Teaching Beyond the Classroom: Access, Impact, Excellence: Learning Matters

Clinical Legal Education has become increasingly important as universities respond to growing expectations around employability, student engagement, widening participation, and civic responsibility. Within legal education, CLE connects academic learning with professional practice while encouraging students to reflect on access to justice and the social role of law.

Drawing on experiential learning and reflective practice theories associated with Kolb, (1984) and Schön, (1983), CLE encourages students not only to engage in practical activity, but also to critically reflect on their development and decision-making.

Through the Ulster Law Clinic and wider School initiatives, students engage in clinic activity, outreach, and practice-based learning that demonstrates how law can address real social and legal issues.