Who is eligible
updated on 01 February 2023
This information applies to non-law graduates pursuing the barrister route and non-law graduates pursuing the solicitor route who meet the SRA’s transitional arrangements (ie, you started your GDL on or before 31 December 2021).
To be eligible for the GDL/law conversion course, students must hold a degree (honorary degrees don’t count) from a UK institution or an overseas institution which the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) considers to be an equivalent.
Alternatively, a student can hold academic and vocational qualifications which the SRA deems equivalent to a degree.
Another entry method is for the prospective student to be a fellow or member of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX), or have gained a diploma in magisterial law. UK graduates don’t need a certificate of academic standing to commence the GDL/law conversion course.
However, overseas graduates, legal executives, those with professional qualifications equivalent to a degree and those with a diploma in magisterial law will need to write to the SRA with copies of their qualifications.
Contact the SRA (0370 606 2555, www.sra.org.uk/contact-us or [email protected]) to confirm precisely what it requires to issue the certificate.
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