Changes to Professional Qualification

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.

Qualifying as a Solicitor

There are different routes to qualification as a solicitor.  For an authoritative statement of the routes and for guidance, please visit the Solicitors Regulation Authority website.

As a summary there are three main routes to qualification as a solicitor in England and Wales: 

1. the route for law degree graduates (i.e. those with a bachelor of laws)
2. the route for non-law degree graduates (i.e. those with degrees in subjects other than law) and
3. the route for non-graduates (i.e. those who do not hold a university degree)

The route for law graduates

After receiving their law degree, aspiring solicitors complete the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE).  SQE candidates must pass two sets of assessments (SQE 1 and SQE 2) and complete two years of qualifying work experience (QWE).  Numerous providers offer an optional preparation course for the SQE as it is a challenging assessment.  Both the SQE and the optional preparation course involve payment of fees.

The route for non-law graduates

The SQE route is also open to non-law graduates and unqualified legal professionals with experience of legal practice.  However, there is an expectation within most of the legal profession that a law conversion course is completed by non-law graduates before undertaking the SQE preparation course and the SQE itself.  The law conversion course, the SQE, and the optional preparation course all involve payment of fees.

The route for non-graduates

An apprenticeship model for non-graduates offers an alternative to the university-based routes.  It is a work-based route into the profession that offers a salary, with many firms opting to take on trainees through a 30-month Graduate Entry Solicitor Apprenticeship.

This route allows aspiring solicitors to develop the knowledge, skills and competencies required for practice, whilst working and studying towards the SQE, before qualifying as a solicitor.  

Qualifying as a Barrister

There are different routes to qualification as a barrister.  For an authoritative statement of the routes and for guidance, please visit the Bar Standards Board website.  

The three components of education and training for the Bar are:

1. academic learning (gaining knowledge of the law itself)
2. vocational learning (acquiring barristers' core skills such as advocacy)
3. 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 LL.B 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

Newcastle Law School can give you the skills and qualifications you need to pursue a career at the Bar in England and Wales.