There are few practice areas more interesting than crime, says David Green, Academic Manager and criminal law lecturer at ULaw Birmingham

“Crime attracts a certain type of person. You need a particular type of personality to survive a career in criminal law because although it seems sexy, the reality in practice isn’t quite so glamorous,” says David Green, Academic Manager and criminal law lecturer at The University of Law (ULaw)’s Birmingham campus. “The hours are long, and it’s a really adversarial area of law, so you need to be able to cope mentally with the fact that you’re always up against somebody else: whether it’s the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the police, or the courts service. You’re always in that ‘rough-and-tumble’ and that’s not for everyone,” he says.

Having had a “fairly traditional” route into legal practice, Green undertook the LPC with The College of Law (ULaw’s predecessor) before beginning his career in criminal defence. “I worked my way up through a specialist criminal law firm, becoming a partner and later a Higher Courts Advocate before making the step over to legal education at ULaw,” he tells Legal Cheek Careers. “I always tell my students: given that we’re all likely to be working until we’re 75 now, everyone has time for two careers! For me, moving over to ULaw just felt like the right time for me to try something different.”

Digging into his attraction to life in criminal law, we’re keen to ask Green his reasoning behind forging a legal career in this direction. “I had done quite a lot of work experience during my degree, especially in mixed practice firms, and I think this is one of the best ways as a student to get a good sense of whether you will actually like certain areas of law,” he says. After having completed some work experience in criminal legal practice, Green says he just fell in love with it. “In order to adapt to such an intense daily working environment, it helps if you can learn to make light out of often dark situations,” Green explains. “I think the closest profession to being a criminal defence solicitor is being a doctor. You need to be able to find the humour in the horrible things that happen, and still be able to switch off at the end of your shift, go home, and be present in your personal life.

 “What really drew me to crime was the fact that it’s fun. There’s no other area of law where you find such odd things that have happened to people! I have a fascination in how seemingly ordinary people can often find themselves caught up in the criminal justice system,” he says. “There’s a huge range of clients you’re dealing with, which is brilliant. I love the cut and thrust of it; the adversarial nature of the practice—and no two days are ever the same!”

Speaking on his experiences of becoming a partner in a criminal defence practice, Green explains that naturally, his responsibilities ratchetted up a notch. “Attaining partnership meant not only taking on more complex and high-level cases, but also taking a new responsibility over the business itself. In a legal aid practice, this means trying to be as efficient as possible,” he says. In contrast to many commercial practices, Green explains that criminal firms have to stay flexible and agile. “No matter what the government threw at us in terms of legal aid reforms, we had to think about how we could continue to make money in a new and changing system.”

Given current political events, we ask Green how he imagines the general election is likely to impact criminal practices in the UK that are reliant on legal aid cases. “The sad reality is that there are no votes in legal aid. The only people voting that have an interest in legal aid reforms, are for obvious reasons, legal aid lawyers. Many people never consider that they will have the need for legal aid, and therefore this issue remains rather invisible,” he says. “Nobody asks to be dragged into the criminal justice system; whether you’re a victim of a crime or accused of a crime, you’re pushed into that system by the state. So, I think it’s fundamentally wrong that the state doesn’t have a system in place to properly provide for legal representation in every situation,” he explains.

“Unfortunately for many who need legal aid to access justice, it’s not really on the agenda of either of the big political parties, so it’s unlikely that we’ll see an improvement in legal aid policy in the near future,” he says.

Nevertheless, the introduction of the SQE is opening the doors to publicly funded practice for law students. Rather than having to bag ‘golden ticket’ training contracts in criminal law, students can now build their two years’ qualifying work experience (QWE) in criminal practice and qualify as a solicitor through this new route. We ask Green how ULaw is preparing its students to succeed on the SQE and to hit the ground running in such a demanding legal practice. “For SQE1, single best answer questions (SBAQs) assess far more detailed or niche areas of law and procedure than were being assessed previously. So, our teaching has become much more specific by delving into all of the detailed areas of criminal practice much more than we did previously, to ensure that our students are prepared,” he says. “Students are now being assessed as a day one solicitors rather than as trainees. So, the level of knowledge taught on our SQE programmes has also shifted up a couple of degrees; we’re teaching to a much higher level.”

For students who are keen to embrace the “rough-and-tumble” of criminal legal practice, they are not only taught by qualified criminal lawyers, but they can also gain first-hand experience at ULaw, says Green. “Students can go to our pro bono clinic at ULaw and gain legal work experience actually dealing with real clients. This is a great way very early in a legal career, to feel the pressure of having a real person in front of you with a real legal problem that you’re trying to solve,” he says. With employability skills at the core of ULaw’s student offering, Green is keen to emphasise the part that advocacy plays in building the skills that future criminal lawyers need in practice. “There is no other area of law where advocacy is so fundamental to practice as in criminal law. I also teach advocacy skills as part of ULaw’s Bar Practice Course (BPC) for future barristers. Advocacy, though a skill which students are often afraid of, is taught at ULaw the same as any other skill like riding a bike. It’s a case of practising, reflecting on your practise, and practising again!”

Discover more tips on succeeding in your legal career this afternoon at ‘Secrets to Success Birmingham — with Pinsent Masons, Reed Smith, DWF, Browne Jacobson and ULaw’ an in-person student event running tomorrow, Thursday (27^th June). Apply for one of the final few places.

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ULaw student Freya Patten shares her experience of the SQE and her transition from a science grad to future lawyer

Freya Patten, an SQE student at The University of Law (ULaw)’s London Moorgate campus, began her education journey in the sciences before switching to law.

Having secured a training contract at DLA Piper and now embarking on the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE), she spoke to Legal Cheek Careers about the realities that non-law students face on this new route to qualification and how the exams particularly impact neurodivergent students.

Can you tell us a little bit about your education so far?

In secondary school, I was really interested in biology and the humanities, so I pursued these passions at A-Level by taking biology, chemistry, and philosophy. When it came time to choose a university course, my interest in the sciences led me to environmental sciences because it combined most of my interests. This broad undergraduate program, which included biology, chemistry, physics, geology, geography, and social sciences, offered numerous career options, making it a solid foundation for my future

What prompted you to make the switch from science to law?

When I began my first year of environmental science at the University of Southampton, law quickly became a real interest for me. This interest developed as I researched different career paths. The main paths that attracted me were environmental consultancy and environmental law, which would inevitably require further legal education. I started taking the necessary steps to transition into a legal career with a focus on environmental law. Protecting the environment is a passion for me, and I want a career where I can make a real difference.

Which aspects of SQE1 did you struggle with the most, and how did you manage to overcome these challenges?

I think I struggled the most with the structure of the exam day. During revision, you reach a point where you’ve covered everything you need to know; the knowledge itself isn’t the issue. The challenge lies in the way you are assessed. The knowledge tested is pinpointed to very specific areas, and you’re presented with five answer options that are all equally legally valid. In my opinion, practice is absolutely key.

I also struggled with my dyslexia during SQE1. It is well-known that students with learning difficulties are at a disadvantage with multiple choice questions. The SQE1 exam consists of 360 single best answer questions, which is a huge task. Due to my dyslexia, I was given extra time, which extended my total exam time to around six and a half hours in one day—very challenging.

To manage this, I practiced repeatedly and ensured I had measures in place to take breaks on the exam day without becoming overwhelmed. It’s important to stress that this style of exam is particularly discriminatory towards students with learning difficulties.

While the underlying law is the same for both SQE1 and 2, SQE2 tests the knowledge in a very different way. How did you find the transition between the two assessments?

I must admit, it was very strange getting used to the examination style of SQE1, only to shift gears for SQE2. I found that I not only had to change the way I revised, but also the way I initially learned the content.

For SQE1, you could learn the content to the extent that you felt confident pinpointing the right answer based on the knowledge you had accumulated. However, with SQE2, you’re not afforded the same luxury. You don’t necessarily get the same ‘hints’ that consistent practice with SQE1 exams provides.

Because of this, I felt like I had to revisit and re-learn the knowledge from SQE1 in a different way. With SQE2, the written exams require a deep understanding of the underlying law to analyse and reach a reasonable conclusion. For the SQE2 oral exams, you not only need to know the material but also how to present it, how to communicate with a judge, how to conduct interviews, and how to ensure the client is comfortable in the interview setting. Each of these requires a vastly different skill set and approach.

What did you find most challenging when preparing for SQE2?

The most challenging was this transition; trying to switch gears effectively. Having to re-learn and revise the SQE1 content again was particularly intense.

