5 essential factors when choosing your legal qualification route 

Choosing how to qualify in law can feel overwhelming. With multiple pathways available – SQE, CILEX, CLC and more – how do you decide which route is right for you? Legal education expert and Law Training Centre Co-Founder Dino Dullabh breaks down the decision-making process into five crucial factors that every aspiring lawyer should consider… 

1. Area of Law: Start With Your Destination

“I’ve always heard people tell me they want to be a solicitor, or they want to be a chartered legal exec,” says Dino, “But I always flip the question: So, what area of law do you want to practise in?” 

This fundamental question should drive your decision. As Dino emphasises, “You’re going to be doing this day in and day out for a long time.” 

Each route offers different specialisations: 

• SQE (Solicitor): Authorised to practise as a solicitor with no restrictions on work areas, though you’ll specialise in practice 

• CILEX (CILEX Practitioner/Chartered Legal Executive): Specialist route to practise in a chosen area including civil, criminal, family, conveyancing, probate, employment, business and immigration. 

• CLC (Licensed Conveyancer/Licensed Probate Practitioner): Specialist route to practise in conveyancing and/or probate. 

When choosing an area of law, it is important to consider your personal interests, the skills you possess and your career goals. 

With options to specialise through routes like CILEX and CLC, those who know exactly the area of law they want to work in no longer need to study unnecessary additional topics that they won’t use in practice and can instead take a more streamlined route to their chosen field. 

2. Assessment Style: Know Your Strengths

“Assessment style has been thrust into the spotlight with the introduction of the SQE,” Dino observes. The multiple-choice format of the SQE1 has proven particularly challenging, requiring candidates to select the “best” answer to a presented scenario – a task Dino describes as “particularly tricky” in law where “there’s often more than one interpretation.” 

The assessment formats vary significantly: 

• SQE: Multiple choice question format. The exams are intensive – SQE1 is sat over 2 days and SQE2 is sat over five days with a lag of up to 18 weeks for marking and results. 

• CILEX: Online exams which include multiple choice questions, and other automated response questions, and scenario‑based applied questions, varied in proportion at different stages of the qualification. 

• CLC: Course work-based assessments at Level 4, with the exception of an accounts unit. Exam based assessments at Level 6 which allow for reference materials. These exams can also be completed online as well as in-person written assessments depending on your chosen provider.  

Advancements in the legal education sector have opened many doors for aspiring solicitors as the routes to qualification have become a lot more flexible, allowing you to choose a qualification that makes sense for your preferred examination style. 

3. Cost: The Investment Reality

The financial differences between routes are stark: 

• SQE: £5,000 for exams alone, potentially £20,000+ with more expensive prep courses (Law Training Centre offers more affordable alternatives, with prep courses starting at £2,900 with scholarships available) 

• CILEX: £2,500-£6,700 depending on Level 

• CLC: £2,500 for law graduates 

But the real sting comes with resits. As Dino warns, with SQE “it could cost you another £5000 on top if you needed to resit”. The figure could even be higher than this if you require multiple resits. Meanwhile, the CLC route includes a free resit with each unit, and CILEX resits cost only £110-270. 

The SQE also limits you to three attempts – after that, you must wait six years. This restriction doesn’t apply to other routes. 

So, it’s definitely worth really factoring this in, and figuring out which route will work for you financially. 

4. Work Experience: Quality vs Quantity

The work experience requirements differ between each pathway: 

• SQE: 2 years in any area of law, highly flexible but if you wish to practice in a particular area of law, you need to have trained in your chosen specialism 

• CLC: 1,200 hours over 2 years in conveyancing/probate specifically 

• CILEX: 2,300 hours over 3 years with the last 2 years being in your chosen specialism 

As Dino advises: “Just because the job doesn’t say training contract doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t give you qualifying work experience.” 

With all of these pathways you no longer need the traditional ‘training contract’, opening doors to qualifying for more aspiring lawyers. It means that if you have gained qualifying work experience working as a paralegal, volunteering at a law clinic or even taking on some legal work alongside your degree, you may be able to use your experience towards your chosen pathway. 

Take a look at the experience you’ve already got and see if it fits with any of these routes. 

5. Time to Qualify: The Reality Check

All routes take roughly 12-36 months, but flexibility varies dramatically. It is possible to complete the CLC Level 4 or Level 6 in as little as 12 months. If you qualify for any exemptions on any of the pathways, your completion time may be even less. 

Exam scheduling makes a significant difference: 

• SQE: Fixed windows (2 per year for SQE1 and 4 per year for SQE2) 

• CILEX: Twice yearly (January and June) 

• CLC: On-demand – book when you’re ready 

Dino’s advice? Keep perspective: “When you get a bit further on in your career you realise this isn’t a huge amount of time.” Investing in your career advancement now for 12-36 months is worth it when you consider your career will span much further. 

Making Your Decision 

As Dino concludes, “It’s never really been a single factor… in my experience, it’s always been at least two factors.”  

The key is to start with your desired area of law, then evaluate which route best aligns with your learning style, financial situation, and life circumstances. Whether you choose SQE, CILEX, CLC, or something else, remember that each pathway has produced successful lawyers who are thriving in their careers.   

Wondering how it works in practice? Read through our learner stories to see how some of our learners picked the right course for them! 

Your route to qualification doesn’t define your potential – it’s simply the vehicle that gets you there.