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It will cost you over £500 more to do the LPC this year than it would have done last year

2017/2018 price list shows fees up by as much as 11% at some universities

The cost of solicitor qualification just seems to be going up and up. Despite the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) pushing for a total shake-up of legal education — one which will apparently make it cheaper to become a lawyer — the 2017/2018 Legal Practice Course (LPC) price list shows fee increases almost across the board.

As can be seen from the table below, students paid an average of £11,045 to complete the vocational course in 2016/2017. The average rate for 2017/2018 now stands at £11,554. This is an increase of £509 (4.6%).

Of those LPC providers which have made their costs public, the biggest increase comes from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN). There, budding solicitors will have to fork out £10,000 to take the course, an increase of £1,000 (11.1%) on last year’s £9,000 fee.

Other universities to considerably up their fees this year include Cardiff Law School (8.7%), Northumbria University (6.3%) and Anglia Ruskin (5.5%).

As for the two big players, BPP University and The University of Law (ULaw), 2017/2018 LPC-ers can expect more modest price increases.

All of BPP’s providers — Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Leeds, Liverpool, London and Manchester — have notched up their fees by 3.3%. This means that in the capital, BPP LPC students will now have to fork out £15,740 which, in money terms, is the most expensive rate among all of the course providers. By contrast, the cheapest provider in both 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 is Leeds Beckett University (£7,700).

ULaw too has adopted increases across all its locations. These increases range between 1% (Chester) and 4.5% (Leeds and Manchester). ULaw students will now, on average, pay £12,425 to sit the course, compared to £12,143 last year.

Legal Cheek reported last week on similar price stats concerning the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC), which showed the average fee has dropped by £72. ULaw, slashing the cost of the vocational course at its London branch by 8%, will now charge students £17,500. Meanwhile BPP, opting to freeze fees for the forthcoming academic year, will charge London-based wannabe barristers £19,070.

Read the full LPC price list, from most expensive to least expensive, here:

Law School

2016/17 Fees

2017/18 Fees

% difference

BPP (London) £15,240 £15,740 3.3%
University of Law (London) £15,240 £15,670 2.9%
City Law School £14,000 £14,500 3.6%
Westminster University £12,000 £14,500 4.1%
University of Law (Guilford) £12,450 £12,550 0.8%
Cardiff Law School £11,485 £12,490 8.7%
BPP (Birmingham) £11,970 £12,370 3.3%
BPP (Bristol) £11,970 £12,370 3.3%
BPP (Cambridge) £11,970 £12,370 3.3%
University of Law (Birmingham) £11,950 £12,150 1.7%
University of Law (Bristol) £11,950 £12,150 1.7%
University of Law (Exeter) £11,950 £12,150 1.7%
University of Law (Leeds) £11,200 £11,710 4.5%
University of Law (Manchester) £11,200 £11,710 4.5%
BPP (Manchester) £11,210 £11,590 3.3%
BPP (Leeds) £11,210 £11,590 3.3%
BPP (Liverpool) £11,210 £11,590 3.3%
Bournemouth University £11,250 £11,500 2.2%
Sheffield University £11,000 £11,500 3.6%
Nottingham Law School (Nottingham Trent) £11,100 £11,300 1.8%
Bristol Institute of Legal Practice at UWE £10,950 £11,000 0.4%
Swansea University £10,600 £10,900 2.8%
Manchester Metropolitan University £10,068 £10,068 0%
Central Lancashire (UCLAN) £9,000 £10,000 11.1%
Northumbria University at Newcastle £9,400 £10,000 6.3%
London Metropolitan University £9,810 £9,900 1%
De Montfort £9,400 £9,750 3.7%
Anglia Ruskin £9,000 £9,500 5.5%
Liverpool John Moores £9,000 £9,200 2.2%
Birmingham City £8,900 £8,900 0%
Leeds Beckett University £7,700 £7,700 0%
University of West London £10,950 TBC TBC
Staffordshire University £10,600 TBC TBC
University of Wolverhampton £9,800 TBC TBC
University of South Wales £9,700 TBC TBC
National average £11,045 £11,554 4.6%

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