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SQE: business law and dispute resolution

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This module covers a range of relevant SQE 1 functioning legal knowledge in the areas of business law and practice, contract, tort and dispute resolution. Alongside gaining knowledge of these areas, you’ll have the opportunity to develop legal and transferable skills (including communication, research and numeracy), professional behaviours and commercial awareness. The module aims to deliver substantive and procedural law in a highly engaging and authentic way. This should enhance your employability and support you if you’re preparing for SQE1.

What you will study

The module is divided into 16 units.

The first six units cover the law on business practice. They begin by exploring what is involved in starting up a new business. You’ll consider and analyse the features of certain business structures. You’ll then focus on two particular types of business structure – legal partnerships and limited liability companies. You’ll look at how such business structures are formed and managed. You’ll learn more about the role of partners in a partnership and directors and shareholders of a company. You’ll also consider the legal mechanisms for resolving disagreements between these parties.

You’ll look at how businesses are financed and the legal regime that applies when a business gets into financial difficulty. You’ll explore how trading profits are assessed and reliefs applied. You’ll then apply this knowledge to calculate income tax. You’ll also consider the scope and nature of VAT. Finally, you’ll be taken through the calculation of capital gains tax and how to apply business property relief to inheritance tax.

In the next two units, you'll focus on the law of obligations: contract law and tort law. You'll touch on contract formation and explore in depth four key aspects of contract law: terms of a contract, mistake, discharge and remedies. This will be followed by a brief consideration of the law on negligence before exploring other areas of tortious liability, such as employers’ liability, vicarious and product liability and nuisance (public and private) in more depth.

In the remaining eight units of the module, you'll investigate the law and procedure relating to dispute resolution. You'll begin by evaluating the different options available for dispute resolution. This will be followed by a step-by-step study of the processes involved in bringing a civil case to trial and the applicable law. This includes:

  • the key issues that must be considered when bringing court proceedings.
  • how to commence court proceedings.
  • how to respond to and defend a claim, and the importance of observing specified time limits.
  • the meaning and purpose of interim applications in court proceedings, and the nature of summary judgments.
  • the role of the courts in managing the timetable of a case.
  • the rules surrounding the use of evidence in civil cases and the duty of disclosure.
  • the rules governing costs and the conduct and outcome of a civil trial.

Throughout the module, you'll have opportunities to reinforce and consolidate knowledge and develop skills through a variety of shorter and longer activities. The longer activities are designed to simulate a virtual working experience by setting the sorts of tasks typically undertaken by those training for a career in law. At the end of each unit of study, there’s a consolidation activity comprising multiple choice questions modelled on the approach taken in SQE1. You'll be encouraged to reflect on ethical and professional conduct issues throughout the module and note the increasing role of technology in legal practice.

The module will include a 60-minute online workshop with a business law or dispute resolution practitioner covering their experience of practice and providing advice on how to obtain employment in that area of law. There will also be two online SQE events, open to all SQE students, and will cover areas common to the three modules and be useful for aspiring solicitors.

Professional recognition

The Foundations of Legal Knowledge (FLK) route of the Bachelor of Laws (Honours) (LLB) (graduate entry) will be accredited by the Council of Legal Education (Northern Ireland) as a recognised law degree, subject to time limits, exempting you from the academic stage of legal training to become a barrister or solicitor in Northern Ireland.

Completing the FLK route within the specified time limits will enable you to self certify that you have fulfilled the requirements set by the Bar Standards Board to be exempt from the academic stage of training if you wish to become a barrister in England and Wales.

Entry requirements

You will need to have studied or be studying on a concurrent presentation of SQE: legal system, public law and criminal litgation (W321) before enrolling on W323. 

You must have a law degree which includes English and Welsh law and covers the seven foundations of legal knowledge if you will be studying this module as part of the Professional Certificate in Legal Practice: SQE1 (S36).

You must also have:

  • at least nine hours available to study per week
  • a competent level of use with a computer, the internet and Office 365
  • a strong command of reading and writing in English
  • reasonable numeracy skills as part of the module requires the completion of tax calculations.

Preparatory work

This module will build on your knowledge of contract law. It is therefore recommended that you look over your materials on contract law from your previous study of this topic in preparation.

If you will be studying this module for the Bachelor of Laws (Honours) (graduate entry) (R82), you will not have studied tort previously and are therefore strongly advised to prepare by studying the supplementary materials on tort on the Law Study home site which will be available when you register.

What's included

You will be provided with eBooks on:

  • Business law and practice
  • Dispute resolution
  • Contract law
  • Tort law

You will also be referred to the eBook on Ethics and Professional Conduct which you receive when you register for study on SQE: legal system, public law and criminal litigation (W321). You will be directed to read extracts from these eBooks as you work through the online study materials.

You'll also have access to a module website, which includes:

  • a week-by-week study planner
  • module-specific study materials
  • audio and video content
  • interactive activities
  • assignment details and submission section
  • online tutorial access and tutor support
  • access to OU library services (including legal databases).

Computing requirements

  • Primary device – A desktop or laptop computer. It’s possible to access some materials on a mobile phone, tablet or Chromebook; however, they may not be suitable as your primary device.
  • Peripheral device – Headphones/earphones with a built-in microphone for online tutorials.
  • Our OU Study app operates on supported versions of Android and iOS.
  • Operating systems – Windows 10 or 11 or macOS Ventura (or higher).
  • Internet access – Broadband or mobile connection.
  • Browser – Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge are recommended; Mozilla Firefox and Safari may be suitable.

Teaching and assessment

Support from your tutor

You’ll get help and support from an assigned tutor throughout your module.

They’ll help by:

  • marking your assignments and offering detailed feedback to help you improve
  • providing individual guidance, whether that’s for general study skills or specific module content
  • guiding you to additional learning resources
  • facilitating online discussions between your fellow students in the dedicated module and tutor group forums.

Online tutorials run throughout the module. Where possible, we’ll make recordings available. While they’re not compulsory, we strongly encourage you to participate.

Due to the vocational nature of this module, the tutors will act like training principals or mentors. Therefore, the individual contact will be at a slightly higher level of frequency than you might have experienced on other OU level 3 modules.

Assessment

The assessment details for this module can be found in the facts box.

If you have a disability

The OU strives to make all aspects of study accessible to everyone and this Accessibility Statement outlines what studying W323 involves. You should use this information to inform your study preparations and any discussions with us about how we can meet your needs.

Future availability

SQE: business law and dispute resolution starts once a year – in February. This page describes the module that will start in February 2026. We expect it to start for the last time in February 2031.

Course work includes:

1 Tutor-marked assignment (TMA)
4 Interactive computer-marked assignments (iCMAs)
End-of-module assessment