From law undergraduate to professional practitioner

From Law Undergraduate to Professional Practitioner

Baroness Ruth Deech, Derek Wood QC, Dr John Carrier

Dr Valerie Shrimplin

28 January 2011

Themes

Where are we now? BSB activity and future plans

Undergraduate Legal Education: current focus and

future needs

The Academic Stage as a part of a longer process

Routes into practice – LLB and conversion courses

Academic awards and professional qualifications

University and Commercial Providers

Learning ‘on the job’ – Work based learning

Education needs for the new legal environment (Legal

Services Act)

The current situation

Recent BSB activity:

Review of Bar Course

Review of Pupillage

JASB activity– Looking at the QLD and the CPE – Consultation on compensation– Consultation on collaborative provision

Undergraduate Legal Education

The current situation:– liberal arts education and/or – fitting students for future practice

What should be the content of law degrees?

Can law degrees serve the function of academic liberal

arts study, as well as acting as the first step on the

route to professional qualification?

Different focus for undergraduate degrees and

postgraduate study in law?

Autonomy of universities; academic awards vs

Regulation and professional qualifications

Legal degrees and pathways to Law?

About 15,000 law graduates each year (QLD)

About 2,700 apply for BVC/BPTC each yea

About 1,700 (head count) do Bar Course pa

(1,556 FTE starters in 2010-11)

About 9,300 do LPC pa (14,482 places)

About 4,800 CPE/GDL each year

(NB Numbers include overseas/conversions)

This means over 5,000 law graduates do not

apply for further professional training (yearly)

Equality and Diversity issues

Access to legal education and training

Admissions and recruitment (gender, ethnicity,

socio-economic background)

Additional testing? Language and aptitude?

Careers advice and support

Students with disabilities

Progression to professional training – BME?

Cost: initial investment as against potential

long term return

Some facts and figures

Important to consider:– numbers doing law degrees– numbers doing conversion courses– overseas/mature/other applicants – numbers of BPTC/LPC places/applicants– numbers of BPTC/LPC enrolments &

completions– numbers of pupillage/training contracts– numbers of tenancies/professional

positions

Number of Law graduates each year

First degree law (some numbers are rounded up/down by HESA

Male Female Total UK Law Graduates

(first degree)

2004-05

Not published separately on HESA website

13,735

2005-06 14,655

2006-07 15,625

2007-08 5,775 10,070 15,850

2008-09 5,900 9,565 15,465

2009-10 6,060 10,190 16,250

(HESA 2009/10 data made available 13 January 2011 )

CPE students

FT PT Total

(FTE students)

2007/08 3433 1657 4261.5

2008/09 3897 1712 4753

2009/10 3985 1677 4823.5

2010/11 TBC TBC TBC

Numbers for Professional courses (latest available figures – 2010)

validated places

applicants enrolled Professional stage (pupillage/training contract)

BPTC

2192 (FTE)

About 2,800 pa

1686 (2010-11)

1556 FTE Starters

478

LPC 14,482 TBC 9,337 5,809

BVC/BPTC applicants, places, passes

 BVC/BPTC Year  03-04  04-05  05-06  06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11

 Applicants  2570  2883  2917  2870  2864 2540 2657 2653

 Enrolments(FT + PThead countnot FTE)

 1406  1665  1745  1932 1837 1749 1793

1682

(1555 FTE)

 Successful(first go)  1251  1392  1480  1560 1720 1330 1432 TBC

BVC Student Statistics

BVC applications, enrolments and pass rates

Drop in applications 2004/05-2009/10 (biggest

fall 2007/08- 2008/09 - 2,864 to 2,540 (-11.31%).

Increase in enrolments – annual growth rate

1.4% (biggest increase 2005/06 - 2006/07 - when

10.7% (187) more starters; biggest drop

2006/07-2007/08 when 4.9% (95) fewer students

enrolled.

