Legal Practice Course (LPC) - part-time weekend

If you have a law degree or GDL and wish to train as a solicitor, we offer three options including an LPC MSc in Law, Business, and Management to make you business-ready.

• Qualify with an LPC, with the option to gain an MSc or LLM at no extra cost
• Develop your commercial awareness, critical thinking, and the necessary professional skills to prepare you for the challenges of being a solicitor
• Tailor your course to your specialist areas of interest through a wide choice of elective subjects
• Study your LPC with a Master and you could be eligible for a postgraduate student loan

With a clear focus on your future employability, we are more confident than ever in your success and offer our LPC Employment Promise. Get a job in nine months, or we’ll give you 100% of your fees back: 50% of your fees as cashback plus 50% of your fees as credit towards any further courses.

95% of our 2017/18 full-time, UK, LPC graduates have secured work or further study within fifteen months of completing this course, based on Graduate Outcomes data.

Legal Practice Course (LPC) - part-time weekend

The LPC is the final vocational stage of training to become a qualified solicitor. You study the LPC after the successful completion of a qualifying law degree or other recognized qualifications. With our LPC you have the choice to study part-time weekends to best suit your personal needs. This route is designed to offer you the best possible preparation to practice law. We focus on the skills that employers are most interested in so that you can enhance your academic knowledge while preparing for the realities of life in legal practice.

Course Details

Legal Practice Course (LPC)

Our LPC offers you the best possible preparation to practice law. As one of the longest providers of the LPC in the UK, we have finely tuned the course to meet the expectations of those in the legal profession and currently work with over 90 of the top 100 law firms. We aim to prepare you fully for life as a trainee solicitor.

With a clear focus on your future employability, we’ve designed our LPC to help you improve your career prospects by learning the essential professional skills that legal employers are looking for. You’ll study in small group workshops, taught by qualified lawyers who have extensive practice experience, and through online learning resources that allow you to access your study materials anytime from anywhere.

Our career-focused course helps you to develop commercial awareness, critical thinking, and the professional skills that legal employers are looking for. This is why we have a 95% employment rate for full-time LPC students*. With a wide range of elective modules to choose from, you can truly tailor your course to your specialist areas of interest.

When you study the LPC with us you will receive:

• A career-focused approach to learning, developing commercial awareness, critical thinking, and the professional skills that legal employers are looking for
• An MSc in Law, Business, and Management or LLM in Professional Legal Practice at no extra cost and you could be eligible for a postgraduate student loan
• Tailored course options to suit your specialist areas of interest through a wide choice of elective subjects
• Flexible study – choose to study at one of our locations nationwide with the choice of full-time, part-time, day, evening, and weekend courses, as well as online course options
• Access to award-winning careers support to help you with your training contract applications with over 3,000 pro bono opportunities as soon as you accept your place

There are two stages to studying the LPC. The first involves completing four compulsory modules; the second allows you to make a selection of focused modules, depending on your interest areas and which version of the course you’re studying.

Course Information

Assessment

Assessed through a range of assessments. Including oral assessments in Interviewing and Advocacy, open-book, and closed-book exams.

If you choose to study your LPC with a Master’s you will also be assessed with a written report and an oral style assessment.

Structure

Each of our LPC study options has its structure, with different assessments to suit.

Course structure

Stage 1

• Introduction to Professional Practice (Professional conduct within this module carries 15 credits)
• Business Law and Practice Knowledge and Skills (30 credits)
• Dispute Resolution Knowledge and Skills, including Criminal Litigation (30 credits)
• Real Estate Knowledge and Skills (30 credits)

Stage 2

Choose three*:

• Advanced Criminal
• Advanced Real Estate
• Banking and Debt Finance
• Commercial Dispute Resolution
• Commercial Law
• Competition Law
• Employment Law
• Family Law
• Immigration
• Insurance
• Intellectual Property
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence
• Private Client
• Public Companies

*Availability is subject to demand, timetabling, and location

Course Requirements

To be eligible to take up your place on our LPC, you must comply with the requirements for commencing a Legal Practice Course (LPC) set out by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) – see below. Failure to comply with these eligibility requirements means that the University will have no option but to cancel your place on the course.

