Financial PlanningFINANCIAL PLANNING
The total cost of qualifying as a solicitor or barrister is quite considerable, and prospective entrants to either profession are advised to investigate potential sources of funding available at each stage of qualification.
Since 1998 full-time students starting higher education have had to contribute towards their tuition fees - £1,100 a year (which are waived in full only for the minority of students whose parental income does not exceed £20,480), so that the average student will emerge from a three-year degree course with a debt of £10,000. This figure is expected to rise.
Students who have not obtained a qualifying law degree will need to complete a CPE/GDL, for which course fees will range from £1,085 - £5,900. They will obviously need to take into account the cost of living as well as course fees. Grants from local authorities are discretionary and are now rarely available, if at all, to students doing the one-year conversion course (CPE/GDL).
Likewise, the Bar Vocational Course and Legal Practice Course fall into the category for discretionary awards. For students intending to qualify as a solicitor, the course fees for the Legal Practice Course range from £4,950 - £8,250, depending on location (the average is £6,337), with subsistence costs on top. In order to assist with the payment of fees, some of the Legal Practice Course institutions will accept payment of fees by instalments. Part-time study is available throughout the training scheme.
What you earn when you start your training contract varies wildly depending on your firm and which part of the country you are based in. The Law Society recommends a minimum wage of £16,450 for Central London and £14,720 for trainees in other parts of England and Wales. However, these figures belie the true picture: Central London starting salaries are in excess of £30,000, with some firms currently offering almost £50,000. In the regions, the majority of firms are offering between £14,000 and £20,000.
For a student undertaking the Bar Vocational Course year (without, in most cases, a promise of pupillage still less a tenancy), he/she is faced with fees for the BVC course of some £7,000 - £11,000 depending on location, and subsistence costs to the order of £6,500 - £7,500. A part-time course is available at two of the London institutions. Moving into the pupillage period of training for the Bar, pupillage awards vary considerably, although all pupillages have to be funded to a minimum of £5,000 per six months plus reasonable travel expenses. Pupils also need a wig and gown which will cost in the region of £550. Again there will be living costs to consider.
Some funds are avialable for those with limited resources, and these are listed on our Scholarships and Funding page.
The information provided on this page is courtesy of LCAN - the Law Careers Advisory Network. Their website can be visited at www.lcan.org.uk
|
