BCLP’s Bradley Fisher shares his experience
The number of solicitor apprenticeships offered by law firms has been steadily climbing over the last few years, providing school-leavers the opportunity to earn money and gain work experience while they complete their legal studies.
Bradley Fisher, associate in the real estate team at BCLP, completed a solicitor apprenticeship with the firm while studying with BPP University. We sat down with Fisher, ahead of his appearance at next week’s Pre-SQE Student Summit Manchester — in partnership with BPP, to hear about his experience with BPP, how he balanced work and studying, and his top tips for SQE preparation.
Why did you decide to pursue a solicitor apprenticeship?
I came across solicitor apprenticeships by chance. My dad sent me a link to an article talking about legal apprenticeships and some firms offering them. Apprenticeships were not really promoted when I was at college, so I had to do my own research to find out more information.
I discovered that I could learn whilst I earn, obtain a law degree, pass the solicitors exams, gain a lot of practical experience and get my foot in the door at a firm from a young age. All of this felt like a no-brainer to me and fitted in with my aspirations.
I applied to a few firms and I was lucky enough to come across BCLP. The firm and its offerings sounded perfect. After an assessment centre, I was offered the role to start in October 2017. Since then, I have never looked back.
Can you tell us about your apprenticeship experience?
I started at the firm working in the post-completion team, dealing with Land Registry applications of all shapes and sizes. This was my first taste of the legal profession, and it kick-started my aspirations to become a real estate lawyer. I loved working in the Land Registry team. I found it fascinating to say I had played a small part in something for a skyscraper in London, or a major supermarket. From there, I moved on to the legal administration team and then one of our client teams.
I then moved into our structured finance team where I was working for a big US investment bank. The demands in this team were high, both internally and from the client. I learned a lot from being in this team, especially how to become more resilient. Next, I moved back to Real Estate, this time in our core asset management team, where I stayed for my first seat in September 2022 as part of my training contract. I really enjoyed this team and worked on challenging matters and got involved with some great clients.
I was seconded to Heathrow Airport for my next seat in February 2023, which meant I moved down to London for 6 months. This has been one of my favourite experiences to date and I worked on some interesting deals. The office for the legal team was right next to one of the runways, which was very cool. I still keep in touch with my contacts at Heathrow today and hope to work with them again in the future!
In September 2023, I came back to BCLP and sat in our Office of General Counsel team. I took SQE1 in this seat which I passed in January 2024, having completed the prep course with BPP, so had some time off to sit those exams.
In March 2024, I rotated back into real estate, based in a client team. I then sat SQE2 in April and May. Once I came back from those exams, I was given the chance to move into our real estate disputes team.
I found out I passed SQE2 in August 2024. I knew I wanted to qualify into real estate in our core asset management team. Luckily, there was a spot for a newly qualified lawyer in the team and I was absolutely delighted to be offered the role. I qualified as solicitor on 3 February 2025, and am now an associate in our Real Estate team, based in Manchester.
Tell us a bit more about how, being a part-time student, you managed to fit your studies with BPP around your work.
I had an allocated study day, and the programme was entirely online. I found the study day to be vital, as it meant I could attend the live online lectures without worrying too much about work. It also allowed me to complete all of the pre-work for the lecture, and consolidation work afterwards, in good time. Additionally, I did extra work at the weekends to make sure I was on top of everything.
I enjoyed my studies with BPP. I did a different topic each term, sometimes two topics each term. I found the courses to be engaging and well taught.
What are the benefits (and challenges!) of studying while working?
One of the main benefits is being able to apply what you have learned in practice to your studies, and vice versa. For example, when my property topics came up on my university course, I was eager to learn more about it as it was my current area of practice. I found I was able to apply some of the work and knowledge I already had to help answer assessment questions. I was also able to apply what I learned at BPP to my work. Another benefit was that I didn’t get into any student debt, as the firm covered the costs of my education as part of the apprenticeship.
In terms of challenges, I found it difficult at first to get into the groove of online lectures and not going to a lecture hall or classroom. However, over time I got used to it and enjoyed it in the end.
What advice would you give current apprentices on balancing your studies with work?
My advice would be to utilise the study day as best you can. I made sure I was up and about on my study day, finishing off pre-lecture work, attending live lectures and completing consolidation. It was almost like an actual working day, just that I was learning and not working.
I was quite strict with my study days during my apprenticeship. I rarely logged on to work or checked emails, as my study day was where I could focus hard on my learning.
Another tip would be to use your spare time wisely. I made sure I did some extra studies at the weekends, just so I was prepared for the week ahead. Just a few hours on a Saturday or a Sunday, sometimes both if an exam was coming up, but that extra work really went a long way and helped secure my understanding of topics and prepared me for lectures and exams.
You have successfully passed SQE 1 and 2! What is the secret to your success?
From my experience, time is the big concern when sitting SQE. If you can make the most of your time, both before and during the exam, you will be in a good place.
I started my revision five months before I sat SQE1. This gave me a good amount of time to prepare.
Making sure you attempt practice questions in timed conditions will be a massive help. I was nervous I would run out of time in the SQE1 exams as I was taking longer than the recommended time to answer questions. But by the time SQE1 came around, I found that because I had honed my exam technique quite well, I even had time left to check through my answers.
I found SQE2 to be more about focusing your knowledge into a skills-based framework, and applying what you know to the facts presented to you. The mock questions from BPP were very helpful. I found attempting them myself with access to my notes first helped to build my confidence. I then took away the notes and sat the mock papers in exam conditions, so I had experience of the time constraints in the actual exams for SQE 2.
The ‘Discussion of Assessment’ documents for the SQE 2 sample papers are also very helpful when it comes to understanding what the assessor is looking for in terms of the standard, as well as how best to set out your answers.
I also tried not to be too hard on myself throughout the whole process, and not ‘over-revise’ – if you can call it that. There were some challenging moments in the lead-up to exams, but I made sure to give myself plenty of breaks and down time to spend with my family and friends. Keeping active was a good release, as was finding an easy TV show to dip in and out of to give my mind a bit of a rest.
What support did you receive from BPP while completing the SQE prep course?
I found BPP to be very supportive in providing live teaching, comprehensive materials, MCQ practice, scenario practice for SQE2, and live revision lectures with tutors. The revision lectures were particularly helpful, as they were a couple of hours long for each topic and really focused on the core principles. BPP also ran formative assessments for SQE2 with their tutors, who provided feedback on my performance and areas for improvement, which was very useful. I also knew that the BPP tutors were available should I have any concerns.
All in all, I felt well supported throughout the process.
Join us on the afternoon of Wednesday 19 February for The Legal Cheek Pre-SQE Student Summit — in partnership with BPP University Law School. The summit will take place in both London and Manchester. Apply now.
View this post on Instagram
About Legal Cheek Careers posts.
