Skip to main content

Solicitors and Barristers

However your legal career begins, remember that many people change employer or practice area if they find something that suits them better. Some barristers requalify as solicitors, some solicitors retrain as barristers. Some jobs suit either profession and many qualified lawyers are welcomed into other professions if they choose to leave law. So your first legal job is not the end of it - many options remain open.

Solicitor |  Barrister

Becoming a Solicitor

The basic qualification route is simple. It requires no law degree, and no training contract. Below the basics set out here, there is an explanation of how these steps are affected by a traditional training contract.

Requirement 1: Complete your degree in any subject Any undergraduate or Masters degree from the LSE (or any recognised overseas degree)

Requirement 2: For those without UK LLB or significant overseas common law experience, a Law Conversion Course is highly recommended While not technically mandatory, this is recommended to prepare you for the English legal knowledge tested in the SQE. Many firms require their non-law graduate trainees to take this course.

Requirement 3: Pass the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) The SQE is a two-part centralised assessment for all aspiring solicitors. Exemptions from SQE2 are often available for those with significant overseas qualified experience. You can do these exams before, during or after your QWE.

  • SQE1: Functioning Legal Knowledge (FLK) This is a multiple-choice examination testing your broad legal knowledge on topics like Contract, Tort, Criminal Law, Land Law, and more. You must pass SQE1 before you can attempt SQE2.
  • SQE2: Practical Legal Skills This assessment tests your practical skills through simulated legal tasks, including client interviewing, advocacy, legal writing and drafting, and case analysis.

Requirement 4: Complete Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) You must complete two years of full-time (or equivalent) QWE. This is a very flexible requirement. QWE can be completed at up to four different organisations, such as a law firm, an in-house legal team, or a law clinic and can theoretically be satisfied by any work with legal content (eg law clerk, paralegal etc.). It can be undertaken before, during, or after your SQE exams.

Requirement 5: Meet Character & Suitability Requirements and Apply for Admission

You must pass the SRA's character and suitability assessment before applying for admission to the roll of solicitors.

So what is a “training contract” then?

Before QWE was introduced, every solicitor had to qualify by successfully completing a training contract. The name remains, but from a technical perspective, today’s training contracts simply satisfy the QWE requirements by providing the QWE at one place, with a commitment to provide it for the full two years.

Many law firms (and all City firms) will require their trainees to pass the SQE exams before they start the training contract. Some firms (and in-house departments) will even pay for the law school fees and maintenance while you take these SQE exams (and the conversion course if relevant), but they may also require you to take the training through a particular provider so that they are comfortable with the style and content of your teaching.

The traditional application window for training contracts opens each September, with many firms closing their books well before the year end. Some remain open into the New Year to catch late applicants, but some key players reopen for a short time in June for law students only. In almost all cases, successful candidates applying in the academic year 2025/2026, will start their training contract in September 2028 or March 2029 after spending one (or two for non-law graduates) years at law school.

Should I bother with a training contract if I could qualify as an English solicitor by taking SQE 1 and using my overseas QWE?

Whether it makes sense for you to attempt to take the SQE exams alongside or after your LLM, will depend on your personal circumstances. However, it is worth noting:

  • If you are hoping to gain a UK training contract at a decent commercial firm, the chance of success will generally not be increased by taking the SQE exams. Your judgement may even be questioned. The firms often prefer candidates to do the SQE through their chosen provider in a cohort of future trainees for that firm, and the costs of the students doing so are already built into their model, so you are unlikely to gain any preference by choosing to pay for the course yourself. Very few training contracts are available that allow an earlier start date, even if the SQE exams have been passed.
  • If you wish to work in the less well funded parts of the UK legal profession, such as crime, immigration or human rights, then it is unlikely that an employer would be able to pay for your SQE studies. A willingness to pay for it yourself, and having the exams already done, may therefore tip the odds in your favour. But remember that these parts of the profession do not generally have funding to sponsor candidates who need a work visa.
  • If instead you are hoping simply to go home having qualified in the UK by passing SQE 1 and then using significant overseas experience as a qualified lawyer to gain exemption from SQE 2, it is a relatively easy way to qualify as an English solicitor. Whether this is useful when applying for any UK legal roles for qualified lawyers, will be entirely dependent on the extent and area of your previous legal experience. This will matter much more than whether or not you have passed the SQE

Becoming a Barrister

Governed by the Bar Standards Board (BSB), the path to the Bar is structured around three core components: academic, vocational, and work-based learning. This roadmap outlines your journey, whether or not you have an English LLB. A unique and essential part of this journey is membership of an Inn of Court.

The Role of the Inns of Court

Before you can be a barrister, you must belong to one of the four historic Inns of Court (inner Temple, Middle Temple, Lincoln’s Inn and Gray’s Inn). These are not just buildings - they are the heart of the profession's collegiate and educational community. Every aspiring barrister must join one before starting the vocational component of their training. The Inns welcome students members, allowing many opportunities to mix and learn from qualified barristers. Since all are only a few minutes away from campus, LSE students are well placed to take advantage of this. Which Inn you apply to is normally determined by where you best meet the Inn’s scholarship criteria.

What do the Inns do?

They "Call" you to the Bar: Only an Inn has the power to perform the ceremony that formally qualifies you as a barrister.

Provide Scholarships: The Inns are a major source of funding, offering scholarships each year to help students fund the expensive Bar Course and pupillage stages. Gaining a scholarship is an important indicator of your likely success in gaining pupillage, even if you are able to fund the study yourself.

Offer Essential Training: You must complete a number of 'Qualifying Sessions' with your Inn. These are a mix of training, formal dinners, and networking events that introduce you to the culture and ethics of the Bar.

Provide a Professional Community: From your student days throughout your entire career, your Inn provides advocacy training, mentoring, and a vital professional support network.

The steps to become a UK barrister

Step 1: The Academic Component

You must obtain:

EITHER at least a 2:2 in a “qualifying law degree” (basically only a UK or Irish LLB). An LSE LLM and all other overseas law degrees DO NOT COUNT as a qualifying law degree for these purposes;

OR at least a 2:2 in any undergraduate degree PLUS a law conversion course to give you the basic foundation in English law (the Graduate Diploma in Law). This course is available through numerous specialist law schools, on a full time or part time basis and on a full time basis, takes a year to complete.

Step 2: Join an Inn of Court

You must apply and be accepted as a member of one of the Inns of Court before you begin the next step.

Step 3: The Vocational Component (The Bar Training Course)

You must pass the Bar Training Course, approved by the Bar Standards Board, to build your core skills in advocacy, case preparation, opinion writing and legal ethics. This one year (or two years part time) course can be taken at numerous specialist law schools.

Step 4: Be "Called to the Bar"

If you pass the Bar Training Course, you will be formally "Called to the Bar" by your Inn. This ceremony makes you a barrister, but you cannot yet practise independently.

Step 5: The Work-Based Learning Component (Pupillage)

This is the final, practical stage of your training. You must secure and complete a one-year pupillage in a barristers' chambers or another approved organisation. Pupillage is essentially an apprenticeship under an experienced barrister. The first six months ('first six') are spent shadowing your pupil supervisor, while in the 'second six' you may begin to take on your own cases and clients.

Step 6: Gain Tenancy

After successfully completing pupillage, you can apply to become a tenant in a chambers or secure a permanent role as an employed barrister, allowing you to practise independently.