Skip to content

Preparing for the Exam? – Law School Websites and the SQE

Dr Andrew Gilbert, Senior Lecturer, The Open University
(andrew.gilbert@open.ac.uk)

A revolution is afoot in how people qualify as solicitors. In just over a year the first sitting of SQE1 is due to take place. Much of what is familiar in legal education – the qualifying law degree, graduate diploma in law, legal practice course – will no longer be required by the gatekeeper to the profession. Assuming the Legal Services Board signs off the SQE (Solicitors Qualifying Examination), this is the last group of students who will get to choose to qualify via the current route, provided they accept the offer of their course by 31 August 2021 and start before the end of 2021, and assuming the LPC will still be there when they need it in September 2024 (who knows?). But, as we start the UCAS cycle for autumn 2021 entry, what are law schools telling potential future students about these changes? I looked at 121 law school websites to find out.

Methodology

From 10th to 24th September 2020 I visited the websites of all the institutions on the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) list of qualifying law degree providers. When searching websites I focused on the homepage of the law school (or the equivalent relevant part of the university) or the homepage of the main qualifying law degree course. I use ‘law school’ here in a generic sense: not all are law schools as such. Some are law faculties, or departments, or disciplines within schools, or law with something else, or whole institutions which only do law. While I didn’t look at every part of every website, I did look at the parts where it was most likely that relevant information would be located (e.g. I didn’t look at staff profiles). Some institutions were just showing courses for entry in 2021, some were still showing clearing entry for 2020, and some had both, but wherever possible I looked at courses commencing in September/October 2021.

I sorted the information on websites into four categories:

  • No mention of the SQE
  • Some mention of the SQE but nothing relating to the institution’s courses
  • Confirmation that the SQE will impact course provision but lacking detailed information about substance of changes and/or timings
  • Detailed information about new courses or changes to existing courses in response to the SQE

Categorizing responses involved an element of interpretation and it is possible that some entries could be recategorized on the basis of an alternative interpretation. I carried out my survey diligently and in good faith, and I believe the data are accurate. However, it is not impossible, given the scale of the research, that some errors may exist in my findings. I have compiled a table of my results and am happy to share this (please email me at andrew.gilbert@open.ac.uk).

Findings – More Evolution than Revolution

The majority of websites (61%; n=72) do not mention the SQE at all. A further 17 websites (14%) mention the SQE with varying levels of detail from a single sentence to multiple paragraphs and sometimes with a link to the SRA website, but without reference to the institution’s law courses. In other words, three-quarters of websites do not currently indicate that the SQE will have any impact on law courses offered from autumn 2021. Of the remaining quarter, 20 (17%) state the SQE will affect future course provision but include no detailed information about the substance of changes and/or when they will take place; and 10 websites (8%) give some detail about new course provision in response to the SQE.* These data broadly match what some universities reported to the SRA earlier this year. Respective figures for the subset of Russell Group universities are 50%, 32%, 14% and 5%.

Most references are to the SQE generally, but where specific reference is made it tends to be to SQE1, with only 3 websites explicitly mentioning SQE2. There is also a broad spectrum of commitments made to applicants about the extent to which courses will prepare them for the SQE, from some rather indefinite statements: ‘ready to prepare’, ‘designed to help you prepare’, ‘give you support in preparing’, ‘provide graduates with a solid foundation to tackle the [SQE]’, ‘aimed at preparing students fully’; to the more categorical: ‘designed to enable students to pass the SQE’.

It’s reasonable to assume that some law schools are planning curriculum changes in response to the SQE and these are awaiting formal approval, and there is also evidence that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected institutional timelines. I speculate that there are other institutions which are biding their time to see what others do before finalising their own offerings. It seems likely that websites will be updated in the coming months as more law schools unveil their plans for 2021. However, given the continuing widespread opposition to the SQE, I wonder how much this picture will change in the coming year.

What about new entrants?

The SRA is keen to promote a ‘competitive legal education market’ as one outcome of the SQE’s introduction. In addition to the QLD list, the SRA website also contains a list of SQE training providers which currently contains 41 entries, of which 15 also appear on the QLD list. I also looked at the websites on this list. Of the 26 not on the QLD list, 6 state they will be offering training for the SQE but details are limited at present, and a further 2 provide detailed course information for SQE1 and SQE2 preparation including duration, delivery methods and actual or estimated course fees.

Continuity and change

While there is much which is still unclear about how law schools are responding – or not – to the SQE, it is likely that many will need to do more to at least articulate to current applicants what the SQE might mean for their future careers and where the courses they provide fit within those aspirations. This snapshot of law school websites shows that only a handful of institutions are currently offering courses which aim to get students ready to actually sit the exam upon graduation, with others perhaps tacitly leaving this task to new entrants to the ‘legal education market’.

