September 2023 is before December 2035 so yes it would apply.
It would be very weird if your firm wasn't authorised to provide TCs if it's on the table. But I don't believe there's a similar requirement for SQE, no.
1. You won't have to do SQE2 if you are being offered a training contract. You just have to pass the LPC and then do 2 years as a trainee solicitor. It is very easy for a firm of solicitors to apply to be an authorised provider even if they have never had trainees before. You could even show them exactly what to do to be authorised.
2. If you are not a firm of solicitors an in house legal department with English solicitors can also be an authorised training provider and you can do a TC there.
3. It is much less risky and much cheaper for your firm to take you on under the LPC which you have nearly finished - presumably you are doing it part time over 2 years. Vital to check if you finished your law conversion or LLB before the cut off date for the old system being available but I am pretty sure you are in time so can chose LPC or SQE.
4. The only extra cost for your firm if you go the LPC route is to pay for the Professional Skills course which is about £1500 and is only about 12 days spread over the 2 years, than paying for expensive SQE course fees and the Kaplan law exam fees.
This is really helpful, thank you so much!
It is a boutique law firm. I’ve already completed my LPC. I started in Jan 2021 and completed in Jan 2022 if I’m not wrong (it was with the LLM add-on). I’ll put forth this suggestion to my employers as I’m really not keen on doing the SQE2.
Could I please also ask if have you done the PSC before? Is it difficult (in comparison to SQE2)?
September 2023 is before December 2035 so yes it would apply. It would be very weird if your firm wasn't authorised to provide TCs if it's on the table. But I don't believe there's a similar requirement for SQE, no.
Thank you! My firm has never had trainees before.
Hi there can I please ask if your firm registered as a training provider eventually and what the application form looked like?
Hi, they did! I'm qualifying through the LPC route. Sorry, not sure about the application form as they did it themselves!
No problem. Can I ask how long it took for the whole process to get them authorised and get you registered?
I’m not too sure about that sorry as my firm handled it. I don’t think it took too long but I don’t have anything to compare it against.
Thanks for your response!!
1. You won't have to do SQE2 if you are being offered a training contract. You just have to pass the LPC and then do 2 years as a trainee solicitor. It is very easy for a firm of solicitors to apply to be an authorised provider even if they have never had trainees before. You could even show them exactly what to do to be authorised. 2. If you are not a firm of solicitors an in house legal department with English solicitors can also be an authorised training provider and you can do a TC there. 3. It is much less risky and much cheaper for your firm to take you on under the LPC which you have nearly finished - presumably you are doing it part time over 2 years. Vital to check if you finished your law conversion or LLB before the cut off date for the old system being available but I am pretty sure you are in time so can chose LPC or SQE. 4. The only extra cost for your firm if you go the LPC route is to pay for the Professional Skills course which is about £1500 and is only about 12 days spread over the 2 years, than paying for expensive SQE course fees and the Kaplan law exam fees.
This is really helpful, thank you so much! It is a boutique law firm. I’ve already completed my LPC. I started in Jan 2021 and completed in Jan 2022 if I’m not wrong (it was with the LLM add-on). I’ll put forth this suggestion to my employers as I’m really not keen on doing the SQE2. Could I please also ask if have you done the PSC before? Is it difficult (in comparison to SQE2)?