2017/2018 price list shows fees up by as much as 11% at some universities
The cost of solicitor qualification just seems to be going up and up. Despite the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) pushing for a total shake-up of legal education — one which will apparently make it cheaper to become a lawyer — the 2017/2018 Legal Practice Course (LPC) price list shows fee increases almost across the board.
As can be seen from the table below, students paid an average of £11,045 to complete the vocational course in 2016/2017. The average rate for 2017/2018 now stands at £11,554. This is an increase of £509 (4.6%).
Of those LPC providers which have made their costs public, the biggest increase comes from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN). There, budding solicitors will have to fork out £10,000 to take the course, an increase of £1,000 (11.1%) on last year’s £9,000 fee.
Other universities to considerably up their fees this year include Cardiff Law School (8.7%), Northumbria University (6.3%) and Anglia Ruskin (5.5%).
As for the two big players, BPP University and The University of Law (ULaw), 2017/2018 LPC-ers can expect more modest price increases.
All of BPP’s providers — Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Leeds, Liverpool, London and Manchester — have notched up their fees by 3.3%. This means that in the capital, BPP LPC students will now have to fork out £15,740 which, in money terms, is the most expensive rate among all of the course providers. By contrast, the cheapest provider in both 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 is Leeds Beckett University (£7,700).
ULaw too has adopted increases across all its locations. These increases range between 1% (Chester) and 4.5% (Leeds and Manchester). ULaw students will now, on average, pay £12,425 to sit the course, compared to £12,143 last year.
Legal Cheek reported last week on similar price stats concerning the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC), which showed the average fee has dropped by £72. ULaw, slashing the cost of the vocational course at its London branch by 8%, will now charge students £17,500. Meanwhile BPP, opting to freeze fees for the forthcoming academic year, will charge London-based wannabe barristers £19,070.
Read the full LPC price list, from most expensive to least expensive, here:
Law School |
2016/17 Fees |
2017/18 Fees |
% difference |
| BPP (London) | £15,240 | £15,740 | 3.3% |
| University of Law (London) | £15,240 | £15,670 | 2.9% |
| City Law School | £14,000 | £14,500 | 3.6% |
| Westminster University | £12,000 | £14,500 | 4.1% |
| University of Law (Guilford) | £12,450 | £12,550 | 0.8% |
| Cardiff Law School | £11,485 | £12,490 | 8.7% |
| BPP (Birmingham) | £11,970 | £12,370 | 3.3% |
| BPP (Bristol) | £11,970 | £12,370 | 3.3% |
| BPP (Cambridge) | £11,970 | £12,370 | 3.3% |
| University of Law (Birmingham) | £11,950 | £12,150 | 1.7% |
| University of Law (Bristol) | £11,950 | £12,150 | 1.7% |
| University of Law (Exeter) | £11,950 | £12,150 | 1.7% |
| University of Law (Leeds) | £11,200 | £11,710 | 4.5% |
| University of Law (Manchester) | £11,200 | £11,710 | 4.5% |
| BPP (Manchester) | £11,210 | £11,590 | 3.3% |
| BPP (Leeds) | £11,210 | £11,590 | 3.3% |
| BPP (Liverpool) | £11,210 | £11,590 | 3.3% |
| Bournemouth University | £11,250 | £11,500 | 2.2% |
| Sheffield University | £11,000 | £11,500 | 3.6% |
| Nottingham Law School (Nottingham Trent) | £11,100 | £11,300 | 1.8% |
| Bristol Institute of Legal Practice at UWE | £10,950 | £11,000 | 0.4% |
| Swansea University | £10,600 | £10,900 | 2.8% |
| Manchester Metropolitan University | £10,068 | £10,068 | 0% |
| Central Lancashire (UCLAN) | £9,000 | £10,000 | 11.1% |
| Northumbria University at Newcastle | £9,400 | £10,000 | 6.3% |
| London Metropolitan University | £9,810 | £9,900 | 1% |
| De Montfort | £9,400 | £9,750 | 3.7% |
| Anglia Ruskin | £9,000 | £9,500 | 5.5% |
| Liverpool John Moores | £9,000 | £9,200 | 2.2% |
| Birmingham City | £8,900 | £8,900 | 0% |
| Leeds Beckett University | £7,700 | £7,700 | 0% |
| University of West London | £10,950 | TBC | TBC |
| Staffordshire University | £10,600 | TBC | TBC |
| University of Wolverhampton | £9,800 | TBC | TBC |
| University of South Wales | £9,700 | TBC | TBC |
| National average | £11,045 | £11,554 | 4.6% |
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