Three more overseas legal education providers are to offer prep courses for the new Solicitors Qualification Exam (SQE).
Spain’s IE Law School, Paris Dauphine – PSL University of France and Singapore-based Asia Bar Review have all partnered with BARBRI to offer the course to international students.
US-founded BARBRI arrived in the UK some years ago with a view to taking advantage of the shake-up in legal education. It has proved one of the most significant new players on the scene, striking several partnerships to deliver SQE prep courses, including with King’s College and Manchester University. At the end of March it was acquired by global investment firm Francisco Partners for an undisclosed sum from Leeds Equity Partners.
By Jemma Slingo2021-04-13T14:01:00+01:00
The Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) is safe to go ahead this autumn under current public health advice, an independent review has found.
The assessment s independent reviewer Geoff Coombe said he is satisfied that in the context of public health advice issed last month and Covid restrictions that the SQE1 exams can take place on 8 and 11 November.
‘At the time of writing the plans in place should allow successful delivery of the exams whether social distancing, and other current public health expectations and restrictions, are needed or not by November 2021,’ Coombe said. ‘Provision and planning enable exams to take place in a socially distanced manner and test centres will have enhanced cleaning and other sanitization measures in place.’
completing two years of qualifying work experience (QWE)
satisfying the SRA’s character and suitability
SQE1 will consist of two exams of 180 questions testing ‘functional legal knowledge’ through single best answer, multiple-choice questions. SQE2 includes 15 to 18 exercises which will test candidates’ legal skills through written and oral simulations of tasks a newly qualified solicitor might undertake in practice, across five contexts.
There are no required courses to prepare for these assessments, but many will choose to attend some form of preparatory course for both sets of assessments. There will be a number of different options available to candidates, from short standalone preparatory courses for each stage of assessment, to a full Masters course including preparation for both assessments.
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