Live Life Team
If you would like to pursue a career in law it is important that you prepare yourself early. The usual route towards qualification is A-Levels, Degree, LPC/BVC, and then Training Contract/Pupillage.
To become a solicitor or barrister you will first need to study at college for A-Levels. Many colleges offer courses in law, and these are great introductions to the subject. These courses will allow you to become familiar with the main areas of law, and will help you progress into higher education.
Although traditionally if you were heading for a career in law you would take a degree in law, increasing numbers of young people are choosing to take a different first degree. They can then progress onto the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL), which is a condensed law course taken within one year. Graduates of the GDL are then qualified to take the Legal Practitioners Course/Bar Vocational Course.
Upon completing either your law degree or the GDL, prospective lawyers are then required to take the Legal Practitioners Course if you’d like to be a solicitor, or if you want to be a barrister, the Bar Vocational Course.
Both courses are one year long and consist of high-intensity legal training. Completion of the course however does not fully qualify you as a legal practitioner. You must then undertake either a Training Contract (for solicitors) or a Pupillage (for barristers) at a law firm or in chambers. This final stage is two years long (one year for the Pupillage), and on completion you will qualify as either a solicitor or barrister.