It didn’t help that the SQE1 exam results were released around six weeks before we were expected to take the SQE2. So, I struggled a little with motivation! We suddenly had very limited time ahead of the release of SQE1 results to prepare for the next SQE exams that were in many ways even harder than SQE1.

For this reason, I must admit that I personally found that SQE2 was the more challenging set of exams out of the two.

What was your experience of the SQE1 and 2 exam days, and was there anything about them that caught you off-guard?

At this stage, the administrative errors around the SQE exams were common knowledge.

But personally, when it came to the exams, I feel like I had quite a smooth run! Given that I’m dyslexic, I was allocated to a specific test centre which contributed to an overarchingly positive experience. Having said this, I don’t have any experience with the neurotypical test centres and therefore I cannot comment on this specifically.

It’s true that we weren’t allowed water in the exam room for the SQE 1 or SQE 2 written exams as they were computer rooms. However, we were allowed outside of the exam room whenever we wanted to drink. Nothing caught me off guard necessarily as I had done a considerable amount of prep for the day. For me, the prep felt like it was the one thing I could control — I could ensure I knew what to do during the exam itself.

I was undoubtedly shocked about the SQE1 errors on the results though. That was a very stressful day. I received an e-mail from the SRA that just said, “your results to the SQE 1 have been changed, please log in to see” — my heart dropped right to my feet.

You completed a law conversion course before starting the SQE. Do you think this course is essential for non-law students before beginning the SQE?

Personally, I cannot stress enough how important my law conversion course was. It covered all the black letter law essential for a law degree and for taking the SQE. Without this core legal knowledge, I wouldn’t have been able to pass the SQE. This is because, when you’re completing the LLM in preparation for the SQE1 exams, these core law areas are not covered. You go straight into ‘practical’ legal modules, assuming you already know the basics. So, in the end, I believe that skipping the PGDL won’t save you costs in the long run, but rather, that it increases your chances of success in qualifying.

Lastly, is there anything you would have done differently in any aspect of your SQE journey?

I wouldn’t change anything about my leg of the journey running up to SQE1 purely because I passed and that in itself, I consider an absolute miracle!

With SQE2, I worked as much as I could, although I would have potentially started preparing for the oral exams a little earlier. But, because of the way the SQE2 exams are structured, I found it hard to focus too much on the exams that were a few weeks later. On the flip, I think it was beneficial to practice my orals with my friends and listen to others advocate and interview.

Freya Patten will be speaking at ‘The SQE: students and law firms share their stories — with ULaw’, a virtual student event taking place on Tuesday 25 June.  Apply now to attend.

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QLTS explains how it’s supporting students and challenging the traditional providers

The transition to the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) has brought new challenges for law firms supporting their future trainees on their path to becoming solicitors. Historically, many firms have relied on traditional LPC training providers to prepare their trainees for practice. However, the SQE demands a different approach, one that traditional providers have often been struggling to meet, particularly when it comes to mock exams.

QLTS, however, offers a comprehensive package of 30 SQE1 mock tests and 300 SQE2 mock exams, focusing on rigorous mock exam practice specifically designed to address these challenges and ensure success.

The need for quality mock exams

Mock exams are a cornerstone of effective exam preparation, particularly in the absence of past papers and a sufficient number of sample exam questions released by the SRA.

Following discussions with our students, it is sadly clear that misinformation is prevalent in the training industry. Students have been provided with inaccurate details regarding the structure of SQE1 and SQE2. Additionally, freely available sample questions online often offer a false sense of security, given the potential for inaccuracies in the content. QLTS urges students against relying solely on such materials for preparation, and encourages all students to invest in reliable sets of mock tests.

QLTS Education Specialist Emma Quinn, emphasises the importance of mock tests:

“Quality mocks are instrumental for success in the SQE. They provide candidates with the opportunity to practice under exam conditions, identify knowledge gaps, and build the confidence needed to excel in the most practical way possible.”

QLTS’ history of student success extends back to the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS), the precursor to the SQE for foreign qualified lawyers. The SQE was substantially modelled on the QLTS. Both exams therefore have very similar formats, structures, and question styles. This cemented our reputation in the training market and gave us our track record of delivering high-quality mock tests that most accurately reflect the format, difficulty, and content of the actual exams.

Access a sample FLK1 mock test
Access a sample FLK2 mock test

The challenge of traditional providers

Feedback from current and past students reveals a consistent pattern: traditional LPC training providers often fall short in preparing their students for the SQE. QLTS consistently receives feedback indicating that current providers either do not offer adequate mock tests or that those provided do not meet the necessary difficulty level of the exam.

Ben Davis, QLTS senior account manager, notes the requests he receives from sponsored candidates:

“On a daily basis we receive requests from candidates who are sponsored by their law firms, however they feel overwhelmingly underprepared by their current training providers. They turn to us for our mock exams to boost their chances of passing the SQE on their first attempt and ensure their training with the firm is secured,” he says.

The QLTS solution: comprehensive mock exam packages

All QLTS courses for SQE1 and SQE2 are designed to fully prepare students and foreign lawyers to pass the exam first time. Our materials include hard copy textbooks, summary notes, videos, digital flash cards, practice questions and mock exams.

In addition, and in response to the requests of sponsored candidates and law firms, QLTS has recently introduced a new package exclusively for law firms’ trainees. This package includes access to our 30 SQE1 mock tests and 300 SQE2 mock exams. It is designed to complement existing training programmes, providing rigorous mock exam practice that ensures first-time success in both SQE1 and SQE2.

Like Lexis and Westlaw provide vital yet distinct legal research benefits, our mock exams are intended to complement the training delivered by the traditional LPC providers, ensuring a robust and comprehensive preparation strategy.

SQE1 mock tests

Our 30 SQE1 mock tests, comprising 15 for FLK1 and 15 for FLK2, are crafted to simulate the real exam environment. Each test includes 90 questions, mirroring the computer-based format and time constraints of the actual SQE1. The questions in the mock tests cover the entire up to date SQE1 Assessment Specification.

SQE2 mock exams

Our 300 SQE2 mock exams are tailored to cover the full breadth of the SQE2 syllabus, focusing on practical legal skills across various practice areas. These exams provide a valuable, authentic practice experience, enabling students to apply their knowledge in simulated real-world scenarios. Students can complete the SQE2 mocks on a unique platform which resembles the SQE2 exam functionality on Pearson VUE for the written assessments so that they can get the feeling of a real exam environment. The mocks also include instructions for interviewers, giving students the opportunity to practise the role-play aspect of the oral assessment.

Feedback from trainees

The effectiveness of our mock exams is reflected in recent feedback from trainees in several leading law firms in the UK who enrolled in our SQE mocks programmes prior to the January 2024 sitting. One trainee tells us, “I found the QLTS mock tests extremely helpful for SQE preparation. The tests helped build my confidence prior to the exam, and many of the questions were representative of the actual SQE level.” Another trainee noted: “The mock tests were very helpful. The length and format of questions were similar to those in the exam, which was useful for familiarisation.”

Trainees consistently report that our mocks are more challenging and representative of the actual exam than those provided by other training providers. Such feedback highlights the tangible benefits of our mocks.

Further feedback from trainees who have benefitted from our mock exams which underscores the value of our mock exams in providing realistic, challenging practice that prepares candidates for the actual exam includes:

“The mocks tested niche topics which I found helpful to fill in gaps in my knowledge. They were also on the more challenging side, so it allowed me to be mentally prepared for challenging exams.”

“I liked how some scenarios matched with questions in the real exam. There were many questions I found familiar, if not the same as QLTS ones.”

“Mock tests were useful in the week leading up to the exam to practice the style of questions that would come up in the exam, to gain more practice and to complete questions under timed conditions.”

“I had several questions in my SQE exam that were very close to QLTS questions, so they are very well drafted.”

In the competitive landscape of the SQE, QLTS mock exams provide a critical edge. With pass rates often in the low 50s, thorough preparation is essential. Our widely acclaimed mock tests significantly increase the chances of passing by providing rigorous, realistic practice.

Emma Quinn adds, “Our mock tests are designed not only to prepare candidates in legal knowledge but also to develop the stamina and concentration needed for the lengthy digital exam. This combination is crucial for first-time success“.

Partnering for success

Investing in QLTS mock exams is a strategic decision that benefits both trainees and law firms. Our nearly 15 years of experience in legal training ensure that our mock tests are finely tuned to the demands of the SQE. This investment not only enhances trainee preparation but also saves costs related to exam retakes and accelerates career progression.

