Higher/Degree Apprenticeship Solicitor
LLM Professional Legal Practice
LLM Professional Legal Practice
Please note the entry requirements stated for this course are indicative. The entry requirements for 2025 will be published by November 2024.
Page last updated 1 July 2024
Our Solicitor (graduate entry) apprenticeship will support you through the new qualification pathway by preparing you to sit the external Solicitors Qualification Examination (SQE). Passing this will enable you to practise as a qualified solicitor (subject to meeting any other SRA requirements).
Our Solicitor (graduate entry) apprenticeship (Level 7) is an innovative, work-based learning pathway for aspiring solicitors, offering an alternative route into the legal profession. If you're already working in a law firm, in-house legal department or legal aid bureau, you'll fit your studies around your job, earning while you learn. You'll build on your existing legal knowledge and develop your ability to practise as a contemporary lawyer.
For those wanting a career in law, we'll prepare you to sit the external Solicitors Qualification Examination assessments, SQE 1 and SQE 2, which you'll need to pass to qualify as a solicitor. Qualified solicitors have access to a range of demanding yet rewarding roles within the legal profession, with lifelong career opportunities.
Throughout your apprenticeship, you'll learn from a leading provider of legal education, with a strong reputation built over 40 years. Learn in our modern, dedicated facilities at Bristol Law School, including Harvard-style lecture theatres and mock law courts with social learning spaces and technology-enhanced teaching areas.
Plus, you'll gain the knowledge, skills and behaviours to enable you to apply through the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to practise as a solicitor (subject to any other SRA requirements). To support your work-based learning and personal development journey, you'll be assigned to a personal tutor and workplace mentor, and you'll attend regular tripartite meetings to review your progress.
The Solicitor (graduate entry) apprenticeship allows your employer to retain your talent and motivate you to progress your career, while addressing skills gaps in their current workforce.
From the start, you'll apply your learning to your specific employment context. You'll understand how to apply your own professional experiences to solve real legal issues faced by your law firm, providing long-term value for your organisation. You'll also develop broad technical and transferable skills, reflecting the diverse nature of legal professionals.
You'll develop into a work-ready professional fit for the legal profession. This innovative apprenticeship will prepare you for a legal career in the modern working world, equipped with the latest best practice in ethics and professional conduct.
On successful completion of this apprenticeship, you'll achieve an LLM Professional Legal Practice degree. The apprenticeship will help you gain the latest knowledge of legal matters and transactions within law firms, developing the ability to practise as a contemporary lawyer.
In addition to supporting your development in the workplace, this apprenticeship will help you to understand the career landscape in your sector and plan for your longer-term ambitions. Our award-winning Careers Service is on hand to give you independent advice and guidance at any point in your studies.
The modules listed are those that are most likely to be available, but they may be subject to change.
On successful completion of your modules and the SQE 1, you'll progress to the End-Point Assessment the SQE 2 through which you'll complete your apprenticeship.
Our Solicitor (Graduate Entry) apprenticeship involves part-time, day-release study. The apprenticeship can take up to 38 months to complete from entry point one, and up to 30 months to complete from entry point two. You'll usually spend a minimum of 30 hours a week in paid employment, and at least six hours of your working week on off-the-job training.
Study both online and on-campus, with practice-based learning in our legal facilities at Bristol Law School. You'll learn through a mix of lectures, workshops and independent guided self-study. You'll also engage in collaborative learning and integrate new knowledge through shared experiences with your cohort of peers.
See our glossary of teaching and learning terms.
The Solicitors Qualifying Examinations, SQE 1 and SQE 2, are the externally-sat assessments for all aspiring solicitors.
Our internal assessments are designed to prepare you for these external examinations, including exam techniques to help you make efficient use of the exam time and your knowledge.
Additionally, apprentices will need to complete an evidence-based workplace portfolio of work.
By the end of the apprenticeship, you'll attain an LLM Professional Legal Practice awarded by UWE Bristol.
Professional registration and accreditation are dependent on you complying with the Solicitor Regulation Authority's requirements for qualification as a solicitor.
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Additionally, all applicants are required to:
Employers may have their own additional requirements and may require a 2:1 degree or above.
To study an apprenticeship, you need to:
More information about eligibility for apprenticeship funding is available on the GOV.UK website.
If you’re interested in applying and have the support from your employer, speak to your line manager and/or HR team in the first instance for approval. Your employer will contact us so we can send you an application link.
If you’re not employed, you can use the following tools to find an apprenticeship vacancy with an employer:
For more guidance on higher and degree apprenticeship applications.
For course-specific enquiries, please contact the Programme Leader.
For all other enquiries, please email our Apprenticeship Hub apprenticeships@uwe.ac.uk or call +44 (0)117 32 84888.
For further information about Higher and Degree Apprenticeships.