The Solicitors Regulation Authority has overruled objections from lawyers and law firms and is pushing ahead with a standardised exam for new solicitors.
In 2020 the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) will replace all the current routes to becoming a solicitor, including the requirement for qualifications including the GDL and LPC. Instead, anyone wanting to become a solicitor will need to complete five elements. Firstly, candidates will need either a law degree, a non-law degree, an "equivalent qualification" or an apprenticeship comprising "equivalent experience". Candidates will then have to complete SQE stage 1, comprising an assessment of legal knowledge in six core areas and a practical assessment of legal research and writing skills. Candidates must then complete SQE 2, which assesses five practical legal skills.
The fourth element of the SQE will be two years' work experience. In a significant change from the current system, it will no longer have to be completed as a block two year training contract with a single provider. Instead candidates will be permitted to gain work experience at up to four different places, including student law clinics and pro bono projects. It means students on a so-called 'sandwich' degree course which wraps up two years' work on the job could fulfill the work experience element of the SQE before they even graduate.
The fifth component is a "character and suitability test" to be administered at the point of a candidate's admission to the profession. Like much of the SQE, it's long on intent and short on details.
The response to the SRA's consultations was overwhelmingly negative, with 60% of respondents either disagreeing or strongly disagreeing with the proposal that the SQE was a "robust and effective measure of competence". But the SRA said that the public are in favour, touting an August 2016 poll in which 76% of 1,866 people agreed that they would have "more confidence in solicitors if they all passed the same final exam".
At a press conference the SRA's Chief Executive, Paul Philip, said that it had been the "most contentious" project the regulator had attempted. Executive Director Crispin Passmore said that (luckily for the SRA), "popularity has never been the objective of a regulator", and that "our board is clear this is the right way forward". They predicted that the SQE would be far cheaper for candidates and would therefore increase the diversity of the profession, opening it up to those without a training contract or firm sponsorship who were put off by the £15,000 "LPC gamble".
But it doesn't look like law schools will be out of a job. After initial reactions of horror, they are now positioning themselves to design modules and courses around the SQE. Addressing the opportunity to fill the imminent LPC hole, Professor Peter Crisp, Dean and CEO of BPP University Law School, said, "we have been consulting with law firms for some time now to ensure that any new programmes continue to meet their needs for commercially aware and technically able trainees". Professor Andrea Nollent, Vice Chancellor & CEO at The University of Law, said it was “an exciting time for legal education" and that the reforms "are a unique opportunity for innovation and improvement to legal training". However, both said that important details were still outstanding.
In a blow to solicitors already practising, Philip said, "we need to be able to trust those who enter the profession are fit to practise" but "the current system cannot provide that confidence". He said the SQE would "help law firms recruit the best talent", "help education providers to show just how good they are" and give candidates "from all backgrounds a fair opportunity to qualify". Sqeeee.
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I wonder if a similar option will be available to those of us who've realised a career in law is overrated and want to try teaching instead - there's a recruitment shortage and staff retention problems, but applicants with law degrees are only fit to teach in a primary school apparently. Would've studied something else and then the GDL if I'd known that I'd be unable to do the PGCE to teach at GCSE level with a law degree.
Too many cooks (routes) spoil the broth? Still no word on what this exam is likely to cost..?
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If one is already practising, how should they be affected? To my puny mind, Philip's statements, as quoted (and not personally verified), have bearing upon only those entering the profession rather than those already entered.
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