.

Your references will support intellectual ability, academic achievement and motivation.

Application GuideApply