The GDL is highly unlikely to run out of places. They typically only fill around 50-70% of their places each year and are likely to still be selling the courses in the weeks leading up to the programme starting.
I would speak to the firm you are doing a vacation scheme with to see what their process is for GDL courses. Some firms no longer put trainees through the GDL. Others do, and may have a preferred supplier, but may just reimburse you what they would have paid their supplier if you are committed to a course. Worthwhile speaking to them to get advice on how they would navigate the situation.
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It might be worth clarifying that it is likely to be called a "PGDL", but that PGDL and GDL are the same thing in theory - both were once the Common Professional Examination to allow qualification to both solicitor and barrister.
BPP, one of the two main private universities supplying most law firms have long called their conversion course a "PGDL", while Ulaw called theirs a "GDL".
The CPE/GDL/PGDL as it then was, consisted of:
- Equity & Trusts
- Tort
- Contract Law
- Criminal Law
- EU Law
- Public Law
- Land Law
as the foundation to become a solicitor or barrister.
Now the SRA says "you don't need to a conversion course to become a solicitor: we're widening access, just pass SQE".
However, Ulaw, which, like BPP, is owned by Private Equity, didn't like that, and wanted to continue to sell conversion courses AND SQE courses, to get more money out of students than ever before.
So BPP and Ulaw as the profit-seeking entities that they are updated their course to be more "SQE-friendly", by:
- adding in company law, as a supposedly a new "core module" of SQE. While company law is indeed a module of SQE, and its own discipline, they only teach part of it on the PGDL, and you'll still need to learn lots of extra material in preparation for SQE (e.g., criminal procedure, civil procedure, wills, property procedure, lots more company law).
- changing their assessment methods to include a large MCQ component, as is used on SQE1, whereas typically PGDL/GDL previously would be assessed using coursework and written exams.
- Ulaw rebranded GDL to PGDL to show how new and SQE-friendly it was.
There are public universities, such as Nottingham Trent, offering their course that they have always called 'PGDL' which continues to follow the traditional CPE format of coursework, written exams, and seven modules rather than eight.
The profit-making-uni's-PGDL-followed-by-SQE-prep-course approach is slightly more flexible for the candidate, in that they have then passed the academic stage of becoming a barrister, and for elite law firms they perhaps don't care so much about the cost inflation that BPP/Ulaw/SRA have caused.
However, there's still massive financial gatekeeping because the SQE exams are expensive, and the profit-seeking law schools are obviously motivated to show that candidates who have not been
taught at great expense , and have simply learned the entire SQE out of textbooks
and then passed the exams are less employable than those who have. And some firms insist on a PGDL but won't pay for it, even for candidates who've passed SQE with flying colours.....
But anyway, as you say the providers (BPP & ULaw) are in it for the money, they won't sell out, and you will be able to sign up until the last moment (and probably even beyond that).
