What can or can't the Conservatives do for aspiring lawyers?

Despite polls suggesting a hung parliament, David Cameron resumed his position as prime minister, this time with a Conservative majority.

For those wishing to qualify as a solicitor, the government’s next steps may impact the decision as to whether to proceed with the traditional university route or an apprenticeship qualification.

William Hague recently intimated that the Conservative party has not ruled out an increase in tuition fees. It is thought that any further increase will deter students from opting for a law degree, although, on reflection, this was not the case with the trebling of tuition fees implemented by the coalition government. The Law Society notes that in 2012, 20,070 students were accepted onto a university law degree course. The number decreased slightly from the previous academic year, the last with a £3,000 tuition cap, but not drastically enough to deduce that students had been put off studying for a law degree.

However, with the apprenticeship route gaining momentum, a further increase in tuition fees may entice individuals to choose the apprenticeship route. The Conservatives’ manifesto included a pledge to boost apprenticeships, therefore further government support for additional apprenticeship opportunities is not difficult to imagine. In 2012 the government gave nearly £1m to the legal sector to create 750 legal apprenticeships.

What is more concerning is the government’s pledge to fund postgraduate courses. Legal practice course (LPC) providers are often criticised for charging extortionate fees from students who have little chance of securing a training contract. For now,
LPCs are, typically, funded privately, through law firm sponsorship or via a bank loan.
It is not clear whether the planned postgraduate loan system (repaid on an income-contingent basis) will include LPCs; some LPCs are advertised as a ‘master’s’, which would suggest funding for this qualification. If so, the decision to undertake an LPC will be taken far more lightly than if students were, say, taking out a bank loan, which provides no reprieve from repayments in the case of unemployment.

In turn, this may spurn an increasing surplus of LPC graduates without a training contract. According to the Law Society’s Annual Statistics Report published last month, in the period from 1 August 2013 to 31 July 2014, the number of training contracts registered was 6 per cent lower than the previous year; this is a serious concern. As a result, the newly appointed Lord Chancellor, Michael Gove, should ensure LPC providers do not find a loophole to secure postgraduate loans. This is at the expense of those unable to access private funding or sponsorship; however, it will stop the LPC floodgates from fully opening.

Nonetheless, with apprenticeships providing an appealing alternative to incurring debt, the necessity for the LPC may, in the future, be eradicated
if the apprenticeship route is accepted by the legal community as a serious route to law. This notion will be challenged more than ever as we are likely see an increase in legal apprentices under the new government. SJ

Natasza Slater is a trainee at Howard Kennedy