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MA Law (Conversion) choice any advice appreciated

Looking to convert into law after my undergrad in history. Not decided on pathway solicitor/barrister.

Is the 1 year MA Law (conversion) by BPP or ULaw the best choice or the 2 year MA Law (conversion) offered by the University’s of Bristol/Sheffield?

Thank you.

Reply 1

UniofLaw Student

Official Rep

Original post by Inang123

Hi @Inang123!

I have just completed the MA Law (conversion) at the University of Law and have really enjoyed the course! I would say that, whichever organisation you choose to do the course with, I would recommend doing the 1 year MA Law course rather than the 2 year course. I only suggest this because whether you want to become a Solicitor or a Barrister, you have a lot of training; therefore, the additional year doing the MA seems slightly wasted. Notably, as from an employment perspective, the majority of people who train to become lawyers have either done a law undergrad or done a conversion within one year (with or without a Masters) so I don't think adding this second year will benefit you in any real way but will slow down your career progression due to the additional time.
Of course, I haven't studied in one of these two year courses and at the end of the day it is a personal choice :smile:

I hope this helps and good luck!

Sophie
Student Ambassador at the University of Law

Reply 2

17Student17

1. A 2 year post grad MA is rarely useful.
2. A law conversion with SQE masters (with the masters bit if you need the post grad student loan) is probably the best course (at University of Law or BPP - I marginally prefer BPP but both are good and 80% of students use one or the other. The City Consortium firms use BPP).
3. You do not necessarily have to have a law conversion now if wanting to be a solicitor BUT without one law firms may not be so keen to hire you and SQE exams will be harder.
4. If you need a masters loan for the course then you probably want law conversion plus SQE1 plus masters combined. At BPP I think this would run for 16 months - September 2023 to summer being the PGDL masters bit and the Autumn term 2024 the SQE1 part. You can then tack on after it an SQE2 course. The SQE exams are separate now from the providers and the fees for SQE1 and 2 are about £5k paid to Kaplan
5. Plenty of people don't start any of these courses unless and until they find a law firm to sponsor them however.