Education and training

Last updated: 8 December 2011

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and the Institute of Legal Executives Professional Standards (IPS) are to jointly review education and training in the regulated legal sector. The Law Society welcomes the review and intends to develop its own proposals for a model education and training system to feed into the review process.

• Read about the joint education and training review

In addition to our work on the review, the Law Society has also called for a greater focus on ethics in the qualifying law degree and has now published the final report on aptitude tests for the Legal Professional Course (LPC).

---

Share your views

The Society is at the beginning of a process of developing and fine tuning its policies on education and training, to feed into the current review being undertaken by the legal regulators. To share your views on the legal education and training system, please get in touch.

The Law Society is conducting an extensive period of engagement to test our proposed education and training policy direction and ensure that it is representative of the views of the profession as a whole.
Read some of our policies (PDF)

We would like to hear from members of the profession about what you think the legal education and training system of the future should look like. To share your views, please contact educationandtraining@lawsociety.org.uk. You can also find out more about the review at www.letr.org.uk.

Read more about the review

---

Aptitude test report published

Due to the current lack of universal entry requirements for the LPC, many students are expending large amounts of money with no way of judging whether they will have a chance of succeeding in passing the course.

With huge competition for training contracts, it is increasingly common for LPC graduates to find they are unable to secure a position and so do not go on to complete the qualification process.

In light of these issues, the Law Society commissioned research to investigate the viability of introducing an aptitude test for entry on the Legal Practice Course and has now published the report by Helen Baron.

In light of the current review of education and training by the legal regulators, the Law Society will not be pursuing the introduction of aptitude testing, however we welcome the report as a contribution to the debate and will be feeding it into the review process.

• Evaluation of use of aptitude tests (PDF, 530kb)

---

Final work-based learning evaluation report published by SRA

The SRA has now published the final report on the work-based learning pilot by independent evaluators Middlesex University.

• Work-based learning news item on the SRA website

The Law Society’s Education and Training Committee is now considering the findings of the report, to assess whether there are any matters of concern to be raised with the SRA.

---

Focus on ethics

In making an appeal for a greater focus on ethics in the academic stage of legal education, the Law Society is acting on a recommendation in the report by Professor Kim Economides and Justine Rogers published by the Society in March 2009, entitled Preparatory Ethics Training for Future Solicitors.

The report advises the Law Society to 'take a lead and encourage the SRA to initiate a review to ... make awareness of and commitment to legal values, and the moral context of the law, mandatory in undergraduate law degrees ...'.

• Read Preparatory Ethics Training for Future Solicitors

Mandantory content of the qualifying law degree

Currently, an agreement between the SRA and the Bar Standards Board dictates the mandatory content of the qualifying law degree. Six foundations of legal knowledge have been identified as compulsory subjects for the qualifying law degree. It is felt that these subjects will equip those who wish to go on to join the legal profession with the background knowledge necessary for practise as a solicitor or a barrister.

• Read the six foundations of legal knowledge (PDF, 50kb)

The Law Society strongly believes that legal ethics should be included in this list of foundation subjects.

A sound understanding of legal ethics is vital to ensure that the ethical reputation of the legal profession of England and Wales is maintained, both locally and internationally in the post-ABS world. Legal education in England and Wales is in danger of falling behind the rest of the common law world, where compulsory ethics training is generally standard.

Campaign progress

As part of its campaign for ethics to be included as a compulsory component of the qualifying law degree, the Law Society participated in the UK Centre for Legal Education (UKCLE) event 'Legal Ethics at the academic stage: exploring the issues', held in May 2010 and aimed at the academic community.

Many attendees expressed concerns about the compulsory inclusion of ethics in what they feel is an already crowded curriculum. Others felt that it is not the place of the legal profession or professional bodies to dictate what the curriculum should contain.

Following this event, the Law Society commissioned Professor Andrew Boon to produce a report which recommends the most effective way of including ethics as a compulsory element of the undergraduate curriculum, and to attempt to address a number of the concerns raised at UKCLE event.

• Event details and presentations on the UK Centre for Legal Education website
• Download Professor Boon's full report (PDF, 195kb)

Findings from the report

Professor Boon's final report, outlines:

1. a definition of ethics, in the context of the qualifying law degree;
2. a model ethics syllabus, including learning outcomes for the qualifying law degree;
3. an analysis of the most effective way of teaching ethics, discretely or pervasively; and
4. a consideration of the possible objections to the introduction of a compulsory ethics component to the qualifying law degree, including resource implications for law schools, and proposals for how the Society may be able to assist in overcoming these issues.

Recommendations

The report makes the following recommendations:

• A definition of ethics, in the context of the qualifying law degree being:

  'The study of the relationship between morality and law, the values underpinning the legal system, and the regulation of the legal services market, including the institutions, professional roles and ethics of the judiciary and legal professions.'

• The Law Society should lobby for the inclusion of a model curriculum for delivering legal ethics that is based on, though not necessarily identical to, that appearing in the report.
• A substantial core of the legal ethics curriculum should be delivered discretely, preferably as a full foundation subject. If this is not possible, the Law Society should consider the following options:
  • that the legal ethics curriculum be delivered as a half foundation subject with pervasive delivery of other, substantial elements or that the joint statement be revised to conform to the day one outcomes (as amended to reflect the proposed ethics curriculum), or
  • that the joint statement specifies the outcomes of legal education only, leaving providers to propose appropriate ways of achieving those outcomes.
• The Law Society should explore with the law schools:
  • what timescale for the implementation of proposals is reasonable;
  • whether financial or other assistance is necessary to deliver the ethics curriculum; and if so,
  • what form such assistance might take.

Download Professor Boon's full report (PDF, 195kb)

Law Society Ethics Event

The Law Society held an event on ethics in the qualifying law degree on 4 November 2010. The event was an opportunity for the Society to outline reasons why this issue is of the utmost importance, and to engage with stakeholders. Sir Mark Potter, former president of the Family Division, was keynote speaker, with additional presentations from Professor Andrew Boon and Chris Perrin, general counsel at Clifford Chance.

Attendees included representatives from the profession, regulators of both solicitors and barristers, and members of the academic community. Feedback indicated that there is support for the inclusion of ethics at the undergraduate stage, and highlighted the logistical issues that need to be addressed to ensure that this occurs effectively. Professor Boon's report explores many of these concerns.

The Law Society will continue to work with stakeholders to address these issues, and will feed this work into the legal regulators? review of education and training.

 

Back to top