BPP accelerated law LLB for £12,000 total. Is it worth it??

So basically I'm freaking out about the £27,000 normal 3 year LLB tuition fees and have looked at cheaper options!

I came across the BPP accelerated 2 year LLB course. It's £6000 a year (£12,000 altogether)

http://www.bpp.com/undergraduate-course-details/d/undergraduate/LLB/97

Is it worth considering somewhere with little reputation for undergraduate law? Am I still likely to be able to find a training contract? - (If I have BPP on my CV instead of somewhere like Nottingham or Birmingham).

Or... should I stick to a Russell group uni 3 year degree and spend £15,000 more?

Any advice? Or anyone studied at BPP? I would probably apply to the London college or Bristol.

(edited 10 years ago)

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Reply 1

Forum User

London universities and Bristol are clearly very much more well-known than BPP. If you have one of those on your CV then legal employers will recognise it as a good university. BPP is more of a risk as only a few cohorts have graduated - I think the first '3 year degree' lot graduated last year so they will be on the LPC/BPTC now. No employer knows how good (or bad) the degree is yet.

If I was an 18 year old looking to study full-time I would definitely choose, say, UCL over it - assuming that that is a realistic possibility for you. The course is fine, if you're choosing between mid-tier universities charging £25k and BPP charging £12k then I can definitely see choosing BPP. Another factor to bear in mind is that BPP does not feel like a traditional university. There are no halls, and there are less social events / clubs. There will probably not be a big group going on a pub crawl in Fresher's week.

I'm a mature student doing the 2-year degree at BPP so happy to answer any questions about it, or you can search through my posts as I've answered many of the most obvious questions already.

Reply 2

woody-wood

12k is actually an amazing deal for an LLB and it's not a bad law school...just thought id throw my thoughts in on this one

Reply 3

foxtrott

Original post by Forum User

Hi... I'll actually be 21 when starting in September. I have already been to university once - so I'm not really too bothered about the lack of pub crawls! What is it like studying at BPP? are you in London?

My other offers are actually £27,000 total tuition (£9,000 a year) - so yes the price is a huge factor and definitely swaying me towards BPP. However, I'm worried that if I lose interest in law after the 2 years, I will have closed a lot of doors for employment in a different field with an accelerated law degree from BPP. I wonder whether the extra tuition fees might be worth it for the extra employment prospects (I have currently firmed Nottingham University).

What are the people like in your year on the course? Are there a diverse mixture of ages? What are their backgrounds?

Also... I've always thought BPP couldn't really be compared (league table wise) to other universities - because it's a specialist law college and it has a great reputation for post graduate law courses... but... the only other institutions that offer a 2 year accelerated law degree with similar entry requirements are colleges (not even universities). Is BPP really in the same league as my local Higher education college (which happens to offer a couple of degree programmes)? http://www.blackburn.ac.uk/course/llb-hons-law-accelerated-route/ Is it really that bad?

No respectable university offers the accelerated LLB. :/

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 4

foxtrott

Original post by woody-wood

12k is actually an amazing deal for an LLB and it's not a bad law school...just thought id throw my thoughts in on this one

yeah, the great price is definitely swaying me towards BPP. I want to make the right choice though - and I know a lot of people have questioned BPP's teaching and lack of reputation for undergraduate programmes.

Reply 5

woody-wood

Original post by foxtrott

if you've already been to uni why not do the GDL ?

Reply 6

foxtrott

Original post by woody-wood

if you've already been to uni why not do the GDL ?

I haven't got a degree! I only studied for a year...

Reply 7

woody-wood

Original post by foxtrott

I haven't got a degree! I only studied for a year...

ahh okay! well if you think how the BPP plc/bptc is looked on by firms I'm pretty sure they won't look too unfavourably BPP LLB program

Reply 8

woody-wood

also have you made sure its not 6K per year, i.e many accelerated degrees charge for an extra term in the middle so end up paying for three years but just in the space of two :s-smilie:

Reply 9

Forum User

Original post by foxtrott

No respectable university offers the accelerated LLB. :/

This strikes me as an irrelevance. The accelerated LL.B. is identical in every single way to the three year LL.B. except that you don't get a long summer break, you just keep studying. You will take the exact same modules as students on the three-year course and your exams will be exactly the same as those students. You still have to do 120 credits at each level. It's not a separate qualification 'Accelerated LL.B', you get the same LL.B. as every other student, but you get it quicker.

Probably one reason that few other unis offer the option is that the academic staff want a long summer break to go on holiday or to do some work of their own as opposed to teaching. Another is that they just don't think enough students would take that route to make it worthwhile offering one.

I'm a part-time evening student so some of your questions about diversity of ages and backgrounds are hard for me to answer well. I have been to a few full-time classes and most of the students in them appear to me to be 'normal university age'.

re. low entry requirements, I take your point. I think the entry requirements are set too low but I suppose they are a business. The course is not dumbed-down to allow poor students to get through and get a good degree, though. The exam results are posted (by Student number) on the student intranet and I can see that the 'average student' does appallingly badly. There are less than 10% firsts and a decent number of students failing modules. That to me suggests that the course is pitched at an appropriate level and the guys who got in with CCC (you need BBB for the 2-year option) are for the most part finding it impossibly hard. Others might disagree and say that it means that the teaching is rubbish but that has not been my experience at all.

