Proposed changes for entry to the solicitors profession would disproportionately affect poorer students, warns Law Society
Any move towards choosing new routes for entry to the solicitors' profession must be made following proper consultation with the profession, the Law Society warned today.
The Law Society has expressed concern over the intention by the regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority's, (SRA), to focus on one single preferred option for training to become a solicitor, without having consulted with the profession.
Prompted by the strength of feeling among solicitors, the Law Society, which represents solicitors in England and Wales, has formally responded to the SRA on their planned assessment options for entry to the profession.
Whilst a formal consultation is not expected until December, the Law Society is deeply concerned that the SRA has already stated its preference for 'option three'. This route would involve a series of centralised assessments for knowledge and skills against the Competence Statement for Solicitors published on 1 April 2015. There would be no approved pathways to entry and no required courses - no qualifying law degree, no Legal Practice Course and no training contract would be required.
The SRA are proposing that there would be no restrictions on the number of times an assessment could be retaken and there would be no time restrictions on the completion of all elements. This could lead to a situation where law students can effectively 'bank' elements indefinitely, which they may have no familiarity with by the time they finally manage to qualify.
Removal of approved pathways carries a significant risk of adversely affecting less-advantaged students who do not have access to those within the profession already, or to the best-informed sources of careers advice. It is likely that the financial impact of these proposed changes would disproportionately affect poorer students who would not be able to gain funding for courses as they are no longer ‘required’. It is therefore unacceptable that an equality impact assessment has not been completed on the options put forward for discussion in the engagement document before any broad indication of the preferred option has been made.
The Law Society is supportive of centralised assessment, alongside the current, robust assessment procedures, which should be maintained and improved, taking into account the content of the Competence Statement and new routes into the profession.
Law Society President Jonathan Smithers said: "The SRA is responsible for the quality of the legal education and training undertaken by those entering the profession. Our concerns are based on the fact that here is very little detail to their proposals. This backs up what we said in July - that the global reputation of UK law would be 'under threat' if the qualification is watered down. Of particular concern to firms is the possibility that the internationally respected period of workplace learning may be abolished.
"It is simply not appropriate for the regulator to narrow the range of options on the basis of their own preference, having merely conducted a cursory and informal engagement exercise. A proper consultation process on such a fundamental issue for the profession is essential.
"In 2013 a thorough, evidence-based review of education and training requirements across legal services in England and Wales, known as the Legal Education and Training Review (LETR), found that that the current system is not fundamentally broken.
"We are recommending that the current system be improved and that current assessment procedures are enhanced in order to provide the reassurances desired by the SRA.
The Law Society's preferred approach on new routes for entry to the profession include;
Support for centralised assessment to assure standards for appropriate elements, such as legal knowledge and the hard edge skills currently assessed during the LPC.
Any route to entry should encompass a level 6 qualification, as set out by the National Qualifications Framework, as a minimum standard e.g. degree level – also achieved through CILEx and the incoming apprenticeships.
Work-based learning is essential and must take place within a legal work place and under the supervision of a solicitor. The time required should be substantial - two years training is 'about right' and this should be taken into consideration.
The Law Society would like to see the SRA fully address the concerns it has raised in its paper and produce evidence to support their proposals.
Read the Law Society response here.
