LLM

Professional Practice (SQE)

We are an established SQE preparation course that covers the FLK1 subjects, FLK2 subjects, an introduction to SQE2 and some QWE for both law and non-law graduate students.

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Key Course Details

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Pontypridd

  • Campus Code

    A

Fees

  • Home students

    £11,060*

  • International students

    £17,900*

  • Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Pontypridd

  • Campus Code

    A

Fees

  • Home students

    £1,229*

  • Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
Make an Enquiry

The LLM Professional Practice with a Solicitors Qualification Examination (SQE) pathway offers you the opportunity to prepare for SQE1, obtain an introduction to SQE2 legal skills and acquire some Qualifying Work Experience (QWE). In the process, you will gain an internationally recognised LLM qualification.

Designed for

Law and non-law graduates who want to qualify as solicitors in England and Wales. You will prepare for your SQE exams while gaining practical legal skills.

Career paths

  • Solicitor
  • Paralegal
  • Financial advisor
  • Civil Service
  • Police

Skills taught

  • Advising clients
  • Client relationship management
  • Legal drafting
  • Legal research
  • SQE exam technique

We make a difference in practice, not just on paper. Our courses are designed by people who offer jobs - and taught by people who have real work experience.

A law student is speaking to the judge in the USW moot courtroom on Treforest campus.
A video thumbnail for
Postgraduate student Keihanah Joseph-Horne smiles at the camera while wearing a knitted turquoise cardigan with daisies on it inside the moot courtroom
The royal coat of arms featured in the moot courtroom that depicts a crown, a lion and a unicorn with the words 'Honi soit qui mal y pense' and 'Dieu et mon droit'
The University's Ty Crawshays building at Treforest, Pontypridd.

Course Highlights

Prepare for SQE 1 and 2

Develop practical legal skills and prepare for the legal exams needed to qualify as a solicitor.

Learn how the law works in practice

Apply legal knowledge through real cases, clinic experience, employer networking, real-world legal examples.

Work in the legal advice clinic

Gain real practical legal experience under the supervision of qualified solicitors in our Legal Advice Clinic.

Dedicated facilities

Access modern facilities including a courtroom, a legal practice library, and dedicated teaching and practise rooms.

Module Overview

You will develop an in-depth understanding of the relevant Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK) required for SQE1. You will have the option to be introduced to, learn about and develop your SQE2 legal skills such as client interviewing, legal research, writing, drafting and advocacy skills. USW is offering students the opportunity to obtain QWE of four hours per week over a period of 20 weeks, which equates to 0.10 FTE, in our award-winning Legal Advice Clinic.

Compulsory modules
Foundations of Legal Knowledge
Foundations of Legal Practice
Criminal Law in Practice
Dispute Resolution and Advocacy
Business Law in Practice
Property Law in Practice
Legal Practice Research Project

Optional modules
Employment Law in Practice
Family Law in Practice
Legal Advice Clinic (QWE)
Mergers and Acquisitions in Practice
Private Client in Practice
Professional Practice (SQE2)
Independent Legal Study (Legal Practice)

*Optional modules are subject to change depending on factors such as staff availability and class sizes. For confirmation of optional modules being studied in the year you are joining the course, please contact Adam Collins.

Course Highlights

How you’ll learn

Teaching is delivered through a blended learning approach, combining online lectures with on-campus workshops held two days a week for full-time students (approx. 16 hours) and one day for part-time students (approx. 8 hours). Workshops focus on practical law file exercises and real-life legal scenarios, supported by independent study and research. As part of the course, you’ll also gain hands-on experience in our Legal Advice Clinic. This practical work is embedded into your studies and forms the basis of your dissertation, allowing you to explore legal issues encountered in the clinic and develop key professional skills.

Assessment

For the Legal Practice Research Project, you are expected to produce a research proposal and a dissertation or reflective portfolio.

For FLK1 and 2, you will be assessed by way of formative assessments which can include Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) and written examinations and practical skills assessments, which will include recorded role plays in our moot courtroom and client interviewing rooms.  The optional modules are assessed by way of a variety of open and closed book examinations, time-constrained assessments and advocacy assessments.

Following USW tuition students may opt to sit the SQE1 external examination (sittings in July and November each year).  Upon successfully passing the SQE1 external examination, students’ external results can be recorded on USW’s system for the purposes of achieving the prerequisite credits towards the relevant award.

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.

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

Industry Partners

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.

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

Students must achieve an undergraduate degree of class 2:2 or above and will then be placed into either the law graduate or non-law graduate stream.

  • For the law graduate stream, students must have a LLB (Hons) degree, a Common Professional Examination/Graduate Diploma in Law, or a combined studies degree including the foundation law subjects.  Students who have reached the appropriate level of qualification with the Institute of Legal Executives are also eligible for consideration for admission to the law graduate stream.
  • For the non-law graduate stream, students must achieve an undergraduate degree with a classification of 2:2 or above in any subject.

All applications for the full-time LLM Legal Practice (SQE) must be made online via the Central Applications Board at www.lawcabs.ac.uk.

Applications for the part-time LLM Legal Practice (SQE) can be made using our online application form.

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

£11,060

per year*
International Full-time Fee

£17,900

per year*
UK Part-time Fee

£1,229

per 20 credits*

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 note that the course fee doesn't include the cost of the SQE exams. You can find out about the cost of the SQE exams on the Solicitors Regulation Authority website.

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.

SQE 1: £1,888

SQE 2: £2,902

 

 

 

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 PREPARED ME TO TAKE THE SQE 1 EXAM AND PROVIDED SO MUCH INSIGHT INTO BECOMING A SOLICITOR.

Keihanah Joseph-Horner

LLM Professional Practice (SQE) student

Life at USW

Halls are a big part of your student experience and there’s accommodation at all three of our locations. If you don’t want to live near the campus, there are great transport links to keep you connected.

A student sat smiling and talking to friends off camera in Treforest Student's Union
Student Life
The University's Ty Crawshays building at Treforest, Pontypridd.
Pontypridd Campus, Treforest
A double room at our Pontypridd accommodation featuring a large window.
Accommodation

How to apply

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

Applications for the part-time course can be made using our online application form.

International admissions

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