Self-Fund GDL or wait a year?

[cpmal]

Hi all,

I'm new here so apologies if this is the wrong etiquette or place to post such a discussion!!

I've been browsing the forum for the last week or so and read a few similar discussions but feel like my situation is slightly different and, as I perhaps am not as knowledgable in law applications etc, wanted some other people's advice.

A bit about me, I have very strong A-Levels and graduated with a high 2:1 in Economics from Nottingham University last summer (2020). Since, I have been contemplating a career in the law, amongst other industries. I undertook a brief work experience in an in-house law firm a few years ago but the employees there, as well as a number of family friends, essentially warned me off entering the profession so I hadn't given it a second thought since until last summer. As a result I have no open days or vacation schemes to mention so am currently applying to these (Spring/Summer) to bolster my CV and chances of securing a TC hopefully next year (for a 2024 start) or potentially even later if I am not successful first time round. However, I think it is important to note I am in a rather fortuitous position with strong legal contacts in both the solicitor and barrister world through family friends and work so think once lockdown ends and restrictions are eased, I could get decent experience to strengthen my CV and reaffirm my interest in the profession.

My issue is that I am currently on furlough for the foreseeable future from my job as a personal trainer/swim instructor at the local leisure centre and so recently decided it might be beneficial to self-fund the GDL starting January 2021 at UoL Guildford and finish in September where I could hopefully do the aforementioned experiences. Realising they had a 14 day cooling off period from the day you accept I booked a place on the course relatively last minute (9 days ago) and in the meantime thought I would consult people more 'in the know' about what they think is best. Indeed, having spoken to my old uni law careers advisor, as well as my a friend who secured a TC at Slaughter & May, they have advised me against self-funding and rather throw all my energy into VS applications in the hope of securing a TC. My fear is that I don't think my CV is particularly strong as it stands, mainly lacking a bit of strong professional experience, and so I won't gain much from these applications and my year would essentially have been 'wasted.

I just wondered what others thought/what advice they would give?

Would they agree with my careers advisor and say delay see how your first round of applications go, there is no rush.
Or is there nothing to lose by doing the GDL now?

Apologies again if I've posted this in the wrong place!!

Thank you very much in advance.

Best regards,

Conor Maloney

 

[Daniel Boden]

Hi all,

I'm new here so apologies if this is the wrong etiquette or place to post such a discussion!!

I've been browsing the forum for the last week or so and read a few similar discussions but feel like my situation is slightly different and, as I perhaps am not as knowledgable in law applications etc, wanted some other people's advice.

A bit about me, I have very strong A-Levels and graduated with a high 2:1 in Economics from Nottingham University last summer (2020). Since, I have been contemplating a career in the law, amongst other industries. I undertook a brief work experience in an in-house law firm a few years ago but the employees there, as well as a number of family friends, essentially warned me off entering the profession so I hadn't given it a second thought since until last summer. As a result I have no open days or vacation schemes to mention so am currently applying to these (Spring/Summer) to bolster my CV and chances of securing a TC hopefully next year (for a 2024 start) or potentially even later if I am not successful first time round. However, I think it is important to note I am in a rather fortuitous position with strong legal contacts in both the solicitor and barrister world through family friends and work so think once lockdown ends and restrictions are eased, I could get decent experience to strengthen my CV and reaffirm my interest in the profession.

My issue is that I am currently on furlough for the foreseeable future from my job as a personal trainer/swim instructor at the local leisure centre and so recently decided it might be beneficial to self-fund the GDL starting January 2021 at UoL Guildford and finish in September where I could hopefully do the aforementioned experiences. Realising they had a 14 day cooling off period from the day you accept I booked a place on the course relatively last minute (9 days ago) and in the meantime thought I would consult people more 'in the know' about what they think is best. Indeed, having spoken to my old uni law careers advisor, as well as my a friend who secured a TC at Slaughter & May, they have advised me against self-funding and rather throw all my energy into VS applications in the hope of securing a TC. My fear is that I don't think my CV is particularly strong as it stands, mainly lacking a bit of strong professional experience, and so I won't gain much from these applications and my year would essentially have been 'wasted.

I just wondered what others thought/what advice they would give?

Would they agree with my careers advisor and say delay see how your first round of applications go, there is no rush.
Or is there nothing to lose by doing the GDL now?

Apologies again if I've posted this in the wrong place!!

Thank you very much in advance.

Best regards,

Conor Maloney

Hi Conor,

To be honest I don't see a real issue with you deciding to self-fund the GDL as it means you will be using the time between now and September well and you will have one year less of exams/legal study to do! I'm currently doing the GDL at ULaw at the moment and whilst it is an intense course, the quality of teaching has been good and I've been enjoying it tbh (certainly appears to be going much better than the PGDL at BPP!).

As you say, hopefully by September relative normalcy will be starting to happen so I think getting experience then would put you in a good position.

