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student experiences
Bradley Young
Paralegal at Irwin Mitchell and LLM student
Tell us a little about what brought you to The College of Legal Practice
Becoming a solicitor was always on my radar from the time I was at school. Unfortunately personal circumstances meant that I wasn’t able to pursue the career as soon as I finished my studies, and I picked this up later on in 2020. Lockdown freed up some time for me, so I decided to join an undergraduate LLB course with The Open University alongside my full time work. I completed my LLB in July 2024 and went straight onto the LLM with SQE Prep with The College of Legal Practice which I’m studying while working full time as a paralegal.
How much time would you say your study currently takes?
So firstly I will say, my study methods do go against what is recommended by The College of Legal Practice in that I’m working full time while studying full time. It’s not something I’d tell anyone else to do, as it’s very full on - but my studying methods have always been this way as I did my LLB while working, too. I’m currently working on the SQE1 prep portion of the course, so I work 9-5, then come home and complete the two daily subunits until at least 10pm, with weekend work too.
Could you imagine going into LLM study, without completing an LLB beforehand?
I feel that my LLB gave me a solid foundational knowledge of law. While the SQE Prep courses don’t require you to have done a law degree, I think you’re going to find it very challenging to keep up with the intensity and quantity of knowledge you need to acquire if you don’t have any legal experience. As The College of Legal Practice offers the Graduate Diploma in Law, I’d be seriously considering completing that before embarking on any SQE prep if you haven’t studied for a law degree.
What made you choose the LLM route rather than the individual SQE prep courses?
So for me it was largely a financial decision. I did plenty of research about different SQE providers, as initially I was just considering SQE prep, but these are very expensive exams to take with minimal funding to support unless you are lucky enough to have this covered by an employer. The College’s LLM route with SQE prep is eligible to be covered by student finance, so for me, it made the most sense. Equally I’m used to remote, flexible learning that can fit around my commitments like my LLB did with The Open University, so it was a very natural fit.
How have you found the content of the SQE prep?
It really prepares you, especially in terms of getting you ready for the SQE exam format. Sometimes I thought from my LLB that I already knew an area of the law, and I’d be able to wing it if I already knew the topic - but I quickly realised that the multiple choice style exam is not an ‘easy’ route at all. All the answers are usually plausible and you really need to practice that ability to assess the single best answer which is a skill in itself. Often it wasn’t until I was doing MCQ practice that I realised I was missing things! I think, having done lots of practice papers, The College of Legal Practice ones are the closest in style to the SRA questions.
Have you found that your work as a paralegal helps you with your studies?
In many ways, yes. For example, I work with trusts a lot in my role, and when I got to the trusts module of the SQE prep course I found it really helpful. It’s an area I actually found quite difficult to get my head around during my undergraduate studies, so this combination of theoretical teaching and practical application helped it stick!
What level of support have you had so far from The College of Legal Practice?
I’ve found that even though everything is remote and online, it’s been great. There’s always someone on hand at the end of an email to support you with your studies, whether academically or pastorally. For example, my tutor Julian caught on to the fact that I was writing all my notes by hand, and he quickly picked me up on that and said there were far better ways to use my time!
You can follow Bradley’s journey on Instagram @legallybradley as he goes through the SQE exams and LLM Programme