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“At the University of Bolton, we take great pride in providing a quality, supportive learning environment for our students.” Professor George E Holmes DL | President & Vice Chancellor
“...tutors are very supportive and you’re not just a student ID number, at this university you are an individual with a name.” Ellisse Vernon | BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing
If you're an ambitious law graduate focused on building a career as a solicitor, the University of Bolton's LLM with Solicitors Qualification Examination is a perfect choice. Our highly experienced team will support you as you learn to apply fundamental legal principles and gain the essential legal and interpersonal skills that underpin practice as a solicitor. We offer outstanding facilities for legal learning and excellent opportunities for work experience.
Key information
Award:
LLM
Mode of Study:
Full-time
Duration:
18 months
Location:
University of Bolton
Start date:
25/09/2023
Course Details
What is the Solicitors Qualification Examination (SQE)?
The Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) is a centralised assessment that forms part of a new route towards becoming a solicitor in England and Wales. It is administered by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Introduced in September 2021, the SQE route will eventually replace the route known as the Legal Practice Course (LPC).
Why study the SQE at the University of Bolton?
This LLM with SQE course at the University of Bolton will prepare you for the SRA's centralised SQE assessments. It's suitable if you're a law graduate or have completed a law conversion course.
Our School of Law team features barristers, solicitors and solicitor advocates. We are dedicated to supporting you through your legal education and preparing you for success as a fully qualified solicitor. This course covers the full spectrum of knowledge and skills required to pass the SQE1 and SQE2 assessments – please see the Teaching and Assessment section of this page for more information.
We also have a full-service Legal Advice Centre where you'll be able to work alongside our legal professionals to build confidence, skills and hours towards your required qualifying work experience (QWE).
In addition, as a student with the School of Law, you'll benefit from access to the full range of support services offered by the University of Bolton, including:
Academic support to assist you in developing your skills in expressing legal concepts
Careers guidance through our experienced career progression team
Employment support from our employability team, who work to provide opportunities for our students to enter legal work if required.
Highlights
Our mission to develop innovative, rewarding and career-focused training has led to our rating as second in the UK for student experience and teaching quality by The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021.
You can join our vibrant, focused and supportive community of legal scholars working towards the SQE and recognition as a solicitor.
The School of Law's dedicated and well-qualified team deliver teaching and supervision, drawing on their professional experience as qualified solicitors, barristers and solicitor advocates.
You can gain experience, skills and hours towards your QWE by assisting in our full-service, in-house Legal Advice Centre.
The University of Bolton's excellent libraries, 24/7 IT facilities, WiFi and learning areas are freely available for your use.
You'll have access to a research and study skills module to support your academic skills development.
The programme is designed to run alongside your work commitments, allowing you to earn while you learn.
Key Features
This SQE course offers you the opportunity to gain advanced knowledge and understanding of legal practice to prepare you for the SQE assessments set by the SRA.
Our expert team will support you to develop broader legal thinking. The ability to view legal problems from different angles can reveal new insights, helping to advance your career in the legal sector.
You'll also have the chance to gain master's-level research and critical thinking skills that will enhance your employability and performance at work.
Our teaching team offers specialist knowledge of the legal sector, underpinned by their first-hand experience working in legal practice.
Course materials are available online, allowing you to prepare work in advance and ensuring that in-class learning is highly interactive.
At the School of Law, we regularly review our courses to ensure we offer our students the best possible education and opportunities. An industry advisory board that brings together representatives from legal practice, the judiciary and the legal sector supports this process, ensuring our courses reflect the needs of employers and the wider legal industry.
By choosing to study with us, you'll have the chance to enjoy Bolton's many shops, bars, restaurants and leisure facilities. Manchester, one of the UK's most multicultural and lively cities, is less than 20 minutes away by train. Not forgetting, the North West of England is renowned for its beautiful countryside, coastline and heritage. This makes Bolton an ideal base from which to explore some of the best cultural and outdoor activities the UK offers.
You should have at least a lower second class honours degree (2:2) in law or another relevant subject (or a comparable qualification from a UK or overseas institution).
If you don’t possess the above qualifications but have substantial managerial or employment experience equivalent to a degree, we’ll be happy to consider your application. Decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis and be dependent on experience and interview.
You may be required to attend an interview and/or provide a portfolio of work.
If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 7.0 with normally no less than 6.5 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.
Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.
The Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) is a single, rigorous assessment for all aspiring solicitors.
There are four stages to becoming a solicitor by the SQE route. Firstly, you must gain a degree (or equivalent). Since you're here, you've probably already completed this step.
Next, you must pass the SQE1 and SQE2 assessments. This LLM with SQE course offered by the School of Law at the University of Bolton supports you to achieve this. Possession of this highly-regarded master's-level qualification will also enhance your employability and career prospects.
Alongside successfully completing your SQE assessments, you'll need to undertake a minimum of two years full-time (or equivalent) Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) in a qualifying legal role. Studying this course will also help you prepare for the QWE, as the knowledge and skills you'll develop are essential for practice. You may also be able to gain experience towards your QWE by volunteering in our in-house Legal Advice Centre.
