LPC Online - Part-time

The part-time LPC Online course supports those who have a law degree or GDL and wish to train as a solicitor via our supported online learning option.

• Balance your studies with other commitments with our 22-month online course (some attendance required)
• Tailor your course to your specialist areas of interest through a wide choice of elective subjects
• Qualify with an LPC and a Master's award (LLM) at no extra cost

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

LPC Online - Part-time

The Legal Practice Course (LPC) is a postgraduate legal qualification that is the final academic step for aspiring solicitors. Once successfully completed, you can go on to a training contract before fully qualifying as a solicitor. Our LPC Online offers you the best possible preparation to practise law with the skills to succeed in business. If you’re looking for an online route to your career as a solicitor, with the same qualification as our on-campus alternative, our supported study programme is the perfect solution.

Employment Promise

Our LPC Employment Promise: Secure a job within 9 months of successfully completing your course or your fees back.

Flexible online learning

Study when and where you want and access world-class learning materials, including our unique methods of online engagement, and unrivalled online tutor support.

95% Employment

95% of our full-time, UK, LPC students in employment were in Highly Skills Occupations fifteen months after graduating (2018/19 Graduate Outcomes data). Contains HESA Data © HESA 2021.

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 honours law degree or GDL/CPE/MA Law*
• A sufficient command of the English language to successfully 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 in order 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 fulfil 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 a number of proposed changes to its regulations, including removing the requirement for students to apply for student enrolment and approval of their academic stage of training prior to 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 offences
• 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 behaviour that we would not expect of a solicitor (for example behaviour 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 prior to 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.

Duration

22 months (LPC and LPC LLM or LPC MSc)

Course Structure

Stage 1 modules

• Introduction to Professional Practice
  • Business Law and Practice Knowledge and Skills
  • Dispute Resolution Knowledge and Skills
  • Real Estate Knowledge and Skills

Stage 2 modules

Choose three*:

• Advanced Criminal Practice
• 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 Litigation
• Public Companies
• Private Client

*All elective modules are subject to availability.

LLM in Professional Legal Practice (optional)

To receive an LLM in Professional Legal Practice you may choose to study either of the following:

• Law and Business module
• Or an additional elective module of your choice

You will also undertake a self-study Professional Practice Research Report module.

If you choose not to complete the LLM in Professional Legal Practice you will be issued with a Postgraduate Diploma (PgDip) and will still have completed the vocational stage of training requirements.

MSc in Law, Business and Management (optional)

To receive an MSc in Law, Business and Management you must complete two additional MSc modules:

1. Law and Business

A taught module encompassing the following topics:

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

Please note that Law and Business involves 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.

If you choose not to complete the MSc in Law, Business and Management you will be issued with a Postgraduate Diploma (PgDip) and will still have completed the vocational stage of training requirements.

Course Details

Our LPC Online is a completely supported online study programme, offering you the best truly flexible route to your career as a solicitor. You can study where you want, receiving regular online support and feedback on your work from our professionally experienced tutors. You’ll have access to world-class learning materials, adapting our on-campus material into a variety of engaging online methods.

The course structure has been designed to allow you to build a portfolio of work to support your job applications and help you to stand out from the crowd. The combination of online learning resources and supervision from your tutor will provide you with relevant knowledge and practical skills needed as a trainee solicitor, while our award-winning careers support will help you with your training contract applications and give you access to over 3,000 pro bono opportunities as soon as you accept your place.

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.
• Tailored course options to suit your specialist areas of interest through a wide choice of elective subjects.
• Flexible study – choose to study online anywhere with the choice of full-time and part-time 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. We also work with over 90 of the top 100 law firms.
• Choose to study an LLM in Professional Legal Practice or MSc in Law, Business and Management at no extra cost, and you could be eligible for a postgraduate student loan.
• 95% of our full-time LPC students were in Highly Skilled Occupations fifteen months of graduating*.

Required attendance

You are not required to attend a campus for induction.

Attendance is not required for your oral skills practice assessments and final oral skills assessments, which will be conducted online.

With a clear focus on your future employability, we are more confident than ever in your success and offer our Employment Promise to everyone studying this course. 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.

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 on 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.

Course Information

Assessment

There is a range of assessments, including oral assessments (online only), open-book examinations, closed-book examinations and take home 24-hour assessments.

Available campuses: Birmingham, Bristol, Guildford, Leeds, London Bloomsbury, Manchester or Nottingham.

Mock assessments are arranged in order to prepare you for the real assessments.

The additional Master’s modules are assessed by a 3000 word written report and oral assessment.

Structure

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

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 Online.

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

The LPC route to qualify as a solicitor

Can I still study the LPC?

You can still 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 recognised 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 still remain available.

Online Taster Session

If you want to find out what it’s like to study an online course with us, why not try our free online taster session?

Our taster sessions can be completed at your own pace and include short, structured exercises to help you experience what it will really be like to study online with us. All you need to do is visit our online learning platform (Blackboard ELITE) and, if you've already applied to study with us and received login details for ELITE, click 'sign in' on Blackboard ELITE. Alternatively, click 'sign up' and complete the short registration form.

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 (optional)

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 clients' business practices.

The two additional MSc modules are:

1. Law and Business

A taught module encompassing the following topics:

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

Please note that Law and Business involves 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 (optional)

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. Successfully 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 the LPC only

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.

How to Apply

Applications for all our online postgraduate courses are open.

The University of Law is one of the UK's longest-established specialist providers of legal education. We can trace our origins to 1876 with the formation of leading tutorial firm Gibson & Weldon.

With a rich heritage and a reputation for innovation and contemporary teaching practices, we continuously focus on developing the best legal minds.

What Makes Us Different

What really sets us apart from other universities is the guiding principle that the current and future lawyers we teach should only ever learn in a realistic, professional and contemporary context with plenty of practical, interactive engagement. That's why we keep our contact hours high and our teaching groups small.

Innovation and Contemporary Teaching Practices

All of our courses – from our undergraduate law degrees to our market-leading postgraduate courses and professional development programmes – are designed with a unique, varied and innovative learning approach that’s proven to deliver self-reliant lawyers who can compete in the fast-changing world of legal services. With a focus on developing skills in problem-solving, weighing up arguments, critical thinking, and commercial awareness, our courses are designed to prepare you for the real-life challenges of the working world.

Powerful Connections

Our track record of excellence in learning and development has helped us establish worldwide connections within the legal services market. This is why many leading global law firms work exclusively with us to develop their people, and why legal employers of all types want to meet our students. It’s also why law schools and professional bodies around the world choose to enter into strategic alliances with us.

Understanding of the Law

The University of Law is an internationally recognised expert in the field of law. Rather than focusing on academic research, our aim is to be thought leaders in the issues that matter to the legal profession and the next generation of practising lawyers. Our courses take an in-depth look into key areas of the law and provide a broader overview of the legal system to better contextualise what's being learned.

The Most Experienced Tutors

Over 250 of our tutors are qualified lawyers, many still in practice, and all have extensive practical experience which they are able to pass onto our students. We facilitate this process with high levels of student-to-tutor contact time and small class sizes - one of the reasons that many law firms insist their trainees study with us.

Focused on Employability

We focus exclusively on practice-based training and give students access to our market-leading law careers service and legal vacancy database as soon as they accept a place with us. Students also benefit from our pioneering and award-winning pro bono programmes, which allow them to gain valuable work experience by helping real clients from the local community.

Widening Access

We take our responsibility to widen access to the legal profession seriously and offer a wide range of scholarships to help talented University of Law students fund their legal training and achieve their career ambitions.