What happens if I graduate without a qualifying law degree?

Hi everyone,

I am currently in my second year of Law and I unfortunately failed my criminal law module by 0.2% last year making it 39 out of the required 40.

Fine, just retake it during summer, right? Well sadly I was unable as I was abroad at the time.

The University gave me a choice to carry on with a failed module and have to retake the module after I graduate.

So I would be graduating with a law degree, and then have to retake it during the summer of my graduation.

Now I’m kind of stressing out as I’m worried about my options... What if I fail it again like in my first year. Can I now never become a practising lawyer ever? Because I don’t have a qualifying law degree?

Are there any exceptions? A place to appeal? I mean I failed by a mere .2%... and some other questions that came to my mind, would the criminal law exam be of the same difficulty for a first year student or would it adjust to a third year student criminal law exam? And does it mean I retake the entire criminal law module or just the exam? As I failed the exam but passed the coursework.

Sorry for all these questions, I just want to know what could happen worse case scenario.

(edited 3 years ago)

I'm not really knowledgeable in this but you can still be a practising lawyer without a qualifying law degree. If you want to be qualified to be a barrister, you can take a conversion (GDL) and apply for the BPTC; if you want to be qualified to be a solicitor, you can take conversion and apply for the LPC or apply for the SQE in Autumn 2021, where no degree is needed (you need to research more about it though). Good luck :h:

hopefully someone with more knowledge will see this better

Reply 2

harrysbar

21

Original post by Tyde_dv12

Hi everyone,

I am currently in my second year of Law and I unfortunately failed my criminal law module by 0.2% last year making it 39 out of the required 40.

Fine, just retake it during summer, right? Well sadly I was unable as I was abroad at the time.

The University gave me a choice to carry on with a failed module and have to retake the module after I graduate.

So I would be graduating with a law degree, and then have to retake it during the summer of my graduation.

Now I’m kind of stressing out as I’m worried about my options... What if I fail it again like in my first year. Can I now never become a practising lawyer ever? Because I don’t have a qualifying law degree?

Are there any exceptions? A place to appeal? I mean I failed by a mere .2%... and some other questions that came to my mind, would the criminal law exam be of the same difficulty for a first year student or would it adjust to a third year student criminal law exam? And does it mean I retake the entire criminal law module or just the exam? As I failed the exam but passed the coursework.

Sorry for all these questions, I just want to know what could happen worse case scenario.

Don't you think it would have made sense to to have made sure you were in the UK last August in order to retake the module at that stage? Regarding the possibility of appealing if you were to fail the module again, you will need to contact your uni for advice on that and on what you can do to make sure you do pass your degree

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 3

Tyde_dv12

OP

8

Original post by PetitePanda

I'm not really knowledgeable in this but you can still be a practising lawyer without a qualifying law degree. If you want to be qualified to be a barrister, you can take a conversion (GDL) and apply for the BPTC; if you want to be qualified to be a solicitor, you can take conversion and apply for the LPC or apply for the SQE in Autumn 2021, where no degree is needed (you need to research more about it though). Good luck :h:

hopefully someone with more knowledge will see this better

Hmm that does give me some more options.
Does the SQE not require a QLD at all? And say I graduate with a 2:1 does it open a career path to a solicitor?

Thank you

Reply 4

Tyde_dv12

OP

8

Original post by harrysbar

Don't you think it would have made sense to to have made sure you were in the UK last August in order to retake the module at that stage? Regarding the possibility of appealing if you were to fail the module again, you will need to contact your uni for advice on that and on what you can do to make sure you do pass your degree

I was in the country on Aug but was abroad for a few days for personal/family reasons in early Sept. exams ran till mid Sept. I applied for extenuating circumstances but sadly the Uni did not work with me.

Reply 5

bagger288

12

Original post by Tyde_dv12

Now I’m kind of stressing out as I’m worried about my options... What if I fail it again like in my first year. Can I now never become a practising lawyer ever? Because I don’t have a qualifying law degree?

Are there any exceptions? A place to appeal? I mean I failed by a mere .2%... and some other questions that came to my mind, would the criminal law exam be of the same difficulty for a first year student or would it adjust to a third year student criminal law exam? And does it mean I retake the entire criminal law module or just the exam? As I failed the exam but passed the coursework.

Sorry for all these questions, I just want to know what could happen worse case scenario.

A lot of these questions are for your university to answer.

You have to have a qualifying law degree or complete the GDL to go onto the LPC and then get a training contract to qualify as a solicitor. But the LPC is disappearing and is being replaced by the SQE, which I believe doesn't require a QLD at all. Some firms might still be using the old LPC method for a while, however, so just do the extra revision and make sure you pass criminal law, as it'll keep your options open. It also makes it easier if you ever want to practice abroad. You don't need a qualifying law degree to become a CILEX either; even a non-QLD will exempt you from a whole bunch of modules.

A 2:1 from a good university makes it easier to become a solicitor, yes, but a lot of corporate firms ask if you've ever failed an exam and exclude you on that basis alone, so you might need to be realistic about where you apply.

Original post by Tyde_dv12

Hmm that does give me some more options.
Does the SQE not require a QLD at all? And say I graduate with a 2:1 does it open a career path to a solicitor?

Thank you

I think so but you have to research it more into detail. Yes I believe it does, especially if it's from a good uni like bagger288 says

Reply 7

Catherine1973

20

In our uni criminal is a level 5 course which is done by second years and also first years on 2 year degrees. Same level expected, sane exams etc. So I imagine they would expect you to do same as any other second year, not a higher standard.

(edited 3 years ago)

What happens if I graduate without a qualifying law degree?

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