For more information on how we can tailor a training solution to your firm’s specific needs, you can get in touch at info@qlts.co.uk or call us on +44 (0) 207 117 6077.

Join the ranks of leading law firms that have already chosen our SQE1 and SQE2 mock tests and partner with us to set your trainees on the path to SQE success.

For more information, visit the QLTS School website, request a free consultation or get access to free SQE sample materials.

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Join the SQE Group of QLTS on LinkedIn (with 40,000+ members)

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BPP student Ifeoluwa Aderibigbe shares her experience and why legal work can be the key to success

“The Solicitors Qualifying Exams (SQE) have been interesting,” says Ifeoluwa Aderibigbe, current SQE 1&2 LLM student at BPP University Law School. “I’ve never had to do anything like this before, because all of my exams on my law degree were essay-based. So, it’s taken me some time to get used to the multiple-choice question (MCQ) style.” With this interview coming straight off the back of Aderibigbe finishing her SQE2 exams, Legal Cheek Careers is keen to find out more about her experience so far.

“Even though I’ve done work in a legal clinic, I had never engaged with legal drafting and legal research prior to starting SQE2 preparation, so it has come as somewhat of a challenge,” notes Aderibigbe. “But overall, I’ve found the experience really beneficial because it has taught me so many of the skills that I’ve needed for my work at BPP’s Legal Clinic.”  By working for BPP’s Social Impact team, Aderibigbe is building up her Qualifying Work Experience (QWE). This means that by the time she finishes her six-month placement with BPP, she will have completed 25% of her QWE if she decides to qualify via the QWE portfolio route.

However, she still hopes to secure a two-year traditional training contract at a single employer. “My SQE experience has been really fundamental in helping me to build the skills that I use day-to-day working on cases at the clinic, but also to help build those skills that I’ll need when I ultimately become a qualified solicitor,” she explains.

Talking on why she chose BPP as a provider, she tells us that it’s undeniable that the pass rate influenced her choice. “It’s significantly higher than the national average at BPP, so I wanted to ensure that I was choosing a provider which would give me the best chance of success,” she explains. “And, I have to say that I have no regrets choosing BPP as a provider for the SQE. We’re provided with revision notes and videos which help you to navigate the knowledge that you need to bring over from a law degree,” she says.

“And aside from this, the structure of teaching at BPP is very good,” she continues. “Before each class, we’re all given a ‘prepare task’, and during the session we’re given an ‘apply task’, which really helped me personally to cement my knowledge.”

So, she says, even during SQE1 preparation, students already have an idea of the types of skills they’ll need for SQE2 — given that most of the knowledge tested is ‘applied’ within the classroom. “The tasks that we’re given throughout, whether these are the tasks during each session or the practice exams, all really resonated with the actual formulation of the exams, so in my opinion BPP’s SQE prep course can’t be faulted,” she explains.

After announcing last year that BPP was taking on five ‘qualifying work experience’ trainees to work within its pro bono clinic, Aderibigbe found herself as one of the law school’s first student recruits. We probed her on the kind of work she’s been undertaking. “I had some previous experience in BPP’s Legal Advice Clinic, so I wanted to explore my legal journey with the Social Impact team,” she explains. “But since I’ve started, I advise on civil litigation matters which really relate to what I’ll be doing in practice. I meet with clients and conduct client interviews with a solicitor supervisor, and afterwards I send letters of advice out to each client on their case,” she says. “So, it helps me both to revise all of the knowledge I’ve learned throughout my undergraduate degree and the SQE exams, but also to put this knowledge into practice.”

Although she’s still planning on going down the traditional training contract route rather than building her QWE across multiple organisations, this experience is guaranteed to help her stand out from the TC-hunting crowd. “Interviewing clients is something which I’ve always wanted to do. I really enjoy the aspect of seeing a case through from start to finish, and I find it so rewarding to be able build my confidence and experience,” she says. Working with a lot of qualified solicitors, she tells us that it’s also been incredible exposure to legal practice.

Noting how much this experience helped her in the SQE2 exams, she says:

 “I would advise anyone taking SQE2 to gain work experience before they take the exam. It really helps. When I walked into the client interviewing assessment on the SQE2 exam, it felt so natural because this is something that I do every day at work!”

Aderibigbe will be speaking at Legal Cheek’s event, “SQE courses: everything you need to know”, which is just around the corner, on 6 June. With this in mind, we quiz her on her general advice for SQE students. “The first tip I would give is to make the decision not to self-study. Self-study for the SQE is not going to take you as far as with a provider. There are some things my tutors taught me in class which are not in the materials, yet still became fundamental to my success on the exams,” she explains. “Aside from this, as I mentioned previously, work experience really is key to the SQE2 exams. And, finally, although practice exams are key, try not to focus solely on MCQ prep. Broadening your knowledge so that it’s applicable widely to many types of questions prevents students from the path-dependency that comes with over-reliance on previous practice exam answers.”

On a final note, she urges SQE students to prepare for all eventualities. “The SQE exams can surprise you. Choosing to study in a way which is new or unfamiliar to you may be the key to success. Expect the unexpected”.

Ifeoluwa Aderibigbe will be speaking at ‘SQE courses: everything you need to know — with BPP University Law School’, a virtual student event taking place on Thursday 6 June. Apply now to attend.

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BPP’s Head of Client Development, Liz Ritter, talks apprenticeships, exam performance and ‘teething problems’ with the new route

“For the last five years, I’ve really been living and breathing SQE,” says Liz Ritter, BPP’s Head of Client Development. Six years after qualifying at Magic Circle law firm Clifford Chance, Ritter made the move into the learning and development space, and has since spent most of her career at BPP and in law firm learning and development. “For me, making this shift was all about having the opportunity to work with individuals; helping them become the best lawyers that they can be and supporting them to develop their own skills in their chosen careers.” Now, her role sees her helping legal employers of all varieties to navigate their way through the SQE system, identifying different pathways and programmes that best suit their business needs.

With the SQE firmly ingrained in her day-to-day, Legal Cheek Careers asks Ritter for her thoughts on its rollout over the past couple of years. “There have clearly been some teething problems. That’s partially since the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Kaplan have had to scale up so considerably as more students and law firms have transitioned over to the new pathways,” she explains. But it’s not all negative. “At BPP, we meet with the SRA and Kaplan on a fairly regular basis to pass on feedback that we gather from our student body and from the employers we work with,” she says. “These discussions have led to some positive changes, like those recently made to the booking system, which have had a positive impact on the SQE administration.”

But it would be no lie to suggest that these ‘teething problems’ have impacted confidence in the SQE regime, says Ritter, who will be chairing an SQE discussion at the LegalEdCon 2024. “These teething issues have had an impact on confidence in the administration of the SQE, but separately there is also a question of confidence as to whether the SQE in its current format is the best way to determine competence for future lawyers. There are very capable candidates who would make great solicitors but who are struggling in particular with SQE1.”

She continues: “From an employer perspective, one of their key concerns is certainty, and I don’t think we’re there yet. This is really important to employers, given their need to advance plan recruitment and resourcing.”

It seems though, with the release of recent data, that there is one group of qualifiers reaping the rewards of the SQE regime. “I’m a massive champion of the school-leaver solicitor apprenticeship route,” says Ritter, acknowledging the success of apprentices when it comes to the qualifying exams. “I work very closely with many employers who are implementing these apprenticeships, and it’s been absolutely fantastic to see the success of so many apprentices making their way through to qualification.” But why are this group of aspiring lawyers so successful, particularly on the SQE2 assessments? Ritter tells us apprentices “sit the SQE2 exams towards the end of their six-year programme, and the SQE2 is ideally suited for apprentices because they’ve already built five or six years of practical, on the job experience.”

Since the implementation of the SQE regime, the school-leaver apprenticeship route is just one of the various pathways available for qualification with BPP. “This is one of the real advantages of the introduction of the SQE: it enables multiple routes to qualification. I don’t think you can say one is better than the other because different pathways suit different individuals and different employers,” Ritters says. Many law firms have opted to ‘frontload’ SQE preparation before the beginning of training contracts because they value the certainty that this brings, Ritter explains.

“Frontloading the SQE has also enabled law schools to offer programmes that help future lawyers develop wider knowledge and skills which align more closely with the type of work they’ll be doing when they hit the ground as a trainee. It makes these SQE candidates more practice ready.” She continues: “For example, our very popular master’s programme goes well beyond the SQE curriculum, with different pathways according to the type of organisation that they want to work in (general practice, commercial or corporate), together with an awareness of the impact of ESG, legal tech and AI on the practice of law.”

