What if the biggest case you study this summer wasn’t fictional? In our Law Online Summer School, you tackle real legal problems, guided one-to-one by an Oxford tutor through a structured research-led syllabus.

You cover contract law, tort law, human rights law, EU law, and international criminal law, working through real cases and problem questions rather than textbook theory alone.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the ten topics you can study in our Law Online Research Programme, from contract law to international criminal law.

First, here’s what the programme actually involves.

Key Takeaways

  • Our Law Online Research Programme pairs you 1:1 with a tutor from Oxford, Cambridge, or an Ivy League university. There’s no fixed group timetable and no need for prior legal knowledge.
  • Our syllabus covers ten topics, spanning admissions and legal skills, contract law, tort law, human rights law, EU law, and international criminal law. Each topic is built around real cases and problem questions rather than theory alone.
  • Contract law topics cover the four elements of contract formation: offer, acceptance, consideration, and intention to create legal relations. You also apply the Sale of Goods Act 1979 to commercial disputes.
  • Tort law topics trace duty of care from Donoghue v Stevenson to the modern three-part test. You also study psychiatric harm claims and the distinction between primary and secondary victims.
  • Public law topics span human rights law from the Magna Carta onward, plus EU institutions and their relationship with UK law after Brexit. They also cover international criminal law, from Nuremberg to the International Criminal Court.
  • You build legal reasoning, independent research skills, and academic writing through the programme. This culminates in a research project you can present at the Immerse Online Symposium or submit for publication.
  • The programme is available as Classic (10 hours, £2,995), UK or USA Accredited (15 hours, £3,995, with 8 UCAS points or 3 US College Credit for ages 14+), or Publication (15 hours plus coaching, £4,995).

What Is a Law Online Research Programme?

A law online research programme lets you explore legal theory, case studies, and critical analysis in depth from anywhere in the world.

At Immerse Education, our programme pairs you one-to-one with a tutor from Oxford, Cambridge, or an Ivy League university, and builds toward an independent research project. Sessions are scheduled around you, with no group classes to keep pace with.

Your tutor shapes the syllabus around your chosen research topic, so the subjects covered can vary. The 10 topics in this guide, spanning contract law to international criminal law, show how that syllabus can look in practice.

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Online Research Programme
Provides subject study and academic research project development. Suitable for students looking to enhance academic research and writing skills.
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Ages: 13-18

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In-person

Explore Law in Toronto and build skills necessary...

Academic Insights
Provides a thorough introduction to diverse academic fields. Ideal for students beginning to contemplate their future academic paths and eager to explore various disciplines.
Ages: 15-18

What Do You Study in Our Law Online Research Programme?

At Immerse Education, you don’t follow a strict syllabus or timeline. Your tutor builds each session around your chosen research topic. As a result, the exact balance of subjects will shift depending on what you want to explore.

Here are the example topics you can expect to cover in our Online Law Summer School.

Example Topic 1: Introduction to the Oxford Admissions Process

In this topic, you look at what Oxford genuinely looks for in law applicants: communication, originality, and teachability. You explore personal statements, interviews, and the LNAT. Alongside this, you use two key frameworks, PACE (precision, analysis, creativity, energy and enthusiasm) and CCC (coherence, communication, critical analysis, critical thinking), to judge what makes an application stand out.

You also replay real Oxford law interview questions, giving you a genuine sense of how admissions tutors test reasoning under pressure.

Example Topic 2: Introduction to Law II

This topic builds on the admissions class by putting you inside an actual House of Lords case, Attorney General v Blake. You read the judgment and work through it the way law students do. This means learning how to extract legal reasoning from statutes and case law rather than summaries.

You also map out how an Oxford law degree is structured across year one, two, and three, including elective options such as the FHS Jurisprudence paper, and consider what a law degree can lead to beyond practising as a solicitor or barrister.