Nottingham is clearly going to be better academically and more respected by employers. It does have a reputation for handing out lots of 2:2s, though. If you can afford it I would probably go to Nottingham - wasn't an option for me as a mature student but I have no particular regrets about going to BPP.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 10

LexiswasmyNexis

I suggest you pop this in the legal careers section or training board of RollonFriday. There are some recruiters around there who will give you their frank opinion.

That opinion would probably put you off BPP at this time.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 11

BPP University

Official Rep

Hi foxtrott,

If you would like any more information, we would be happy to invite you to visit a study centre to speak to someone from our programme team. This will allow you to ask some more specific questions around the course and also let you get a feel of what it is like to study with us here at BPP. If this is something you would be interested in, drop us an email at [email protected] and we would be happy to arrange that for you.

Kind regards,
Tom
BPP University College

Reply 12

greatcornholio

Here's my two pence worth.

First the negatives. The entry requirements are low, which means you get a lot of students who could not get in anywhere else but mummy and daddy wants them to get a law degree. If they turn up to tutorials or seminars their contribution is minimal. The administration and organisation is awful! It takes a long time to sort out the smallest issues, of which there are many. There are also no real sporting facilities-can only really speak for Waterloo and Holborn-but there is not even a gym.

Now the positives. A lot of the tutors are either practising or ex-practising solicitors or barristers, which means they can take the theory and put it into practical examples easily. The careers service and pro bono centre are both excellent and there is a lot of projects to get involved in.

If you are willing to work hard and autonomously you can get a law degree done in two years for half price. As for the reputation, I think it is getting more known for the LLB and the newly acquired university status should only aid that.

Hope that helps.

Reply 13

Doc.Daneeka

Just to put it into perspective, in Scotland you have to do an accelerated LL.B as there is no GDL route. As such, the cheapest accelerated LL.B programme is £6k a year and the most expensive is currently £12k a year, so I think that considering you will get an LL.B that will allow you to work in England and Wales (i.e., will allow you to work where the pay is generally higher than Scotland) for £12k means that it is potentially very good value for money. Of course, that is all dependant upon you landing a decent job at the end of the day.

Reply 14

foxtrott

Original post by Doc.Daneeka

Just to put it into perspective - in Scotland you don't have to pay undergrad tutition fees at all!! Lucky bast*rds!! :wink:

very glad though that I'm not going to uni in Scotland - because I think I would be little annoyed that I had payed £27,000 and a lot of my peers didn't have to pay a penny ... That is a huge difference! Awful government :/

Reply 15

Doc.Daneeka

Original post by foxtrott

Just to put it into perspective - in Scotland you don't have to pay undergrad tutition fees at all!! Lucky bast*rds!! :wink:

Well, in regard to wanting to practice law in England and Wales it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to go to Scotland anyway. Plus the salaries in Scotland are a great deal lower than that in England. It is probably worth pointing out that the only reason you pay ~£9k a year is because the UK Government introduced increased rates of tuition fees. The Scottish tuition fees for RUK students was merely reactionary.

For what it's worth, I do have ~£25k of debt that, like yours, will come off as a percentage of my income. Moreover, because of the system up here in Scotland, I will have an additional £13k of that type of debt whilst I pay ~£18k in tuition fees up front. All in I'll have used ~£51k and from that I'll have ~£38k still to pay off (granted that this is not the norm- an EEA undergrad in Scotland will have next to nothing to pay off, which in itself is annoying).

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 16

ToriBDKMV

OMG JUST SEEN THIS AND PANICKED I've been offered a place t study Law at BPP university I've done research but didn't know it was this new, should I take my chances and go for it or should I be realistic I havent heard back from anyone else yet but what if thats all im stuck with. HELP

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 17

BPP University

Official Rep

Hi ToriBDKMV

Our Law School is highly respected by legal firms for its reputation for excellence. We are also one of the UK’s largest providers on the full-time LLB so you will graduate with a degree from a university that is recognised by firms. Our LLB degrees have been designed with employers and all modules within the programme are ‘practice ready’ to enhance your employability in a legal context.

We are holding open house sessions at our study centre and would recommend you visit one and meet our current students and staff and ask any questions you may have to help you decide. To register interest for this please go to http://undergraduate.bppeloqua.com/open-day-drop-ins

I hope this helps

Tom

Reply 18

Rav3n01

Original post by Forum User

Hi there, I'm also a mature student I've just applied last minute for the 2 year accelerated LLB. Just wanted to know how you are finding it and how many hours a week do you attend lectures/seminars?

Reply 19

Forum User

Original post by Rav3n01

Hi there, I'm also a mature student I've just applied last minute for the 2 year accelerated LLB. Just wanted to know how you are finding it and how many hours a week do you attend lectures/seminars?

I've finished at BPP now. Zero hours lectures as you can watch them online (which will take about 4-6 hours depending on the classes you take). 4-6 hours seminars per week, usually.