Legal Practice Course - LPC
updated on 20 March 2025
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Until 2021, the Legal Practice Course (LPC) was the mandatory vocational stage of training to be a solicitor. In September 2021, it was replaced by a new system, the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE). The SQE is now the centralised assessment that all aspiring solicitors must pass in order to qualify.
Find out more about the SQE via LCN’s SQE hub, sponsored by the University of Law and visit LCN’s SQE preparation course page for more information.
You can still qualify as a solicitor via the LPC if you:
- started your qualifying law degree on or before 31 December 2021; or
- completed, started or accepted an offer of a place on (or paid a non-refundable deposit for) the law conversion courses, LPC or training contract by 21 September 2021.
Anyone who falls within these transitional arrangements will have until 31 December 2032 to qualify this way. If you’re eligible for the LPC, read on to find out more about the course, including content, sponsorship and more.
That said, it’s worth noting that most training providers will likely stop offering the LPC in the next few years, so it’s important that you do your research.
The LPC was the vocational stage of training that followed either a law degree or postgraduate law conversion course. For those eligible to qualify this way, the course lasts one-year, full-time (or two years part-time) and provides a bridge between academic study and training in a law firm. The content is both knowledge and skills-based, and aims to ensure that you can do the work of a trainee solicitor under proper supervision when you begin your training contract.
The LPC focuses on the practical skills that lawyers use day to day. The emphasis is on workshops, continuous assessment, independent research and group discussions. It also allows you a certain amount of specialisation through a range of optional subjects. You’ll find that the LPC provides a good practical foundation for your early years of practice at a law firm.
The LPC is sometimes split into two parts, separating the compulsory subjects (stage one) from the optional electives (stage two, which students have the option of completing at a later date – even during their training contracts). However, most students opt to take stage two immediately after completing stage one, so full-time students usually complete the LPC in the space of one academic year, before starting their training contract.
Are law firms still recruiting LPC graduates? Read our advice via The Oracle.
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