PGDL/MA Law (Conversion) Providers

caitlinayre

Active Member
Dec 16, 2021
12
12
Hi everyone!

Hope everyone's applications and studies are going well:)

I am currently a final year non-law student and I am researching institutions which offer the PGDL/MA Law (Conversion). Ideally, I am hoping to do a "masters" as it will make me eligible for student funding.

The places I have in mind are ULaw, BPP and Kings College London.

Does anyone have advice/personal experience with any of the providers? Is there one that is better than the other? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance
 
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Putt5353

Well-Known Member
Nov 20, 2021
22
30
I completed the MA Law at Ulaw and am currently doing the LPC at BPP.
I found the teaching and general experience of the MA at Ulaw really good, although this was pre-pandemic. The LPC at BPP has been pretty chaotic so far, v short notice of classes/timetables and difficulties accessing online materials and getting responses to queries. However the teaching has been pretty good overall.
 
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A

AspiringIPLawyer

Guest
Hi everyone!

Hope everyone's applications and studies are going well:)

I am currently a final year non-law student and I am researching institutions which offer the PGDL/MA Law (Conversion). Ideally, I am hoping to do a "masters" as it will make me eligible for student funding.

The places I have in mind are ULaw, BPP and Kings College London.

Does anyone have advice/personal experience with any of the providers? Is there one that is better than the other? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance
Hi Caitlin,

I studied the MA Law course at Ulaw last year. I chose on-campus but due to the pandemic a lot of it was held online. We did attend campus when we could though! I think they were amazing at catering to the change in teaching style and the course content itself was of really high quality. The materials they supplied were also great. To be honest, I couldn't recommend it enough!

I've not had personal experience at BPP but I have a friend who studied the GDL with them a couple of years ago and she said it was quite disorganised - I think they also do all of the exams in the summer term? At Ulaw we had half the modules and exams in the first semester and then the other half and the dissertation module in the second. I think this worked really well because it meant you didn't have to focus on 7 modules at once.

Would definitely recommend the MA Law course at Ulaw (it's obviously also great because you're able to get postgrad funding!). Though, I'm not sure if the transition to the SQE has changed any of the content/structure so this may be something to look out for.

Hope I've been able to help and I'm happy to answer anymore questions about the course you may have :)
 
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SSmith

Well-Known Member
Jan 17, 2022
23
14
Hiya!

I am currently studying the ULaw MA Law (SQE1) Full Time with the Online Campus. I can't speak for the other providers but ULaw has been great so far and I can really recommend. Let me know if you have extra questions or need any advice!
Hi, @c-lear ,

Im just about to apply for this course starting in September. Could I ask you a couple of questions?

TIA!
 
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G P

Star Member
Jul 13, 2020
44
121
Hi everyone!

Hope everyone's applications and studies are going well:)

I am currently a final year non-law student and I am researching institutions which offer the PGDL/MA Law (Conversion). Ideally, I am hoping to do a "masters" as it will make me eligible for student funding.

The places I have in mind are ULaw, BPP and Kings College London.

Does anyone have advice/personal experience with any of the providers? Is there one that is better than the other? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance
Hi there!

I am currently studying BPP's PGDL LLM online. The organisation at BPP is pretty poor, but the teaching has been good overall. Something that attracted me to the LLM option at BPP rather than ULaw is that you do the Masters portion (dissertation-like project) after all your other exams have finished. So May-August I will just be writing a professional project. This appealed to me rather than having to write a dissertation alongside studying for the other core modules, which I believe a friend of mine had to do at ULaw - she found it really intense. Of course, that means the ULaw course is shorter though, if that is important to you!

Hope this helps!
 

anon123456789

Valued Member
  • Oct 25, 2021
    121
    346
    Thank you !

    I wanted to know what the work load/ commitment is like with the Online Course.
    And, as I'm also from a non law background, if there's any reading I could do before hand that would help?
    So the online study commitment is exactly the same as those who study in person- the course requires about 45 hours of study per week although you can often find yourself doing more or less depending on the topics you study that week and whether you get stuck on a concept. The only thing I find different to studying in-person is that you are completely responsible for your workload, the work you have to do each week is asynchronous and so it is up to you whether you complete it on time (i.e. there are no scheduled seminars or workshops). All the help you need is still available, however, you have a personal tutor as well as your subject tutors you can contact, plus a weekly live support session for each subject.
    You need to be able to maintain a high level of drive and self-discipline which I struggled with at some points if I'm honest 🤣 .
    The best thing I've found about asynchronous learning is that I don't have to miss out on any events because of uni commitments. I was able to attend loads of open days and online events as well as maintain a part-time job to fund my studies alongside it (about 16 hours a week, I've tried to do more and noticed I fell behind but it's different for everyone).

