Law CPE PGDip

Overview

The Postgraduate Diploma in Law (PGDip)/Common Professional Examination (CPE) is a conversion programme enabling graduates in any non-law subject to convert to a career in law. You can take the course at the end of your degree or use it as bridge from one graduate career to another.
The course provides you with a sound knowledge of:
- the English legal system and process
- those areas of law considered to be fundamental to any study of law (the seven 'foundations of legal knowledge')
- at least one other area of legal study as a project - you will choose the topic.
You will develop practical skills in legal research, problem-solving, critical analysis and communication. Classes are taught in small groups of exclusively postgraduate law students by enthusiastic, expert lecturers, committed to research and teaching excellence.
There is a significant demand for non-law graduates to enter the legal profession. Their maturity, motivation and expertise in another discipline are regarded as important qualities by potential employers.

Course duration
Full-time: 1 year
Part-time: 2-4 years
Course content

Course structure

The part-time course is based on an average study commitment of 20 hours per week, 15 hours per week of which is private study. Full-time students will devote, on average, 30 hours a week to study outside class time. Before you start this course you will be expected to complete a programme of preliminary reading.
The programme begins in September with a module on the English legal system, method and skills. This provides participants with the essential skills needed to underpin their legal studies.
The seven modules which cover the 'Foundations of Legal Knowledge' are taught through a combination of lectures, seminars and workshops. All the teaching is scheduled into blocks of 3 hours. Also, for each module, there is a 3-hour revision workshop towards the end of the year. Assessment is by means of coursework and/or examination.
The independent research module (the project) involves researching and writing a 5,000 word dissertation on an area of law that you are particularly interested in.

Syllabus

Year 1
- Legal system, method and skills
Sources, personnel and structure of the English legal system; civil and criminal process; access to justice; the impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 on the English legal system.
- Contract law
The rules relating to the formation, operation and termination of contracts, including the remedies available to the parties and the doctrine of privity of contract; an outline of the law of restitution.
- Law of torts
The foundations of tortious liability, including vicarious and joint liability and remedies in respect of torts; the principal torts (eg negligence, trespass, nuisance, defamation) and their constituent elements.
- Public law
Constitutional legal principles; the basic features and characteristics of the UK's constitution; civil liberties; administrative law, including judicial review.
- European Union law
The institutions and constitutional framework of the EU; the implementation and enforcement of EU law (including the free movement of workers, competition law, consumer protection law); the relationship between EU law and national law.
Year 2
- Criminal law
The general foundations of criminal liability and defences; the major criminal offences (eg homicide, non-fatal offences against the person, theft) and their constituent elements.
- Equity and trusts
The relationship between equity and the common law; types of trust, the role of trustees and consequences of a breach of trust; nature and scope of equitable rights and equitable remedies.
- Land law
The foundation concepts of land law; the relationship between the common law and equitable rights; the scope, nature and effect of estates and interests in land; registered and unregistered conveyancing; co-ownership; the essentials of landlord and tenant.
Project
A significant piece of independent, self-managed research in an area of law other than those set out above. Recent topics have included:
- ancillary relief
- assisted suicide
- breach of duty in medical negligence
- commercial surrogacy
- domestic violence
- European copyright in relation to online copyright protection
- legal issues in biomedicine - human embryo research and gene therapy
- repossession orders
- the duty of care owed to mentally ill prisoners
- the powers of detention in the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.
Entry requirements

Typical entry requirements
individual offers may vary
For non-native speakers of English:
If English is not your first language, you will need English language proficiency equivalent to IELTS minimum 6.5 overall with 6 in the written test.
Other:
HOW TO APPLY
- Applications for the full-time course
You should apply for the full-time course through the Central Applications Board. For details see: www.lawcabs.ac.uk. Please note that the Central Applications Board refer to this course as the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL). If you have any queries regarding applications for the full-time course, please call 01273 642 571 or contact the Central Applications Board at GDL@lawcabs.ac.uk.