Equally, the graduate apprenticeship model is particularly attractive to aspiring lawyers and employers, according to Ritter. “What’s exciting is the range of different organisations that have chosen to adopt the graduate solicitor apprenticeship and that previously might not have been able to support or sponsor aspiring solicitors in the same way,” she tells us. “We’re working with law centres and charities, law firms of all sizes, in-house legal teams, local authorities, police authorities and public bodies like the Government Legal Department. These diverse types of organisations provide new and varied opportunities, so that’s hugely attractive.”

With numerous qualification pathways emerging since the introduction of the SQE, we ask Ritter how BPP is uniquely preparing its students for success. “Most of our students are on modes of study that benefit from regular, live teaching from tutors who are experts in their fields, with access to our high-quality resources and MCQ practice questions, all supported by AI driven educational technology platforms to help students to success,” she says. “Our programmes also focus at every stage on development of practice-ready skills, using realistic case studies and incorporating trainee-type tasks as part of their learning.” In BPP’s latest results, 79% of first-time test-takers passed SQE1 in January 2024 across all cohorts, based on the verified results of over 75% of BPP’s students. “Ultimately,” says Ritter, “we’re preparing students for success in the assessments, but we’re also preparing them for success in their future careers.”

Liz Ritter will be chairing a session on the developments to the SQE at LegalEdCon 2024, Legal Cheek’s annual future of legal education and training conference, which takes place in-person on Thursday 16 May at Kings Place, London. Final release tickets for the Conference can be purchased here.

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Head of Department James Catchpole discusses The City Law School’s unique approach to SQE training ahead of LegalEdCon 2024 next week

“Our offering is different from your typical commercial provider: we’re much more student focused,” says James Catchpole, The City Law School’s Head of Department for Postgraduate and Professional Programmes. Speaking to Catchpole at the City’s flashy new Northampton Square home in London, Legal Cheek Careers is keen to find out more about this law school’s approach to legal training, and how it differentiates itself in a competitive market.

“The students come first at The City Law School,” Catchpole tells us. “We centre our offering around them; it comes in the form of strong pastoral care and skills development to prepare them to hit the ground running in the wider legal world.”

Catchpole, a qualified solicitor, has been a feature of the London legal education scene now for over two decades. “I originally qualified into IT law, data protection and privacy. I enjoyed what I did, but I wasn’t really settled into what I was doing, and I knew that I wanted to do more,” he says. “Through my role, I was running client training sessions, and giving lectures on IT and data privacy. Soon after, I was offered the opportunity to go to the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa to set up the first LLM on International IT and Telecommunications law in Africa.” On return to the UK, Catchpole made the decision to say goodbye to legal practice, and he hasn’t looked back since. “I originally joined The City Law School teaching the Legal Practice Course (LPC) which I thoroughly enjoyed: I worked with an incredible team, we had such fun whilst working incredibly hard,” he explains.

A law school with deep roots in London’s legal education scene, The City Law School evolved from the Inns of Court School of Law (ICSL) which itself dates back to the nineteenth century. The ICSL was, in its time, the original and sole provider of bar training in the United Kingdom, and the only excellent graded LPC in the City. But Catchpole does advise that legal education is a very different beast than the one he well knew when he was looking at qualifying as a solicitor. “The university education landscape has changed considerably since I was a student,” he says, being in one of the first ever cohorts to take the LPC. “Students have gone from being ‘learners to partners’,” he says. “In essence, students have become much more attuned to their needs and aspirations; this is driving both them and us to thoroughly equip them for the next stage of their careers.”

In this vein, The City Law School has been able to build upon its experience as a legal education provider and adapt to these changing winds by bringing a new qualification course to the market. Its Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) preparation course, the Solicitors’ Practice Programme (SPP) was brought to the market in September 2023. We ask Catchpole how delivery of the programme is going. “It’s going great; the team have worked exceptionally hard to get the course up and running. We’re one of the few providers in London offering an SQE preparatory course and have pulled out of the LPC, which was the right way to go,” he tells us.

One of the unique selling points of the SPP lies in its focus on the student and their learning experience. “I don’t think you can just say — ‘we’re going to prep you for an exam’. You’ve got to prepare the student for a lot more and particularly for entering the working world,” says Catchpole who will be speaking at LegalEdCon 2024 later this month. At The City Law School, this manifests itself through three core features. Firstly, small group teaching is the cornerstone of the SPP. Priding itself on being acquainted and available to each and every student, the small group teaching method allows its course leaders to be proactive in supporting students throughout their time at the law school, Catchpole explains.

“This means that our experienced tutors really get to know the students, which does make a difference. In this sense, course leaders can spot the students who need extra support much earlier and assist them exactly when it is needed. It makes for a much more supportive and collaborative learning environment,” Catchpole tells us.

Supporting this collaborative learning environment is The City Law School’s cutting-edge campus situated in the heart of London. The City Law School’s fresh hub at Northampton Square is all exposed brick and glass panelling, flooding the communal study spaces with light. Complete with all the mod cons, the new space boasts a 160-seat lecture theatre, a purpose build court room together with a witness’ room, a dedicated library, modern study spaces, a restaurant and central atrium with a glazed roof. Showing Legal Cheek Careers around the modern venue, Catchpole notes the importance of physical study spaces and the return of face-to-face teaching following the pandemic.

“Pastoral care is one of the things we’re very strong on too,” Catchpole emphasises. “We provide the ‘full university package’, meaning that our courses are designed with our students in mind, and our offering is that we genuinely care about our students.” Catchpole is quick to emphasise the importance of pastoral care when it comes to tackling SQE preparation, citing the latest “very, very unfortunate marking debacle”.

“There is a lot in the press about the mental stress and mental health impacts of these exams. As a provider, we’re focused on preparing our students for that and the realities of practice,” he says.

Catchpole is quick to emphasise just how important well-rounded support is for students at this time, against the backdrop of marking errors and consistent press coverage of the rocky SQE roll-out, which has made it even trickier for law students to navigate SQE studies.

During the first term, the focus is on SQE1, followed by SQE2 in the second term for students enrolled in the SPP. Additionally, students receive an extra module in their second term aimed at preparing them for legal practice. “This module looks at equipping our aspiring solicitors for practice,” Catchpole tells us. “So, students will have all the SQE2 skills practice in this term, such as writing, advocacy and oral skills, but also a dedicated module on practice preparation. This includes everything from soft skills to legal technology and AI, business law, practice management, commercial awareness, and negotiation.”

In a changing world and a changing legal market, Catchpole says, “We want to make sure our students succeed.” The support that The City Law School provides their students is of fundamental importance, he continues, because of the prevalence of first-generation university students at the law school who are often seeking additional support not offered elsewhere. “The Solicitors’ Practice Programme is not just a SQE preparatory course,” he says. “Considering our hands on approach and the genuine interest our staff take in our students; it’s much more than that, it is has everything they need to succeed.”

James Catchpole will be speaking at LegalEdCon 2024, Legal Cheek’s annual future of legal education and training conference, which takes place in-person on Thursday 16 May at Kings Place, London. Final release tickets for the Conference can be purchased here.

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BARBRI’s Jody Tranter discusses how the law school’s innovative approach helps create bespoke learning experiences for its students

“My whole career has been in education,” says Jody Tranter, BARBRI’s Head of Learning & Product. The core of her career has been focusing on using data to create improvements in legal and professional education. “Even before AI and data-driven approaches,” she says, “analysing what’s working well to create improvements was at the heart of my role”. So, when her former employer Altior was acquired by BARBRI in 2019, the move “fit seamlessly with my skillset, because BARBRI is very data and technology driven when it comes to providing what students really need to be successful”.

Talking innovation in legal education, Tranter explains that this ethos is embedded in the core offering at BARBRI. “Technology is really at the heart of what we provide because we have always been a fully online provider,” she tells Legal Cheek Careers. “Our technology feeds into our course design and enables us to fully personalise each learning programme, allowing each student to have an individualised learning experience”. In this vein, for Tranter, legal innovation is about capturing the ability to adapt new forms of learning to fit all types of aspiring lawyers.

But how is this really showcased at BARBRI? Tranter gives us the details. “By leveraging over 50 years of experience in legal education, our learning platform is designed so that all of the content that students need is there, at the point at which they need it,” she says. “This way, our students can consume that content in a way which is suitable for them.” She tells us that this is really where the technology-focus at BARBRI comes in.

