You’ll begin by considering contemporary legal issues, including the creation of new criminal offences, charity law, the relationship between business and human rights, and terrorism laws. Through these subjects, you’ll develop your knowledge of the civil and criminal justice systems in England and Wales, as well as human rights at national, regional and international levels.
Your academic and research skills will be extended as you explore a range of contemporary legal issues, including the punishment of children, business procurement, peacekeeping and transitional justice, human rights and criminal law, and climate change.
Activities will help you find and use a wide range of primary legal sources, such as legal databases, statutory materials, and caselaw, to evaluate the law in its broader social context, as well as to assess proposals for its reform. This will be combined with the use of non-legal sources and academic literature.
The final part of the module is focused on critical thinking and research, as these skills are applied to a range of contemporary issues, with attention to their historical and social contexts. These might include artificial intelligence, corporate law, the meaning of ‘family’, the age of consent, medical negligence, media law, and migration.
Throughout the module, you’ll be supported by interactive activities and a range of learning resources tailored to all levels of prior legal research experience. You’ll also have opportunities to reflect on your personal development and practice, as well as to share your ideas with other students.
This module is a good choice if you intend to continue with legal studies or to work in a range of legal and non-legal fields, including policy, research, business, public administration and legal practice.
You’ll get help and support from an assigned tutor throughout your module.
They’ll help by:
Course work includes:
You’ll have access to a module website, which includes:
You can study this module on its own or use the credits you gain towards an Open University qualification.
W811 is a compulsory module in our:
W811 is an option module in our:
Exploring modern legal issues starts once a year – in November.
This page describes the module that will start in November 2026.
We expect it to start for the last time in November 2033.
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations, which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.
You will be expected to have an honours degree (in any subject).
The module is taught in English, and your spoken and written English must be of an adequate standard for postgraduate study. If English is not your first language, we recommend that you seek assessment under the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Please see the IELTS website for details.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the module, please speak to an adviser.
Written transcripts of any audio components and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) versions of printed material are available. Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader. Other alternative formats of the module materials may be available in the future.
| Start | End | Register by | England fee |
|---|
| 31 Oct 2026 | 30 Jun 2027 | 15 Oct 2026 | Not yet available* |
| *This start date is open for pre-booking, which means you can reserve your place ahead of the fees being confirmed. We’ll publish updated 2026/27 fees and funding information on the 25th of March. |
There may be extra costs on top of the tuition fee, such as set books, a computer and internet access.
If your income is not more than £25,000 or you receive a qualifying benefit, you might be eligible for help with some of these costs after your module has started.
There may be extra costs on top of the tuition fee, such as set books, a computer and internet access.
If you study this module as part of an eligible qualification, you can apply for a postgraduate loan to support your study costs. To find out more, see Postgraduate loans in England.
If you study this module as part of an eligible qualification, you can apply for a postgraduate loan to help with your tuition fees. To find out more, see Postgraduate tuition fee loans in Northern Ireland.
If you study this module as part of an eligible qualification, you can apply for a postgraduate loan to help with your tuition fees. To find out more, see Postgraduate loans in Scotland.
If you study this module as part of an eligible qualification, you can apply for a postgraduate loan to support your study costs. To find out more, see Postgraduate loans in Wales.
The Open University Student Budget Accounts Ltd (OUSBA) offers a convenient 'pay as you go' option to pay your OU fees, which is a secure, quick and easy way to pay. Please note that The Open University works exclusively with OUSBA and is not able to offer you credit facilities from any other provider. All credit is subject to status and proof that you can afford the repayments.
You pay the OU through OUSBA in one of the following ways:
Joint loan applications
If you feel you would be unable to obtain an OUSBA loan on your own due to credit history or affordability issues, OUSBA offers the option to apply for a joint loan application with a third party. For example, your husband, wife, partner, parent, sibling or friend. In such cases, OUSBA will be required to carry out additional affordability checks separately and/or collectively for both joint applicants who will be jointly and severally liable for loan repayments.
As additional affordability checks are required when processing joint loan applications, unfortunately, an instant decision cannot be given. On average, the processing time for a joint loan application is five working days from receipt of the required documentation.
Read more about Open University Student Budget Accounts (OUSBA).
If this course is geared towards your job or developing your career, you could ask your employer to sponsor you by paying some or all of the fees. Your sponsor just needs to complete a simple form to confirm how much they will be paying and we will invoice them.
You can pay part or all of your tuition fees upfront with a debit or credit card when you register for each module.
We accept American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Visa Electron.
We know that sometimes you may want to combine payment options. For example, you may wish to pay part of your tuition fee with a debit card and pay the remainder in instalments through an Open University Student Budget Account (OUSBA).
We know that sometimes you may want to combine payment options. For example, you may get support from your employer to pay part of your tuition fee and pay the remainder by credit or debit card.
For more information about combining payment options, contact an adviser.
Please note: your permanent address/domicile will affect your fee status and, therefore, the fees you are charged and any financial support available to you. The fee information provided here is valid for modules starting before 31 July 2026. Fees typically increase annually. For further information about the University's fee policy, visit our Fee Rules.
