Alternative to LPC: is CILEx the answer?

The dilemma facing many law degree graduates this summer is the risk of undertaking the Legal Practice Course without a training contract. You have probably already heard it all before from careers advisers, law firm representatives or other people involved with the profession, but you do need to sit down and calculate the true cost of the whole process. The question to ask yourself is this: "Should I take on more debt, on top of my normal student loan, that will amount to at least £18,000 (ie, the cost of the course plus living costs) and which will not guarantee me a paid job at the end of it?" The fact is that thousands of LLB and GDL graduates do take the risk every year. In the last few years there was almost twice the number of people registered on the LPC as there were training contracts.

I think that the solution is to STOP. Do not take the risk of being laden with more debt. Consider instead hedging your bets and taking the CILEx Graduate Fast-Track Diploma (GFTD). I will declare my interest here. I am involved in running the CILEx GFTD in locations throughout the Southeast, so you may well say that it is in my interest to tell you to do it this way. It is, but that does not change the fact that the CILEx route is a real alternative to the LPC and training contract, giving you the chance to: experience training largely equivalent to the LPC; work at paralegal, legal assistant or basic administrative level in a law firm or in house; and become qualified and gain relevant experience without a formal training contract.

With my company, Obsidian Training, the cost for the GFTD is £1,700 (plus extra costs of about £500 for CILEx membership, exam fees and CILEx training manuals). Study time is about three-and-a-half hours one evening per week in a classroom, plus about seven hours of home study. The training has been crafted to give you the detailed understanding that you need to get your head around the practice of law. After all, you've spent the last few years sweating through the likes of contract, tort and criminal law; it seems a shame to not get the last pieces of the puzzle by studying and sitting exams in two of a range of practice areas. You also complete a core unit on client care skills, which drills you in the protocols of looking after your casework and client base.

If you still want to become a solicitor, you can do that once you have completed three years qualifying employment. You would still have to do the LPC, but from a position of several years genuine legal profession experience and little or no debt. You may even find that your employer would be willing to offer financial or study support to do so.

My key message is not to get caught up in a mad, lemming-like rush to sign up to the costly LPC. Rather, get the right training, but at an affordable level. Qualify as a lawyer the CILEx way and you will not regret it.

Myles Bigland runs a CILEx accredited study centre, Obsidian Training Ltd, which runs CILEx courses across the Southeast of England.