The College of Legal Practice

CoLP’s SQE prep courses are priced at the cheaper end of the market: £1,800 for SQE1 and £2,300 for SQE2. Students can take the ‘O Shaped Skills module’ for an additional price of £1,150 and the ‘Legal Business Skills Module’ for an additional price of £500. The full LLM in Legal Practice, which incorporates SQE prep, is £6,900 for offers made by 30th April 2024.

Speaking to a second-year LLM in Legal Practice student at the CoLP, it’s clear that the very reasonable price for the course is not the only attraction of studying with the College. “For me, I found the amount of support on the course a huge draw – throughout the SQE1 and SQE2 prep modules, we received one-to-one support at least weekly,” she reveals.

“The one-to-one support is incredible. I have a meeting with my personal tutor at least every two weeks. The support is very personalised, and my tutor is great at giving me personal tips to develop and direct my learning. Having someone on my side really helps to keep me motivated. We also have subject-matter experts – which are experienced lawyers who work in a particular area of law – who give ‘surgeries’ on that area of law. These sessions are recorded, so they are a great resource to access throughout the programme.”

On top of this access to personal tutors and one-to-one supervision from practising solicitors, the courses also include live and on-demand lectures, textbooks, practice questions and group workshops. Students will receive individual feedback as they progress throughout their course. These on-demand lectures, known to our student interviewee as “surgeries”, are recorded sessions from experienced lawyers in each practice area. This is “perfect for getting the answers to knotty questions on black letter law” during the SQE prep modules, we’re told.

SQE 1 prep courses with CoLP can be taken full-time over 13 weeks or part-time over either 20 or 40 weeks. SQE 2 prep courses can be taken full-time over 10 weeks or part-time over either 20 or 40 weeks.

CoLP also offers a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) programme for non-law graduates wanting to get to grips with the basics before SQE prep, which replaced the Graduate Foundation in Law. This can be taken as a 20-week full-time or 40-week part-time course for £3,250.

The CoLP pitch

As well as preparing individuals to pass the SQE, CoLP is pitching its training model to elite City outfits, having partnered with Reed Smith and flexible training contract provider Accutrainee to deliver practice-based training to incoming trainees. Further tie-ups include CoLP’s partnerships with firms Browne Jacobson LLP, Al Tamimi & Company, and Clarke Wilmott as well as several law schools, including Manchester Law School, Solent Law School, Middlesex University and St Mary’s University. These partnerships will give members the opportunity to complete their SQE prep with CoLP.