By Jemma Slingo2021-01-22T12:45:00+00:00
Solicitors in charge of signing off trainees’ work experience should make ‘no assessment of their competency’ under new qualification rules, the regulator has said.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority said firms must embrace a ‘shift in mindset’ when the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) is introduced in September. The new system will replace traditional training contracts with two years of qualifying work experience .
‘A solicitor isn’t signing off on whether they think someone is going to make a brilliant solicitor – or even if their work is…of a good quality enough to qualify. The SQE 1 and SQE 2 assessments are there to assess competence,’ the SRA said during a legal education webinar.
Cripps Pemberton Greenish one of first in South East to benefit from Trailblazer Solicitor Apprenticeship scheme
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Updated: 09:54, 11 January 2021
Tunbridge Wells law firm Cripps Pemberton Greenish has become one of the first law firms in the South East to recruit an apprentice solicitor under the Trailblazer Solicitor Apprenticeship scheme.
The five-year apprenticeship combines the classroom with on-the-job learning and will be delivered in partnership with BPP University Law School.
Rosie Harvey has joined Cripps on the new scheme
It will incorporate the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), which launches in September 2021.
Rosie Harvey, who has just completed a two-year paralegal apprenticeship with the firm, will start her training this month.
STUDENTS from across Herefordshire have spoken about achieving First Class Honours in their university degrees during the coronavirus pandemic. Among those to have achieved this in their studies at the University of Worcester this year is Charlotte Taylor, 22, of Dilwyn. She studied a degree in English Literature and said: “I feel appreciative; without the guidance of tutors, both academically and during emotional wobbles, I wouldn’t have achieved what I did. The former Hereford Sixth Form College student is currently studying for a Master’s in English Literature at Worcester and hopes to go on to study for a PhD, with a view to lecturing in Literature.
The ethics section is always the hardest.
Kaplan, the exam setter for the upcoming Solicitors Qualifying Examination, was beset by a rash of cheating in its assessment for foreign lawyers qualifying in the UK, RollOnFriday can reveal.
Kaplan is the sole authorised provider of assessments under The Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS), the gateway exam which costs £3,000 to take and determines whether foreign lawyers can practice as solicitors in England and Wales.
The QLTS is set to be superceded by the SQE in September 2021, which has been designed by Kaplan and will replace all routes to becoming a solicitor.
The expected rollout of Covid vaccines means the SQE should arrive in less chaotic circumstances than those endured by Kaplan in 2020. However, the experience of QLTS candidates has exposed flaws in the integrity of its invigilation process this summer.