What’s Next After My Law Degree? How to Become a Solicitor?

We continue with our series of blogs about career paths you can take after finishing your Law Degree. Do you know how to become a qualified solicitor?In order to become a qualified solicitor in the UK, you will need to complete either the ‘Legal Practice Course (LPC)’ or the ‘Solicitor Qualifying Exam (SQE)’. So what are they?

 The LPC

The LPC is a course you complete after finishing your qualifying law degree, you then undertake the LPC for 2 years, in which at the end you will qualify as a solicitor. These are usually completed under a ‘Training Contract’ with a law firm or an in-house legal team. Law firms take on a group of graduates every year to complete the LPC, in which you will be seating in different areas of law within the firm and learn key and crucial skills in order to be successful in becoming a lawyer.

However, the LPC option is a harder route to take as it is only available to students who started their degree before 2022.

SQE 

The SQE is a newer route into qualifying a solicitor and it has a different process to the LPC. Instead, the SQE consists of two exams and 2 years of qualifying work experience. Again, some law firms or in-house legal teams will offer this qualification within their training contract, which does not require a law degree, it can be a degree in any subject. Both qualifications can also be taken outside of training contracts, however, they need funding.

A tip for securing a training contract is to also secure a vacation scheme; vacation schemes are usually a 1 or 2 weeklong experience within a law firm, in which you can learn about the firm and see if you can envision yourself working there in the future. The top law firms in the UK sometimes only recruit graduates for the training contract from their vacation schemes, so if you can get on one of these that would be amazing.

However, if you don’t, DON’T WORRY as there are plenty of firms which do not do this, and which you can still apply to conduct your training contract. For more information on both of these qualifications, check out the ‘HOW TO BECOME A SOLICITOR’ page on Moodle, which can be found in the ‘CAREER DEVELOPMENT’ on your module page.