Average pass rate 83.1% (highest 94% in

2007/08; lowest 76% in 2008/09. 

BVC students/graduates as against Pupillages available

•Pupillage figure is mean 1st and 2nd six•Some Bar Course graduates do intend to, and do return, overseas•Some seek Pupillage for up to 5 years•Competition can be as much as 400 to1

Registered pupillages 1988-2010

Number of Pupillages

2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10

Pupillages (1st six) 515 527 561 463 460

% increase/decrease

-7.37% 2.33% 6.45% -17.47% -0.65%

Difference (figure) -41 12 34 -98 -3

Pupillages (2nd six) 567 563 554 518 495

% increase/decrease

-5.18% -0.71% -1.60% -6.50% -4.44%

Difference (figure) -31 -4 -9 -36 -23

Pupils: QLD’s and conversion courses

2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09

Pupils with QLD’s

65% 58% 58% 59% 60%

Pupils without QLD’s

35% 42% 42% 41% 40%

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Success in obtaining pupillage: Degree results of pupils

First degree 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

1st 127 (21.4%) 108 (21.1%) 149 (29.6%) 147 (28.8%)

160 (32.7%)

2:1 310 (58.8%) 329 (64.3%) 296 (58.8%) 320 (62.7%)

264 (53.9%)

2:2 73 (13.9%) 68 (13.3%) 48 (9.5%) 29 (5.7%) 42 (8.6%)

3rd 6 (1.1%) 2 (0.4%) 1 (0.2%) 4 (0.8%) no valid data

Other 8 (1.5%) 1 (0.2%) 2 (0.4%) 8 (1.6%) 4 (0.8%)

Other figures

c 15,000 law (first degree) graduates pa (increasing)

96 QLD Institutions  -  585 programmes (various modes –

not counting Ireland and FE delivery of HE awards)

42 CPE/GDL Institutions  -  42 programmes (various modes)

About 55% of UK law graduates over the past few years are

awarded a 2:1 or above (cf c 60+% of all UK Hons degrees)

Pupillages available (past 3 years): 567-563-554-518-495

But: 3,768 individual applications for 294 pupillages

available through the online system (2007 – update)

Tenancies obtained (past 3 years) 531-499-268

http://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/news/statistics/ for

details

The best way of managing all this?

Should BPTC be offered in Universities or commercial

providers? Should it lead to LLM? Merge with other

professional courses? More learning on job?

Does the Browne Review and proposals for

undergraduate fees now render the cost of

postgraduate courses insignificant?

Growth in private provision in the UK is a hot topic:

http://www.qaa.ac.uk/news/media/PrivateProvisionUK.

asp

Legal Services Act – likely impact on education

Too early to tell?

Legal Services Act (30 Oct 2007) – reform of the way legal services in England and

Wales are regulated – focus on consumer interests– Legal Services Board– Office for Legal Complaints– Alternative Business Structures

Impact on legal professional education in the future

Continued need for high level specialists

Work done on reviews by the BSB etc

Where does the LSB fit in to all this?

LSB Business Plan - current draft

includes a great deal on education

Proposed Major Review of Education

Education and training for the Bar

Systematic progression

Fair access to opportunities

Successes and development of students

Challenges and difficulties

Element of chance?

Meritocracy or luck/throw of the dice?

??

BAR –

OPOLY

GO £20,000

Comm

unity

Che

st

(Inn

scho

larsh

ip)

Chanc

e

(get

a p

upilla

ge?)

Pay off loan

Take A Levels

Pass A Levels

Seek career advice

Study history

Go to universityGet

loan

Do Law Degree

Work hard

Do CPE

BPTC

graduate

Join Inn

Visit jail

Get pupillage!!

online

Start BPTC

Crime

Call

Go to Court

Civil Law

Advocacy

Aptitude test

Inns

QS’s

No pupillage

(try again)

Final Exams

Get tenancy!

get practice certificate

Work even harder

QC!

© Valerie Shrimplin