“Our learning platform guides each student individually, by for example, guiding students on how many hours to spend on each topic per day and how many tasks to do”. This platform self-adjusts its timetabling depending on whether students want to block out certain times each week for other commitments, she explains. “If a student falls behind their personalised schedule, our platform will also guide them on which tasks to focus on, by assigning them the tasks that are more impactful to their learning first.” BARBRI sees a diverse array of students, from solicitor apprentices to those qualified overseas, non-law graduates and more. These course design features are one of the ways that BARBRI tailors its content to suit individual needs.

This personalisation is key when it comes to preparing for the Solicitors Qualifying Exams (SQE), we’re told, because it’s no misnomer that the SQE is not a walk in the park. “They’re very challenging exams,” Tranter begins, “but it’s not a challenge to succeed if you’re well prepared”. She says the US Bar Exam has consisted of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) for a number of years  — a similar structure to the SQE1 exams.

“In the UK we’re adjusting to this style of examination, and this shift is what is more challenging. Students and providers should understand that assessing students in this way is so different to other assessment formats and requires a different type of learning and preparation,” Tranter says.

BARBRI’s experience preparing students for the likes of the New York and California bar exams has helped build its reputation in preparing students for this style of assessment. “We’re always looking at how students score on exams, which parts of each exam have students performed well on, which parts have they found more challenging and how is each student doing individually,” says Tranter. By running statistical analysis in the background, BARBRI determines whether its learning methods are statistically sound.

“We’re able to utilise and analyse that data to improve and personalise our courses. For example, in a typical lecture scenario, you can never fully understand and analyse individual student comprehension. But at BARBRI, we’re lucky to have the data-capture technology to help each individual student succeed on each course and prepare them fully for the exams,” she tells us. This helps BARBRI to target the support that each student needs to succeed, whether studying full-time or part-time, a law graduate or a non-law graduate, or have additional learning needs.

“The learning science we put behind the scenes, in terms of how people best learn, has been built into each programme to get the best outcome from each student,” Tranter explains.

Tranter is quick to reassure that even though technology and innovation may be “at the heart” of BARBRI’s offering, this doesn’t mean that students forego interactions with individuals. In fact, she stresses, individual contact and feedback is really at the root of its SQE offering. “Each student has access to a learning coach; an experienced person who they can reach out to at any time and make an appointment with,” she says. “So, if students are struggling with their mental health or need some extra support, they can reach out if and when they need it.” She says, “this support is really about helping to keep students motivated and on-track. This combination of personalisation and tech innovation is the key to success for BARBRI students.”

Emphasising that feedback and interaction with learning coaches is one of the unique selling points of its SQE courses, Tranter takes us through how this is structured: “For SQE 1, students receive instant feedback on their MCQ practice questions but also opportunities for live feedback and discussion with our Learning Coaches. Similarly, for SQE 2, we provide extensive amounts of individualised feedback on their skills assessments.” Tranter stresses that feedback is ultimately key to success in the exams because it provides the opportunity for both BARBRI and the student to identify their strengths and weaknesses, and work towards the assessment with those in mind.

On the theme of personalisation, we’re keen to explore with Tranter how the law school is approaching diversifying their offering to different learners. She highlights that the fundamental issue is that everyone will be taking the same assessment, but each individual’s path to that final assessment will vary. “With a huge array of students doing SQE preparation with the provider, it’s important that its courses are tailored in terms of accessibility to allow each type of learner to thrive”, she says.

Diving deeper, Tranter explains that “we’ve built all of our content with accessibility in mind, such as providing students with the ability to customise font colour and sizing options, text-to-speech technology etc”. For students with additional needs, “these facets are built into the tech from the start”. She further stresses the importance of homing in on developing the skills and techniques needed for students with additional needs to feel more confident tackling the exams. “To that end, we run workshops and strategy sessions to help all students learn those crucial exam techniques and to support students in adopting successful learning approaches that suit their learning preferences”.

Without giving too much away, we ask Tranter whether she can give us an insight into what BARBRI plans on covering at LegalEdCon2024. “The key thing for us is diversity, and how important it is to individual students and the profession as a whole”. She says, “the SQE was created to open up access and help to support more diversity in the profession, so we’ll be touching on the way we design our courses to support this ultimate goal.”

BARBRI will be speaking at LegalEdCon 2024, Legal Cheek’s annual future of legal education and training conference, which takes place in-person on Thursday 16 May at Kings Place, London. Final release tickets for the Conference can be purchased here.

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Mikaela Hristova, future trainee solicitor at Stephenson Harwood and current BPP SQE student, discusses her exam experience

Mikaela Hristova, a future trainee solicitor at Stephenson Harwood, recently completed and passed SQE1 in January. Recounting her post-exam worries, she tells me, “for FLK 2, I was convinced that I’d failed, but I ended up being in the top quintile. It just goes to show, you never know!”

Like many SQE1 candidates, Hristova felt very anxious going into her SQE LLM course at BPP. “The main issue is the uncertainty, just because the SQE is such a new process of qualifying. The information that is out there is, I would say, more negative than it is positive,” she says. Even towards the end, Hristova did not feel better about her prospects. “I was hearing about all these amazing and exceptional students going to top firms who were failing SQE1. I felt that no matter how much work I put into it, there was a 50-50 chance that I would fail, which is a huge gamble.”

It is safe to say Hristova worked hard regardless. When discussing her study technique, she explains that she developed a study system based on her visual learning style. “I was doing a lot of mind maps with a mixture of things.” She recalls taking screenshots of diagrams and flow charts from the resources provided by BPP, then annotating them in mind maps.

She also used flash cards to revise the multiple-choice questions (MCQs) she had answered incorrectly in practice papers. In the final month leading up to the exams, Hristova copied her study notes onto sticky notes, which she then stuck onto her fridge. “Every morning I would spend maybe one or two hours going through every single thing,” she says. “Even the legal rules that I knew and was quite comfortable with, I would really make sure I knew them.”

However, Hristova stresses the importance of being strategic with your learning when it comes to SQE1. “The thing with it is that it’s a very holistic exam. Sometimes it’s about breadth, not depth,” she explains. “Get the general principles, ask the questions in class and all that, but move on afterwards because we just need to be very strategic with how much there is that can come up in the exams.”

While Hristova happily divulges her study methods, she also notes that they may not work for everyone. In her study group, she saw that her peers all had very different approaches. Seeing that some of her classmates were solely doing practice questions in the final month, Hristova at times felt that she was adopting the wrong tactics. “I was putting so much pressure on myself that I started doing MCQs for a whole week, but in the end, I knew that it wasn’t working for me,” she explains. Now, she believes that students should feel less guilty about taking more time to understand the material, because what really matters is just knowing and understanding the law. “If flash cards work better, then just do flashcards. If MCQs work better, just do MCQs.”

I assumed that Hristova would find the SQE’s biggest challenge to be the volume of information that candidates are expected to learn and retain, but that was not the case. “The hardest part for me was actually just going in with the idea that there was a possibility that I might fail regardless of how much work I had done.” It’s no surprise then, that her tutor’s advice to think and stay positive was instrumental throughout her SQE1 preparations. Reflecting on the importance of mental health support during this period, Hristova remarks, “I was very lucky to have a tutor at BPP who would always make the time to speak to me after class and address my concerns”.

When I ask Hristova for her advice for future SQE1 candidates, Hristova offers these words of hope and encouragement: “Don’t focus too much on the negative news out there. Even though there is a lot of uncertainty, hard work actually equals very good results in the end.”

It’s clear that a strong mindset has been crucial to Hristova’s success, whether with exams or with securing a training contract. She explains that she met the firm at law fairs on multiple occasions, building connections and strengthening her resolve to secure a vacation scheme with them. “Getting a training contract is about persistence, so it’s important to stay at it and taking advantage of as many experiences as you can get”, advises Hristova.

In this vein, she notes the importance of “getting yourself out there and speaking to people” as the key to securing legal opportunities. “I attended so many Legal Cheek events. I reached out to a lot of people on LinkedIn. I asked a lot of people about their experience with applications, and I was quite surprised to find that there are actually so many trainees and future trainees who are willing to help.”

As we approach the end of our conversation, Hristova explains that she stood out in her applications by showing how her personality and career aspirations matched the firm she was applying to. “This will sound like such a cliché but it’s just about being yourself – not being afraid to talk about your experiences and how they shaped you as an aspiring lawyer.”

