Requirements to train as a solicitor
The route to qualifying as a solicitor is changing. This means that the current
route of completing a qualifying law degree or a law conversion course, followed by
the Legal Practice Course (LPC), will disappear and be replaced with the Solicitors
Qualifying Examination (SQE). Regardless of the route, we will ensure that you are
well prepared and ready to hit the ground running when you start at the firm.
The route to qualification
Current route to
qualification (for training
contracts beginning
in 2022)
If you do not have a qualifying
law degree, you will be required
to complete the law conversion
course, the Post Graduate Diploma
in Law (PGDL), before completing
the accelerated LPC, which must be
completed by all graduates. We ask
our future trainees to study at
BPP Law School; the PGDL can be
completed at any branch and the LPC
must be completed in London. We
pay all tuition and examination fees
for the PGDL and LPC and provide
Current route to qualification SQE route to qualification
Eligibility
Those beginning their training contract with us in 2022.
Path to qualification - law students
· Qualifying law degree
· LPC (7.5 months)
· Training contract (2 years)
· Qualified
Path to qualification - non-law students
· Non-law degree
· PGDL or equivalent (8 months)
· LPC (7.5 months)
· Training contract (2 years)
· Qualified
Eligibility
Those beginning their training contract with us in 2023
(or later).
Path to qualification - law and non-law students
· Undergraduate degree
· SQE preparatory course(s)
· SQE 1
· SQE 2*
· Qualifying work experience i.e. the training contract
(2 years)
· Qualified
*It is not yet certain whether SQE 2 will be taken before
or during the period of qualifying work experience.
you with a maintenance grant while
you are studying. On completion of
the LPC, you will begin your training
contract with us, joining as part of the
March or September intake.
SQE route to qualification
(for training contracts
beginning in 2023 or later)
We will be working closely with a
designated law school to design a
pre- entry training programme to
prepare students to pass the SQE
assessments and acquire all the
additional knowledge necessary to
ensure that you are well prepared to
undertake your training contract at
the firm. It is too early to say exactly
what this preparatory programme
will look like, but we anticipate
that it will be similar to the current
programme in content and length.
We will continue to offer a rotational
two-year period of training - the
training contract.
We will keep our website updated
once the specifics of the SQE have
been confirmed and we advise that
you check this and the SRA website
for the most recent information.
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