Lastly, you must meet the SRA's character and suitability requirements when submitting your application to become a solicitor.
What can I do with this qualification?
While studying towards your SQE1 and SQE2 assessments, you'll likely wish to undertake QWE towards becoming a qualified solicitor. If you qualify as a solicitor, you'll have direct contact with clients, with the broadest caseload coming from high street practices which cover criminal, family, probate and business law. Opportunities are available in private practice, in public sector bodies such as local authorities and the Government, and the in-house legal departments of companies.
As a graduate with sound legal knowledge, you'll also be able to find employment in areas such as human resources, business and finance. Managers value the advanced critical thinking and research skills that LLM graduates possess, so this postgraduate qualification should prove attractive to employers from across the legal sector and beyond. Alternatively, you may wish to continue your studies to doctoral level.
Alternative career options
Graduates can use the qualification as a stepping-stone into a range of other careers. For some of these roles, relevant experience or postgraduate study may be required. They include:
Immigration
Police
Trading standards
Investment banking
Tax advice/inspection
Teaching and education
International aid/development
Human resources
Health and safety
Probation/social work
Accountancy
Political research
Charity and advice work
Recruitment
Stockbroker
Marketing
Course fees
Home students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Home fee of £9,000 for the academic year 2023/24.
Overseas students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Overseas fee of £19,800 for the academic year 2023/24.
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2022-2023 academic year:
EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status.
If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement.
Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.
The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the
normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in
March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.
For details of how to apply for this course, please choose your status from the options below:
You may apply directly to the University using the University's online application form. Please select your chosen
start date from the list below:
You should have to hand:
Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course –
you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
Details of any employment history including name, address, dates and role
Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
Details including e-mail addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be
someone who can provide an academic reference
Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format.
Personal statements may be word documents.
Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page.
If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data
you have already input.
If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Admissions Team on 01204 903394
or admissions@bolton.ac.uk
The University welcomes applications from international students from all over the world. We try to make the application process as simple and as fast as possible for our international applicants.
This course is not currently accepting international online applications.
Admissions
University of Bolton
Deane Road
Bolton, BL3 5AB
United Kingdom
Tel: 01204 903903
Email: enquiries@bolton.ac.uk
The LLM with SQE programme will be delivered using a wide range of materials, all designed to give you the very best start. These will include e-lectures, face-to-face workshops and the chance to learn and develop your skills within the University's Legal Advice Centre. Core textbooks and guided learning materials will support your studies.
This course will prepare you to take the SRA's centralised SQE assessments at an external test centre. Initially, teaching and learning will focus on the SQE1 assessments. These two multiple-choice question papers will test your Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK), including ethics and professional conduct. Using realistic client-based scenarios and ethical problems and situations, these exams will assess your application of law in the following areas:
FLK1 – Business Law and Practice; Dispute Resolution; Contract; Tort; Legal System of England and Wales; Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law and Legal Services.
FLK 2 – Property Practice; Wills and the Administration of Estates; Solicitors Accounts; Land Law; Trusts; Criminal Law and Practice.
Our expert team will also support you to learn the practical skills required to pass the SQE2 legal skills assessments. You'll be tested for the six professional legal skills: interviewing, advocacy (known as SQE2 oral), case and matter analysis, legal research, legal drafting and legal writing (known as SQE2 written). These assessments will also test your negotiation, ethics and professionalism.
SQE2 is conducted in the context of five legal practice areas: business law, civil litigation, criminal litigation, property practice, and wills and the administration of estates.
Please visit https://sqe.sra.org.uk/ for full details of the SRA's assessment and exam arrangements.
Our team will support you as you learn and revise all the knowledge and skills required. We'll also help you gain postgraduate level study and lifelong learning skills.
As well as vital legal practice knowledge, the LLM also offers the advanced research and critical thinking skills that employers value so highly. You'll have the opportunity to learn essential research methods and develop postgraduate research and thinking skills. Choosing the dissertation option of this course allows you to undertake an extended and substantial piece of research, gathering data either through deskwork, fieldwork or a combination of both. We'll support you as you examine your findings in light of your postgraduate-level legal knowledge and critically discuss, evaluate and present your results.
Alternatively, you may choose our specialist work-based learning portfolio module. This module supports you to identify research questions and methodologies appropriate to your professional practice in a specific area of law. This allows you to develop and demonstrate your ability to understand and critically apply complex theories, principles and models of reflective practice in your specialist area.
Modules
The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.
Applied Legal Practice - FLK1
Applied Legal Practice - FLK2
Applied Legal Practice - SQE2
Research Methods
Dissertation
Assessment methods
Level
Assesment method
Level one
Coursework 80%, Practical exams 20%
Learning activities
Level
Learning activity
Level one
Guided independent study 80%, Scheduled learning and teaching activities 20%
Disclaimer
The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.
