Progress being made in opening new routes to qualifying as a solicitor, says SRA

More flexible pathways to qualifying as a solicitor and "rigorous standards" are at the heart of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) reform programme, its director of education and training has said.

Addressing regulators, academics and professionals at the recent Westminster Legal Policy Forum, Julie Brannan said that the SRA has made progress in cutting unnecessary bureaucracy, increasing the effectiveness of its continuing professional development programme and opening more routes to qualifying, including apprenticeships.

Brannan said: "We've already started the process of opening up pathways to qualification. We are fully signed up to the new apprenticeship schemes in England and Wales which will enable people to qualify as a solicitor through working in a legal environment rather than going to university. Our training framework must recognise this. Encouraging bright, ambitious people from all backgrounds to qualify as solicitors can only strengthen the profession and therefore better protect clients. We need to focus not just on admission, but on progression too, to see a properly diverse profession in all parts of the legal services market."