If you are a non-EEA student you will also require a visa covering the full duration of your course – see Visa requirements below.

University of Law LPC selection criteria

• Academic profile and achievement, generally a minimum of an actual or predicted second-class honors law degree or GDL/CPE/MA Law*
• A sufficient command of the English language to complete the course - see English language requirements below
• Any special circumstances revealed in your application

Academic or other references

*This requirement is met by either: A) The award of a Qualifying Law Degree. Your law degree must meet certain academic standards to qualify. This must include having adequately passed assessments in the seven Foundations of Legal Knowledge – Public Law, Obligations I (Contract), Obligations II (Tort), Criminal Law, Land Law, Equity & Trusts, and Law of the European Union. Further guidance on what is a Qualifying Law Degree; or B) Passing a Common Professional Examination (CPE)/Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)/MA Law and being awarded a Graduate Diploma in Law, MA Law, or similar such as CILEX.

The University of Law fully complies with equal opportunities legislation and actively encourages diversity within the legal profession. Our admissions process acts fairly and aims to enable students to make the best use of their talents. You are encouraged to tell us about any special requirements at the earliest opportunity. This will allow us to discuss how we may go about meeting your requirements.

You must fulfill all eligibility requirements by the start of the course – failure to do so may result in you being prevented from joining the course. If you think that this may be a problem (for example, if you have late assessment results), please contact Admissions as soon as possible.

Future trainee Solicitors

The SRA has recently consulted on several proposed changes to its regulations, including removing the requirement for students to apply for student enrolment and approval of their academic stage of training before commencing the LPC.

If you have been offered a training contract, you need to make sure the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has checked your "character and suitability" to be a solicitor.

This may take at least six months to complete if you have:

• Committed certain criminal offenses
• Been found guilty of an academic offence
• Had serious financial issues (such as bankruptcy, Individual Voluntary Arrangements, or County Court Judgments)
• Been subject to adverse regulatory findings
• Demonstrated any other behavior that we would not expect of a solicitor (for example behavior that was dishonest, violent, or discriminatory)

Please take a look at the SRA Suitability Test 2011 for more information and fill in the eligibility application if you need to tell them about any issues.

If you have nothing to tell the SRA, you can inform them of this when you and your employer let them know your training is due to start.

Should the SRA’s decision not be confirmed before the LPC start date, you can continue with the course but do so at your own financial risk. If you have any concerns about a character and suitability issue, please contact the SRA.

Accreditation of prior learning

If you have previously studied a BVC or BPTC, you may be exempt from certain elements of the LPC. For more information, please visit the SRA website and contact our Admissions team.

English language requirements

If you have completed a degree outside the UK and you do not come from a ‘majority English-speaking country’, please provide a certified copy of one of the approved English Language Tests.

EU Law Standalone Module

If your underlying law degree did not include the EU Law module you will need to study an extra module before the LPC.

This standalone online module provides the additional training that you’ll need to qualify to complete the LPC and gives you the necessary skills and knowledge that you’ll need to study the LPC.

How to Apply

• Applications for this course are now open.
• For part-time study, you can apply directly with us.

Add a Free Master's

Rather than enrolling on the core LPC, you may prefer to enrol on one of the following Master’s Degree qualifications which are available to you at no extra cost.

LPC MSc in Law, Business and Management

If you want to work for a law firm or an employer with a corporate/commercial focus or if you are interested in understanding business from both the commercial as well as legal perspective, our LPC MSc will equip you with the key legal knowledge and skills required to work successfully in legal practice and will provide a pronounced business focus which will enable you to better understand your client's business practices.

The two additional MSc modules are:

1. Law and Business

A taught module encompassing the following topics:

• The economy, business environment, and globalization
• The functioning of the City
• Management
• Financial analysis
• Corporate finance
• Business Development
• Strategy

Please note that Law and Business involve a lot of calculations and therefore a basic level of maths is required.

2. Case Study Project

A business-based Case Study project, which is a self-study research module based on some of the themes and topics covered in Law and Business.

