Join us online for legal advocacy training that fits around full-time work.
Good advocacy has a real impact on the success of a case – and good advocacy is a skill that can be learned.
In this flexible online short course, you’ll learn to become a better legal advocate and earn a certificate in legal advocacy skills.
What makes this legal advocacy training different?
While other courses focus almost exclusively on oral advocacy, this online course:
- focuses equally on written and oral advocacy
- combines decision-maker advocacy with client- and opponent-facing advocacy
- concentrates equally on both argumentation and testimony (witness examination) within the study of oral advocacy.
Not jurisdiction specific
The course will assist you in common law, civilian, religious and other legal orders, wherever there is a formal advocacy culture.
Applicable outwith the public courts
The techniques and principles you’ll learn apply in all legal fora, including specialist tribunals, arbitral tribunals, construction adjudications, disciplinary and regulatory proceedings.
Unique ‘Bar and Bench’ learning experience
Each module of the course is delivered jointly, by an experienced advocate and a judge. You’ll learn equally from a barrister with 30 years of advocacy experience, and a former litigation solicitor with extensive experience as a judge.
What you’ll study
In this online course you’ll learn, in an organised, structured and detailed way, how to be a good legal advocate.
With expert guidance and support, you will:
- improve how you prepare written advocacy documents
- learn how to prepare for any oral hearing
- enhance your techniques in questioning witnesses during testimony
- develop your ability to prepare witnesses (including experts) for reports and testimony
- gain confidence in presenting an oral legal argument
- become more successful in persuading opponents and clients to accept proposals and advice.
The course is highly practical, offering real examples, hints, tips and insights, but within a structured and principled educational framework.
You’ll work through the following topics across each week of the course:
- Introduction to advocacy
- Written advocacy
- Advanced written advocacy
- Oral advocacy: argument
- Oral advocacy: examination of witnesses and closing submissions
- Client and opponent advocacy
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to...
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Understand the nature, aims, and origins of legal advocacy.
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Construct high-quality written legal arguments.
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Design and deliver effective witness questioning.
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Deploy advocacy techniques in non-litigious legal environments.
Choose the University of Aberdeen for online legal advocacy training
Top 5 in Scotland for Law
We’re ranked Top 5 in Scotland for Law in two league tables (Guardian University Guide 2025 and Complete University Guide 2025).
You’re in expert hands
We’ve been teaching Law for more than five centuries, and delivering online learning for over 20 years.
Fits around full-time work
This course is designed to fit around work. With flexible hours and 24/7 study access.
How you’ll study
Online learning
This distance-learning legal advocacy training is delivered flexibly, 100% online.
You can learn with us anywhere, no student visa required, and manage your study hours to suit you.
Your teaching
This course is taught at postgraduate level.
Teaching is delivered through MyAberdeen, our online Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It holds all the materials, tools and support you’ll need in your studies. Take a look around MyAberdeen.
You can access your learning materials on computer, smartphone and laptop, 24 hours a day. You’ll find a range of online resources available, including:
- pre-recorded video lectures
- lecture notes
- live online tutorials
- reading materials
- discussion boards with your tutors and peers
- online access to our award-winning Sir Duncan Rice Library.
Each week, you’ll have one pre-recorded lecture to listen to. You’ll also have a task to complete: either a live online tutorial or an online activity.
Live online tutorials
Every second week, you’ll have an online tutorial lasting around 90 minutes. Each tutorial will build on the materials you’ve covered in the lectures, helping you to embed and extend your knowledge and understanding of good advocacy.
You’ll be given questions to consider or tasks to prepare for discussion in these sessions. And they’ll allow you to share your experiences with your online colleagues and tutors.
Online activities
You’ll have three online activies, one per fortnight, on each of the weeks when there are no tutorials. Each online activity will consist of a question for you and your peers to consider and respond to.
You’ll be given written feedback on your responses, allowing you to build on your learning with each online activity.
Your tutors
This course is delivered by our School of Law.
You’ll learn from a barrister with 30 years of advocacy experience in a range of legal environments, and a former litigation solicitor with extensive experience as a judge.
Both tutors will deliver teaching together, offering insights in all six lectures, offering a unique conversational education experience in legal advocacy skills.
This course is assessed online.
You’ll have three assessments, two of which are linked directly to your tutorial and online activity work:
- Online activity: a portfolio consisting of your responses to three online activities (worth 30% of your final course grade)
- Tutorial participation: you will be scored on how well you understood the tutorial questions, your preparation for the tutorials, and your performance and participation (worth 20%)
- Reflective report: following the tuition, you’ll discuss your understanding of the subject, what you have learned, and how that learning will be applied in your career (worth 50%).