- Applications for the part-time course
You can apply for the part-time course using our online application form - see the link at the bottom of the 'Apply online' section.
Degree and/or experience:
Students applying for this course must fall into one of the following two categories.
Either:
- You must have obtained an undergraduate degree awarded by a recognised UK or Republic of Ireland institution (at least II(ii) standard if you wish to qualify as a barrister). This does not include foundation degrees.
or
- Applicants with non-standard UK degrees or qualifications obtained overseas will need to obtain a Certificate of Academic Standing. Prospective solicitors should obtain the certificate from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Prospective barristers should obtain the certificate from the Bar Council.
Location

Location Moulsecoomb
Career opportunities

On successful completion of the Common Professional Examination (CPE), you will be awarded a postgraduate diploma in Law. The diploma satisfies all the requirements of the Joint Academic Stage Board for completing the academic stage of professional legal training. You can progress onto the Legal Practice Course to become a solicitor, or the Bar Professional Training Course to become a barrister.
The course is highly relevant to a range of other occupations within the justice sector and those with a significant law aspect, such as consumer, housing and welfare advice work, social work, the prosecution service and the police.
- Career planning from day one
We realise that careful career planning is crucial from the outset of your course, especially for students who wish to practise as a lawyer, where competition can be fierce. You will be able to attend workshops on qualifying as a lawyer and we hold an annual legal careers forum.
- Close links with industry
Brighton Business School has strong links with the local legal profession. You will benefit from guest lectures by local practitioners and judges, as well as sponsorship and placement opportunities. Many of our students now work for local firms.
- Work-based placements
Students who aspire to qualify as lawyers are encouraged to undertake short law-related work shadowing placements during vacation periods, in solicitors firms and the Crown Prosecution Service, mini-pupillages in barristers chambers, and internships with judges. All students have access to the range of services offered by the Careers Service, including individual counselling sessions, CV checking, and mock interviews.
- Practical skills development
Our simulated magistrates court project provides you with the opportunity to examine and cross-examine trainee police officers about real cases before local magistrates in an authentic court room environment. We run workshops in mooting and advocacy skills, and you will have the opportunity to take part in national mooting competitions.

Visit the careers centre website.
Fees and costs

The fees listed here are for the academic year 2012-13.

Part-time*
UK/Europe student: £2,550
International student: £4,500

Full-time
UK/Europe student: £5,100
International student: £9,000

* Further tuition fees are payable for the subsequent years of part time study. Fees listed are for the first year of a 2 year part time course. Fees for 3 or 4 year course duration available from s.r.sutcliffe@brighton.ac.uk
More details

Excellent facilities

You will have access to a range of online legal research services, such as Westlaw, Lawtel, Lexis Nexis Butterworths and HeinOnline. These online resources can be accessed whether on or off campus.

We also have an outstanding library which houses the tools of the lawyers' trade: primary sources of law such as statutes and cases, and secondary sources such as books, periodicals and journals.

Other student support services include the university's careers centre, welfare service, a counselling service, chaplaincy and childcare provision.

Student Law Society

The University of Brighton boasts a thriving Student Law Society, established and run by students for the purpose of organising social events, arranging talks by visiting speakers and facilitating debates and mooting.

Educational events have included visits to Lewes Crown Court, Brighton Magistrates Court, the Houses of Parliament, and national law fairs. The society provides excellent opportunities for personal development.

Masters in Law (LLM)

On successful completion of the CPE conversion course, you can either go directly into the vocational stage of your legal training or enrol for a further year of study to obtain the Masters in Law (LLM) award.

The LLM degree is essentially an optional learning module that involves researching and writing a dissertation on a legal topic of your choice. Recent topics have included media law, medical law, family law, housing law and international law.

You will be allocated a subject-specialist supervisor drawn from the law subject group who will be available to support you, advise you and discuss your personal research needs during the year. In addition, LLM students have the opportunity to attend workshops covering research methods and ethical issues and to share ideas and strategies.

