Professor Stephen Shute (left), Head of the School of Law, Politics and Sociology, with Dr John Belshaw, Dean of Social Sciences and Management at Langara Community College in Vancouver

Hundreds of overseas students are expected to study law at Sussex over the next few years as part of a new partnership between the University and two community colleges in Canada.

In the first collaboration of its kind in the UK, the Sussex Law School has signed arrangements with George Brown Community College in Toronto and Langara Community College in Vancouver to bring up to 80 Canadian students every year across the Atlantic.

The two colleges are already recruiting students to join their two-year undergraduate-level programmes in September 2012. After these two years of study in Toronto and Vancouver, the students will be guaranteed a place on the three-year LLB law degree at Sussex provided they meet the University's academic requirements.

The partnership will help to widen access to legal careers, particularly for students who are currently under-represented in the profession.

Professor Stephen Shute, Head of the School of Law, Politics and Sociology at Sussex, explains: "There is exceptionally strong demand to study law in Canada, which outstrips many times the number of places at Canadian law schools."

Aspiring lawyers in Canada normally complete a four-year degree in a subject other than law before applying for a highly competitive place at law school. If they are successful, they undertake a further three years' study - making a total of seven years.

Under the Sussex partnership scheme, students will need to study for only two years in Canada and three years at Sussex - where the tuition fees are lower than at leading Canadian law schools.

"This is a great opportunity for those Canadian students who might not otherwise have the opportunity to qualify in law," says Professor Shute. "It's quicker and less expensive than studying to be a lawyer in Canada - and they get a guaranteed place at Sussex."

When the first significant cohort of students from George Brown and Langara arrive at Sussex in autumn 2014, they will join a large group of overseas students (including many Canadians) who are already studying law at Sussex. Overseas and EU students on the three-year LLB in Law come from more than 50 different countries, from Armenia to Zimbabwe.

The qualification from Sussex will allow the Canadians to practise law back home, because in the English-speaking parts of Canada the basis of the legal system is English law. Sussex will offer all law undergraduates - whether from Canada, the UK or other countries - an optional course on Canadian constitutional law.

Professor Shute says: "This important initiative is a sign of the Sussex Law School's commitment to widening access to the legal profession, not just for UK students but also for those resident overseas.

"It represents a further significant addition to the growing list of key strategic partnerships that we have with overseas institutions and is a testament to the increased internationalisation of our activities."

He is pictured (left) with Dr John Belshaw, Dean of Social Sciences and Management at Langara College, who visited campus to sign the partnership agreement and to see the facilities that Sussex has to offer (including the new academic building, which will be home to the Sussex Law School from summer 2012).