Law (BCL) and Taxation

The four-year Bachelor of Civil Law and Taxation degree allows students to combine the study of a full undergraduate law degree with taxation.

Taxation is a key component of global business in today’s commercial world. Law firms are expanding their practice in the area of taxation, creating an increased demand for law graduates with a knowledge of taxation. This degree will provide students with the knowledge and skills for legal practice, taxation or both.

Students complete all the modules required to support them to undertake the entrance exams for the Law Society of Ireland, should they wish to qualify as a solicitor. Students who wish to qualify as a barrister will have the option of taking all additional modules required by the Honourable Society of King’s Inns, through the Legal Professions specialised stream in the final year. 

Students will have the opportunity to obtain experience as a Clinical Tax Advisor at NUI Galway’s Tax Clinic, Ireland’s first free tax clinic. NUI Galway's Tax Clinic provides free information on personal tax matters to marginalised citizens, and through the work of the clinic, it aims to ensure the fairness and integrity of the tax system for all taxpayers. The Tax Clinic will allow students who study taxation at NUI Galway to gain valuable real-world experience working alongside professional tax advisors. Students can apply to participate in the Tax Clinic after they have completed the module Taxation I.

In year three of this course students will have the opportunity to spend the academic year completing professional work placement or studying abroad. Students will have the opportunity to apply for a professional work placement in a leading law firm, a corporate organisation, a public sector organisation or other suitable legal placement. Students can take advantage of our links with leading international universities to spend a year studying abroad. We offer study abroad opportunities in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, China, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, India, Poland, The Netherlands, Spain and the United States of America.

Note: Students who choose the optional specialist stream in Legal Irish will spend year three divided between one semester studying at NUI Galway’s Gaeltacht campus in An Cheathrú Rua and one semester of professional work placement in an Irish-speaking legal environment.​

This distinctive degree allows students to combine the study of a full undergraduate law degree with taxation and still explore other related areas of law and commerce by choosing a specialist stream in final year. Students may choose one of the following specialist streams.