School of Social Sciences

Corporate Governance LLM

Year of entry: 2026

Course length: 12 months Full-Time

About the course

Demand for skilled, versatile lawyers remains high within the business world. The growing complexity of corporate governance, regulatory compliance and ethical accountability is evident in high-profile global cases such as the FTX Collapse or the UK’s Post Office Scandal.

Our LLM Corporate Governance course prepares you to meet this demand by developing your expertise in the law of conducting business and its application within an increasingly globalised society. Taught by leading academics in corporate governance and corporate social responsibility, you will apply your knowledge to real-world examples to develop sought-after skills in the business world.

You’ll enhance your legal knowledge of corporations, law practice and current governance processes in the UK and abroad by studying contemporary issues and examining major corporate governance theories.

You’ll become part of one of Europe’s leading law schools that produces internationally renowned research. As a student, you will be guided by our diverse academic experts who have research links with overseas organisations such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and a number of legal authorities.

See the full course profile on our website >

Join a university with a strong heritage of providing legal education since 1872, where graduates include Dame Christabel Pankhurst and Lord Stephens, the current Justice of the UK Supreme court

Benefit from our first-class facilities, including a purpose-built moot court where you can develop your legal skills

Gain practical experience throughout your studies, such as by offering legal advice at our Legal Advice Centre or promoting positive change through the Manchester Innocence Project

Graduate from one of the UK’s most targeted universities by top employers with the skillset needed to make a real-world contribution

(High Fliers, The Graduate Market Report 2025)

Compulsory Units

Transnational Corporate and Capital Markets Law;
The Principles and Practice of Corporate Governance;
LLM Dissertation.

Optional Units

Academic Skills for Legal Studies;
International Banking Law;
Intellectual Property Law;
The Regulation of International Finance;
International Law and Practice of Securities Markets;
International Investment Law;
International Commercial Arbitration and Mediation Law.

These are examples of units offered in 2024/25 and are subject to change. See the full list of units and find out more on the full course profile >

Where will your course take you?

Today’s turbulent legal landscape is in increasing need of graduates with a broad skill set and deep legal knowledge to navigate complexities and drive informed decision-making.

Our courses allow you to develop a variety of both subject-specific and transferable skills suited to a wide variety of roles, such as critical thinking, legal analysis, research, problem-solving and communication.

Most of our recent graduates have gone on to work with leading organisations in the corporate and commercial legal field, national and international institutions, academia, and at top universities, with job titles such as Corporate Lawyer, Financial and Legal Consultant, Trademark Attorney, Lawyer, and Policy Researcher.

Many of our graduates choose to continue their research by studying a PhD in Law, either at Manchester or at another leading university, where they expand the boundaries of our knowledge and pursue careers in research or academia.

Rob Manning

Senior Consultant at Ernst & Young / Corporate Governance LLM Alumni

“The University as a whole is absolutely phenomenal experience as a student. You get such a variety of legal areas you can study. The staff are incredibly passionate about their subject area.

The School of Law always produce high-quality students. What you get from Manchester is a very real sense of where your degree subject fits into wider society and it's those critical skills that you build up that are crucial when it comes to actually getting out there into the job market.“