The Student Room Group

SQE preparation courses or Accelerated LLB?

Hello everybody.
Sorry if I posted this post in the wrong section. I would like some advice on choosing a course with the ultimate goal of becoming a solicitor in England.
I graduated from law school many years ago. I studied civil law. I am not familiar with common law, but I have extensive experience in civil law. I currently live in the UK. I want to become a solicitor in England.
I have applied to several universities. At the moment I have received a suggestion from :
1. The University of Law - MA Law (SQE1), 1 year
2. Nottingham Trent University - Law and SQE 1 preparation course, 1.6 years
3. University of Kent - LLB Senior status, 2 years.
Looking forward to hearing from the University of Glasgow - Accelerated Common law LLB.
I would like to get some advice from you, which of these programs is the best for becoming a solicitor after training? I like the SQE 1 courses because of the faster pace and more professional focus. But LLB courses also have their advantages. I like them because they are more academic, more general training program.
Please help me choose one of the programs.
Thanks in advance.
You have a foreign law degree so you just need to do the SQE1 and 2 courses and exams. So in my view number 1 on the list is the best choice. The LLBs are not likely to make much difference unless they were from Oxford or Cambridge.

You may want to apply for a training contract/QWE at law firms now in the hope they will pay for your SQE1 and 2 courses and exam fees and then train you for two years.
Good luck.
Reply 2
Original post by 17Student17
You have a foreign law degree so you just need to do the SQE1 and 2 courses and exams. So in my view number 1 on the list is the best choice. The LLBs are not likely to make much difference unless they were from Oxford or Cambridge.

You may want to apply for a training contract/QWE at law firms now in the hope they will pay for your SQE1 and 2 courses and exam fees and then train you for two years.
Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. Honestly, I like this course more in terms of the duration of the study and the focus of the course.

Do you have any information about GDL? I also got an offer about GDL. Will it be enough to complete the GDL course to successfully pass the SQE 1?
Most bigger law firms will want you to have a course like the GDL (now being called the PGDL) so yes the GDL is a good idea. The GDL 2 of my children did this year at BPP includes preparation I believe for the SQE1 type questions too so I am sure places like University of Law (your no.1 above) and BPP in September 2021 will be offering a PGDL course which includes preparation for SQE1 exams which you could then take presumably in summer 2022 after finishing the PGDL. There is a useful video on youtube form UoL about the SQE exams - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz-Y_-74beE
Reply 4
Original post by 17Student17
Most bigger law firms will want you to have a course like the GDL (now being called the PGDL) so yes the GDL is a good idea. The GDL 2 of my children did this year at BPP includes preparation I believe for the SQE1 type questions too so I am sure places like University of Law (your no.1 above) and BPP in September 2021 will be offering a PGDL course which includes preparation for SQE1 exams which you could then take presumably in summer 2022 after finishing the PGDL. There is a useful video on youtube form UoL about the SQE exams - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz-Y_-74beE

Thank you very much.
By the way, I have the offers for these programs from The Uni of Law

1. https://www.law.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/law/ma-law-sqe/
2. https://www.law.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/law/gdl/
This looks like a new 42 week course from UoL to prepare you for both SQE1 and SQE2 in one year https://www.law.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/law/llm-sqe-1-and-2/ whereas your link 1 above seems to be just for SQE1 but I may have got that wrong.

It is all very new for everyone so I am not very sure about all the new courses.
Reply 6
Original post by 17Student17
This looks like a new 42 week course from UoL to prepare you for both SQE1 and SQE2 in one year https://www.law.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/law/llm-sqe-1-and-2/ whereas your link 1 above seems to be just for SQE1 but I may have got that wrong.

It is all very new for everyone so I am not very sure about all the new courses.

Thanks for your advice.
I would like to ask your opinion on Nottingham Trent. Do you think The University of Law or Nottingham Trent is the best option for SQE?
I read reviews and it seems to me that Nottingham is more academic and more respected than Uni of Law.
Thanks in advance.
The status of institution for the SQE and GDL/LPC now does not matter as it is not like your first degree institution. In the old days only the College of Law (university of Law) was allowed to offer these professional law courses (in Guildford, Chester and London only). That then expanded to others and now the big law firms in London mostly use BPP and a few University of Law. So if you want to be with others going to those best firms one of BPP or UoL is usually best in my view.
Nottingham Trent was one of the first to offer these law professional courses however in addition to the College of Law so it is certainly not a bad provider at all. However its general status is it is an ex polytechnic unlike Nottingham University so the status of Nottingham Trent is not high BUT its professional law courses are very good. It will not enhance your CV to have been there in the way that a first degree from Oxford University might.

