Legal Practice, LLB (Hons) - Degree Apprenticeship

Program Overview

The LLB (Hons) Legal Practice - Degree Apprenticeship is a five-year, non-integrated Higher Level Apprenticeship pathway designed to qualify individuals as solicitors. The program combines classroom learning with on-the-job training at a law practice and prepares students for the Solicitors Regulation Authority's central Qualification Exams (SQE 1 & SQE2). Upon completion, graduates become fully qualified solicitors with the potential to pursue diverse careers in the legal profession. The program emphasizes a practical learning environment, transferable skills development, and strong career prospects.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The LLB (Hons) Legal Practice - Degree Apprenticeship is a five-year program designed for individuals who wish to qualify as a solicitor. It is a non-integrated Higher Level Apprenticeship (HLA) pathway, designed to deliver the Solicitor Apprenticeship qualification. The program is full-time and typically includes four days within a chosen law practice with one day of campus or online learning. The program aims to provide students with the knowledge and opportunity to undertake the Solicitors Regulation Authorities (SRA’s) central Qualification Exams. It covers all areas of law required by the SRA in the Foundations of Legal Knowledge and provides an opportunity to develop work-based skills and behaviours – the ‘solicitor competencies’ – required of a solicitor in legal practice.

Outline:

The program is structured across three levels: Level 4, Level 5, and Level 6.

• English Legal System: This module outlines and explains the structure and functions of the English Law judicial system, including the organization of the courts, ADR, civil and criminal process, the role of judges and the legal profession, and the identification of key areas for reform.
• Contract Law Essentials: This module explores the role of contract law in markets and the nature of contractual liability.
It covers creating an agreement, offer, and acceptance, as well as other essential parts and factors of contract law.
• Public Law Essentials: This module studies the foundations of the UK Constitution, including its nature, form, and conventions.
It also explores Parliamentary Supremacy, the Rule of Law, and the Separation of Powers. Students learn about administrative law, justice, and redress, as well as judicial review and the protection of fundamental human rights.

Level 5:

• Criminal Law Essentials: This module explains the key legal concepts used for allocating criminal responsibility (including defences) and evaluates how these are applied when identifying offences against the person and against the property.
• EU Law Essentials: This module provides an introduction to EU Law Treaties and terminology, looking into the main topics, European Union and Law Making and Enforcement, The Court of Justice and National Courts, and Enforcing EU Law Before The National Courts.
• Tort Law Essentials: This module teaches students to explain the essential rules, functions, and policies underpinning tortious liability, remedies and defences.
It also facilitates the identification of torts and the evaluation of alternative courses of tortious action in fictional scenarios.
• Land Law Essentials: This module explains and evaluates the principles of Land Law, including the nature, creation, and transfer of estates and interests in land.
It also covers the common law, statutory, and equitable context within which these rules have developed.

Level 6:

• Equity and Trusts Essentials: This module defines and explains the concept, role, and distinctiveness of a trust, the legal and operational principles of express private and constructive trusts.
It includes equitable remedies for beneficiaries and powers and duties of trustees, and distinguishing charitable from private purpose trusts.
• Professional Practice and Skills: This module facilitates, develops, and enables critical reflection on, and the selection, use, and application of, key research, critical legal reasoning, interviewing, and negotiation skills for supporting effective work-based and personal skills, behaviours, and knowledge of relevance to attaining the Threshold Standard of Competency.
Students develop competence in selecting, completing, using, and advising on legal documentation appropriate for, and of relevance to, the successful execution of these processes.
• Professional Skills: Advocacy: This module outlines and then applies the principles of presentation of a case before courts and tribunals, including the presentation of a coherent and persuasive advocacy submission grounded in the facts of the case and informed and supported by appropriate legal authority.
• Professional Skills: Legal Writing: This module applies principles of clear and effective legal communication in written form and evaluates critically examples of ineffective written communication and the risks this poses to clients.
• Professional Practice: Litigation: This module explains and distinguishes civil and criminal litigation and plans, outlines, and applies the procedural steps in the process of litigation.
It includes drafting documents, identifying and managing client goals and expectations effectively, and providing reasoned and timely advice on legal consequences.
• Professional Practice: Business Law: This module aims to explain and evaluate alternative business media and business stakeholder interests from legal and financial (taxation) perspectives to enable typical business transactions found in a solicitor’s corporate/commercial department to be managed and progressed, including accurate completion of associated documentation and forms.
• Professional Skills: Tax and Professional Conduct: This module outlines, explains, identifies, and acts in accordance with, the core duties of professional conduct, ethics, and taxation of relevance to solicitor’s practice and client care.
• Professional Conduct: Legal Drafting: This module teaches students how to identify the key content and requirements of formal legal documents in core practice areas, prepare legal documentation that is essential in transaction-based work, and evaluate critically the effect on clients of not drafting legal documentation accurately.
• Professional Skills: Synoptic Portfolio: This module aims to enable students to use the practice of reflection as a learning tool to identify and articulate learning from experience and to provide them with a reason for engaging in critical reflection on practice and independent study.
• Professional Examination 1: Review and Preparation Block: This module prepares students to meet the requirements of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) Part 1 on functioning legal knowledge, legal research, and writing by reviewing key content, consolidating and reflecting on synoptic learning across the whole programme, and undertaking a range of formative assessments which mirror those likely to be undertaken in the SQE Part 1.

Teaching:

The program emphasizes a highly practical learning environment designed to develop students' ability to deal with real-life legal situations. Students receive excellent individual support to maximize their potential and career aspirations. The program also focuses on developing transferable skills such as team working, numeracy, communication, presentation, IT, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

Careers:

Upon successful completion of the Solicitor Degree Apprenticeship, students become fully qualified solicitors. The program prepares students to undertake the Solicitors Regulation Authority central Solicitor Qualification Exams (SQE 1 & SQE2). The program highlights that some of its well-known alumni include Judges, Queen’s Counsel, Barristers, and Solicitors across the UK, Europe, and around the world. However, students will not qualify for any funding from Student Finance.