2009 Legal Practice Course set to change
27 October 2008
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is offering new choices to students starting a Legal Practice Course (LPC) in 2009. Course providers have been given greater scope to design and deliver courses that meet the needs of students wishing to study in different ways.
A number of course providers have already applied to the SRA to run new-style courses from 2009. Decisions on the first round of applications will be announced by the end of the year.
The SRA is also putting in place new measures to assure the standard of all LPCs. Course providers authorised to deliver new-style LPCs will be required to publish information about their courses to help students and employers decide which courses are most suitable for them. These new measures will apply to all courses from 2010.
Dr. Jonathan Spencer, Chair of the Education and Training Committee, said: "We have carried out a comprehensive review of pre-qualification training to make it more flexible, while at the same time reinforcing standards.
"The legal landscape is changing rapidly and we are responding to this by reviewing the current schemes for qualification which had not changed for over a decade. Our main aim in all of this is to make sure that the system is robust and that the public can have confidence when using a solicitor."
Under the new system, students will still be able to start their training contracts before they have completed their LPC. The SRA is revising its guidance to ensure that students who opt to start a training contract before they complete the second stage of their LPC do not have to qualify later than students who finish both stages of the LPC before starting their training.
The SRA has also launched a pilot programme of work-based learning to complement the conventional training contract, and is about to launch a consultation on a major reform of the Qualified Lawyer Transfer arrangements.