Of the three on your list only University of Law is one larger firms choose to train their future trainees.
However these are hard questions to answer as no one has sat SQE yet. No one knows what law firms will prefer (other than looking at their websites - they seem to plan to send people to an SQE1 course and then exam and the next year the SQE2 course and exam so could take about 1.5 years I suspect and after that you do the 2 years training in their office (so a bit like GDL and LPC years now) The reason I mentioned the UoL one year for SQE1 and 2 if I am right that course exists is it sounded like a good institution and an efficient way to get both parts of the studying and exam done within 44 weeks.

I am not an expert. I am just a lawyer who happens to have 2 children about to start the LPC so I became a bit interested in the new SQE courses.
Reply 8
Original post by 17Student17
The status of institution for the SQE and GDL/LPC now does not matter as it is not like your first degree institution. In the old days only the College of Law (university of Law) was allowed to offer these professional law courses (in Guildford, Chester and London only). That then expanded to others and now the big law firms in London mostly use BPP and a few University of Law. So if you want to be with others going to those best firms one of BPP or UoL is usually best in my view.
Nottingham Trent was one of the first to offer these law professional courses however in addition to the College of Law so it is certainly not a bad provider at all. However its general status is it is an ex polytechnic unlike Nottingham University so the status of Nottingham Trent is not high BUT its professional law courses are very good. It will not enhance your CV to have been there in the way that a first degree from Oxford University might.

Of the three on your list only University of Law is one larger firms choose to train their future trainees.
However these are hard questions to answer as no one has sat SQE yet. No one knows what law firms will prefer (other than looking at their websites - they seem to plan to send people to an SQE1 course and then exam and the next year the SQE2 course and exam so could take about 1.5 years I suspect and after that you do the 2 years training in their office (so a bit like GDL and LPC years now) The reason I mentioned the UoL one year for SQE1 and 2 if I am right that course exists is it sounded like a good institution and an efficient way to get both parts of the studying and exam done within 44 weeks.

I am not an expert. I am just a lawyer who happens to have 2 children about to start the LPC so I became a bit interested in the new SQE courses.

Thank you for your detailed answer. You helped me a lot.
I will most likely choose ULAW. I thought about Nottingham Trent because it is more academic, it has a more cozy atmosphere for university studies. Regardless, I think UNILAW is more suitable for this course because of his experience.
As you said before, it does not matter for the employer at which university I graduated from this course. I just wanted to know which university teaches better, which one would better prepare me for my future profession.
Thank you for your help.
The method of study (course delivery) is also something you should take into account. This is particularly relevant as many unis are moving more teaching and learning on-line. NLS was one of the 1st law schools to offer a 'distance learning' LL.B so has lots of experience at delivering teaching by different methods including a combination of on-line and face to face teaching ('blended' learning). I can't comment on the uni of law.

NLS (Nottingham law school at NTU) has lots of experience teaching many different professional and undergraduate courses. NTU has won awards for its outstanding teaching and NLS has a highly respected Legal Advice Centre. I believe that all teaching staff at NLS are required to become a Fellow of the Higher Teaching Academy which is a professional teaching qualification. (Again I can't comment on the uni of law).

Also ,in my opinion, it is better to mix with students who are studying a different range of courses rather than being only with law students who will all be stressed an anxious at the same time!. Nottingham is a wonderful city.

This isn't a vote against uni of Law (although I do hate the name) rather than a vote for NLS.
(edited 2 years ago)
(........Although 2 of my children studied at BPP and the youngest 2 are doing so now at BPP so I am certainly not on the payroll of UoL! We chose BPP over UoL first because to the extent they were sponsored the bit city law firm chose for them - BPP and in cases with no sponsorship felt BPP had the edge over UoL although it is a close run thing.)
Original post by 17Student17
(........Although 2 of my children studied at BPP and the youngest 2 are doing so now at BPP so I am certainly not on the payroll of UoL! We chose BPP over UoL first because to the extent they were sponsored the bit city law firm chose for them - BPP and in cases with no sponsorship felt BPP had the edge over UoL although it is a close run thing.)

Hi there , Apologies 17student17. My comment was intended to be a general observation and was not aimed at other contributors. I will delete it.
No, no need to delete it at all.It is no problem.
I would double check the Glasgow degree - Scotland and England have different legal systems and not all degrees in law are considered qualifying to practice in England.

One thing you may want to consider is that the 1 year courses are very intense, so while you may be eligible for these courses do you feel sufficiently equipped to study at that level given the amount of time since you graduated or would you prefer to study over a longer period of time? It is a financial investment and the best return for you is passing well.

Quick Reply

Latest

Trending

Trending