According to various reports and surveys, you’ll have already saddled yourself with between £15,000 and £30,000 of debt as an undergraduate. Now you’re contemplating starting an even more expensive course, be it the GDL, LPC or BPTC. So how can you ease the financial burden?

Secure sponsorship before starting your training contract

If you’re interested in commercial law or want to work at one of the larger firms in the UK, there’s a chance you might be able to find a firm that will sponsor you through law school. These firms tend to recruit two years in advance of the start of the training contract so you’ll need to get your act together well ahead of time. Not only will such firms cover the cost of course fees (LPC and usually GDL too), they may well give you a few thousand pounds towards cost of living. Details of what solicitors' firms are offering their future trainees are given in our Salaries and Benefits table.

The lucky minority of BPTC students will already have a pupillage lined up. At the more affluent sets, the size of the pupillage award is now comparable with City trainee/NQ salaries. Usually a decent chunk of the pupillage award can be drawn down to cover BPTC expenses. At the more modest sets there may be no money available for the BPTC at all. Further information about funding is given in the Bar section of this guide.

Local authority grants

LEA grants are hard to get and very limited. It’s still worth finding the contact details for your LEA at www.studentfinance.direct.gov.uk and testing the water.

The Inns of Court

If you’re training to be a barrister you can apply for a range of GDL and BPTC scholarships from the Inns of Court. Around a quarter of BPTC students get some funding and there’s over £4m up for grabs.

Scholarships

Here’s some of the ones we found:

• The Law Society Bursary Scheme is open to GDL or LPC students.
• The Law Society Diversity Access Scheme supports talented people who face obstacles to qualification.
• Inderpal Rahal Memorial Trust supports women from an immigrant or refugee background. Contact irmt@gclaw.co.uk for more details.
• The Kalisher Scholarship works with each of the BPTC providers to ensure that every year one talented but financially disadvantaged student has a free place on the course. For more information: http://www.thekalishertrust.org/contact.php
• The Leonard Sainer Foundation provides financial assistance in the form of interest-free loans of £10,000 each, to help fund either the LPC or BPTC. For further information go to www.charitiesdirect.com
• The Student Disability Assistance Fund can award up to £500 for people studying on a full-time or nearly full-time basis. See http://www.bahshe.co.uk/student-disability-fund/student-disability-fund.html
• Universities and publicly funded colleges have discretionary college access funds available to assist especially hard-up students. The major LPC/BPTC providers usually have a number of scholarships to assist select students with fees, etc.
• The HM Hubbard Law Scholarship is for trainees and recently admitted solicitors who want to study the law and legal procedures in France, Spain or Canada. Up to £15,000 a year is available.
• The Human Rights Lawyers Association makes up to five awards from a bursary fund of up to £6,000 to those who wish to undertake unpaid/poorly paid human rights work, either during their training or soon after.
• Leeds Legal runs an essay competition with a prize of £1,000 and a summer placement with a top legal firm.
• The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Chevening Scholarships are available for overseas students wishing to study in the UK. Cuts have been made to the programme but £12m was still available in 2011. The figure is being revised.
• Postgrad Solutions offers a small number of £500 bursaries for LLM students.

Law school scholarships

Individual law schools have scholarship programmes. Go to our website for details.

Where to study

Studying in London could set you back as much as double what it would elsewhere, say in Sheffield, Cardiff or Nottingham, and the quality of training isn’t necessarily going to be any better. Go to our website for tables comparing the prices of all the law schools’ courses.

Career Development Loans

First of all, if the loan isn’t from Barclays or the Co-op then it isn’t really a Career Development Loan (CDL), it’s just a bank claiming there will be no repayments to make while you study. Though that may be the case, it doesn’t mean there is no interest accruing – it could just be piling up, ready to swamp you once your studies finish. A true CDL allows you to borrow up to £10,000, with the interest paid by the Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA) while you study. Because the CDL interest rate may be higher than another loan, some people recommend taking a CDL and when the interest-free honeymoon is over, paying it off using another unsecured personal loan with a lower interest rate. Unfortunately, the GDL is no longer covered by the scheme, just the LPC and BPTC.

Bank loans

There’s a good chance that you’ve already emptied the last pennies out of your student overdraft, but never fear – you may still be eligible for more debt. Despite the credit crunch, there’s still money to be had, so check the interest rates of various banks.

As of 2010 most banks have withdrawn the special packages for customers entering the legal profession, however check out graduate accounts because they sometimes offer slightly better overdraft terms. Lloyds TSB provides loans of up to £10,000 with a repayment holiday of up to 3 months and repayment is made over a maximum period of five years. RBS’ FlexiLoan for Graduates goes up to £15,000 comes with an interest rate based on your particular circumstances. Initial payments can be deferred for four or 12 months (if you have travel plans) provided you have a firm offer of employment. The repayment period is up to five or seven years depending on the amount of the loan. To be eligible, applicants must be or become RBS customers. Whatever you do, don’t make any decisions lightly: loans involve a big commitment that only continues to grow once the debt starts to accrue.

Get a job!

Law firms are increasingly interested in applicants’ commercial awareness and ability to cope in a professional office environment, so what used to be an undesirable option can now be deployed in an interview as proof of your suitability for a career in law. Be sure to set yourself a manageable schedule and think long and hard whether full or part-time study is the most appropriate way forward. You’ll also have to decide whether to work full or part time.

LSC grants

The Legal Services Commission used to award grants to support individuals wanting to go into Legal Aid practice. Sadly, cuts have put paid to this programme.