Law And Professional Legal Practice
Law and professional legal practice is an integrated master's degree designed specifically for those who want to become solicitors in England and Wales. Rather than completing an undergraduate law degree and then undertaking separate postgraduate vocational training, this programme takes you from the beginning of your legal education through to completing the first stage of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination, giving you a streamlined, professionally focused route into the solicitors' profession. It is a degree for students who are clear about their professional ambitions and want a qualification designed explicitly to meet them.
At Leeds Beckett University this four-year full-time programme combines the academic study of law with the practical and professional preparation needed for the SQE. You will study the core legal subjects that form the foundation of a legal education, including contract, tort, criminal law, property law, equity and trusts, and constitutional and administrative law, alongside the professional skills and legal knowledge that the SQE1 examination requires. A sandwich year and a year abroad are incorporated into the degree, and a work placement is integrated, giving you professional experience and an international perspective that strengthen your professional profile.
The placement element is particularly valuable in a profession where practical exposure is valued at every stage.
Graduates from this programme who pass SQE1 and subsequently gain the qualifying work experience required and pass SQE2 will be eligible to be admitted as solicitors. The degree is designed to produce graduates who are practically as well as academically prepared for legal practice. Those who complete qualification will be eligible to work as solicitors in law firms ranging from high-street general practice to large commercial firms, in-house legal teams, the public sector, and the Crown Prosecution Service.
Solicitors also work in international organisations, the judiciary, and a wide range of other roles that draw on legal expertise.