Exclusive: Starting from £9.5k for law grads, excluding exam fees
BPP University Law School has revealed further details — including costs — of its new preparation courses for the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE).
Legal Cheek can reveal fees for the course will start from £9,500 for law graduates and £13,500 for non-law graduates. These prices will vary depending on which campus a student chooses to study from and do not include exam fees which are set by the regulator at £3,980.
Unlike its law school rivals who have chosen to divide the exam prep into distinct SQE1 and 2 courses, BPP has decided its students will undertake a single prep programme before they embark on a short, intensive revision course ahead of sitting SQE2. Its first SQE courses will start in February 2022.
BPP will offer full-time, part-time and online-only study options, as well as a range of new postgraduate and bolt-on skills courses. The latter includes BPP’s new ‘Essentials for Practice’ programme which has been developed in collaboration with City law firms, and helps students develop a range of application-boosting commercial and digital skills.
BPP confirmed discounts and postgraduate funding are available when multiple courses are committed to or bought together as part of a package.
It will also continue to offer its Postgraduate Diploma in Law (PGDL) to help prepare non-law graduates for the SQE.
Jo-Anne Pugh, newly appointed dean of BPP Law School, commented:
“As well as ensuring our high-quality SQE programme give students the knowledge they need to pass both exams, we have also been working closely with our leading law firm partners to ensure we give our students the opportunity to grow and apply their professional skills. We’ve always made it our business to understand the broader skills that firms want from their trainees.”
Pugh added: “The overwhelming message from firms was they will be seeking applicants with specialist knowledge, skills, and behaviours that are well beyond the SQE curriculum. We think that our method of teaching, combining tutor contact time with innovative educational technology really is the optimum way to learn and retain the SQE syllabus. We are confident these will be the very best courses to help students pass both stages of the assessment and qualify.”
A raft of legal education providers have now gone public with their SQE course fees.
The University of Law confirmed total SQE prep course fees of between £8,000 and £11,000, depending on location, while BARBRI is offering a £6,000 SQE prep course, with SQE1 and SQE2 each priced at £2,999. Nottingham Law School confirmed SQE1 will be priced at £4,700 for law graduates and £12,000 for non law graduates (the latter includes a conversion course), and a flat fee of £3,300 for SQE2, while Law Training Centre has set fees for both parts at a little over £6,000. The College of Legal Practice has also entered the market with an online prep package priced at £4,100.
The SQE officially came into force on 1 September and in turn became the new standardised assessment to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales. The first SQE1 exams will take place on 8 and 11 November 2021, with SQE2 in April 2022.
