Summary
- Faculty of Education, Law & Social Sciences
- Duration
- Full Time: 1 year
Part Time: 2 years
- Fees
- FT fees: £7700 plus books and materials and SRA registration fee
PT fees: £3960 p.a. plus books and materials and SRA registration fee
Overview
The Legal Practice Course (LPC) is the final academic stage of qualification before becoming a solicitor. The course bridges the gap between the academic study of law and the vocational stages of training. Following successful completion of the LPC you will need to undertake a 2 year vocational training contract to be able to practice as a solicitor.
A solicitor provides clients with legal advice, often during times of extreme stress such as arrest, divorce, moving house or bereavement. You may work in a firm with other solicitors or set up your own practice, or you may work in central or local government, an in-house legal department, the Crown Prosecution Service or the magistrates’ courts.
More information about becoming a solicitor can be found at SRA and the Law Society.
All LPCs in England are regulated and graded by the SRA to ensure quality of teaching and to ensure the programmes meets the needs of practice.
Key Facts
- The School of Law has an established record of providing the Legal Practice Course and its predecessors since the 1960s.
- Our LPC has been awarded the highest grade of ‘Commendable Practice’ in all six Solicitor Regulation Authority (SRA) criteria, putting the University amongst the best providers in the country. You will benefit from the extensive and varied practice experience of the teaching team as well as excellent links with the profession. In addition, we have small teaching groups with an excellent staff to student ratio and pride ourselves on providing proactive support to all our students.
- We have a long running mentoring scheme, supported by the Birmingham Law Society, the Birmingham Trainee Solicitor Society and leading firms in the region. As part of the scheme, you will be offered a local trainee solicitor to act as a mentor who will help with any questions or concerns you may have about your future career development. In addition, a designated personal tutor at the University will provide Training Contract Support to help you with further advice on career development.
- LPC Providers have been required by the SRA to implement changes to their LPC courses in order to ensure that the course prepares you for work-based learning and provides a general foundation for practice. These changes, due for implementation in 2010 are subject to approval by the SRA. For more information about the changes to our LPC please contact our admissions tutor and refer to our website for regular updates.
Course Outline
Course Structure
The LPC is a demanding course and is a leap forward from your undergraduate study. The emphasis is much more on the practical aspects of law and the aim of the course is to ensure you can enter practice with the skills and knowledge required to hit the ground running. You will be expected to keep up with background reading and class preparation and should expect to treat the course as if you were already handling a client’s case.
The compulsory subjects and skills taught on the LPC are prescribed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, ensuring you cover all necessary material. Each subject is introduced with a summary lecture providing guidance on difficult topics relating law to practice. The focus of learning is on small group teaching sessions, in the form of interactive workshops that enable you to explore key areas of law and practice in detail.
Small group sessions are also used to involve you in typical transactions encountered in practice. You can expect to carry through tasks as if you were in practice, working in teams, using electronic and other information sources.
Modules
The course will be delivered in two stages:
Stage one
- Professional Conduct and Regulation including Solicitors’ Accounts
- Wills and Administration of Estates and Taxation
Core Practice Areas
- Litigation (including Civil and Criminal Litigation)
- Business Law and Practice
- Property Law and Practice.
Course Skills Areas
Five separate areas of assessment in:
- Practical Legal Research,
- Drafting
- Writing
- Interviewing
- Advising
- Advocacy
Stage two
Vocational Electives*
You will choose three electives, which are available subject to demand:
- Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence
- Commercial Property
- Commercial Law and Practice
- Employment Law
- Family Law
- Private Client
- Immigration and Welfare Law
- Advanced Criminal Litigation
- Business Transfers
- Housing Law
Our range of electives is currently under review and subject to validation and other areas may be added. Please check this page for any updates.
Assessments
Assessment of the Core Practice Areas, Vocational Electives and Solicitors’ Accounts is by examination. You must achieve competence in each of the Course Skills Areas. There are discrete assessments in Professional Conduct and Regulation, Wills and Administration of Estates, and Taxation.
Study commitment
Full-time: 3 days per week
Part-time: 2 evenings per week
The LPC is a demanding and intensive programme. Please note that for all modes of attendance successful completion of the LPC will require further study in your own time in addition to your attendance at timetabled teaching sessions.
It is vitally important that you allocate a significant amount of time to prepare for each teaching session. The time required for preparation will vary from student to student. Experience shows that the amount of time spent in preparation has a significant impact upon the level of success achieved.
Private study, reading and preparation in your own time will be expected in addition to class contact. The SRA’s LPC Outcomes specify that a total of 1400 notional learning hours are required for successful completion of this programme.
After your studies
Further Studies
As a graduate you will obtain a qualification that enables you to progress to courses such as LLM Corporate and Business Law, LLM International Human Rights, MPhil or PhD research degrees. Details can be found on the postgraduate section of the website.
Employment Opportunities
Graduates will normally proceed to a training contract to complete their qualification as a solicitor. The vast majority of LPC graduates go on to become qualified solicitors in a range of organisations across many specialist areas.
How to apply
Entry Requirements
A good qualifying law degree or an undergraduate degree and a pass at first attempt at the Graduate Diploma in Law/Common Professional Examination. Fellows of the Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX) are entitled to apply for direct entry to the course.
Before you can enrol on the LPC you must enrol as a student member of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and obtain a certificate of completion of the academic stage of training.
Application Details
Full-time through Central Applications Board (CAB).
For part-time please apply direct to faculty:
The Faculty of Education, Law and Social Sciences
Birmingham City University
City North Campus
Perry Barr
BIRMINGHAM
B42 2SU
Tel: +44 (0)121 331 7300
Fax: +44 (0)121 331 7316
Email: law@bcu.ac.uk
See more general information on making your application for a course at Birmingham City University.
Fees Notes
FT fees: £7700 plus books and materials and SRA registration fee
PT fees: £3960 p.a. plus books and materials and SRA registration fee
For more information contact the LPC Admissions Tutor Martin Burnett on
Tel: 0121 331 6697
Email: martin.burnett@bcu.ac.uk
Or, contact the School of Law directly: Tel:+44 (0)121 331 6629 Email: law@bcu.ac.uk.
Further Information
The Faculty of Education, Law and Social Sciences
Birmingham City University
City North Campus
Perry Barr
BIRMINGHAM
B42 2SU
Tel: +44 (0)121 331 7300
Fax: +44 (0)121 331 7316
Email: law@bcu.ac.uk