SQE preparation course vs law conversion course – SQE1 exam

W5690

Legendary Member
Nov 4, 2019
136
15
Dear all,

As an international student, I studied Law for five years at the university in France where I obtained an undergraduate degree, a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and a postgraduate degree (a five-year degree, based on a competitive selection process). Also, I did not become a French qualified lawyer on purpose. Although my academic background is in civil law and not in common law, I am obviously not new to the field of Law, intensive law degrees/courses, and a huge amount of written and oral exams within those five years studying Law.

My goal is to become a qualified solicitor in England and I will take the SQE in due course, starting with the SQE1 exam. In light of my academic background, I am wondering whether I would rather enrol in an SQE preparation course that would cover the areas of law that are taught as part of a bachelor's degree in law and, by extension, as part of a law conversion course, e.g. the PGDL, in order to also allow me to master the foundational legal knowledge in-depth, or enrol in a law conversion course as long as the latter is also designed to prepare for the SQE1 exam. Also, although completing a qualifying law degree or a conversion law course is no longer a regulatory requirement by the SRA, some firms still expect trainees to have completed a qualifying law degree or a law conversion course prior to embarking on the SQE.

I would like to add that I am completely aware of the fact that the decision is very unique to my personal circumstances. Also, I have already researched a lot about all of this, attended several webinars, and asked questions in light of my personal circumstances. However, even though my initiatives have been helpful, I have not been able to make an informed decision yet. I would then really appreciate your thoughts @Jaysen @Jessica Booker @Alice G . In any case, any tips, advice and/or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thank you all very much for your time.
 
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Hi, I am facing a similar situation (LLB in China/civil law, and want to become a qualified solicitor in England).

I am going to do PGDL commencing in Sept 2022 mainly because (1) I want to have a more structural and comprehensive view to common law and (2) seems some law firms do prefer "non-law" student to go though PGDL/GDL according to their websites.

What's your decision on this?
 
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