Solicitors Practice Course (LLM) 12 months Postgraduate Programme By Cardiff University |TopUniversities
Subject Ranking

# 151-200QS Subject Rankings

Programme Duration

12 monthsProgramme duration

Tuitionfee

24,700 GBPTuition Fee/year

Application Deadline

31 Mar, 2026Application Deadline

Programme overview

Main Subject

Law and Legal Studies

Degree

LLM

Study Level

Masters

Study Mode

On Campus

Our Solicitors Practice Course is an academic LLM programme with the dual purpose of helping you in the process of qualifying as a solicitor in England and Wales.


To qualify as a solicitor, most students must (1) sit the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) centralised assessment, the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), (2) undertake a 2-year period of Qualifying Work Experience (QWE), and (3) pass the SRA’s Character and Suitability test.


SQE itself is divided into two parts:


SQE1 - the assessment of functioning legal knowledge (FLK)

SQE2 - assessing a range of legal skills.

Your studies on the Solicitors Practice Course at Cardiff will allow you to explore a range of legal subjects. You will have the opportunity to develop your critical thinking skills and your ability to evaluate so that you are able to apply the knowledge you acquire to client facing problems. This will also provide you with an in-depth preparation for the external SQE1 assessment and for your QWE with a law firm or other employer.


You will have the opportunity to acquire and hone valuable legal skills through a process of reflection and refinement that will support your progress towards a professional career in the legal sector. This will also provide a base level for your future sit of the external SQE2 assessment (something you are likely to do towards the end of a 2-year QWE). 


Through the LLM research project or reflective portfolio you will learn further important transferable skills that will help you in your future professional life: how to write and critically reason, how to write for and engage the reader, and how to reflect critically on your experience. 


Overall, your study on the course will allow you to develop intellectual expertise and practical skills across a breadth of legal topics providing you with a strong foundation for your future career as a solicitor. You will acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes to prepare you for your qualifying work experience, equip you to deal with the demands that are likely to be made of you in practice, and lay the foundation for your future practice as a solicitor by encouraging habits of competence, confidence and professionalism. Your studies will also help prepare you for your SQE1 assessments and give an introduction and foundation for SQE2.


Please note: The SQE assessments are external centralised assessments run by the SRA’s appointed assessment provider, Kaplan.

Programme overview

Main Subject

Law and Legal Studies

Degree

LLM

Study Level

Masters

Study Mode

On Campus

Our Solicitors Practice Course is an academic LLM programme with the dual purpose of helping you in the process of qualifying as a solicitor in England and Wales.


To qualify as a solicitor, most students must (1) sit the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) centralised assessment, the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), (2) undertake a 2-year period of Qualifying Work Experience (QWE), and (3) pass the SRA’s Character and Suitability test.


SQE itself is divided into two parts:


SQE1 - the assessment of functioning legal knowledge (FLK)

SQE2 - assessing a range of legal skills.

Your studies on the Solicitors Practice Course at Cardiff will allow you to explore a range of legal subjects. You will have the opportunity to develop your critical thinking skills and your ability to evaluate so that you are able to apply the knowledge you acquire to client facing problems. This will also provide you with an in-depth preparation for the external SQE1 assessment and for your QWE with a law firm or other employer.


You will have the opportunity to acquire and hone valuable legal skills through a process of reflection and refinement that will support your progress towards a professional career in the legal sector. This will also provide a base level for your future sit of the external SQE2 assessment (something you are likely to do towards the end of a 2-year QWE). 


Through the LLM research project or reflective portfolio you will learn further important transferable skills that will help you in your future professional life: how to write and critically reason, how to write for and engage the reader, and how to reflect critically on your experience. 


Overall, your study on the course will allow you to develop intellectual expertise and practical skills across a breadth of legal topics providing you with a strong foundation for your future career as a solicitor. You will acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes to prepare you for your qualifying work experience, equip you to deal with the demands that are likely to be made of you in practice, and lay the foundation for your future practice as a solicitor by encouraging habits of competence, confidence and professionalism. Your studies will also help prepare you for your SQE1 assessments and give an introduction and foundation for SQE2.


Please note: The SQE assessments are external centralised assessments run by the SRA’s appointed assessment provider, Kaplan.

Admission Requirements

6.5+
In order to be considered for an offer for this programme you will need to meet all of the entry requirements and submit an application via the Central Applications Board (CAB).

With your application you will need to provide:
  1. A copy of your degree certificate and transcripts which show you have either: a) achieved a 2:2 honours UK Law degree.If your degree certificate or result is pending, please upload any interim transcripts or provisional certificates. Or b) achieved a 2:2 honours UK degree in any subject, or an equivalent international degree, and have achieved a qualification in a relevant graduate or postgraduate law conversion course (such as the GDL). If your degree or conversion course certificate or result is pending, please upload any interim transcripts or provisional certificates. Your law degree or conversion course must have covered the law in England and Wales and the law foundation subjects (contract, tort, land law, trusts, criminal law, public law, EU law, and the legal system of England and Wales).
  2. A copy of your IELTS certificate with an overall score of 6.5 with 6.5 in writing and 6.0 in all other subskills, or evidence of an accepted equivalent. Please include the date of your expected test if this qualification is pending. If you have alternative acceptable evidence, such as an undergraduate degree studied in the UK, please supply this in place of an IELTS.
  3. A personal statement which outlines your commitment to the legal profession, general work experience (if any), and reasons for wanting to study the Solicitors Practice Course at Cardiff University.
  4. At least one academic reference which outlines your suitability for the programme.
To be considered for an offer for this programme you will need to meet all the entry requirements. Your application will not be progressed if the required information and evidence, including an appropriate reference and degree certificate/transcript, is not provided.

31 Mar 2026
1 Year
Sep

Tuition fees

Domestic
14,200 GBP
International
24,700 GBP

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