LPC or SQE?

[Jessica Booker]

I don’t think such comparisons are necessarily helpful. They are two very different exam processes.

The likes of BPP and UoL have been running their exams for years/decades, and usually on their own properties. It’s a handful of locations each year they have to manage even when they are conducted off site.

In contrast, SQE1 can be sat in tens of thousands of locations and also across the globe. I could go and sit SQE1 in ten different locations within a 20 miles radius of where I live, while if I completed the LPC, the exam location would be defined for me. Given numbers who have taken the SQE1 assessments so far, there will be many locations that have to do this for the first time over the next decade, let alone the first year the assessments could be sat.

Given that, there is just more risk for things to go wrong across multiple locations. This is the trade off of having a more accessible assessment process though (which was one of the key objectives of the SQE).

 

[Jane Smith]

Also with the LPC you have to do the PSC often during the TC which is again more exams.

Although the PSC only has one exam with a high pass rate which you take immediately after doing the 3 days finance course and the rest of the PSC is just attending the courses. In most cases BPP and UoL do not mess up the exams whether online or in the exam hall or when doing skills exams in my view, but I certainly do not have statistics about it - just the experience of 4 of my lawyer children doing the LPC (and my own very old past experience).

 

[OB]

Although the PSC only has one exam with a high pass rate which you take immediately after doing the 3 days finance course and the rest of the PSC is just attending the courses. In most cases BPP and UoL do not mess up the exams whether online or in the exam hall or when doing skills exams in my view, but I certainly do not have statistics about it - just the experience of 4 of my lawyer children doing the LPC (and my own very old past experience).

Abii's post a few posts up from this gives some examples of how BPP and ULaw can mess up. I've heard countless remarks of exam content being incorrect etc for the LPC exams so I don't think that is a fair point to make in comparison.

Think there's definitely a lot of people clutching to speculation for fear of change. There's going to be teething problems with anything new but I think some research can go a long way to correctly learning about the course

 

[Jane Smith]

I certainly have no statistics. 4 of my lawyer children have done the LPC and GDL/PGDL with BPP without exam problems ( two just finished) but that is just anecdotal. I just feel Kaplan made such a mess with those poor SQE candidates recently. They are certainly very different exams and we are in a very complicated transitional period where soon most people will not have a choice of old or new system so in that sense it will be simpler.

 

[m.lew]

I'll be doing firm-selected electives with my SQE this September

Hi @OB - you mentioned you will be doing firm-selected electives with your SQE, do you mind sharing what the timelines look like (assuming you will be starting your TC in 2023), would you be studying the SQE from September 2022 - September 2023 and going straight into your TC, or do you have a bit of a break between your SQE and the start of your TC? Thanks in advance

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @OB - you mentioned you will be doing firm-selected electives with your SQE, do you mind sharing what the timelines look like (assuming you will be starting your TC in 2023), would you be studying the SQE from September 2022 - September 2023 and going straight into your TC, or do you have a bit of a break between your SQE and the start of your TC? Thanks in advance

There is a 14-18 result turn around after SQE2, and so many future trainees will find themselves with a good 3-4 month gap between May-August/September, unless the course is a form of masters course and there is further study needed to complete that’s not directly tied to the SQE assessments.

 

[m.lew]

There is a 14-18 result turn around after SQE2, and so many future trainees will find themselves with a good 3-4 month gap between May-August/September, unless the course is a form of masters course and there is further study needed to complete that’s not directly tied to the SQE assessments.

Hi @Jessica Booker thank you very much for your response! I saw that some courses did seem to run over a period of 12 months, so that is very useful to know. In terms of SQE 'electives', are those only available for the masters type of prep courses (or are there electives available for the SQE 1 and 2 exams as well? Thank you

 

[m.lew]

Hi everyone, further to the above discussion I wanted to ask for some advice on SQE start times. As a future trainee starting a TC in 2024, I have the option to complete my SQE either this September or in September 2023. I was wondering whether anyone had any thoughts on any obvious pros and cons of either option? Thank you

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi @Jessica Booker thank you very much for your response! I saw that some courses did seem to run over a period of 12 months, so that is very useful to know. In terms of SQE 'electives', are those only available for the masters type of prep courses (or are there electives available for the SQE 1 and 2 exams as well? Thank you

There are no electives on the exams - you complete the same assessments as everyone else/they are a standardised assessment. The electives for the courses are mainly just to supplement information that the SQE assessments won’t cover but that the individual law firms think are important for their trainees to know (in the same way that their were bespoke LPC courses for some firms).

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi everyone, further to the above discussion I wanted to ask for some advice on SQE start times. As a future trainee starting a TC in 2024, I have the option to complete my SQE either this September or in September 2023. I was wondering whether anyone had any thoughts on any obvious pros and cons of either option? Thank you

One pro will be that you have more time to resit if you do sit the assessments earlier but don’t pass first time. However, that will also depend on whether your firm allows you to resit (some won’t, and others that do might only do so if you cover the costs of the second assessment).

