The Open University’s growing reliance on web-based collaborative tools sets it apart from traditional distance-learning institutions. The increasing use of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) encourages students from diverse backgrounds to come into law via this route. As many as 25% of the undergraduates have a degree before they start the LLB at the OU. .Some courses at the OU leading towards the LLB, such as Employment Law and Company Law, use Moodle, a computing environment designed to help educators create online courses with opportunities for rich interaction. The hope is for Moodle to be extended to the mainstream LLB modules.

The remote LLB student at the OU is also aided by the use of conferencing to facilitate students’ interaction, forums, blogs and wikis. Many tutors give feedback to their students via podcasts, and the OU library has many resources online as well as a repository of research material available on the internet.

Social networking is offered by the university’s Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), which facilitates collaborative learning. Other social networks are promoted by encouraging students to use such media as Facebook.

A further up-and-coming LLB distance learning course is the one offered by Holborn College in partnership with the University of Huddersfield. Many students enrol on the LLB having already been awarded a non-law degree. The average age of the student is 34 and Nic Pike, head of flexible learning, says that working parents comprise a significant proportion of the remote student population.

Many are also ‘returnees’ who have left school without formal qualifications. The LLB attracts a significant proportion of students with employment experience in the medical and law enforcement fields of work. At Holborn, the tutors participate in weekly forums and are accessible through the VLE to students worldwide. Students are able to participate in live online seminars and receive recorded lectures on a weekly basis. All students have access to a wide variety of online resources e.g. law journals and an online library.

The LLB distance learning option at Nottingham Trent University also has students from diverse backgrounds. Nearly all are mature, with a small minority enrolling straight from school; the yearly student intake is about 80 and of these only about two register at the age of 18. Interestingly, some students are from Scotland and Ireland who have studied law in their own jurisdiction and are keen to convert to English law.

The age range of students is from 25 to 60 plus. They come from all professions: medicine, finance, construction, education and IT.

The course includes a large number of mothers returning to work. Some want to change professions, while others are looking to gain legal knowledge or a legal qualification.

At Nottingham Trent, the inclusion of students from diverse backgrounds is helped by the easy access to online interaction. Study material is available electronically. LLB students have access to their own Virtual Learning Portal, on which materials and other information on the modules they are studying are available.

Students across the globe use these methods for studying remotely. Exams can be taken within the UK or abroad where the British Council can arrange for the exams to be taken at a local university.

Richard Willis is an historian based in the School of Education, Roehampton University