Many law firms prefer job candidates with an LLM degree because it indicates that a lawyer has acquired advanced, specialised legal training.

Assessment for the LLM award comprises a 15,000 - 20,000 word dissertation.
Student views

John Yates, Associate, DMH Stallard

It was with some trepidation that I completed an application form for the Law CPE at the University of Brighton. Its not that I had reservations about the course, I did about myself. Fifteen years in the music industry had taught me a great deal about life (on the wild side) but little about the law. I should also add I was not entirely confident that I could retrain and qualify as a solicitor as I was clearly not fresh out of university.

The teaching staff quickly dispelled those doubts and gave me the confidence to make the great leap forwards. Indeed, I use many of the skills taught to me on a daily basis in my professional career, particularly when analysing complex commercial or IP-related issues.

The results? Following a great two years at Brighton, I sailed through law school achieving distinctions in all subjects and landed a training contract with the south-easts top-ranked law firm, DMH Stallard.

Jennifer Cove, Postgraduate Diploma in Law/CPE student

The privilege of mooting at the Supreme Court in London, beyond the thrill of simply being in the building, was valuable in many ways, but especially good practice at overcoming nerves. The very positive nature of the experience as a whole has strengthened my resolve to continue in the law and given me a greater sense of confidence that I will carry forward throughout my studies and into professional settings as well.

I'm very grateful to Sarah Field, course leader, for making such a tremendous chance available to us and would definitely urge other students to take advantage of similar opportunities in the future.

Dr John Russell, Solicitor-Advocate (Higher Rights Civil Proceedings)

I started the part-time CPE (a ‘law conversion’ degree) in 2005, aged 33. I’d had a long period of illness and I was feeling quite stuck and unhappy in where my life had ended up. I signed up for the CPE on the spur of the moment (having been an English graduate), thinking that one day a week wouldn’t be any great shakes. I ended up finding it totally absorbing and genuinely life-changing.

I obtained a Distinction; won the Oxford University Press Prize for best first year student, the Sweet & Maxwell Prize for best second year student, and the Head of School Prize for best postgraduate project.

I went on to qualify as a lawyer at a leading human rights firm in London, specialising in actions against the police, prison law and deaths in custody. I’m now a Solicitor-Advocate and split my time between teaching Criminal Law and Litigation, and running a free community Legal Advice Clinic in South London.

I would have no hesitation in recommending the University of Brighton, especially the Law department. All of my tutors were friendly, enthusiastic and extremely patient when explaining something for the umpteenth time. Even if you’re not sure about going the whole hog and becoming a lawyer, the CPE is an amazing course that will broaden your awareness and impress prospective employers.
Apply online
You should not apply unless you can meet all the entry requirements for this course. Please contact the course team before applying if you are unsure about any of the specific entry requirements.

Entry requirements
For non-native speakers of English:
If English is not your first language, you will need English language proficiency equivalent to IELTS minimum 6.5 overall with 6 in the written test.
Other:
HOW TO APPLY
- Applications for the full-time course
You should apply for the full-time course through the Central Applications Board. For details see: www.lawcabs.ac.uk. Please note that the Central Applications Board refer to this course as the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL). If you have any queries regarding applications for the full-time course, please call 01273 642 571 or contact the Central Applications Board at GDL@lawcabs.ac.uk.

- Applications for the part-time course
You can apply for the part-time course using our online application form - see the link at the bottom of the 'Apply online' section.
Degree and/or experience:
Students applying for this course must fall into one of the following two categories.
Either:
- You must have obtained an undergraduate degree awarded by a recognised UK or Republic of Ireland institution (at least II(ii) standard if you wish to qualify as a barrister). This does not include foundation degrees.
or
- Applicants with non-standard UK degrees or qualifications obtained overseas will need to obtain a Certificate of Academic Standing. Prospective solicitors should obtain the certificate from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Prospective barristers should obtain the certificate from the Bar Council.
- Law (Common Professional Examination) (PGDip) (Part time)