CPE/Graduate Diploma in Law

About the Course

The CPE programme has become an established and widely recognised route into both branches of the legal profession.

The Joint Academic Stage Board externally validates the programme, which is specifically designed to enable non-law graduates to satisfy the academic stage of the process of legal training, thereby enabling successful students to embark on a vocational training course with a view to entering the legal profession as a solicitor or barrister.

Aims

The programme covers the core modules that constitute a qualifying Law degree (and therefore exemption from the academic stage of legal training) in an accelerated one-year format.

Enquiries

Adrienne O'Brien, Assistant School Manager
Email: adrienne.obrien@brunel.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1895 266229
Fax +44 (0)1895 269875
Web www.brunel.ac.uk/law

Course Director: Dr Gerard Conway

Special Features

Law at Brunel University is well-established and highly rated for its published scholarship, and well known amongst law firms for its distinctive undergraduate sandwich courses.

The Law School at Brunel provides a personalised approach to the CPE programme, with a relatively small class cohort that allows students to get to know both the academic staff and each other during the year of study.

The course begins with a two-week, specially designed induction programme, delivered by an experienced CPE lecturer, in order to facilitate your transition to legal studies.

The Law School is currently establishing a CPE Alumni Network that you will be able to benefit from as a student, in the form of talks on careers options and advice and through contact opportunities, and later by joining.
 
Brunel has an excellent, award-winning Placement and Careers Service, with a dedicated contact point for Law, and you will be able to benefit from this service throughout the programme.

Course Content

The CPE in Law programme seeks to cover the 'core' modules, which constitute a qualifying law degree (and therefore exemption from the Academic Stage of Legal Training) in an accelerated (one-year) format. In accordance with The Joint Academic Stage Board regulations, students will be required to undertake eight modules including the seven 'core' modules of the qualifying law degree (see below), and Evidence. Each module will be worth 20 credits and the overall programme will consist of 160 credits taken at level three.

Additionally, students will have to complete a formal induction programme lasting two weeks before the main body of the course begins. This induction programme will involve directed study and a course in English Legal Institutions and Method, and covers essential legal research skills in order to prepare students and furnish them with the basic skills that they will require for the study of law. This full-time programme is intended to run over a single academic year, with 40-50 study hours over 36 weeks, inclusive of a two week period for the formal induction course and a two week examination period at the end of each term.

Modules (all core)

• Two-week Induction
• Contract Law
• Criminal Law
• Public Law
• Tort
• European Union Law
• Land Law
• Trusts
• Evidence

Assessment

Modules will be taught through lectures and seminars. Students will be required to read set materials in preparation for these classes. These materials will be made available either through the School, in the library or on the web. Students will be expected to discuss the material, read, engage in role-play and to undertake research exercises.

Work undertaken will be assessed primarily through unseen examination papers. In some years, essays may be assigned in some modules, but all modules allow for optional formative assessment (ie which are not part of your final assessment grades) in order to provide students with ongoing feedback. This should enable students to obtain feedback from teachers and appreciate what is required from written work at an advanced level before undertaking examinations. The Evidence module will be assessed by means of a long essay; this is designed to enable students to acquire and demonstrate independent learning and legal research and writing skills.

Careers

Career opportunities for graduates are wide-ranging. You may take advantage of your professional exemptions and train to become a barrister or solicitor, but your graduate diploma could take you into careers other than law, including industry, commerce, public administration and the social services.

In addition, the course has been attractive to law graduates from other jurisdictions who wish to acquire a through grounding in the common law of England and Wales, in order to facilitate international practice from their own jurisdiction. 

Fees for 2012/13 entry

Home/EU students: £7,130 full-time

International students: £11,330 full-time

Read about funding opportunities available to postgraduate students

Fees quoted are per annum and are subject to an annual increase.

Entry Requirements for 2012 Entry

Applicants will normally be expected to have obtained at least a second class undergraduate degree in a discipline other than Law. A good degree is clearly a prerequisite for any candidate wishing to apply to undertake the CPE/Graduate Diploma in Law. Owing to the intensity and level of difficulty of the course most candidates would be expected to have gained at least a 2.1 in an academic discipline. However, candidates with a lesser degree would be considered if there was clear evidence that the individual possessed sufficient commitment and intellectual capability. In addition, mature applicants (aged at least 25 years) are welcome to apply if they demonstrate relevant professional and prior educational achievement.

If your degree is from an institution outside the UK and Ireland, you will need to obtain a Certificate of Academic Standing from the Solicitors Regulation Authority and/or the Bar Standards Board. Further information is available on the Solicitors Regulation Authority website and on the Bar Standards Board website (see Form D).

English Language Requirements

• IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas)
• TOEFL Paper test: 580 (TWE 4.5)
• TOEFL Internet test: 92 (R20, L20, S20, W20)
• Pearson: 59 (51 in all subscores)
• BrunELT 65% (min 60% in all areas)

Brunel also offers our own BrunELT English Test and accept a range of other language courses. We also have a range of Pre-sessional English language courses, for students who do not meet these requirements, or who wish to improve their English.