Mikaela Hristova will be speaking at “A deep dive into SQE1 – with BPP University Law School” a virtual student event taking place this Thursday (11 April). Apply now to attend.

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Madelaine Moss, future trainee solicitor at Addleshaw Goddard and current BPP SQE student, discusses her SQE journey

During our conversation, I ask Madelaine Moss, a future trainee solicitor at Addleshaw Goddard, about how she’s found the SQE so far. “Completing the SQE full-time since September has been a lot. From Monday to Friday, 8am to 10pm, I was studying, Saturdays would always be spent working my part-time job, and on Sundays, if I was lucky, I would have a few hours off”.

So, it’s clear the SQE requires a lot of hard work. I was interested to learn how challenging Moss found studying for SQE1 while juggling a part-time job. “I completed the SQE1 exams in January and had to sacrifice time with family and friends during the twelve weeks leading up to the exams. I felt like I was a robot”. Moss goes on to stress that working full-time alongside the SQE would be too much, arguing that she would not have successfully prepared for her SQE1 exams had she attempted to work full-time. With that said, part-time work is manageable and something many of her cohort does, if the position does not require long or regular hours.

But there does appear to be light at the end of the tunnel, with Moss arguing that preparing for SQE2 has been a lot ‘more manageable’ due to the self-study approach used during the SQE2 preparation course at BPP. Moss explains that the practicality of SQE2 does not require processing large volumes of information, making the format less overwhelming – with Moss finding that working part-time has been a lot easier. “I go to the gym now and enjoy going swimming, and have the time to see family and friends, things I couldn’t do while completing SQE1. I feel like I’m back to a level of normality again now”.

Given Moss’s background as a history graduate from the University of Manchester, I was interested to understand how important she believes completing the PGDL is to SQE exam preparation success. “If I hadn’t done the PGDL, I would not have been able to get a basic understanding of the law and be ready to sit the January exams”, Moss notes. This is not surprising: with the SQE’s vast volume of content requiring time-consuming preparation, Moss stresses that the structure the PGDL provided made SQE prep more manageable. “I’m not saying it’s impossible to pass the SQE without completing the PGDL”, she cautions, “but I do think that having a basic level of knowledge already makes it a lot easier”.

Moss went on to discuss what she found most challenging when preparing for her SQE1 exams. “I personally found the volume of information I had to learn the most difficult part; alongside the complete breadth of knowledge the assessments require. On each exam you have five different modules that could come up, and those modules are huge, so it’s been really challenging trying to understand and memorise the law”. Madelaine explains that SQE1 contains 180 MCQs on a wide variety of content — so, a detailed understanding of all the aspects of the law is needed, although that often feels unachievable.

Prior to commencing her SQE studies, Moss worked as a paralegal at two different firms, which she believes is currently aiding her preparation for SQE2, which she will be completing later this year. “Legal writing and legal drafting are the two things I did a lot when I was paralegalling and so I already knew the way they were meant to be written”, she tells me.

Moss goes on to note that having a basic practical understanding is something she would recommend all SQE candidates attempt to gain in some way, due to the knowledge and confidence it has provided her. With that said, she points out that this by no means meant she’s finding preparing for SQE2 easy; just that her prior experience has given her a useful practical foundation.

While it’s clear that SQE2 seems to provide some light at the end of the tunnel, I wanted to know what obstacles Madelaine had faced while preparing for these assessments. “The oral skills necessary are what I find the most challenging. I didn’t do law at university, so I don’t have the practical experience of mooting or doing practice court cases, so I’m finding preparing for the oral exams really difficult”, she tells me.

But this should not deter aspiring solicitors from completing the assessments, with Madelaine pointing out that the exams are supposed to challenge candidates. “If they weren’t hard, everyone would be doing it”, she notes. Madelaine also shares that her cohort and the teaching she has received at BPP has been “really good” and has helped her preparation for these assessments.

As a future trainee solicitor at Addleshaw Goddard, and a previous vac scheme participant at firms including Hill Dickinson and Walker Morris, I asked Madelaine what advice she has for aspiring solicitors hoping to secure vacation schemes or training contracts. “When you’re writing your applications, you’ve got to bring the question back to you and why you want to work at the firm. While it’s easy to say why a law firm is great, I think candidates should bring in an interest or practical experience they have that makes the great thing at the firm pertinent to them. Making an application personal helps show a genuine interest in the firm and that you have engaged with what they stand for and their specialisms”, she advises.

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AstraZeneca graduate solicitor apprentice talks SQE1&2, balancing work and study and revision tips

Starting off our conversation, I asked Emily Ross, a graduate solicitor apprentice at AstraZeneca, about her day-to-day. “It’s hugely varied and every day is very different. But saying that, my role within the company is to help mitigate legal risk. I work for the marketing company – we market, in the UK, the pharmaceutical products that come from the pipeline. So, I undertake a lot of contract review of digital campaigns, market access agreements and marketing strategies, for instance,” she explains.

Emily tells me that she also works quite closely on NHS partnerships, and in particular, the collaborative and joint workings that AstraZeneca partners with the NHS on. “Although I can’t speak about ongoing litigation, of course, I play an active role in facilitating meetings with external counsel and help to review witness statements”, she says.

The Manchester Uni law and politics grad started her graduate solicitor apprenticeship in September 2021 and is due to complete it in February 2024. She’s on a 30-month programme, working four days a week at AstraZeneca, with one day allocated as a ‘study day’. “On that day, I attend lectures at BPP, and so, as part of my graduate solicitor apprenticeship, I gain a Level 7 qualification (the equivalent of a Master’s degree), with SQE1&2 prep also integrated into my BPP course”, she explains.

It’s fair to say that it’s been a busy few months for Emily, given that she sat the SQE1&2 in July and October this year. I was curious to know what her three biggest challenges were when it came to studying and preparing for the SQE1 assessments. “Firstly, juggling work and study was a big one. I love to give 100% to my work, so I found it quite challenging to completely detach on that one study day and not get distracted by emails coming through or what was going on at work”, she notes.

Secondly, Emily points out the content-heavy nature of the exam. It’s understandably quite a jump to go from the undergraduate learning experience of writing long-form essays to preparing for multiple choice questions (MCQs) which test a vast amount of content. “My third challenge, very genuinely, was trying not to burn out. In my case, I’d just moved to London, had lots of friends here, a very busy job and the SQE demands a lot. So, managing my social, work and study life was certainly a challenge”, Emily explains.

We then chatted a bit about Emily’s assessment experience, and whether there was anything that caught her off-guard. After all, we’ve all been in that position of having prepared meticulously for an exam, and something going wrong at just the wrong moment. “With the SQE1, I would say that the BPP preparation helped me massively and put me in a very good place to sit the exam. Nonetheless, there were still a few surprising questions in there which you couldn’t have foreseen from the specification, as it’s quite broad in scope. Some of the questions were also extremely long — so when you come across that, try not to get flustered and remind yourself that all you have to do is read it thoroughly”, Emily advises.

As for the SQE2, Emily explains that there’s two components to the exams, oral and written, and her views on them are starkly different. The oral aspect tests interview and advocacy skills and Emily said she had a good experience with these. “I quite enjoyed being able to showcase my flair, something which you don’t get the opportunity to do with the MCQs on the SQE1 — that was quite rewarding. Moreover, having done numerous client interviews during my time at AstraZeneca, it was definitely the more relatable component; I didn’t have any experience with advocacy”, she details.

The written component of the SQE2 exam was not such a pleasant experience — Emily was part of the Chiswick cohort, which experienced major delays to the exam as the server went down. “We waited for about four hours, without access to revision notes. After being released on a one-hour lunch break, one floor of the centre, including myself, was allowed to sit the exam, starting after 2pm. I got back home at half-seven that evening, and had to set off early the next morning to get to my test centre for the next day”, she recounts.

With her experience of the exam logistics being far from ideal, Emily points out that the exam content is also fairly challenging. Spread out over three days, each written assessment on the SQE2 has four different components — writing, research, drafting and case and matter analysis. “Overall, these are quite long, you’re spending about 4 hours each day writing, and that’s labour-intensive”, she points out.

Offering her tips on bridging the gap between the very different formats of the SQE1&2, Emily points out that fundamentally, you need to carry forward what you’ve learnt on the Functioning Legal Knowledge components (FLK 1&2) tested on the SQE1. What you need to build up, however, is learning how to apply that knowledge on a skills basis — Emily says that the reigning mantra to master this is “practise, practise, practise”. “I found myself (really uncomfortably!) recording myself speaking, and asking colleagues at work to pretend to be clients to practise the exercises in the past papers”, she tells me.

