Full-time: one year
Postgraduate Certificate (Stage One): Full-time: Six months (September – February)
Postgraduate Diploma (Stages One & Two): Full-time: One year (September – June)
LLM: Full-time: One year (September – September)
Full-time: 15,050*
Full-time: 15,050*
Full-time: 15,050*
Until End of August
Northampton Square
This course is designed for anyone who wants to become a solicitor – whatever area of law you are interested in. To apply, you will have already completed a qualifying law degree or a non-law degree plus a Graduate Diploma in Law.
The course attracts a rich blend of students with a variety of backgrounds and interests – from around the world and from all parts of the UK.
Providing you with a solid academic foundation, this programme is taught at Masters level, and its structure and content fully meet the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) requirements. The Legal Practice Course (LPC) is part of the required training for qualification as a solicitor of England and Wales, and follows completion of the required academic stage of training.
City’s LPC is taught at Masters level. The course offers you two possible routes:
It is also possible to join the course for Stage 1 of the LPC only, Stage 2 of the LPC only or one or more of the electives.
The Legal Practice Course will help you:
Your approach to the course will be very different to the one experienced in an academic law course, offering you high levels of support, small class sizes, and one-to-one attention. You will also learn to apply knowledge in a way that best serves the client’s interests.
The course is approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and is a compulsory element of the process of qualifying as a solicitor.
The LPC is a postgraduate course with entry requirements prescribed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
Most students will have a UK honours degree in law. Normally a strong second-class degree is the minimum standard required. However, it is possible to apply with a degree in another subject and a further qualification in law, such as the Graduate Diploma in Law. The SRA can advise on non-standard qualifications.
In considering your application, we will take the following into account:
Students who have passed the BVC or BPTC in the last five years will be able to accredit their prior learning and so will only have to take certain elements of the course.
Please contact us if you want to know more about this option.
Character and Suitability Test
You should be aware that before you qualify as a solicitor you will have to undergo a character and suitability test for the SRA. The SRA will review your position if you have any convictions, had financial problems, such as a County Court Judgment against you or been involved in assessment offences.
If you have been affected by such matters, you should contact the SRA. Find further information on the test on the SRA website.
If you did not complete your degree within the United Kingdom, you will have to have an IELTS score of seven with no score less than six in any element of the assessment.
We are also currently accepting the TOEFL IBT Special Home Edition. We require a score of 25 in Speaking and at least 24 in every other component of the test.
International Students (EEA and Non EEA) coming to study in the UK, may need to apply for a visa or entry clearance to come to the UK to study. The way that you apply may vary depending on the length of your course. There are different rules for:
For more information see our main Visa page.
To apply for the LLM, LPC Stages One & Two or LPC Stage One only, you must apply online through the Central Applications Board at www.lawcabs.ac.uk . Applications open in early October each year and can be made up until the end of August before the start of the course. You will have to pay a registration fee when you apply.
To apply for Stage Two only, or one or two vocational electives, you must apply directly to City, University of London.
We will accept applications up until one week before the course begins, but you should be aware that the deadline for our scholarship scheme is in June. You will also have to obtain a reference to support your application and should allow time for that.
If you apply for both Stages One & Two, offers will be for both the Postgraduate Diploma and the LLM – you will be required to select which route you intend to study when you accept your offer.
If you have any enquiries please contact: +44 (0)20 7040 5787, law@city.ac.uk
*Fees in each subsequent year of study (where applicable) will be subject to an annual increase of 2%. We will confirm any change to the annual tuition fee to you in writing prior to you commencing each subsequent year of study (where applicable).
LPC fees are inclusive of:
Additional fees may include:
Please note that there is an additional fee for assessment resits.
The fee is the same for the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice (Stages 1 & 2 of the LPC) and the LLM (the LPC plus a dissertation).
Fees for LPC Stage 1 only for full-time Home/EU and non-EU: £10,970
Full-time EU: £7,750
Full time Non-EU: £7,750
UK students who choose to take the LLM route will be eligible for the government’s Postgraduate Loan. The Postgraduate Diploma (LPC) alone is not eligible for this funding. Students who obtain such a loan will need to complete the full programme (they will not be able to switch to the PGDip route) or they may breach the terms of their loan agreement.
If you have already completed a course at The City Law School you will be eligible for the 10% loyalty discount. All you need to do is meet the minimum entry requirements for your second course and we will automatically take 10% off of your tuition fees. This is available to students who have previously completed the BVC/BPTC with us and choose to take the LPC with Accreditation of Prior Learning.
Find out more about the scholarships offered by the City Law School.