Live online tutorials
This course features three online tutorials, one per fortnight. Each tutorial is live and scheduled to last for around 90 minutes.
Tutorial dates and times will be organised at the start of the course. Your course coordinator will consider everyone’s circumstances and time zones before setting up live tutorial times.
If you miss any live tutorials, you’ll be required to provide a good reason,with evidence if appropriate, and you will need to complete written work on the tutorial questions.
The tutorials will be recorded so that you can access them after they have taken place.
Study hours
This course comprises six weeks of tuition followed by two weeks of assessment time.
It totals approximately 60 hours of study and assessment time. That’s around 7 – 9 hours per week.
This is an indicative guide to the time required for a typical student at this level to achieve the learning outcomes. This includes time for independent study, as well as teaching and assessments.
You can largely set your own study hours each week to cover the materials. MyAberdeen is available 24/7, so you can log in and study when it suits you.
Activities at fixed times
You’ll have three live tutorials scheduled at fixed times, and assessments with deadlines. Otherwise, you can access and work through the course at your convenience.
Our first-class support structure will ensure that you aren’t alone in your studies. You’ll have contact with your coordinator via email, MyAberdeen and Microsoft Teams. You can use social media and discussion boards to chat with your fellow students too.
We provide a wide range of services to support you in your studies and beyond:
- Careers and Employability Service
- Disability support
- IT support
- Library support
- Student Support Service – help with finances, stress, wellbeing and non-academic issues
- Student Learning Service – study support, with advice sessions available via phone or Skype
- Aberdeen University Students’ Association (AUSA) – run by students for students
- Toolkit – clever apps and free training that can make your study life easier
Wherever you are in the world, you’ll feel part of our very special Aberdeen learning community.
Your teaching team
Professor Derek Auchie
Derek is a former practising solicitor and a current tribunal judge and academic.
He has published books and articles on judicial process, handled over 1,000 judicial evidential hearings involving complex factual and legal questions, and is an experienced judicial trainer.
Derek is also a CIArb fellow and an accredited arbitrator and mediator. Over the past 20 years, he has taught thousands of students evidence and procedure.
Ian Whitehurst
Ian is a practising barrister and accredited arbitrator, with extensive experience in criminal and regulatory law.
He has appeared in thousands of hearings in the criminal courts, regulatory tribunals and appellate courts. He has also lectured overseas and appeared as an advocate in offshore jurisdictions and international tribunals.
Ian was nominated by Legal 500 in 2023 as Criminal Barrister of the Year.
View Ian’s profileWhere this will take you
Your Certificate in Legal Advocacy Skills
On successful completion of the course and assessments, you’ll be awarded a Certificate in Legal Advocacy Skills from the University of Aberdeen.
You will receive a digital certificate of completion on request.
Career benefits
By the end of this course, you will be a better legal advocate.
As a result, you can expect to:
- improve your success rate across all advocacy settings
- increase your level of client satisfaction
- enhance your professional reputation in the eyes of other lawyers, judges, tribunal members, clients, witnesses
- enjoy the increased job satisfaction that comes with the results you get by being a good advocate.
You’ll also have the chance to make career connections with advocacy practitioners from different legal disciplines and jurisdictions.
Career progression
Your enhanced skills can open up promotion opportunities – as an advocate or in the judiciary – as well as helping you to move into a career in contentious work.
Roles that this course will help you to progress in include:
- Litigation (Court) Lawyer in any domestic and/or international courts or tribunals
- Arbitration Lawyer
- Employment Lawyer (involved in contentious work)
- Regulatory Lawyer (involved in contentious work), or
- any advocacy work in another legal environment.
Continuing professional development (CPD)
Your employer or professional institute may recognise this course for CPD hours. Talk to your employer or institute to find out more.
Free career support
Access our free careers service while you study.
- 1:1 appointments
- CV checks
- Interview prep
- Job opportunities
Entry requirements
Limited course places
There are 20 places available for each run of this course. Allocations of places are made strictly on a first-come, first-served basis.
If your registration comes after the first 20 places have been filled, you will be automatically allocated a place on the next run of this course, which is in February 2025. The course coordinator will email you in this instance, to confirm whether or not you are happy to defer to February entry.
Entry requirements
We welcome students from all over the world.
This course has no formal entry requirements. You do not need to provide proof of your qualifications.
