PGDip

Legal Practice Course

The Legal Practice Course (LPC) leads to the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice (LPC).

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Key Course Details

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Pontypridd

  • Campus Code

    A

Fees

  • Home students

    £14,000*

  • International students

    £17,900*

  • Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
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A Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) approved legal practice course covering business and property law, litigation, court procedure, and research—equipping you with the skills and knowledge to qualify as a solicitor.

Designed for

This course is designed for aspiring solicitors who want to qualify through the Solicitors Qualifying Examinations (SQE). It is an ideal course for motivated individuals seeking both practical legal training and advanced academic development.

Career paths:

  • Trainee solicitor
  • Paralegal
  • Financial advisor
  • Civil Service
  • Police

Skills taught:

  • Advising clients
  • Client relationship management
  • Legal drafting
  • Legal research
  • Communication

Course Highlights

Legal Advice Clinic

Work on real client briefs under the supervision of qualified solicitors in our Legal Advice Clinic.

Strong links with industry

Expand your legal network through our Legal Advice Clinic, employer talks, and local firm partnerships.

Taught by Legal Experts

Gain insights from experienced solicitors - many who are still active in the industry.

Solicitors Regulation Authority Approved

The LPC elements of the LLM Legal Practice programme of study and assessment has been approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

Module Overview

You’ll study a range of modules designed to sharpen your legal skills and give you the knowledge required to qualify as a solicitor. Our degree combines specified modules and elective modules you can choose to study in areas that interest you

Business Law and Practice and Taxation 
Students will learn how to advise clients in a business setting on issues relating to contracts, partnerships and taxation.

Property Law and Practice 
This module is designed to enable students to appreciate the nature of, identify and perform the critical steps to a domestic or commercial property transaction and in relation to freehold and leasehold property.

Litigation and Advocacy
You will be able to identify critical steps in the process of litigation and develop the skills needed to deal with a civil or criminal case in practice.

Skills for Legal Practice
This module introduces students to the key skills required from a legal adviser including practical legal research, interviewing, advising, drafting, and professional conduct. This module includes the Legal Advice Clinic.

Three elective modules*
*Elective modules typically include Family Law and Practice, Employment Law and Practice, Commercial Property, Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Litigation, Advanced Business and Corporate Law and Practice, Wills and Estate Planning, Advanced Criminal Litigation

Course Highlights

How you’ll learn

Students learn via a mix of lectures and workshops and have the incredible opportunity to work in our Legal Advice Clinic, where they put their skills into practice, supporting real clients with legal advice, supervised by a qualified solicitor.

In terms of delivery, full-time students attend campus two days a week (9am–6pm) from September to February for core module workshops, supported by pre-reading and recorded lectures. Workshops focus on applying legal knowledge and provide you with the opportunity to complete assessment style questions. 

Elective modules run from February to April in the same format, with students selecting three options (on-campus days vary). Part-time students attend one day a week, taking two electives in year one and one in year two.

Teaching staff

You’ll be taught and supported by approachable, knowledgeable professionals who understand the realities of legal practice. Our teaching team brings a wealth of industry experience across various areas of law, with several having worked as practising solicitors and legal consultants. This practical insight helps link theory to real-world legal work, using real cases and examples to show how the law is applied in practice.

Assessment

Core modules are assessed by way of written examinations, practical skills assessments, which includes being assessed on letters of advice produced for real-life clients in our Legal Advice Clinic. Elective modules are assessed by way of written examinations.

Facilities

Your learning will be supported by state-of-the-art study facilities, including a courtroom fully equipped with the latest digital video facilities, a legal practice library, and dedicated teaching and practise rooms. All activities are based on authentic scenarios, and research and preparation is assisted by the facilities in our modern technology suites. There will also be opportunities for you to put your knowledge into practice through our Legal Advice Clinic by providing advice, delivering client care and engaging with legal professionals.

Careers and Employability

Graduate careers

Graduates of this course typically go on to become trainee solicitors or paralegals, with recent graduates securing roles at firms including Hugh James, Capital Law, the NHS and Welsh Government.