Pros of waiting will be that the prep courses will be slightly more established by then. There is also the likelihood that the frequency of the SQE assessment dates could increase, as these are woefully inadequate currently (eg sittings only every six months).

If you are on a bespoke prep course, then the other benefit of waiting is you’ll retain the knowledge much more easily when you start your TC compared to if you effectively had a year out.

 

[OB]

Hi @OB - you mentioned you will be doing firm-selected electives with your SQE, do you mind sharing what the timelines look like (assuming you will be starting your TC in 2023), would you be studying the SQE from September 2022 - September 2023 and going straight into your TC, or do you have a bit of a break between your SQE and the start of your TC? Thanks in advance

Hi, sorry for the late response! My TC starts in Feb 2024 but I'll be starting the SQE this September. The course runs until October 2023 and then I'll be waiting for results as Jessica mentioned so it was pretty much the only option I could have picked.

In terms of course structure (I'm doing the LLM option), it seems I'll be studying and sitting SQE from Sept to Jan, doing electives in Feb to Easter and then SQE 2 for the remainder

 

[Jane Smith]

I would get started and have time free after, rather than the other way round for those with that choice. That is also what one of my solicitor children did - gap year after the course (LPC in those days) and then TC.
On results and QWE/TCs the firms might well require SQE2 to be passed and results out before starting but for a bit of historic colour back in my day (Finals course - the one before the LPC) exams were taken up to about 27 July, TC started in early Sept and results came out in November which you hoped you had passed so everyione was starting a TC in those days not yet having the final results. That worked out okay as the people likely to pass were the ones who tended to have a TC.

 

[moxiebobo]

Hi, sorry for the late response! My TC starts in Feb 2024 but I'll be starting the SQE this September. The course runs until October 2023 and then I'll be waiting for results as Jessica mentioned so it was pretty much the only option I could have picked.

In terms of course structure (I'm doing the LLM option), it seems I'll be studying and sitting SQE from Sept to Jan, doing electives in Feb to Easter and then SQE 2 for the remainder

Hi OB,

Was it not an option to start the SQE in Feb 2024? Apologies if I have missed some background context in this regard.

Also, if you don't mind me asking - whereabouts are you doing your SQE course?

Thank you.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi OB,

Was it not an option to start the SQE in Feb 2024? Apologies if I have missed some background context in this regard.

Also, if you don't mind me asking - whereabouts are you doing your SQE course?

Thank you.

Many firms are expecting their trainees to complete and pass the SQE before their TC starting, so if OB's TC starts in Feb 2024, it's likely they would need to have passed the SQE before then.

 

[moxiebobo]

Many firms are expecting their trainees to complete and pass the SQE before their TC starting, so if OB's TC starts in Feb 2024, it's likely they would need to have passed the SQE before then.

Hmm should I be concerned then that my TC offer is to start Feb 2024 but haven't started SQE yet (with no view to starting it this September)? I saw that there is also a Feb intake for the SQE course I think I'm on so thought I would likely start then?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hmm should I be concerned then that my TC offer is to start Feb 2024 but haven't started SQE yet (with no view to starting it this September)? I saw that there is also a Feb intake for the SQE course I think I'm on so thought I would likely start then?

No - there is no need to be concerned - your firm will know the timeframes they are working to, and the thing about the SQE is that there is much more flexibility in course length etc. I know several trainees starting in 2024 who are not starting their SQE until 2023. It really depends on who your provider is, what type of course you are doing etc, but they can be as short as ten weeks.

 

[OB]

Hi OB,

Was it not an option to start the SQE in Feb 2024? Apologies if I have missed some background context in this regard.

Also, if you don't mind me asking - whereabouts are you doing your SQE course?

Thank you.

I'm doing it at ULaw in Moorgate, they only have Sept or March intakes so March wouldn't have finished in time for my Feb 24 start date as the course is about 13 months long

 

[Law1099]

Hello, I have a question about the SQE. Will a firm you have your TC at make you do a LLM course of the sqe? I already have a masters and not interested in getting another, but if they want you to do more electives will they make you do the extra course?

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hello, I have a question about the SQE. Will a firm you have your TC at make you do a LLM course of the sqe? I already have a masters and not interested in getting another, but if they want you to do more electives will they make you do the extra course?

Unlikely, in my opinion - this would just be an additional expense for them and with little benefit. However, some firms may have decided to have a built-in masters with specific modules, and so this could vary from firm to firm.

 

[Jane Smith]

If you take a SQE course provided by ULaw for example, you do it all together like you would the LPC? Also with the LPC you have to do the PSC often during the TC which is again more exams.

The Professional Skills Course is not really "more exams". My sons have been doing it very recently. There is one exam only which you do on the afternoon of the third day of the Financial and Business Skills 3 day course (pass mark is 60%). There is no exam in anything else on the PSC - you just have to attend (and you can do that with BPP online if you prefer) so PSC exams is not really something to compare with the SQE regime.