But you do need to check the entry guidance above to understand the level of teaching delivered, to decide if this course is right for you.
If you do not have qualifications from the UK, check the equivalent teaching level for your country.
Visa requirements
You do not need a student visa to study online with us.
English language requirements
Teaching is delivered in English.
You do not have to provide proof of your English language skills to join this course. But we want to make sure that you can use English well enough to study successfully.
Recommended level of English
This course uses our Postgraduate Higher level of English language proficiency.
These are our Postgraduate Higher requirements, and these are minimum scores.
IELTS Academic, IELTS UKVI Academic, and IELTS Online (not IELTS Indicator or IELTS General Training)
- 6.5 overall
- 5.5 for listening and speaking
- 6.0 for reading and writing
TOEFL iBT and TOEFL iBT Home Edition
- 90 overall
- 17 for listening
- 21 for reading
- 20 for speaking
- 21 for writing
- TOEFL DI code is 0818
Cambridge English: B2 First, C1 Advanced, or C2 Proficiency
- 176 overall
- 162 for listening and speaking
- 169 for reading and writing
LanguageCert Academic/LanguageCert Academic SELT
- 70 overall
- 60 for listening and speaking
- 65 for reading and writing
LanguageCert International ESOL B2 Communicator (Written and Spoken) – Online / In-centre
- Overall High Pass
- 33 for listening, reading and speaking
- 38 for writing
Oxford ELLT Digital – English Language Level Test Online
- 7.0 overall
- 5.0 for listening and speaking
- 6.0 for reading and writing
PTE Academic (online test not accepted)
- 62 overall
- 59 for listening, reading, speaking and writing
Duolingo – tests taken from 1 July 2024 onward
- 120 overall
- 95 for listening and speaking
- 105 for reading and writing
University of Aberdeen English Pre-sessional Programme (PSE)
- Pass
- Valid for one year. Refresher can be offered if out of date
Pre-sessional academic English preparation programmes undertaken at other UK universities
- Pass at an equivalent of 6.5 (C1)
- B2 in all four skills
- Certification must be within one year prior to the start of your course
For more information about language qualifications see our English Language Requirements page.
You will need access to:
A computer (PC, laptop or Mac) operating on either:
- Windows 10 or later
- macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later.
Most teaching materials are smartphone- and tablet-friendly. But we recommend a proper laptop or desktop for completing assignments comfortably.
Reliable internet access
We recommend:
- a wired connection
- a minimum download speed of 2 Mbps so you can take part fully in live sessions.
Speakers or headphones
- We recommend a headset with built-in microphone and earphones if you’re likely to study in an environment with background noise.
- A webcam is optional, but you may like to use one for some interactive sessions.
Software
We’ll give you access to Office365 applications. This means you can use online versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and install these programs on up to five personal devices.
If your course requires specialist software, we’ll provide you with access to this and a licence that lasts throughout your studies.
See our detailed IT requirements for more information.
When you study with us, you can expect a first-class support structure so that you’re never alone in your studies.
But learning online does mean you have to motivate yourself and manage your own time.
Your most important commitment will be time – the time to work through, reflect on and understand your teaching materials.
Before you start a course that involves a high degree of independent study, we recommend looking at the time you will be able to devote to your studies each week:
- Be realistic
- Create a weekly schedule as a guide
If you have any questions about studying online, get in touch with our friendly team. We’re here to help.
Fee payment
Your course fee needs to be paid in full before you start your course.
We accept payment via Visa Debit, Visa Credit and Mastercard.
Ways to save
You may be able to get help funding this course via:
- discounts – if any discounts are available for this course, they’ll appear in the section below
- employer sponsorship – we accept full and partial fee payments from sponsors.
Find out more about funding options.
Student card
All our students are entitled to a University of Aberdeen student card. This gives you access to a range of student discounts around the city and online.
Learning resources
Access to all the essential books and resources you need are included in your tuition fee. They’ll be made available to you online and you do not have to buy your own copies.
We also provide optional recommended reading lists. Many of these resources are available electronically through our library, although purchases may be required if you wish to read the full list.
Printing
You may want to set aside a small budget for printing, depending on how you like to work.
This course is delivered at postgraduate level and has the following entry requirements:
- a qualifying undergraduate law degree or a postgraduate law degree from any country, or
- an equivalent-level related degree, or
- a reasonable volume of experience of legal advocacy.
You should assess whether or not you feel you meet these requirements. If you do, please apply to join the course.
Apply for this course