The College of Legal Practice is pleased to launch its SQE Scholarship scheme. With the current cost of living crisis now is the time where we must do our utmost to help students achieve their career dreams.
The College is deeply committed to increasing access to the solicitor profession, as we it has already shown through our approach to offer all our students very affordable and flexible courses. As a result of this commitment, almost half our SQE students are now able to progress to become a solicitor via the SQE, thanks to a Master’s Loan that uniquely covers the College’s LLM in Legal Practice course fees and the SQE assessments costs.
But today we are proud to be going much further, and as such we are offering four students the opportunity to study at the College for the SQE completely free of charge in the first half of 2023. One of the places will be open to existing students, who we recognise could be facing hardship or barriers to progressing in their course and funding the assessments.
We know that many students face multiple barriers to taking the SQE and progressing their legal career, due to either their background, experiences, discrimination, or lack of funding. The current climate and increases in cost of living, are putting pressures on students that we have never seen before and that’s why we are offering free places rather than discounts or other benefits.
The College’s SQE scholarships are open to anyone who is experiencing barriers to accessing the SQE training, taking the SQE assessment and progressing to become a solicitor, they are open to any existing or prospective students who are looking to study with the College from 1st February 2023 to 31st July 2023. The College anticipates that this is just the first round of SQE scholarships that we will be able to offer.
Dr Giles Proctor, CEO of the College said “We have heard from our students that whilst they appreciate the low fees, instalments, and flexibility we already offer, many are finding committing to the time to study and take the SQE, even when working alongside it, incredibly challenging from a funding perspective. We hope that these SQE Scholarships will make a transformative difference to four students’ journeys to become a solicitor.”
Background
The College’s scholarship scheme is just one example of the College strengthening its approach to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion. Over the last three months, we have been speaking with students, staff and governance about how we can strive for more inclusivity and support for career progression.
The College is already a member of the Law Society Diversity Access Scheme and is collaborating with several partner firms, such as Browne Jacobson and Reed Smith to offer sponsored fully funded places on SQE preparation courses.
For more details on the SQE Scholarships please visit the College’s website
