Subject · A level
Law
Which schools in England make Law a big part of the curriculum, and where results are strongest. Entries and grades from the 2025 performance tables.
What the data says
At A level, Law was offered in 542 schools and colleges, with 13,519 entries — roughly 4% of A level students.
A level: schools and colleges where the largest share of students take Law
Entries as a share of A level students (at least 30 A level students and 10 entries). England: 4% of A level students.
What pupils learn in Law, stage by stage
England has no national year-by-year syllabus: exam boards and schools set the order within each stage. These are the statutory blocks from the Department for Education, so a parent can see what a child meets in Years 7–9, what every GCSE candidate must cover, and what waits in the sixth form.
Years 7–9Key Stage 3
not offered as a separate subjectYears 10–11GCSE
not offered as a separate subjectYear 12A level, typically first year
36learning outcomes · content also examined at ASYear 13A level, second year
27learning outcomes · A level-only contentWhat A level Law teaches · Years 12–13
63 learning outcomes from the Department for Education’s statutory subject content, grouped by topic. Each outcome belongs to one of twelve fields of knowledge used across startfrom.today: Law & Public Administration (63). Exam boards add detail on top of these; the outcomes themselves are the same whichever board a school uses.
Nature of law6
- distinguish enforceable legal rules from other social normsYear 12 · AS — legal rule, social norm
- distinguish between criminal law and civil lawYear 12 · AS — civil law, criminal law
- explain the different sources of law including custom, statute and common lawYear 12 · AS — common law, sources of law
- explain the role of law in societyYear 13 — law and society
- evaluate the relationship between law and moralityYear 13 — law and morality, pluralism
- evaluate the extent to which the law achieves justiceYear 13 — law and justice, theories of justice
English legal system11
- explain the role of the rule of law in the English legal systemYear 12 · AS — rule of law
- explain the process of Parliamentary law making including the legislative processYear 12 · AS — legislative process, parliamentary law making
- evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of delegated legislationYear 12 · AS — delegated legislation
- apply the rules of statutory interpretation including the literal and mischief rulesYear 12 · AS — literal rule, mischief rule, statutory interpretation
- apply the doctrine of judicial precedent using the hierarchy of the courtsYear 12 · AS — hierarchy of courts, judicial precedent
- explain the role of the Law Commission in law reformYear 12 · AS — law commission, law reform
- explain the impact of European Union law on the law of England and WalesYear 12 · AS — european union law
- explain the structure of the civil courts and alternative dispute resolutionYear 12 · AS — civil court, dispute resolution
- explain the structure of the criminal courts including sentencing and appealsYear 12 · AS — appeal, criminal court, sentencing
- explain the roles of legal personnel including barristers, solicitors and the judiciaryYear 12 · AS — judiciary, legal personnel
- evaluate access to justice and the funding of legal servicesYear 12 · AS — access to justice, legal funding
Law of contract11
- explain the rules of the law of contractYear 12 · AS — law of contract
- apply the essential requirements of a valid contract including offer and acceptanceYear 12 · AS — consideration, offer and acceptance
- explain discharge of contract by breach including actual and anticipatory breachYear 12 · AS — anticipatory breach, breach of contract
- apply the rules for calculating damages for breach of contractYear 12 · AS — causation and remoteness, damages, mitigation of loss
- evaluate theories underpinning the law of contractYear 13 — contract theory
- explain the doctrine of privity of contractYear 13 — privity of contract
- distinguish between express and implied contract terms and conditionsYear 13 — conditions and warranties, express terms, implied terms
- evaluate exclusion and limitation clauses in contractsYear 13 — exclusion clause, limitation clause
- evaluate misrepresentation and economic duress as vitiating factors in contractYear 13 — economic duress, misrepresentation
- explain discharge of contract by performance and frustrationYear 13 — frustration, performance
- explain equitable remedies available for breach of contractYear 13 — equitable remedy
Law of tort9
- explain the rules of the law of tortYear 12 · AS — law of tort
- apply the elements of negligence including duty of care and causationYear 12 · AS — breach of duty, causation of damage, duty of care
- apply the rules of occupiers' liability to lawful visitors and trespassersYear 12 · AS — occupiers' liability
- apply the rules for calculating damages in tort including mitigation of lossYear 12 · AS — damages in tort, mitigation of loss
- evaluate theories underpinning the law of tortYear 13 — tort theory
- explain torts connected to land including nuisance and Rylands v FletcherYear 13 — nuisance, rylands v fletcher
- explain the nature and tests for vicarious liability in tortYear 13 — employment status, vicarious liability
- evaluate defences to tort claims including contributory negligence and volentiYear 13 — contributory negligence, volenti non fit injuria
- evaluate the use of injunctions as a remedy in tortYear 13 — injunction
Criminal law9
- explain the rules of criminal lawYear 12 · AS — criminal law
- apply the general elements of criminal liability including actus reus and mens reaYear 12 · AS — actus reus, causation, mens rea
- apply the law on non-fatal offences against the personYear 12 · AS — assault and battery, non-fatal offence
- evaluate theories underpinning criminal liabilityYear 13 — criminal law theory
- apply the law on fatal offences including murder and manslaughterYear 13 — involuntary manslaughter, murder, voluntary manslaughter
- apply the law on property offences including theft and robberyYear 13 — robbery, theft
- evaluate capacity defences including insanity and intoxicationYear 13 — insanity, intoxication
- evaluate necessity defences including self-defence and duressYear 13 — duress, self-defence
- apply the law on attempt as a preliminary offenceYear 13 — attempt, preliminary offence
Human rights law9
- explain the rules of human rights lawYear 12 · AS — human rights law
- explain the protection of individual rights and freedoms under the Human Rights Act 1998Year 12 · AS — human rights act 1998, individual rights
- apply specific articles of the European Convention on Human RightsYear 12 · AS — article 10, article 11, article 8
- evaluate restrictions on human rights including public order and police powersYear 12 · AS — police powers, public order offence
- evaluate proposals for reform of human rights protection in the UKYear 12 · AS — human rights reform
- evaluate theory underpinning human rights lawYear 13 — human rights theory
- evaluate criticisms of human rights protection in the UKYear 13 — criticism of human rights, devolution settlement
- apply additional articles of the European Convention on Human RightsYear 13 — european convention on human rights
- explain the enforcement of human rights through domestic courts and judicial reviewYear 13 — european court of human rights, judicial review
Legal skills8
- analyse a factual scenario to identify the key legal issuesYear 12 · AS — factual scenario, legal issue
- apply the rules of statutory interpretation to analyse legislationYear 12 · AS — statutory interpretation
- apply the doctrine of precedent to analyse case lawYear 12 · AS — case law, judicial precedent
- apply legal rules and principles to a hypothetical scenarioYear 12 · AS — hypothetical scenario, legal principle
- evaluate legal rules and principles to construct a reasoned argumentYear 12 · AS — legal principle, reasoned argument
- construct a clear and logical legal argument supported by legal authorityYear 12 · AS — legal argument, legal authority
- construct a persuasive legal argument where precedents are unclear or conflictingYear 13 — conflicting precedent, persuasive argument
- evaluate competing legal perspectives to identify the strongest viewpointYear 13 — counter-argument, legal perspective
Source: DfE GCE AS and A level law subject content (2015), Open Government Licence v3.0. Outcomes are split into single actions and rewritten only where the original bundled several; wording otherwise follows the DfE text. Methodology.