Changes to Professional Qualification
Recent changes affect the qualification route for students seeking to become a Solicitor in England and Wales.
Quality of our degree
The Newcastle LLB continues to provide students with a rigorous and challenging course.
It includes foundational legal knowledge. There's opportunity to study a range of subjects and develop key transferrable skills.
It's a recognised law degree for admission to the Institute of Professional Legal Studies for practice in Northern Ireland. Please see the list of recognised degrees.
Changes to professional qualification as a Solicitor
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) introduced a new Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) in 2017.
The current route to becoming a solicitor or barrister in England and Wales is the:
- academic stage - the qualifying law degree, or equivalent
- vocational stage - the Legal Practice Course (LPC) / Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC)
- professional stage - a training contract at a firm of solicitors, or pupillage at a barrister’s chambers
The SRA proposals offer no exemption for those undertaking a law degree. Stage 1 of the SQE must be taken after the degree has been obtained. Stage 2 should be completed after a period of work-based training.
Stage 1 of the SQE will test areas of legal knowledge, research and writing. Stage 2 SQE tests legal practice-based skills, such as client interviewing and advocacy.
We will continue to watch developments in the legal professions and legal training. We'll support our students whatever career path they choose. We remain committed to providing the best possible education for all our students.
The SRA announced that it will allow a period of transition from the old to the new system. This is for all those who start their law degrees before September 2021. You will have a period of 11 years after the SQE to qualify in this way.
Qualifying as a Barrister
The Future Bar Training Programme (FBT) replaces the BPTC from 2020. The three components of education and training for the Bar will remain:
- academic learning (gaining knowledge of the law itself)
- vocational learning (acquiring barristers' core skills such as advocacy)
- pupillage or work-based learning (learning to be a Barrister "on the job")
Within the new system there are four approved training pathways:
- Three-step pathway: academic, followed by vocational, followed by pupillage/work-based component (the pathway if you undertake the LLB programme)
- Four-step pathway: academic component, followed by vocational component in two parts, followed by pupillage or work-based component
- Integrated academic and vocational pathway: combined academic and vocational components followed by pupillage or work-based component
- Apprenticeship pathway: combined academic, vocational and pupillage or work-based components
The Bar Standards Board still require the academic component to contain the 7 ‘Foundations of Legal Knowledge’. That includes the skills associated with it – such as legal research skills.
The Newcastle LLB continues to provide the 7 Foundations of Legal Knowledge. We'll give you the skills to pursue a career at the Bar in England and Wales.
For more information, please see the Future Bar Training Programme.