The course also equips you with highly transferable skills – including communication, client care and research – which open doors to careers beyond law including roles such as financial advisors or positions in other client-focused industries.

Industry Links

Our strong industry links mean students benefit from real-world experience and networking opportunities from day one. Local employers such as Capital Law, Howells Solicitors, Watkins and Gunn, and Citizens Advice actively support our Legal Advice Clinic, giving students the chance to engage with practicing solicitors and build valuable professional networks. Plus, regular employer talks offer insights into the legal profession and a chance to connect directly with industry experts.

Careers Support

Our faculty is proud of their open-door policy, supporting students throughout their studies. Our team are all industry qualified and can offer tailored feedback, advice and support to all our students to help you during your journey.

The USW Careers Service is also on hand to support you throughout your studies, with guidance on writing your CV, applying for jobs, mastering interviews and navigating the recruitment process. We regularly host skills workshops and careers fairs to connect you with future employers and equip you with the tools to progress.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Typical qualification requirements:

  • LLB (Hons) degree usually of class 2:2 or above, or all subjects of the Common Professional Examination, or a combined studies degree including the core law subjects prescribed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Students who have reached the appropriate level of qualification with the Institute of Legal Executives are also eligible for consideration for admission to the course.
  • All applications for the full-time LPC must be made online via the Central Applications Board at www.lawcabs.ac.uk.

Additional requirements include:

The course welcomes international applicants and requires an English level of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component or equivalent.

Please note that whilst this course does not require a DBS Check for entry, some professions will not consider candidates who have certain types of criminal convictions. Therefore, if you have a criminal conviction, and you are considering a particular career path we would recommend that you check with the relevant professional body or refer to their recruitment policy to make sure that your conviction will not disadvantage you.

SRA Transitional Arrangements

You are only eligible to qualify via the LPC route if you satisfy one of the following transitional arrangements. These are:

  • You already have a Qualifying Law Degree (QLD) or Exempting Law Degree (ELD) before 1 September 2021.
  • You started a QLD or ELD before 1 September 2021.
  • You accepted an offer to study a QLD or ELD by 21 September 2021 and started the course before 31 December 2021.
  • You deferred a QLD or ELD for the academic year 2020/2021 and then started your course by 31 August 2022 (inclusive). You will need to keep evidence of your deferral to be accepted onto the LPC.

Either prior to, alongside or after the LPC, you must complete a two-year period of recognised training (PRT). You must complete the LPC and PRT by 31 December 2032 in order to qualify via the LPC. 

International applications welcomed:

We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.

English language requirements

International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 4 overall and a minimum of 4 in each component or equivalent.

Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.

If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.

If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.

Contextual offers

We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.

USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.

 

We're here to help

Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch, and we'd love to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.

 

Fees and Funding

UK Full-time Fee

£14,000

per year*
International Full-time Fee

£17,900

per year*

Further Information

Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).

*Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee is anticipated to remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course except as described below.

Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy.  We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.

 

Fees and Funding Scholarships and Busaries Alumni Discount

Additional Costs

As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment. 

Students need to pay for any printing they may need.

Cost: Up to £300

University Quality Assurance

At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.

If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.

THE COURSE HAS ALREADY GIVEN ME SKILLS THAT I CAN USE IN MY FUTURE LEGAL CAREER.

Jessica Fletcher-Buchanan

Part-time LLM Legal Practice student

THE COURSE HAS ALREADY GIVEN ME SKILLS THAT I CAN USE IN MY FUTURE LEGAL CAREER.

Jessica Fletcher-Buchanan

Legal Practice Course

Studying at USW

Our courses are designed with industry leaders and provide the practical skills and experiences industry demands. Our flexible courses reflect the need for life-long learning. If you value education in practice, not just in theory, then USW is for you.

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Postgraduate fees and funding
The University's Ty Crawshays building at Treforest, Pontypridd.
Pontypridd Campus, Treforest
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Postgraduate Open Events

How to apply

All applications for the full-time course must be made online via the Central Applications Board at www.lawcabs.ac.uk.

International admissions

Please see our international admissions advice for further information about how to apply as a prospective international student.

Next Steps

How to Apply
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