To undertake the LPC you must have a qualifying law degree (QLD) of England and Wales. Unless you have an exempting law degree or undertaking an integrated course. Guidance from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is required to ensure that the standards are met, please see the following link SRA | Legal Practice Course Information Pack | Solicitors Regulation Authority
The LPC is available via approved university institutions, however, please remember from our earlier posts that this course is being phased out by 2032, where the only route to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales would be via the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) route.
The LPC covers a two-stage process.
Stage one -covers the following practice areas, Business law and practice, Property law and practice, civil and criminal litigation, advocacy and interviewing skills and legal research skills. Writing and drafting skills Professional conduct and regulation, Solicitors Accounts and taxation and Wills and Administration.
Stage two-provides students the opportunity to study three specialist areas, these are called vocational electives. These may vary at each institution and may cover areas such as family, advanced property, advanced criminal, advanced civil litigation, advanced property to name but a few.
Exams in some institutions will be undertaken by following the open book method, which means that you are able to take you text book and study notes into the exams with you. The reasoning for this is that in reality when in practice you would be referring to notes and books to assist you with advising clients on matters. However this may not be the case for all exams or indeed all institutions.
Each institution LPC programme is reviewed and approved by the SRA to ensure quality and standards are met.
To pass the LPC you must achieve a minimum of 50% in all stage one assessments and for all electives.
You will have three attempts at any assessment, if you are unsuccessful on the third attempt in stage one, they you fail stage one of the course and all the assessments in stage one must be undertaken again.
Where a student fails a stage two assessment for the third time, they can enrol to resit the elective again or start a fresh elective.
Students must pass all stage two electives within five years of sitting the first stage one assessment.
Students are required to complete all Stage one assessments with one authorised university institution, however stage two assessments can be taken with one or more different providers.
When undertaking these assessments, you are being assessed at the level of a day one trainee in practice.
In our next post we will compare between the SQE and LPC so that you can be sure to make an informed choice as to what works best for you.