I'll tag @Jessica Booker here as she knows far more about how the incoming SQE will impact you than I do but in short if you can afford it and don't have much else on at the moment I don't see why it's that bad an idea! Also if you get a training contract, a number of firms reimburse fees retrospectively so you may not even end up being out of pocket as it were.

Hope that helps,
Dan

 

[Jessica Booker]

Well there is a rush to some extent, because if you aren’t signed up to the GDL by September 2021 and don’t start it by December 2021, then the GDL route won’t be available to you.

However, I would push back on the GDL provider and ask them to extend your period you can confirm your place. There is absolute no rush to sign up to the course now. They will still be trying to get people to sign up to it by August 2021, with them only starting a couple of weeks later.

 

[cpmal]

Hi Conor,

To be honest I don't see a real issue with you deciding to self-fund the GDL as it means you will be using the time between now and September well and you will have one year less of exams/legal study to do! I'm currently doing the GDL at ULaw at the moment and whilst it is an intense course, the quality of teaching has been good and I've been enjoying it tbh (certainly appears to be going much better than the PGDL at BPP!).

As you say, hopefully by September relative normalcy will be starting to happen so I think getting experience then would put you in a good position.

I'll tag @Jessica Booker here as she knows far more about how the incoming SQE will impact you than I do but in short if you can afford it and don't have much else on at the moment I don't see why it's that bad an idea! Also if you get a training contract, a number of firms reimburse fees retrospectively so you may not even end up being out of pocket as it were.

Hope that helps,
Dan

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your quick and detailed response, I really appreciate it!

Yes, I did tend to have the same opinion as you but my uni careers advisor's staunch opposition to self-funding has made me re-think! It's good to get different opinions on things, however, so I'll definitely take your advice on board.

If you don't mind there is one caveat I would like to add. Namely, if I do continue with the course, because I joined about a week/10 days after the start date and its general level of intensity, I am quite far behind already (only doing the pre-course prep atm). I think I could probably catch up and be at the same level if I went hell-for-leather in about 4 weeks time but that would probably come at the expense of general enjoyment/applications/potentially getting involved in extra-curricular pro-bono activities....I suppose its a personal question about how much I'm willing to throw into it but would you think it's a viable plan or would that change your opinion at all?

Thanks once again,
Conor

 

[cpmal]

Well there is a rush to some extent, because if you aren’t signed up to the GDL by September 2021 and don’t start it by December 2021, then the GDL route won’t be available to you.

However, I would push back on the GDL provider and ask them to extend your period you can confirm your place. There is absolute no rush to sign up to the course now. They will still be trying to get people to sign up to it by August 2021, with them only starting a couple of weeks later.

Hi Jessica,

Thanks for your response, I really appreciate it!

Yes, the advent of the SQE was also one of the motivations behind me doing the GDL now so I could potentially have the option of the LPC route assuming firms will still allow trainees to qualify that way. I know there is a lot of grey area surrounding it all right now but would you recommend law converts that have the option to follow any particular route or not place too much stock in them?

Best regards,

Conor

 

[Jessica Booker]

Hi Jessica,

Thanks for your response, I really appreciate it!

Yes, the advent of the SQE was also one of the motivations behind me doing the GDL now so I could potentially have the option of the LPC route assuming firms will still allow trainees to qualify that way. I know there is a lot of grey area surrounding it all right now but would you recommend law converts that have the option to follow any particular route or not place too much stock in them?

Best regards,

Conor

The benefit of the LPC is that even if firms do want you to take the SQE route, you’ll be exempt from SQE1, it will just be SQE2 you need to complete.

Given that my advice for anyone who can start the GDL in 2021, is to do it anyway. The exemption from SQE1 gives you the most flexibility really.

 

[HorsesForCoursesNeighNeighNeigh]

very helpful Jessica! I had similar questions

 

[Daniel Boden]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your quick and detailed response, I really appreciate it!

Yes, I did tend to have the same opinion as you but my uni careers advisor's staunch opposition to self-funding has made me re-think! It's good to get different opinions on things, however, so I'll definitely take your advice on board.

If you don't mind there is one caveat I would like to add. Namely, if I do continue with the course, because I joined about a week/10 days after the start date and its general level of intensity, I am quite far behind already (only doing the pre-course prep atm). I think I could probably catch up and be at the same level if I went hell-for-leather in about 4 weeks time but that would probably come at the expense of general enjoyment/applications/potentially getting involved in extra-curricular pro-bono activities....I suppose its a personal question about how much I'm willing to throw into it but would you think it's a viable plan or would that change your opinion at all?

Thanks once again,
Conor

When you say you're already behind, has term actually started yet or do you just mean you're behind on the pre-course prep? Tbf the pre-course prep is only for the legal method exam which is very straightforward to pass so I think you'll be able to catch up fine and would definitely say it's still a viable plan yeah