I also asked Emily about how she tackled particular topics that she struggled with — given the breadth of knowledge covered in the FLK 1&2, there’s bound to be subjects that you just can’t seem to get your head around. She notes that working in a legal field for the past two years was very valuable, and she found topics that she doesn’t encounter on daily basis, like property, land and trusts, to be particularly challenging. “On study days,  I tackled these early on in the day when my mind was fresh. My attention span is generally better in the morning, and it’s quite nice to be able to say that by lunchtime, you’ve done the hard work for the day. I also reached out to BPP tutors and attended any extra study sessions that were running for my problem topics,” she says.

Approaching the end of our chat, I asked Emily for her advice on how students should be revising in the weeks leading up to the exams. “For the SQE1, most of the hard work’s already been done by the time you approach the exam — so what’s important is to keep calm and go over the things that you don’t know too well. You’ll be surprised at how much your brain can hold and recall during  the exam, even if it’s been a few weeks since you last revised that topic”, she reassures. Having downtime for yourself, even if that’s taking a morning off work using annual leave, is also incredibly helpful, Ross Emily.

“For SQE2, practise was the most important thing — with BPP, we sat a lot of mocks in the weeks leading up to the exams. The key on this exam is being confident in the skills tested. Even if, on the day, you blank on the law, having those skills down will help get your mark up”, she advises. “In the days before the exams, when you’re feeling tired, just remind yourself that it’s the final stretch, and push through — you’re so close!”

Emily Ross will be speaking at ‘The SQE assessments: a deep dive — with BPP University Law School’, a virtual student event taking place TODAY. Apply now to attend.

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Using QWE and online learning to make the most of the SQE’s flexible approach to qualification

The Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE), designed to replace the Legal Practice Course (LPC) as the main route to qualifying as a solicitor, has already changed the legal training landscape. Crucially, it has removed the bottleneck that had left aspiring solicitors at the mercy of the ‘training contract lottery’, with thousands of LPC graduates having been left unable to qualify for years on end. That model has been replaced by a new flexible and affordable alternative.

A more flexible and affordable option

Studying the LPC can cost up to £20,000, requires committing to studying for a year, and can only be undertaken after earning a law degree or equivalent post-graduate diploma. With a three-year LLB likely to cost over £27,000 in tuition fees alone, some aspiring lawyers will be studying for many years and could end up spending close to nearly £50,000 on course fees alone if self-funding. Sitting the SQE exams, in contrast, costs just £4,564 and prep courses for both exams can be studied for as little as £3782.50 combined.

Students are also not required to have studied a law degree or a post-graduate diploma in law – instead any degree-level qualification will suffice. For those who may have decided to join the legal profession later in life, having to start from scratch would quite understandably have posed an insurmountable barrier. Instead, due to the changes introduced by the SQE, these learners can harness their past experience and use it to their advantage when qualifying. Not only does that benefit them, it also helps the legal profession which gains access to a cadre of new lawyers with a different outlook and ready-made skillset.

The same can be said of international students. Thanks to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) forward thinking, it is possible to study the entirety of the SQE online and every assessment except the SQE2 oral assessment can also be sat from abroad. To support this the SRA has opened assessment centres in 26 countries with nearly 50 more planned to offer both SQE1 and SQE2 assessments abroad. This reflects the international appetite for the qualifications and the high global standing English law is held in. The result is that qualifying as a solicitor in England and Wales is no longer just for those who happen to be based in England and Wales.

Why Qualifying Work Experience makes the difference

Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) puts the ability to qualify back in the hands of trainees. It’s also a key way in which flexibility has been baked into the SQE by design. In order to ensure that the door to a legal qualification is open to as many people as possible, it’s no longer necessary to spend two years working under a training contract for a law firm or to receive a supervisor’s sign off for competencies – arguably an arbitrary judgement. Instead, a much wider range of previous legal experience will now suffice, whether that is sitting as a non-legally qualified member of a tribunal, volunteering at a law clinic like Access Law Clinic, or relevant legal work in a different jurisdiction. Students can also now undertake their work experience before or during their studies.

It is the SRA – not the law firm – that signs off on competency, empowering the aspiring solicitor to gain recognition for a variety of qualifying work experience in a flexible manner. The rationale behind this is that it addresses the issue of lack of training contracts and absence of a standardised approach to assessing competency. As the sector adapts to the fast-changing market for legal services, an increasing number of firms require lawyers who are able to solve increasingly complex problems.

Firms we work with have told us how they are using the flexibility offered by the SQE to create pathways that are designed with their trainees in mind. That includes both approaches tightly focused on the one area the trainees want to work in and pathways that use the flexibility on offer now there is no longer a set number of ‘seats’ to give trainees broader experience across the firm before specialising.  Aspiring solicitors benefit by tailoring their training to their own needs and make space for new areas, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) whilst training, instead of spending months in a department they have no intention of working in when qualified.

The benefits of an online approach

Unfortunately, some barriers remain in place. Perhaps the most significant is that for all the changes that the SRA have introduced, the legal education sector arguably has not kept up. The norm remains an expectation to attend in-person, with fixed windows for applications and an academic year that runs full-time between autumn and the summer. That might be a great option for some, but every learner is different and a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t the right way to approach providing legal training.

Not least because it stands to undermine the ethos of the SQE – improving access to a legal education. After all, for those with caring or professional responsibilities, those studying from abroad, or with special education needs, the default of studying in-person and to a fixed timetable can put a legal education beyond reach. Fortunately, there’s no longer any need for the in-person model of education to be the default. Distance learning should no longer be seen as a ‘poor relation’ but rather the way forward.

Our experience at Law Training Centre has shown what’s possible through an online approach to learning. Distance learning allows for a more flexible approach for students and gives our tutors the chance to offer far more one-to-one support than would be possible in a crowded classroom. This gives students the chance to learn in the way that works best for them. We also offer every learner a bespoke study planner to ensure we’re delivering guided learning hours for everyone who studies with Law Training Centre. And because we don’t have to pay for a sprawling campus, we can offer all of this without having to charge fees that cost the earth.

There are plenty of other advantages to distance learning. For example, time that would have been spent commuting can instead be spent on studying. With research showing that learners with longer travel times have significantly lower progression rates than those who live closer, the benefits of that extra time studying shouldn’t be underestimated. An online model also ensures that those with existing professional or personal commitments are able to study at a pace that works for them, following a schedule of their choosing.

This is a model that works. We know that because we’ve already trained over 3000 aspiring lawyers from over 750 organisations, from high street firms, to regional powerhouses and Magic Circle firms, government organisations, financial services businesses and in-house legal professionals in all sectors.

Our online-by-design approach has helped those who would otherwise have remained locked out of the legal profession to pursue their goal of qualifying as a solicitor, both here and across the world. The SRA designed the SQE course to remove as many obstacles to qualifying as a solicitor as possible and as training providers we have a responsibility to build on their good work. By leading the charge on delivering a high-quality online education, we’re confident that we’re doing just that.

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Legal Cheek Careers sits down with US law firm trainee Ellen Swarbrick to talk SQE, career change and TCs

Vinson & Elkins trainee Ellen Swarbrick decided to pursue a career in law after having worked in energy consulting for a few years post-university. She completed the SQE1&2 with BARBRI and has recently joined the student voice advisory committee for the Board of BARBRI, alongside starting her training contract this September.

Legal Cheek Careers sat down with Swarbrick ahead of her appearance at this month’s virtual student event with BARBRI discussing diverse journeys to qualification through the SQE.

You’ve only just recently started your training contract, so you completed the Solicitors Qualifying Exams (SQE) not too long ago. Can you tell us about your experience of studying for the SQE with BARBRI, especially as someone with a non-law background?

I studied international business with German at university, so aside from a business law module in my second year, I had never studied law before. Because of this, the thought of doing it all online was quite daunting. Now that I have finished, I can honestly say I would prefer it to completing a law course at a university.

You don’t have to worry about missing any content because it’s all online. Not only do you have lectures that are filmed for the purpose of being online (no microphone or video issues), you also have huge banks of practice questions. The personal study plan tells you exactly what you need to do each day and you can even input days you do not wish to study and it will arrange the workload around this. You are also assigned a personal tutor, so there is definitely support there.

You previously worked in energy consulting — what prompted you to explore a legal career?