Although, there is limited support available from Local Education Authorities (LEAs) for postgraduate students a number of discretionary awards are available. Contact your Local Education Authority directly to find out the discretionary awards available to students undertaking postgraduate study.
If you are an aspiring solicitor it is possible to obtain funding for your Legal Practice Course and Graduate Diploma in Law (if applicable) before you start your course. Some training contracts offered by firms include sponsorship of Legal Practice Course and Graduate Diploma in Law. In return they would normally expect you to serve your two year training contract with them and possibly make a longer employment commitment.
The Training Contract and Pupillage Handbook and lawcareers.net provide lists of firms who are willing to sponsor students.
The Diversity Access Scheme offers assistance with Legal Practice Course (LPC) fees to exceptional individuals who face or have overcome exceptional obstacles to qualify as a solicitor.
For more information visit the Diversity Access Scheme website.
As part of US Loan regulations, City is required to give Gainful Employment disclosures as part of our contract with the US Department of Education. Please refer to the following document for more information:
The City Law School is firmly committed to a generous programme of scholarships awarded on the basis of academic excellence. Our scholarships range in value and include both partial and full fee waiver awards.
Find out more about other scholarships offered to City Law School Students.
In addition to the fee based scholarships we offer, each course also has a number of memorial prizes available. Each prize is course specific and available to all students enrolled on that course in any given year.
We work very closely with the profession and other relevant bodies and organisations and as such can offer students on all courses a number of externally funded gifts and prizes. There are currently around 30 different prizes on offer varying in value from £50 up to £5,000.
Exclusively for current LPC students at The City Law School, in conjunction with Bishop & Sewell LLP. Prizes are awarded for the best legal research submissions on a given task. Shortlisted candidates are invited to present and discuss their submissions at the firm, followed by an awards ceremony.
Prizes 1st Prize: £200 and a one week internship at Bishop & Sewell LLP
2nd Prize: £150
3rd Prize: £100
For more information about the Award, please visit the Moodle page.
Sweet & Maxwell books worth £50 are awarded to the student obtaining the second highest aggregate mark in the assessments on the LPC.
A prize is awarded to a LPC student for exceptional work on The City Law School pro bono programme as nominated by advice clinic supervisors or pro bono partners.
Bertha Eke has chosen to study the Legal Practice Course (LLM route) at City, University of London.
Bertha is an international student from Nigeria. She shares her story through 3 objects, symbolising her past, present and future. Discover the motivations and drivers behind her decision to undertake a master’s degree, her student experience at City, and her hopes and professional aspirations for the next step of her career journey.
There are no placements as part of the course. However, students will be able to take advantage of the many other career-enhancing opportunities on offer.
Pro bono is an opportunity to use your time and knowledge to provide legal advice to those who may otherwise not have access to such services. It provides you with invaluable experience and a chance to develop your legal skills further. We have an award-winning Pro Bono Unit, which offers you a wide range of opportunities to get involved in pro bono work.
Mooting is a great way to develop important legal skills, such as research and analysis whilst also learning how to structure a legal argument. At City Law School, we offer wide range of mooting competitions and run an annual internal mooting competition where students act as a counsel to argue a point of law before a judge.
There is also an exciting programme of additional lectures given by senior members of the legal profession, and other opportunities to network with practitioners.
We offer a variety of accommodation options and support services for postgraduate students.
Read more about our postgraduate halls.
Our Accommodation Service can also help you find private accommodation.
We offer a free language course for City, University of London students.
Course timetables are normally available from July and can be accessed from our timetabling pages. These pages also provide timetables for the current academic year, though this information should be viewed as indicative and details may vary from year to year.
Please note that all academic timetables are subject to change.
We offer an extensive support network during your time here at City, University of London – from Learning Support (including disability support) and counselling to financial and career advice – leaving you free to enjoy every opportunity campus life has to offer.
Find out more about the different types of student support available.
Chat to our current students and read their blogs to gain an insight into studying at City and learn more about our undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
To make sure that you can begin or continue your studies with us during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have reviewed and adapted our courses to ensure a safe learning environment for our students and staff. We have modified the way some of our courses are delivered, with many programmes being made available online.
Contact us to find out more about how our programmes will be delivered.
One of the strong features of the LPC at City is the level of support students receive. All of the tutors on the course are solicitors, some of whom have worked as partners in their previous firms. They are supported by occasional sessions delivered by practitioners or visiting academics who are experts in their particular fields.
The course is structured in a way that allows you to gain maximum benefit from the experience that tutors have. You will therefore get a high level of face-to-face contact time with tutors.
