By Legal Futures’ Associates The College of Legal Practice
The College of Legal Practice today announces its Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) preparation courses. Designed to be more affordable, more flexible and more accessible, its ‘Developing Legal Professionals’ (DLP) programme helps prepare students to pass the SQE1 and SQE2 examinations, as well as developing the skills and competencies they need to succeed in the legal industry.
The College’s DLP programme is made up of three core learning areas which can be undertaken in isolation or grouped together as part of a Master of Laws (LLM) in Legal Practice:
- Solicitors Legal Knowledge (SLK) course, which provides preparation for the SQE1 examination
- Solicitors Legal Skills (SLS) course to prepare for the SQE2 examination
- Legal skills modules, which provide a range of transactional training units across core practice areas
The price for the SQE1 preparation course (SLK) is £1,800, while the SQE2 preparation course (SLS) is £2,300. Both are available as a 12-week full time course or 20-week part time course. The legal skills modules are priced from £800 and a full LLM in Legal Practice from £6,900.
With The College of Law Australia as its not-for-profit sponsor, The College wants to ensure that it passes on the best value, offering every opportunity for learners to become effective solicitors in the future. The College’s goals are to help remove barriers to entry to the legal profession and provide the highest quality of practical legal education.
High value, lower cost
The College’s SQE preparation courses are much more than just revision courses or solely focused on passing an exam. They will deliver the highest quality learning that teaches the context of law and how to put that learning into practice. The courses from the College include full course materials (including online and hard copy manual texts at no extra cost), multimedia presentations developed by practitioners, with workbook scenarios and flash cards used to embed legal principles. Learners will acquire effective techniques for answering the multiple-choice questions in repeated practice assessments.
Prior to the beginning of each course, learners will have individual introductory meetings with their personal tutor. Learners also receive one-to-one supervision on each practice area from an expert practitioner. Weekly surgeries and group sessions run by supervisors will create an engaging virtual learning community for the participants.
Tailored, flexible learning
The College’s courses are designed for online delivery to individual learners and firm cohorts, using leading legal course design tools, rather than being retro-fitted from traditional classroom learning. The online learning platform itself is intuitive and optimised for learning, with a blend of live and on-demand learning activities available via full-time or part-time courses. This provides learners with the flexibility to fit their studies around work or life commitments. Similarly, individual, or organisational needs are identified and addressed to ensure learners receive a tailored learning experience. Each learner will have an opportunity to discuss any specific needs directly with their Student Services team.
Greater access to expert supervisors
The College of Legal Practice’s proprietary learning methodology brings together proven data analytics and one-to-one live supervision from practising solicitors. Teaching is led by expert supervisors in specific areas of law, alongside both group “town halls”, weekly interactive group surgeries and one-to-one supervisor engagement across all modules. Individual feedback on their learning and development is provided to learners throughout their course.
Dr Giles Proctor, CEO of The College of Legal Practice, said:
“The College of Legal Practice’s entry into the market signals a generational change for legal education. An old fashioned “one-size fits all” approach simply doesn’t work because every learner’s need is different. We recognize that we need to design legal courses around individual needs, and help learners develop the skills and competencies for success in their careers. By doing so, we hope to ensure a more diverse group of individuals can access and do well in the legal profession. We’re proud to support access for our learners to high quality, practical legal education.”
The College of Legal Practice will offer SQE1 and SQE2 preparation courses from summer 2021, aligned to the SQE schedule set by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). A Master of Laws (LLM) in Legal Practice that incorporates the preparation courses will also be offered subject to validation from Autumn 2021. Course enquiries can now be made directly through the College website, with applications formally opening in April 2021.
