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How much does the GDL cost? Fees vary depending on where you choose to study. For example, a full-time course at the University of Law costs between £9,850 and £12,250 depending on which campus you study at. City, University of London charges £12,200 for its full-time GDL, while Birmingham City University School of Law charges £5,900.
Law Conversion Course Structure. The structure of the law conversion course varies from provider to provider, but generally, the course is formed by a combination of lectures and tutorials. GDL students generally have 14 contact hours per week on full-time UK GDL courses, with significantly fewer hours on part-time courses.
The real beauty of the conversion course route into law is that you are given the space to pursue an undergraduate degree which is free from the particulars of your future career. I am an English graduate and so spent three years pondering the realms of Shakespeare, Gothic and the carnivalesque. Law was always in the back of my mind, but I knew ...
one-yearWhat is the GDL? The Graduate Diploma in Law, known more widely as the GDL, is a one-year full time law conversion course (or two years part time) which brings students up to date with the knowledge they need to become a lawyer. The course may also be referred to as the Common Professional Exam (CPE).
Full-time, these law conversion courses fit a three-year qualifying law degree into one year. When studied part-time, these courses span two years.Dec 17, 2021
Conversion courses are great options for students who have had a change of heart and now want to focus on a career which may be unrelated to their initial field of study.
Fees vary depending on where you choose to study. For example, a full-time course at the University of Law costs between £9,850 and £12,250 depending on which campus you study at. City, University of London charges £12,200 for its full-time GDL, while Birmingham City University School of Law charges £5,900.
Essentially, you'll be condensing three years worth of LLB course content into just ten months, so yes, the conversion course is likely to be difficult! Passing it takes huge commitment and academic talent, so graduating with the qualification is a great achievement.
The GDL is specially designed as the conversion course into legal study. It is one of the pathways into practice for non-law graduates. If you have completed an undergraduate degree in a non-law field and want to study law at a postgraduate level you'll first need to complete this conversion course.
Studying law is the quicker way to a legal career. To put it simply, completing a conversion course takes up more of your time, while navigating the fairly complicated field of vacation scheme and training contract applications is arguably easier to do from a law degree.Oct 22, 2013
A law degree is a great qualification to obtain employment – law graduates have the 6th highest employment rate - and bear in mind up to 60% of all law graduates chose to use their law degree to gain jobs other than in the legal profession.
You might consider the LLB if you want a less intensive academic experience and would like extra time to apply for vacation schemes and training contracts. The benefit of the GDL is its shorter timeframe - it enables you to complete the course in half the time and save considerably on costs.Jan 12, 2021
You can become a lawyer without a law degree. Once you have completed your undergraduate degree, you will need to complete a 1-year law conversion course known as a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)or Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), which is mainly exams-based.Jun 30, 2021
After September 2021, the GDL will cease as a qualification route and you'll need to take an SQE1 preparation course. For non-law graduates, qualifying under the new system may look something like this: study for a three-year non-law degree. take an SQE1 preparation course.
six yearsHow long does it take to become a lawyer? If you study full time, it will take about five or six years to qualify as a solicitor. This includes a three-year law degree, the SQE assessments and two-years of qualifying legal work experience.
The fees do seem to vary a lot depending on where you take your GDL course. For example in London the GDL fees are as much as £9,310. In other major cities like Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol it costs £7,370. The cheapest location seems to be York and Chester at £6,930.
BPP Law School are slightly more expensive than the CoL, but not by much. For the London school it costs £9,400 and in Birmingham, Bristol and Cambridge it costs £7,620. Dublin, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester are all slightly cheaper at £7,510. Doing the course over two years at BPP costs exactly the same – you literally don’t pay extra.
Kaplan Law School also provides the GDL course in London, London Bridge for £8,850 (2012/2013 fees). The fees include all of the textbooks and course manuals required. A graduate LLB will be gained if the LPC or BPTC is taken at Nottingham Law School. Scholarships are also available.
Each university will set the price of their law conversion course. Some universities may offer a discount if all the fees are paid straight away. This is speaking from a personal experience with the University of Birmingham from which I received a 5% discount. Here is a list of the course fees for several universities.
What will I study? During the law conversion course, you will study the seven core foundational areas of law. These are: 1 European Union law 2 Equity and Trusts 3 Public Law (including administrative law, human rights and constitutional law) 4 Land Law 5 Contract Law 6 Tort 7 Criminal Law
To become a barrister, you will have to complete the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC). This is a one-year, practical course which helps to provide the training specific to a junior barrister. You will then have to complete a pupilage – a work placement which lasts twelve months.
What is the GDL? The Graduate Diploma in Law , known more widely as the GDL, is a one-year full time law conversion course (or two years part time) which brings students up to date with the knowledge they need to become a lawyer. The course may also be referred to as the Common Professional Exam (CPE).
Barristers specialize in courtroom litigation and advocacy. They are independent and so can work on different sides in legal disputes. Alternatively, solicitors can deal with conveyancing, the drawing up of wills and other legal matters. The path you decide is right for you will influence what you do next.
A Content Writer for TopUniversities.com, Chloe has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Reading and grew up in Leicestershire, UK. She enjoys writing articles about a wide range of topics for a student audience.
Courses take two to four years.
Qualifying Law degrees and Law conversion courses include the core knowledge required for trainee lawyers. Broadly, they cover the foundations of legal knowledge and teach skills such as legal research. They prepare you for the next level of vocational training for becoming a solicitor, barrister or advocate, or chartered legal executive.
From autumn 2021, the requirements to become a solicitor will change, with a new two-stage Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). For this pathway, as a trainee solicitor, you’ll need: 1 A degree in any subject, or equivalent qualification 2 To pass the SQE 1 and SQE 2 examinations 3 Two years’ qualifying work experience (which can be part of your degree) 4 To pass the SRA's character and suitability requirements
The introduction of the new SQE (Solicitors Qualifying Examination) in England and Wales after 1 September 2021 is likely to bring changes to exempting Law degrees – contact the university for details.
There are regulators for the different types of lawyer in the UK's three separate legal systems: England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Each regulator decides the training required to qualify as a lawyer for the profession (solicitor, barrister, etc.).
Scotland has a separate legal system and therefore the fundamentals of law differ. You must take exams in the subjects specified by the Law Society to continue onto the vocational qualification. Non-Law graduates can take an accelerated Scots Law degree. Those working in the legal sector can complete a ‘pre-PEAT training contract’.
These combine a Law degree with the vocational Legal Practice Course (LPC) currently required for solicitors, or more rarely include a Bar training course as required by barristers. These qualifications are designated as a master’s degree – but you can get undergraduate student finance for all years of study.
I thought studying a non-law subject was the right choice because it gave me more flexibility, when in fact the opposite is true. Studying an LLB gives you options.
The real beauty of the conversion course route into law is that you are given the space to pursue an undergraduate degree which is free from the particulars of your future career. I am an English graduate and so spent three years pondering the realms of Shakespeare, Gothic and the carnivalesque.
I would concede that, although the GDL tries hard (particularly at places like City University ), it does not offer the same academic rigour of a law degree. GDL students have only one year, which in practice boils down to about eight months of teaching, to get you up-to-scratch on the fundamentals of the seven core legal areas.