PGDL advice

Hi everyone,

I am finishing my LLB at a university in Europe. I plan to move back to the UK (I grew up there and am a citizen) and would like to qualify as a solicitor there. However, I’m unsure whether it is worth it for me to pursue a PGDL before the SQE course.

I spoke to admissions at BPP and said they would recommend me taking a PGDL to be able to grasp English law before following through with an SQE course, but I wanted some proper insight from here! Is it recommended to pursue a PGDL, even if you are familiar with law already? Where should I pursue it?

Could someone help me out? The LLB I’m studying is not totally useless and a lot of the concepts are derived from British law, but I don’t want to go in blind 😅

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 1

mayacu

It might be worth doing some of the SQE practice questions (MCQs) to assess your knowledge of English law. The SQE is a very difficult test, and I think you would likely need to know more specifics rather than just concepts, but it’s hard to say without knowing more about your degree 🙂

Reply 2

Stiffy Byng

Which legal system have you studied? If a civil law system, you may find that tort (delict) is not vastly different in the common law system, but there are significant differences in contract and in land law. There is also the big difference arising from English principles of equity. Beneficial ownership and trusts take some getting used to. The constitutional arrangements of the UK are distinct in many ways, with consequent differences in public law.

You might be able to teach yourself these things. That depends on your learning style and appetite for reading.

Reply 3

Stiffy Byng

This might be of interest -

https://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/summer-schools/summer-school/courses/law/ll202

Reply 4

UniofLaw Student

Official Rep

Original post by kelagiorgio

Hi everyone,
I am finishing my LLB at a university in Europe. I plan to move back to the UK (I grew up there and am a citizen) and would like to qualify as a solicitor there. However, I’m unsure whether it is worth it for me to pursue a PGDL before the SQE course.
I spoke to admissions at BPP and said they would recommend me taking a PGDL to be able to grasp English law before following through with an SQE course, but I wanted some proper insight from here! Is it recommended to pursue a PGDL, even if you are familiar with law already? Where should I pursue it?
Could someone help me out? The LLB I’m studying is not totally useless and a lot of the concepts are derived from British law, but I don’t want to go in blind 😅

Hi there,

It’s great that you’re thinking ahead about qualification routes! Since you're finishing an LLB in Europe and planning to qualify in England and Wales, it's understandable to wonder whether a PGDL is necessary—especially with the SQE now in place.

The short answer is: you don’t have to do a PGDL to sit the SQE. That said, whether it's worth doing depends on your familiarity with the core foundations of English law. The SQE1 exam is very black-letter and tests subjects typically covered in a UK law degree or PGDL (like Contract, Tort, Criminal, Property, Constitutional Law, etc.), so if you feel your LLB didn't cover these in depth, a PGDL can definitely help bridge the gap and set you up for success.
Since you mentioned your degree draws a lot from British law, you may already have a decent grounding. But remember, the SQE1 is a tough, multiple-choice-heavy exam covering 13 areas of law in depth. Many students who did a qualifying law degree in the UK still take preparation courses before sitting it.

If you’re looking for structure and confidence before diving into SQE prep, then doing a PGDL (or even an SQE prep course with foundational elements) could be a wise investment. BPP and University of Law both offer integrated SQE prep courses that include foundational training for students from non-UK backgrounds or international law degrees.

Alternatively, you might consider self-assessing by looking at the SQE1 syllabus and seeing how confident you feel in each subject. If there are large gaps, a PGDL could really help. If not, you might be fine going straight into a well-structured SQE prep course.

You can find more info about the ULaw LLM Legal Practice (SQE1 & 2) here:👉 ULaw LLM SQE1 & 2

Hope this helps – and best of luck with your move back and qualification journey!

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