Example Topic 3: Private Law I: Contract Law

Here, you break contract law down into its four building blocks: offer, acceptance, consideration, and intention to create legal relations. Rather than memorising definitions, you learn how to read common law contract cases and see how courts have applied each element to real disputes.

By the end of this topic, you can explain why a contract exists, or doesn’t, in a given scenario. This skill underpins almost every other area of commercial and private law you’ll encounter later in the programme.

Example Topic 4: Private Law II: Contract and Commercial Law Problem Question

This session drops you into a commercial law problem question involving a conflict of interest between three to five parties. You apply the nemo dat rule, which governs how property can be transferred, and work through the Sale of Goods Act 1979 to resolve a real dispute between commercial dealers.

You also learn why commercial transactions follow different rules from ordinary contracts, prioritising certainty and speed between dealers over the protections given to individual consumers.

Example Topic 5: Private Law III: Tort Law I, the Tort of Negligence

Tort, the French word for wrong, is where you learn what happens when someone’s carelessness causes harm to another person. You start with duty of care, the idea that decides whether one person owes another a legal responsibility to avoid causing injury.

You trace how this idea developed over time, from the classic case of Donoghue v Stevenson through to the modern three-part test used by courts today. This test asks whether the harm was foreseeable, whether there’s a close enough relationship between the parties, and whether it’s fair to hold someone responsible.

Example Topic 6: Private Law IV: Tort Law II, Psychiatric Harm

This topic looks at when someone can claim compensation for psychiatric harm rather than physical injury. You learn the difference between primary victims, who were physically at risk, and secondary victims, who witnessed harm to someone else, and why the law treats each group differently.

You also study the Hillsborough disaster litigation, one of the most significant cases in this area. This helps you see how courts decide whether a witness’s connection to the victim and their proximity to the event are close enough to justify a claim.

Example Topic 7: Public Law I: Human Rights Law

Here, the focus shifts from disputes between individuals to the relationship between people and the state. You explore what national constitutions and fundamental rights actually protect. Alongside this, you trace their development from the Magna Carta through to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights after 1945.

You also work through human rights problem questions using a three-step approach: identifying the scope of a right, whether it’s been breached, and whether any restriction on it can be justified, alongside newer debates such as animal rights.

Example Topic 8: Public Law II: European Union Law

This topic maps out how the European Union actually works, covering the Council, the European Council, the European Parliament, the Commission, and the European Court of Justice. Alongside this, you look at the treaty powers behind each institution.

You then look at how EU law interacts with national law, and how that relationship changed after Brexit. This includes what retained EU law means for the UK’s legal system. You also see how national courts can ask the European Court of Justice to interpret the law through the preliminary reference procedure.

Example Topic 9: Public Law III: European Union Law II, Free Movement of Goods

Building on the institutional groundwork from the previous topic, you now turn to one of the EU’s substantive rules: the free movement of goods within the single market. You look at how this principle sits alongside the free movement of capital, persons, and services.

You then apply it directly, working through a problem question that tests whether a restriction on goods crossing borders is lawful. Along the way, you reference landmark rulings such as the Cassis de Dijon case.

Example Topic 10: Public Law IV: International Criminal Law

The final topic takes you beyond national borders to look at how the world’s most serious crimes are prosecuted. You trace the development of international criminal law from the Nuremberg and Tokyo military tribunals in 1945, through the ad hoc tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda in the 1990s, to today’s permanent International Criminal Court.

You also examine the sources of international criminal law, including the Genocide Convention and the Geneva Conventions. Alongside this, you study how crimes such as genocide, aggression, and war crimes are defined.

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What Skills Do You Build in Our Law Online Research Programme?

Working through legal topics with a tutor is only half the picture. The other half is the research project itself, which pushes you to read, argue, and write like a law undergraduate rather than a high school student.