It’s a funny story, but I first considered a career in law during university after having a tenancy deposit dispute with my landlord. Researching my rights and collecting evidence, I was able to reduce the deductions by 80%. Really quite excited about this result, I started to look into doing a law conversion, but I didn’t want to commit to the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) and Legal Practice Course (LPC) and study for another two years (both financially and time-wise).

After a few years as an energy consultant, my passion for the energy sector grew, but I knew my skills were better suited to a career in law. This prompted me to finally make the career change and luckily, I could do this much quicker with the SQE.

Building on that, what drew you to Vinson & Elkins?

There were three main reasons I wanted to work for V&E. Firstly, I knew I loved working with energy companies. Because of this, my training contract applications targeted law firms which were strong in this sector, so applying for V&E was a no-brainer. Secondly, V&E has a relatively smaller London office. Lean team sizes meant I would get more responsibility earlier on and that I would get the opportunity to work closely with associates and partners.

Finally, V&E offer a non-rotational training contract structure in your second year. This means that you can start specialising early on and see cases and transactions through to completion. This flexibility and the opportunity to create your own unique training contract experience drew me to the firm.

What skills do you find transferrable to a legal career from your consulting experience, and what skills have you had to focus on developing further?

Consulting allowed me to develop really good commercial awareness. Not only did I have to keep up to date with industry news daily, but I also gained an insight into how businesses run and what their key strategic drivers are. This is important when you are advising a company on a multi-million-dollar acquisition for example, as these key strategic drivers can influence how you conduct due diligence or even how you draft the Sale & Purchase Agreement.

Because I am currently working with the Energy Transactions and Projects team, I would say the main skill I am focused on developing at the moment is understanding transaction and financing structures. These can be quite complex and technically challenging. You definitely aren’t expected to know everything from day one, and I have had a good deal of support so far.

What advice do you have for those looking to make a career change into law and needing to get back into studying to complete the SQE?

It can be quite daunting going back to studying after working full-time. My main piece of advice would be not to worry! The BARBRI personal study plan sets out exactly what you have to do and even how to revise the content (they call it the BARBRI method). I actually didn’t create any revision notes while studying, so the method definitely worked for me.

You are now over a month into your training contract! How are you finding it so far?

I’m really enjoying it so far. I’ve already had the opportunity to do substantive work, participate in client calls, and learn more about the transactions and cases V&E is working on. What I enjoy about V&E is that you are given as much responsibility and work as you are willing to take on, while also receiving good support and feedback from your supervisor and other associates and partners and the firm.

I have also participated in activities outside of the office, going for lunch with the Energy Transactions and Projects team and even playing in a tag rugby tournament!

Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) under the SQE introduces a lot of flexibility into the training process, as aspiring lawyers can now complete their training at up to four different organisations. What prompted you to want to train under the more traditional training contract route?

Coming from a non-law background, I decided a more structured period of training would be the best option for me. However, I have friends who have gone down different routes and are doing really well, so I definitely would recommend looking into all options.

Ellen Swarbrick will be speaking at ‘Making QWE work for you — with BARBRI’, a virtual student event taking place on 25 October. Apply now to attend.

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Fletchers Solicitors’ Joshua Whittam reflects on his six-year journey from school leaver to fully-qualified lawyer

Formerly one of Fletchers’ first legal apprentices and now a solicitor at the firm, Joshua Whittam could be considered something of a pioneer. He sat down with Legal Cheek to discuss his experiences.

Whittam’s story starts in 2016 when he was finishing sixth form in Southport. A local law firm approached his A-level law class asking for applications to their new training scheme. “Unbelievably, only a handful of us applied for it,” he recalls, “I think, looking back, some of those people who didn’t, must be regretting it now.”

That local law firm was Fletchers Solicitors, now one of the UK’s best-known personal injury specialists and one of the top 100 UK law firms by revenue. Whittam was one of just three candidates selected for the firm’s first solicitor apprenticeships. Now, at the age of 25 and almost one year since qualifying as a solicitor, Whittam has accrued almost seven years of experience in the profession.

Reflecting on his decision to pursue a legal apprenticeship, Whittam has no regrets. “I was considering my options, one of which was to go to university full-time, which I wasn’t particularly keen on — I knew I’d be back in the same position in three years’ time competing with graduates for entry-level training jobs.”

An apprenticeship just seemed to offer the best all-around package, he recalls: “The freedom of full-time university where you start to lead your own life was appealing, but I wanted to get started on a career. I wanted to save for a house and have a family one day, and being able to earn a wage whilst getting real experience just seemed perfect.”

Over the six-year scheme, he spent four days a week at work and one day a week attending university, working through a degree, then the SQE, and most recently a master’s. Being part of a small three-person cohort meant that his studies were always strongly supported and tailored through regular feedback.

But like any journey there were challenges. “You go to university to learn black-letter law and famous cases but that doesn’t always translate into what you’ll do day-to-day” he says. There was also the difficulty of balancing work alongside study on the apprenticeship scheme: “That was the hard bit”, he explains, “gaining more responsibility and slowly learning how to organize myself.”

The SQE regime change came into effect during Whittam’s journey to qualification and he found himself in the first cohort to sit both SQE exams. “We started the apprenticeship with the intention of doing the LPC,” he explains, “but our university prepared us for the change and we were kept up to date all along. We took the stoic approach to it: “it’s gonna happen, there’s nothing you can do about it — don’t think, just revise!”

Despite being guinea pigs for the regime change, this stoicism and a positive outlook helped Whittam and his peers through the process. “It was new for us, but it was also new for the SRA and the university, so everybody was stepping into the unknown and I took a little bit of comfort in that,” he says. “My understanding of the marking for the SQE is that it’s marked on a bell curve, so we just needed to be as good as everybody else.”

It has been widely reported that students are finding the SQE1&2 exams challenging, especially as they cover such a variety of formats. “The best way to prepare for the multiple-choice exams is to do lots of practice questions,” he advises. “Then for the written SQE2 exams, you need to be specific, and you’ll be fine. I must confess, the advocacy exam was the most nervous I’ve ever felt for an exam because it’s something that I don’t have the opportunity to do in practice,” he says.

“On the face of it when you stand at the bottom of the hill, it’s a huge mountain, but it’s not so bad when you break it down,” he explains.

Listening to Whittam, the benefits of training whilst in practice are clear. “There are certain things, intangible elements, that you cannot teach,” he says, “sitting next to a senior solicitor, talking to a barrister or talking to a client about what’s happening in that case is the sort of education you can’t pay for.” Plus, he adds, the firm is very supportive: “They gave me so much time to focus on education. I was allowed a day off work every single week as a minimum, and then more when it came to exam time.”

After training at the Southport office, Whittam made the move to Manchester when he joined the Employers’ Liability and Public Liability (EL/PL) team. “It’s a team that provides exposure to the most diverse type of work,” he says, covering everything from unsafe working practice injuries to trips and slips over potholes on defective highways.

When it comes to what it takes to be a good EL/PL lawyer, he emphasises three skillsets: the ability to remain calm and think about things logically, good customer service skills and being able to deal with a caseload efficiently.

Finally, what advice does Whittam have for school leavers trying to decide if a legal apprenticeship is the right route for them? “If you’ve done your research, spoken to people in the industry, and you’ve decided that it’s the career for you, then go for it,” he advises. “It can be stressful, but the right firm will support you through it. Fletchers is a great place to be as we have such a great group of people.”

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Experts from the Solicitors Regulation Authority and BPP University Law School come together to reflect on the SQE so far

It has been nearly two years since the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) regime was brought in to transform the route to solicitor qualification.

In the video (above) of our recent virtual student event, representatives from BPP University Law School and the Solicitors Regulation Authority explore what we have learnt during this time, address concerns regarding the SQE pass rates published so far, and contemplate what changes that we are likely to see in the near future.

The event featured:

• Julie Swan, director of education and training at the SRA
• Richard Williams, policy manager at the SRA
• Jonny Hurst, BPP’s head of outreach and former City law firm partner

The speakers started off with the panel’s initial reflections, with over 7,000 different candidates taking the assessments so far. They highlighted the introduction of Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) as an opportunity for students to take their career journeys into their own hands. The panel then touched on other questions from students such as evaluating results from SQE1 and 2 exam sittings, and the so-called “attainment gap” between different ethnic groups, as well as practical advice for students preparing to start their SQE journey.

Legal Cheek is running ‘The SQE series’ with BPP University Law School over the next few months. The video of each session will be made available one month after each virtual event together with further FAQs arising from each session which experts from BPP are answering.

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