Law and Accountancy

Law and accountancy is a combination that addresses two of the most central and interrelated frameworks through which modern economic and social life is organised. Law provides the rules, rights, and remedies that structure transactions, relationships, and disputes; accountancy provides the financial language through which economic activity is recorded, analysed, and communicated. Professionals who understand both are exceptionally well-placed to operate at the intersection of legal and financial complexity, whether in corporate law, taxation, audit, insolvency, financial regulation, or commercial advisory work.

At the University of Edinburgh, this four-year full-time joint programme allows you to study both disciplines with genuine depth across Edinburgh's Law School and Business School. In the law strand, you will engage with Scots law and comparative legal perspectives, including constitutional law, contract, delict, criminal law, corporate law, and public law, developing the analytical precision and legal reasoning that characterise legal education at its best. In the accountancy strand, you will study financial accounting, management accounting, auditing, taxation, and business finance, developing the technical competence and professional judgment that accountancy demands.

A year abroad is part of the programme, giving you the opportunity to study at a partner institution outside Scotland and to develop an international perspective on both legal and financial systems.

The combination develops rigorous analytical skills, the ability to handle complex technical material across two demanding disciplines, and the professional versatility to work at the intersection of law and finance.

Graduates are well placed to pursue professional qualifications in both law and accountancy, with routes toward solicitor training, the Scottish Bar, and membership of bodies such as ICAS, ICAEW, or ACCA. Careers in corporate law, tax, audit, financial regulation, commercial advisory roles, and the public sector are all well-supported. Postgraduate study is an option for those wishing to specialise further.