The National University of Ireland, Maynooth
BCL Law and Business
Maynooth, Ireland
Bachelor's degree
DURATION
3 up to
4 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
EUR 17,000 / per year
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
About: The BCL Law and Business at Maynooth University is a three-year degree combining core law modules with business study, accredited by the Honorable Society of King's Inns. With less law than the LLB, it lets you build business expertise and commercial awareness. A four-year option includes a work placement or study abroad and you may transfer after year one into the LLB or BBS.
Career Outcomes: Graduates can sit the Law Society FE-1 and King's Inns entrance exams to train as solicitors or barristers. The degree leads to roles in management, consulting, IT, policy, NGOs, administration and in-house commercial law.
- The BCL is a three-year degree in law combined with one other subject, in this case Business - accredited by the Honorable Society of King's Inns. While the BCL covers all the core modules of law, students take less law than on the LLB (MH501), giving students more time to develop expertise in business. The main advantage is that it allows the study of law along with learning in business. This combination is ideal for those who may wish to run their own practice, to work in a setting where law is applied, to work in a business itself, or to practice commercial law.
- Business is the way by which every product and service you use in daily life is developed, promoted and delivered on the global stage. This degree provides students with insights into the core functions of Business and how they interact to create value for and capture value from clients and customers.
- Law and Business students at Maynooth are offered unparalleled flexibility and choice. Students have the option of taking a four year degree with a work placement or study year abroad (subject to availability), thus combining what they learn in university with insights into industry (legal or commercial) or another culture.
- The defining feature of this degree is the skill-set which it provides students; future employability is enhanced by developing the students faculties for argument and reasoning, for clear thinking, for the analysis of complicated ideas and for understanding the commercial context in which the law operates.
- Students who successfully complete 1st year also have the option of transferring into the 2nd year of the LLB degree (MH501) or the 2nd year of the BBS Business and Management degree (MH404).
Duration: 3 years (4 years with optional placement or Erasmus/Study Abroad)
- Business is taken jointly with Law for the three years of the programme, with a wide range of business and legal subjects being studied
- Some students may choose to complete a work placement or study abroad year between 2nd and 3rd year and graduate after the 4th year (subject to availability - the University will support you in the search for a placement job; however, the process is competitive
- Students who opt to spend a year studying abroad are awarded a BCL (International) degree.
- Students who successfully complete the 1st year of the programme have the option of transferring into the 2nd year of the LLB degree MH501 or 2nd year of the BBS Business and Management degree. An introductory accounting module must be taken in semester 1 of 2nd year (in the case of the latter degree)
- This degree combines the best elements of the University's degrees in Business and in Law to ensure students graduate with the maximum range of career options, both in Law and in Business.
- Graduates of the BCL will be eligible to take the Law Society's FE-1 entrance examinations (necessary to access training as a solicitor) and the entrance examinations for the King's Inns' Barrister-at-law degree programme (necessary to access training as a barrister).
- Business graduates are consistently among the most employable in the Irish education system. This degree opens up a whole range of career options in the commercial world such as in general management, service, IT and management organisations, consulting, journalism, policy development, the NGO sector, and national and international public administration.
- Both the School of Business and the School of Law and Criminology offer a range of postgraduate programmes for BCL (Law and Business) graduates.