 

*This adds up to 119 as two institutions on the list no longer offer law.

adana masaj salonları
adıyaman masaj salonları
afyon masaj salonları
ağrı masaj salonları
aksaray masaj salonları
amasya masaj salonları
ankara masaj salonları
antalya masaj salonları
antep masaj salonları
ardahan masaj salonları
artvin masaj salonları
aydın masaj salonları
balıkesir masaj salonları
bartın masaj salonları
batman masaj salonları
bayburt masaj salonları
bilecik masaj salonları
bingöl masaj salonları
bitlis masaj salonları
bolu masaj salonları
burdur masaj salonları
bursa masaj salonları
çanakkale masaj salonları
çankırı masaj salonları
çorum masaj salonları
denizli masaj salonları
diyarbakır masaj salonları
düzce masaj salonları
edirne masaj salonları
elazığ masaj salonları
eskişehir masaj salonları
erzincan masaj salonları
erzurum masaj salonları
giresun masaj salonları
gümüşhane masaj salonları
hakkari masaj salonları
hatay masaj salonları
ığdır masaj salonları
ısparta masaj salonları
istanbul masaj salonları
izmir masaj salonları
maraş masaj salonları
karabük masaj salonları
karaman masaj salonları
kars masaj salonları
kastamonu masaj salonları
kayseri masaj salonları
kilis masaj salonları
kırıkkale masaj salonları
kırklareli masaj salonları
kocaeli masaj salonları
kırşehir masaj salonları
konya masaj salonları
kütahya masaj salonları
malatya masaj salonları
manisa masaj salonları
mardin masaj salonları
mersin masaj salonları
muğla masaj salonları
muş masaj salonları
nevşehir masaj salonları
niğde masaj salonları
ordu masaj salonları
osmaniye masaj salonları
rize masaj salonları
sakarya masaj salonları
samsun masaj salonları
siirt masaj salonları
sinop masaj salonları
şırnak masaj salonları
sivas masaj salonları
tekirdağ masaj salonları
tokat masaj salonları
trabzon masaj salonları
tunceli masaj salonları
urfa masaj salonları
uşak masaj salonları
van masaj salonları
yalova masaj salonları
yozgat masaj salonları
zonguldak masaj salonları
adana escort
adapazarı escort
afyon escort
alanya escort
amasya escort
ankara escort
antakya escort
antalya escort
artvin escort
aydın escort
ayvalık escort
balıkesir escort
bilecik escort
bolu escort
bursa escort
çankırı escort
çeşme escort
çorlu escort
didim escort
düzce escort
eskişehir escort
fethiye escort
gaziemir escort
gebze escort
giresun escort
görükle escort
hatay escort
iskenderun escort
ısparta escort
izmir escort
izmit escort
karabük escort
karaman escort
karşıyaka escort
kastamonu escort
kayseri escort
kırıkkale escort
kırklareli escort
kırşehir escort
konya escort
konyaaltı escort
kuşadası escort
lefkoşa escort
malatya escort
manavgat escort
marmaris escort
mersin escort
muğla escort
niğde escort
ordu escort
osmaniye escort
rize escort
sakarya escort
samsun escort
sinop escort
sincan escort
şile escort
tekirdağ escort
trabzon escort
yalova escort
zonguldak escort
çanakkale escort
yozgat escort
nevşehir escort
gümüşhane escort
kütahya escort
tokat escort
bayburt escort
ataşehir escort
avcılar escort
bahçelievler escort
bahçeşehir escort
bandırma escort
beşiktaş escort
beylikdüzü escort
bodrum escort
bornova escort
burdur escort
edirne escort
esenyurt escort
etiler escort
girne escort
gölcük escort
istanbul escort
iznik escort
kıbrıs escort
manisa escort
mecidiyeköy escort
nevşehir escort
pendik escort
silivri escort
bakırköy escort
milas escort
kapadokya escort
serdivan escort
kilyos escort
ağva escort
akçay escort
edremit escort
avşa escort
uludağ escort
kumluca escort
dalaman escort
datça escort
lara escort
kepez escort
demre escort
kemer escort
kaş escort
turgutreis escort
uşak escort
kocaeli escort
bartın escort
maraş escort
sivas escort
urfa escort
batman escort
mardin escort
erzurum escort
erzincan escort
alsancak escort
söke escort
şirinevler escort

2 thoughts on “Preparing for the Exam? – Law School Websites and the SQE”

  1. Very interesting data and discussion; thank you Andrew. It confirms what I have always thought about the introduction of the SQE – that even if it is introduced it will not actually have as seismic an effect on law schools as some may think. But still no room for complacency!!

  2. Previously, students were required to complete the law conversion course before progressing further with their legal education, because law degrees obtained abroad were not considered a QLD. However, under the new SQE rules, international students will now be able to progress straight on to the LPC or the SQE preparation courses.

Leave a Reply to AntonioMalge Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *