The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has recently announced updates to the exemptions they offer, meaning that those with prior legal qualifications/experience could save themselves both time and money when it comes to their studies!
There’s good news for those looking to embark on their journey to become a Licensed Conveyancer or Licensed Probate Practitioner – you may not be required to study as many units as you may think!
As a fully accredited training provider for CLC Qualifications, Law Training Centre will review and confirm, where appropriate, exemptions for prospective CLC learners who have already undertaken some form of prior learning. This means that certain units can be ‘skipped over’, preventing the need to repeat areas of study already achieved, and saving the cost of studying those particular units. The CLC have recently outlined additional prior learning that will allow learners to qualify for exemptions from certain units, or even entire levels of study.
So, what are the biggest new exemptions?
LLB/GDL and LPC
Learners who have already successfully completed either a Qualifying Law Degree, LLB (and BA with Law), or a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL), AND their Legal Practice Course (LPC) will now be able to be exempted from all units, providing they have passed the appropriate occupational core units:
- Property Law and Practice
- Wills and Administration of Estates
Along with the related non-core occupational elective:
- Advanced Commercial Property; (or)
- Private Client elective ‘Wills, Probate and Estate Planning’); and
- Solicitors accounts.
This will mean that these learners can progress straight to the Practical Experience element of their journey to become a Licensed Conveyancer, to complete the required 1,200 hours of experience and apply for their first qualifying license. In essence, this saves eligible candidates from having to complete any additional learning, amounting to a saving of approximately £5,300 in study fees.
Legal Apprenticeship at Level 3
Those who have previously completed a Level 3 Legal Apprenticeship via either the Conveyancing or Probate Pathway were, until the most recent update from the CLC, unlikely to receive any form of exemption. However, now these learners will be exempted from the whole of Level 4 in their chosen area, apart from one remaining Accounting unit.This amounts to a saving of £2,225 in study fees, and enables learners to quickly progress onto Level 6 should they wish to further their studies and become a Licensed Conveyancer or Licensed Probate Practitioner2.
Full information on the exemptions, new and existing, offered by the CLC can be found here.