Routes to admission

Trainee solicitors

We will send you an AD1 eight weeks before your training is due to end.

To apply for admission, you must have

complied with the SRA Training Regulations
passed the Legal Practice Course (LPC)
completed the Professional Skills Course (PSC) modules and electives
passed the PSC Financial and Business Skills exam.

QLTR/QLTS applicants

The Qualified Lawyers Transfer Regulations 2009 (QLTR) and Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (QLTT) were replaced by the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme Regulations 2011 (QLTS) on 1 September 2010.

Qualified Lawyers Transfer Regulations 2009

You need to have met the requirements of your Certificate of Eligibility before applying for admission.

We need:

certified copies of your QLTT certificates showing that you have passed the required heads.
a copy of a certificate of good standing from all jurisdiction(s) where you have been admitted. The certificate(s) must be less than three months old and confirm:

(a) your date of admission
(b) that you are in good standing
(c) that you have not been subject to any disciplinary proceedings
(d) that there are not any pending disciplinary proceedings against you
(e) that you are currently entitled to practise.

We may verify this with your home bar(s).

If you were required to do work experience we need a completed Experience Evidence Form with a covering letter. The letter must be an original on the firm’s letterhead from your supervisor and needs to confirm the information in the form.

The following document may be helpful when completing the experience evidence form: QLTT experience requirements (PDF 6 pages, 78K)

Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme Regulations 2011

You need to have met the requirements under the QLTS before applying for admission.

We need a copy of a certificate of good standing from all jurisdiction(s) where you have been admitted. The certificate(s) must be less than three months old and confirm:

(a) your date of admission
(b) that you are in good standing
(c) that you have not been subject to any disciplinary proceedings
(d) that there are not any pending disciplinary proceedings against you
(e) that you are currently entitled to practise.

We may verify this with your home bar(s).

Kaplan will tell us the results of your QLTS assessments. You do not need to send in evidence of this.

Solicitors admitted by the Law Society of Ireland and Northern Ireland

Solicitors admitted by the Law Society of Northern Ireland

If you have passed a Qualifying Law Degree (QLD) and been admitted as a solicitor by the Law Society of Northern Ireland you do not need to pass any QLTS assessments.

We need:

a certified copy of your QLD certificate. Our website lists the QLD providers.
a copy of a certificate of good standing from all jurisdiction(s) where you have been admitted. The certificate(s) must be less than three months old and confirm:

(a) your date of admission
(b) that you are in good standing
(c) that you have not been subject to any disciplinary proceedings
(d) that there are not any pending disciplinary proceedings against you
(e) that you are currently entitled to practise.

We may verify this with your home bar(s).

Solicitors admitted by the Law Society of Ireland

If you are a solicitor admitted by the Law Society of Ireland, please see How to Apply under the QLTS.

We need:

a copy of your passport evidencing that you are an EU national.
a copy of a certificate of good standing from all jurisdiction(s) where you have been admitted. The certificate(s) must be less than three months old and confirm:

(a) your date of admission
(b) that you are in good standing
(c) that you have not been subject to any disciplinary proceedings
(d) that there are not any pending disciplinary proceedings against you
(e) that you are currently entitled to practise.

We may verify this with your home bar(s).

The Law Society of Ireland will tell us when you have completed the English Property Law Module. You do not need to send in evidence of this.

If you have lived/only lived in the ROI during the last five years please contact us.

Chartered Legal Executives (CILEx)

If you have:

(a) satisfied the requirements of the academic stage through study or exemptions granted
(b) completed the Legal Practice Course (LPC)

you do not need to complete a period of recognised training under regulation 5 of the Training Regulations 2014. You are exempt from the elective elements of the Professional Skills Course (PSC). This exemption is automatic you do not need to apply to us.

With your AD1 we need:

a copy of a certificate of good standing from CILEx. This must be less than three months old and confirm:

(a) your date of admission
(b) that you are in good standing
(c) that you have not been subject to any disciplinary proceedings
(d) that there are not any pending disciplinary proceedings against you
(e) that you are currently entitled to practise.

a certified copy of your PSC certificate(s) confirming that you have completed the Advocacy and Communications Skills, Client Care and Professional Standards modules and passed the Financial Business Skills exam.
a certified copy of your LPC completion certificate.

Assistant Justices’ Clerks

If you are employed as an Assistant Justices’ Clerk and you have:

(a) completed the academic stage
(b) completed the LPC
(c) completed the core modules of the PSC
(d) served for at least five out of the last ten years in the Magistrates’ Courts Service, before attending the LPC

you will not need to complete a period of recognised training. You are exempt from the elective elements of the PSC. You do not need to apply to us for this exemption.

With your AD1 we need:

a certified copy of your PSC certificate(s) confirming that you have completed the Advocacy and Communications Skills, Client Care and Professional Standards modules and passed the Financial Business Skills exam.
a certified copy of your LPC completion certificate.
a letter from an employer (an original on letterhead). This must confirm that before attending the LPC, you have served at least five out of the last 10 years in the Magistrates’ Courts Service as an Assistant Justices’ Clerk.

RELs

These applications are made under Article 10 of the European Establishment Directive 98-5-EC.

To be eligible to apply you must be:

a member of one of the legal professions listed in the Directive and entitled to practise.
an EU national.
registered with us continuously as a REL for three years.
an EU lawyer who has been practising the law of the UK, in the UK for three years or more.
practising under your EU lawyer title for three years or more.

To apply you must:

meet all the above eligibility requirements.
complete the AD15 application form and read the accompanying guidance notes.
complete the pre-authorisation screening requirements.
provide the information detailed in the application form.
Provide a certificate of good standing/attestation from your home Bar, confirming your practising status as well as disciplinary information. This can be no older than three months.

Service levels

We aim to consider the majority of these applications within three months from the point we receive a complete application.

It may take longer depending on the complexity of the application or should we need to contact you to provide further information.

If your application is particularly time sensitive, please ensure you submit this and all required information well in advance of the three-month service level to allow us enough time to consider this.

Cost

The cost of admission for this application is £500, and if successful your first practising certificate is free.

The cost of your screening application is £42.

Brexit

For information on Brexit please read our hot topic.