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29 November 2022

Qualifying as a Solicitor in Today’s Cost of Living Crisis


Published on 29 November 2022
Undergraduates Funding Tools and tips

In the wake of soaring fuel and food prices across the country, inflation and more, access to the profession is becoming a growing concern for those wishing to qualify as a solicitor. Qualifying in the legal profession has always been costly, with training fees alone costing up to tens of thousands of pounds, making it an almost impossible career to break into without a source of funding. Knowing this, many graduates working towards qualifying as a solicitor, whether it’s on the LPC or SQE route, have to work part-time or even full-time alongside studying in order to fund their studies.

For those that are fortunate enough to secure a training contract, some firms have started increasing the level of their maintenance grants, the latest being Baker McKenzie who last month announced that they have increased their GDL and LPC grants and announced a new grant for SQE students. This is great to see, but is it enough particularly when accommodation in London is involved?

For those students not fully-funded by their employer, the increased living costs puts an additional strain on them, alongside working in a busy legal environment which in turn is restricting access to the profession for talented students from low income-households. A ripple effect that we could see resulting from this would be the possibility of the attainment gap further widening between students from low socio-economic students and those from a more privileged background.

The introduction of the SQE was intended to help people from diverse backgrounds, by making the route to qualifying more accessible. This is done through reducing the barriers to entry into the profession, one of those of which include costs, with the SQE1 assessment costing £1,622 and the SQE2 assessment costing £2,493. Another way in which the new SQE route has become more accessible is that the practical work experience needed from students looking to qualify has now been broadened out to include other forms of legal work experience, meaning students aren’t reliant solely on one employer and a training contract to qualify. This is a benefit two-fold, as students working in legal roles to fund their studies can now also put that experience towards their Qualifying Work Experience (QWE), meaning they are one step closer to qualifying as a solicitor. You can read more here on what is accepted as QWE.

The SRA have already released a statement on the attainment gap with regards to the SQE pass rate. Though the report that will follow this will focus on what causes different levels of attainment for different ethnic groups, the SRA have highlighted the report will involve "identifying the long-lasting and intersectional causes of the attainment gap" which naturally will include social mobility. It’s great to see the SRA monitoring attainment gaps and social mobility, the SRA have also provided resources for firms on social mobility, allowing firms to help do their part to bridge the gap, which you can find here.

Coming back onto the topic of financial accessibility into the profession and living costs, we’ve established that the SQE route could be more cost efficient in comparison to the LPC (depending on your prep course provider) and accessible on the qualifying work experience front. In addition to that, there are additional ways in which you can help yourself with regards to funding your legal studies. We’ve put together six ways in which you can help alleviate the financial stress of studying to qualify as a solicitor.

  1. Spread out your costs and earn-while-you-learn by taking a part-time SQE prep course
  2. Find a course provider that allows you to pay your fees by instalments
  3. Book your SQE assessments early to reduce chances of increased costs of travel and accommodation of further assessment centres (some of our students estimate that they spent an average of £500 on costs to take each assessment)
  4. Apply for a Master's Loan and take your SQE1 and SQE2 prep as part of an LLM course (with COLP this’ll cover both your studies and the SQE assessment costs- you’ll need to check with other suppliers)
  5. Seek out scholarships and grants
  6. Working for a law firm already? Chat with your employer on the possibility of partially or fully funding your SQE studies. Many firms have also offered grants to help with living costs.

You can read more on funding and scholarship options to help with your legal studies here.

We wrap up the article with some general money saving tips.