    In terms of extra reading, the only thing I would suggest is just reading around the stuff that interests you. I read the Secret Barrister just so I could get a taste for it but the courses themselves are basically designed for people who haven't studied law before so the concepts are structured and introduced very clearly. You also have to complete a pre-course study module which gives you a really good grounding in all of the basics. I'm honestly so shocked with how much I've learned in just a few months, it's crazy.

    My top tips would be:
    - If you're used to studying with books (e.g. I did an English Degree) and learn best through tabbing and colour-coordinating text then purchase the hard-copy manuals if you can, they have made my life so much easier.
    - Find your nearest in-person campus as you're allowed to use the facilities there. Mine is London and it's been really nice going up there to use the library every so often, as an online student you can sometimes feel a bit alienated from the studious buzz of campus uni, although it does reduce a lot of the stress-by-osmosis you get from studying in-person🤣.
    - Always ask if you're unsure about something, you're responsible for keeping yourself up to date on exam details and course progression etc, I know someone who studies in person so it was always helpful to ask them if I was unsure of something but your personal tutors are also really helpful.
    - You need to invest a lot more time taking care of yourself! Make sure you know what keeps you happy and helps you to de-stress, being in charge of your own workload can often mean you put extra pressure on yourself.

    Let me know if you have any other questions :)
     
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    SSmith

    Well-Known Member
    Jan 17, 2022
    23
    14
    So the online study commitment is exactly the same as those who study in person- the course requires about 45 hours of study per week although you can often find yourself doing more or less depending on the topics you study that week and whether you get stuck on a concept. The only thing I find different to studying in-person is that you are completely responsible for your workload, the work you have to do each week is asynchronous and so it is up to you whether you complete it on time (i.e. there are no scheduled seminars or workshops). All the help you need is still available, however, you have a personal tutor as well as your subject tutors you can contact, plus a weekly live support session for each subject.
    You need to be able to maintain a high level of drive and self-discipline which I struggled with at some points if I'm honest 🤣 .
    The best thing I've found about asynchronous learning is that I don't have to miss out on any events because of uni commitments. I was able to attend loads of open days and online events as well as maintain a part-time job to fund my studies alongside it (about 16 hours a week, I've tried to do more and noticed I fell behind but it's different for everyone).

    In terms of extra reading, the only thing I would suggest is just reading around the stuff that interests you. I read the Secret Barrister just so I could get a taste for it but the courses themselves are basically designed for people who haven't studied law before so the concepts are structured and introduced very clearly. You also have to complete a pre-course study module which gives you a really good grounding in all of the basics. I'm honestly so shocked with how much I've learned in just a few months, it's crazy.

    My top tips would be:
    - If you're used to studying with books (e.g. I did an English Degree) and learn best through tabbing and colour-coordinating text then purchase the hard-copy manuals if you can, they have made my life so much easier.
    - Find your nearest in-person campus as you're allowed to use the facilities there. Mine is London and it's been really nice going up there to use the library every so often, as an online student you can sometimes feel a bit alienated from the studious buzz of campus uni, although it does reduce a lot of the stress-by-osmosis you get from studying in-person🤣.
    - Always ask if you're unsure about something, you're responsible for keeping yourself up to date on exam details and course progression etc, I know someone who studies in person so it was always helpful to ask them if I was unsure of something but your personal tutors are also really helpful.
    - You need to invest a lot more time taking care of yourself! Make sure you know what keeps you happy and helps you to de-stress, being in charge of your own workload can often mean you put extra pressure on yourself.

    Let me know if you have any other questions :)
    Thank you so much ❤️

    Such a brilliant and detailed reply, you've answered everything in one go !

    Call me a nerd ,but I'm actually so excited to go back to studying!
     
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    Jenn-H

    Standard Member
    Feb 23, 2022
    8
    2
    No worries at all!
    Doing my course with the University of Law has been great, really can't recommend it enough!
    Hi I am choosing between doing my GDL at Ulaw and BPP, and I was wondering what made you choose Ulaw? Also how are the materials that they provide- were they good to learn from? Also do they make lecture slides and handouts available before the lectures? How easy is it to access recorded lectures? How good is their online platform? Thanks in advance.
     

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