How to ensure your GDL gives you a head start under the Solicitors Qualifying Exam

The Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) is a popular and established route into the legal profession for non-law graduates who decide to pursue a legal career. However the training regime for would-be solicitors, overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA), looks set to change in 2021-22. The biggest change is the new Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE), which is a centrally set exam. This introduces a whole range of extra considerations for you when researching a provider for SQE training.

Most importantly, you will need to assess how your provider may best help you with the proposed SQE exam format. The GDL itself is going to be absorbed into or appear as part of a different course or programme, such as a SQE preparation course. Providers of current GDL courses should be able to tell you when you do your research and what their plans are, but be aware that the current intention is that the GDL will cease to exist as a diploma award.

Understanding what the exams may require will inform your approach. Currently the SRA says that Stage 1 of the SQE exam will look at assessing your ability to draw on sufficient knowledge to practise effectively. It is likely to involve computer-based multiple-choice testing, and assessing the application of knowledge and legal processes. The SRA is running Stage 1 pilot exams in 2019 with the assessment provider, Kaplan, to test the model.

Stage 2 of the SQE exam will address practical legal tasks which simulate the real demands of practice. Stage 2 will test your oral skills assessed through live role plays involving standardised clients, and test your written skills, which will most likely assessed through computer-based applied tasks and case studies.

It is worth asking your SQE provider how their course will give you a good foundation for the SQE if you are currently studying a non-law degree subject or have recently finished a non-law degree. Ask questions about the proportion of practical skills content on the course, the amount of time spent practising these skills, and about any specific in-course SQE preparation.

The current GDL is an academically-focused law course, teaching the foundations of law subjects as required by the SRA; however, progressive providers have started to integrate relevant skills training into their delivery of these academic subjects. Roehampton’s ‘Law in Practice’ focus is one example, where you will learn to think critically like a legal professional and have a chance to work in a legal advice clinic. Some providers are now copying the methods of assessments proposed in the SQE to acclimatise students to what lies ahead in Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the SQE.

A couple of final points. If you complete your GDL in 2020 or 2021, you may decide either to progress onto the LPC (which will continue to run alongside the new SQE exams for a few years) or wait for the new SQE exams. Ask law firms (your potential employers for a training contract) which route they suggest you take – they may also have course providers they recommend for SQE training. Also there are legal subjects covered by the proposed SQE syllabus that are not currently covered by GDL providers on their courses. So when you choose an SQE provider, check that these extra areas of the syllabus are covered adequately for you. Also ask how you will be taught and what support do you get for revision before the SQE exams themselves.

The GDL is still a vital stage in preparing you for qualification and for practising law. But it is now important, given the SQE changes, that you understand how your chosen provider is innovating and changing their courses to address the new SQE assessments. You then give yourself every chance to progress smoothly into practice.