Here’s what you build along the way:

  • Legal reasoning and case analysis: you learn to read case law and statutes properly. This means extracting the reasoning behind a judgment, not just its outcome, as with AG v Blake.
  • Independent research skills: you learn how to use academic and legal journals, evaluate conflicting sources, and reference authors correctly. These are the same standards expected at the undergraduate level.
  • Problem-solving under pressure: through problem questions on contract, commercial, and EU law, you practise applying legal rules to messy, real-world scenarios. This goes well beyond textbook examples.
  • Academic writing for a legal audience: your research project builds toward a full-length paper, assessed by your tutor. This paper mirrors the structure and rigour of an undergraduate law essay.
  • Confidence to present and publish your work: strong projects can be shared at the Immerse Online Symposium. Publication route students also receive coaching to submit their work to an independent high school research journal.

Is Our Law Online Research Programme Right for You?

Our Law Online Research Programme suits you if you’re curious about legal theory and want to test that curiosity through real cases and independent research, not just lectures. You don’t need prior legal knowledge, only a willingness to read closely and argue clearly.

It’s especially useful if you’re weighing up Law, Politics, or International Relations at university. It gives you a genuine preview before committing to a degree.

FAQs

You don’t need any prior legal knowledge to enrol on our Law Online Research Programme. It’s designed to introduce legal theory, case studies, and critical analysis from the ground up, guided entirely by your 1:1 tutor. 

What matters most is curiosity and a willingness to read closely, question evidence, and build an argument. Many participants join with no formal exposure to law and use the programme to test whether studying it further is the right fit for them.

What Happens If You Don’t Have A Research Topic In Mind Yet?

You don’t need a finalised research topic before enrolling on our Law Online Research Programme. After enrolment, you complete an academic background form outlining your interests and goals, which our team uses to match you with a suitable tutor. 

Your tutor works with you to narrow down and shape your research topic during your early sessions. As a result, you and your tutor develop the direction of your project together rather than fixing it from the start.

How Long Does A Law Online Research Programme Take To Complete?

Our Law Online Research Programme runs for either 10 or 15 contact hours, depending on which option you choose. The Classic programme is delivered over 10 hours. Meanwhile, the Accredited and Publication programmes run for 15 hours, plus additional coaching sessions for Publication students.

You schedule sessions around your own timetable. As a result, you can complete the programme at a pace that fits your other commitments.

How Much Does The Law Online Research Programme Cost?

Pricing for our Law Online Research Programme varies by option. The Classic programme is priced at £2,995, the UK and USA Accredited programmes at £3,995, and the Publication programme at £4,995. Each price reflects the number of contact hours and the level of support included, from personalised feedback to publication coaching. 

Bursaries and scholarships may be available for eligible students, so it’s worth checking current options before enrolling.

How Are UCAS Points Awarded Through The Accredited Programme?

UCAS points are awarded through our UK Accredited Online Research Programme. This programme is accredited by the National Open College Network and is worth 8 UCAS points.

To qualify, you must be aged 14 or over at the time of the programme, since UCAS points can’t be awarded to younger participants. Completing the required 15 hours of tuition and qualification-specific lessons, alongside your assessed research project, secures the points.

Do You Receive A Certificate At The End Of The Programme?

Yes, you receive a certificate of attendance at the end of your Law Online Research Programme, along with a detailed personal evaluation from your tutor. 

If you’re on an Accredited programme, your assessed project earns you a qualification worth 8 UCAS points. Meanwhile, Publication route students earn additional recognition through their published work.

Conclusion

By now, one thing should be clear: legal theory only sticks when it’s tied to real cases, real arguments, and real consequences.

You’ll see, in the end, that studying law online through our summer school gives you a genuine feel for what a law degree really involves, from contract disputes to international courts.

Along the way, you build sharper legal reasoning, stronger academic writing, and genuine research experience to bring into university applications and beyond.

Ready to build your own research project with an Oxford or Cambridge tutor? Explore our Law Online Summer School and start shaping your legal future today.