LPC LLM in Professional Legal Practice

Alternatively, if you would like the opportunity to gain a deeper interest in a specialist area of the law and to keep your options open, our LLM will suit your needs. Complete your LPC with either an extra elective of your choice or a Law and Business module and a Professional Practice Research Report and you will receive an LPC LLM in Professional Legal Practice.

If you want to study only the LPC

If you choose not to undertake either the MSc or LLM you can still enrol on the LPC without a Masters award. You will be issued with a Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Legal Practice and will still have completed the vocational stage of training requirements.

Important Information

Progression for full-time GDL and MA Law students

If you started our full-time Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) or Master of Arts in Law (MA Law) in September 2021, you should be eligible to commence the Bar Practice Course (BPC) or Legal Practice Course (LPC) in September 2022 on successful completion of your course.

Please note:  If you require a visa to study in the UK and wish to progress to one of our on-campus vocational courses, please refer to our UK visa requirements page for information about applying for a Student Route visa.

The LPC route to qualify as a solicitor

Can I still study the LPC?

You can continue with the LPC route to qualify as a solicitor if you completed, started, accepted an offer, or paid a non-refundable deposit for one of the following by 31 August 2021:

• A Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) / the Common Professional Examination
• Our MA Law
• The Legal Practice Course (LPC)
• A period of recognized training (also known as a training contract)

For a qualifying law degree (QLD) and exempting law degree (ELD), such as our LLB, you must have completed, started, accepted an offer, or paid a non-refundable deposit by 21 September 2021.

In most cases, for the QLD, ELD, and CPE, the relevant course must have started at the latest on or before 31 December 2021.

If you have already started a qualifying law degree, GDL, or training contract there are transition arrangements in place until 31 December 2032 to qualify as a solicitor under the current routes, as long as courses remain available.

Fees

• Jan- 24: Outside London: From £14,300. London: £19,500
• Sep-24: Outside London: £15,800. London: £19,500

The University of Law is one of the UK's longest-established specialist providers of legal education, with a rich heritage and reputation for innovation. In fact, we've trained more practising lawyers in the UK than anyone else. With campuses based in many of the UK’s most vibrant and interesting cities, in addition to a campus in Hong Kong, The University of Law offers a first-class, professional learning experience in a diverse choice of locations.

Innovative Teaching

We specialise in teaching and focus our energy on developing innovative, highly effective teaching and learning methods that equip students for their professional career. We have more than 250 qualified and experienced solicitors, barristers and judges as our tutors, enabling us to help you develop the practical skills that can make all the difference when starting your career in law.

Our Postgraduate Courses

We offer a range of postgraduate legal training and Master’s degrees designed by qualified experts to help students advance at any stage of their career. Our courses are employment-focused, honing key skills in a teaching environment based on real legal practice. Part-time and online study options are available on many of our courses to help students work and study at the same time.

We offer the following postgraduate courses:

• Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)
• MA Law
• LPC (Legal Practice Course)
• Bar Professional Training Course
• MA (Master of Arts) Courses in a variety of legal specialisms
• LLM (Master of Laws) Courses in a variety of legal specialisms
• MSc Legal Technology
• Postgraduate Diploma Legal Technology

94% of postgraduate students in employment were in Highly Skilled Occupations 15 months after graduating (2017/18 Graduate Outcomes data).

Enhanced Employability

We believe in training students for the real world from the moment they accept a place with us. Our experienced careers and employability service and award-winning pro bono clinics offer students the chance to get real-life experience from the start.

Our Employment Promise

Student Support

We pride ourselves on the level of student support we offer; thanks to our scholarships and bursaries and funding options, we can help talented students from all backgrounds to succeed.

International Students:

You would be joining students from over 120 different nationalities, who contribute to a thriving international community throughout our campuses.

We have a Student Support Services team that are here to provide welfare related advice and guidance.

Information about Visa requirements can be found on The University of Law website.

How to Apply

Information on how to apply for our courses can be found on our website - Apply now

Come and See Us

94% of postgraduate students in employment were in Highly Skilled Occupations 15 months after graduating (2017/18 Graduate Outcomes data).

Alumni Success:

Set for Success: Karen Betts at Scotch Whisky Association

Set for Success: Jonathan Lea of the Jonathan Lea Network