Education & Training

Articles

19 Dec 2011

British legal education needs updating

The UK cannot compete with America or the rest of the world unless it radically adapts its system, argues John Flood

21 Nov 2011

Vocation, vocation, vocation

Universities this year saw a record drop of 5.2 per cent in applications to study law. Fees have risen at a time when interest in participating in apprenticeships has also increased – according to a recent report by the Office of National Statistics, 16.6 per cent more people took up apprenticeships in 2009/10 than in the previous year. Meanwhile in the legal market the advent of ABSs serves both to highlight the diversity of legal services offered and to change the models by which these are delivered. In doing so, will there still be a place for the law degree, or will the market be better served by on-the-job training?

17 Nov 2011

Law schools should be more realistic about graduate job prospects

Career advice centres are “really good at producing glossy brochures” and can talk about standard career options but don't provide enough individual personalised support for students pursuing a career in law, a senior charity executive has said.

7 Nov 2011

Up for debate

I recently had the dubious pleasure of attending a debate on the future of legal education at UCL. The event was entitled 'Do lawyers need to be scholars?' and was loosely based around the future of legal education and the continuing Legal Education and Training Review. It was certainly an esteemed panel, but unfortunately it was predominantly a panel of experienced academics. The opportunity to engage with those who were going through the process of legal education or with those who had just completed their academic and post-graduate experience was cleverly avoided or intentionally ignored by the academic (of course) chair. Sadly, the 'debate' didn't really get off the ground. It was more a series of generally well-intentioned statements, such as going back to the '3 Rs of law', namely research, writing and reasoning and introducing an additional two Es: ethics and economics.

1 Nov 2011

University challenged

What a relief for the profession. Judging by the number of applications for law courses, its future is safe. Graduate interest in law is still measured in thousands this year, with 13,139 applications, according to UCAS's latest figures. That's fewer than last year, for sure, which recorded 13,858 applications for law courses, but the drop is only 5.2 per cent – much better than the 7.9 per cent average across all subjects combined.

26 Oct 2011

Law course applications fall to just above UK average

University applications to study law dropped 5.2 per cent with only 13,139 applicants this year compared with 13,858 last year.

7 Oct 2011

Legal network first to unveil plan for stock market listing

A network of independent solicitors is the first legal advice provider to have announced plans for listing on the stock exchange.

20 Sept 2011

New traineeship model addresses recruitment challenges

A new training contract model launched this week promises to help firms and candidates encountering recruitment difficulties in the current economic climate by matching recruiters and applicants in a more flexible framework.