This is reinforced by the size of the groups. For the workshops, you will normally be in a group of 16 students. This group will then split into two for the skills sessions, which are normally taught in groups of eight students. This allows more time for students to get guidance from tutors.
These smaller sessions are underpinned by the large groups. All students will attend these sessions, which give an overview of the area being studied.
If you choose to take the LLM, the classes that you take on the LPC provide the taught element of the course. To complete your studies and be awarded the LLM in Legal Practice, you will also have to produce a dissertation of between 7,500 and 10,000 words. In order to do this, you will need to work independently, use practitioner sources and apply law at an advanced level to solve problems whilst developing an awareness of current practice issues.
In support of your work on the dissertation, we provide:
The assessment regime for the course has to meet the SRA’s requirements. This means that the Core Practice Areas, Electives and Professional Conduct and Regulation (including Solicitors Accounts) are assessed by means of a written examination.
The Course Skills are assessed in the context of the Core Practice Areas and Wills in a manner that is appropriate to the individual skill. For example, you will have to conduct a filmed interview with an actor as your client, make a filmed court submission, draft a legal document or prepare a letter of advice for a client.
Our assessments are open book and therefore test your application of the law rather than your memory.
The course begins in September with a two-week Foundation when you will have classes every day. This will introduce you to the Course Skills and the more practical approach that we take to studying the law. The course is then divided into two stages.
In Stage One you will study the core modules. During this stage, you will normally attend four days a week. You will normally have three one-and-half-hour sessions a day amounting to 16 to 18 hours a week. Stage One runs from September to February (including assessments).
In Stage Two, you will study three elective modules. Your timetable will depend on the electives that you choose. You will have around 13.5 to 15 hours of classes a week, timetabled over four days, during this stage. Stage Two runs from March to June (including assessments)
If you choose to complete the LLM, you will be required to write a dissertation between June and September. In addition to supervision, we will provide you with an induction covering research and writing skills in June. There will be no other timetabled teaching during this period.
In Stage One you have to complete nine compulsory modules as follows:
Core Practice Areas
Course Skills
The SRA require you to study Taxation as part of the course. This pervades the course and so will be dealt with throughout the above modules.
During Stage Two of the course you will study your electives. In order to complete the LPC you must pass three electives. You can take your electives at more than one provider and you can take your electives at providers other than City. You should, however, be aware that it might be more expensive for you to do this.
You will choose your electives in the autumn after commencing the LPC, having received guidance from the tutors about your choice. You will have to opt for either a commercial or general practice route although the bulk of the electives are open to all students.
You can choose from the following electives:
The range of electives offered in any one year is subject to availability and demand, but we usually run all electives.
The programme specification contains more information on how the course is organised, the requirements for progression for each part and credits required for awards.
This course is designed to prepare you for life as a trainee solicitor.
Many applicants will not have a training contract when they start the course. We offer the bespoke Training Contract Advisory Service (TCAS) which you can access as soon as you have accepted your place. This is run by members of the team who were partners in their firms and have in-depth expertise of what employers are looking for.
TCAS offers assistance with CVs, covering letters, selection days and other matters relating to a search for a training contract. In particular, students can arrange a mock interview with a member of the team.
The support offered has allowed graduates to go into a wide variety of firms. These include commercial and high-street firms – both inside and outside London.
Past alumni assist us with the course in a variety of ways. In particular, we have a mentor scheme which involves previous students and members of the profession. Mentors are able to give you guidance on your career.
You may wish to pursue further study or use the skills and knowledge acquired in areas outside of the law. As many of the skills developed on the LPC are transferable, former students are now working in other professional environments such as:
You can receive expert advice about your career options from your personal tutor and City's Careers, Student Development & Outreach service. The service also offers support for interviews, mock interviews and job searching techniques.
End of August
To apply for the LLM, LPC Stages One & Two or LPC Stage One only, you must apply online through the Central Applications Board at www.lawcabs.ac.uk . Applications open in early October each year and can be made up until the end of August before the start of the course. You will have to pay a registration fee when you apply.
To apply for Stage Two only, or one or two vocational electives, you must apply directly to City, University of London.
We will accept applications up until one week before the course begins, but you should be aware that the deadline for our scholarship scheme is in June. You will also have to obtain a reference to support your application and should allow time for that.
If you apply for both Stages One & Two, offers will be for both the Postgraduate Diploma and the LLM – you will be required to select which route you intend to study when you accept your offer.
If you have any enquiries please contact: +44 (0)20 7040 5787, law@city.ac.uk
Find out more about City and all our postgraduate degree programmes.
