Kaplan Law School is to discontinue its Bar Professional Course (BPTC) from September 2014.
Kaplan says it is “working closely with the Bar Standards Board (BSB) to put in place a range of options for those preparing to study in September 2014”.
Kaplan adds that current BPTC students won’t be affected, with “all assessments to take place as scheduled and resits to run as expected”. A spokesperson for the law school said:
“We are proud of the school’s high quality of provision and it is with regret that the economics of the course have forced this decision.”
In response to the news, the BSB has announced that prospective BPTC students for 2014-2015 who have accepted offers from Kaplan will be able to re-nominate their three preferred provider institutions. To facilitate this, for this year only the BSB has said that BPTC providers can exceed their validated number of course places.
Kaplan itself has agreed a deal with the University of Law for its 2014-2015 accepted candidates to take up a place on the University of Law BPTC at a discounted rate. Students who choose to attend the University of Law, where fees cost £18,175 relative to Kaplan’s £17,350, will receive a £1,500 discount, placing their fees at £16,675.