Number of places: 60 FT, 40 PT

Fees (2011/12):£8,200

BCU welcomes a small intake for its LPC and is therefore able to “give individual students that bit more attention; if we see they are struggling we can help address that with them.” The recently refurbished law school has a fresh new look and houses a range of facilities to enhance the LPC, including a dedicated LPC room and practitioners' library and mock courtrooms. Full-time students attend class three days a week, with Thursday and Friday off to pursue other activities, and electives are timetabled over one or two days. Part-time students are in two evenings a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Teaching is delivered through a mixture of small and large group sessions. Skills are integrated into the core practice areas taught to students at Stage One and also through standalone skills sessions. On Mondays, the focus is business law and practice, litigation on Tuesdays and property law and practice on Wednesdays. Audio lectures are available online alongside other course materials and the law school makes extensive use of the university's virtual town, SHAREVILLE– this is an open resource and we recommend you check it out for yourself! In this virtual world LPC students are part of 'BCU Solicitors'. They access resources from the firm library and receive work from a partner who acts as their 'supervisor'. Case studies cover the core practice areas and incorporate exercises and quizzes. An advanced criminal litigation elective was introduced in 2010 and has proved very popular among students.

A number of BCU graduates stay at the university for the LPC although they make up less than half the people on the course. Students have mixed career aspirations and BCU aims to deliver a broad LPC so that “students aren't disenfranchised from any potential market.” To help them in their search for a training contract the law school is “continuing to develop and enhance students' employability through various initiatives.” These include access to the university’s careers service and a mentoring scheme which pairs budding lawyers with local solicitors. A guest speaker programme provides careers advice and tips on networking, CVs and interviews. On the drawing board for the near future: pro bono schemes and work placements to enable students to gain practical work experience. The law school is currently reviewing the possibility of introducing a top-up LLM.