Legal Practice Course

Fees for the LPC

Fees for the course starting in September 2010 are £8500 including a £100 deposit and £110 Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) registration fee. Books and course materials are also included in the course fees.

What is included?

• Convenient financial arrangements including staged payments
• Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Registration fee
• Books and course materials
• Access to Centre for Legal Practice and Departmental IT resources
• A generous allocation of free printing and photocopying
• Free tea and coffee

In addition, the SRA charges a separate fee of £80 for student membership. The SRA requires students to enroll as student members before enrolling on an LPC.

Please note that fees and deposits are subject to review for each new academic year. For up to date fees information please contact the LPC Course Administrator by email at: studylpc@aber.ac.uk or telephone +44 (01970) 622857. 

Funding your LPC

There is no Aberystwyth University centrally supported fund specifically for LPC students but here are some other funding options you may wish to investigate. Please check with the organisations concerned for current details. Information and advice about financial issues, grants, trusts and hardship funds is available on the Student Financial Support website. 

• Sponsorship by Law Firms
• Loans
• Local Authorities Assistance
• Training Support Grants from the Legal Services Commission
• The Law Society
• Disabled Students Allowance (DSA)
• Aberystwyth University
• Specific grants or bursaries from local charities or grant making trusts
• Inderpal Rahal Memorial Trust 

Sponsorship by Law Firms

Some larger firms and public sector employers sponsor their trainees, paying for course fees and living expenses. In return they would normally expect you to serve your two year training contract with them and possibly make a longer employment commitment. A number of law firms run summer placement programmes for second year undergraduates which might lead to sponsorship. You can find out more in The Training Contract and Pupillage Handbook available via www.lawcareers.net. Other useful links include: www.lawcrossing.co.uk, www.agcas.org.uk, www.agr.org.uk, www.tsg.org, www.prospects.ac.uk/ and also www.gowales.co.uk/.

Loans

Professional Trainee Loan Scheme

Bank loans are an important source of finance for people pursuing a career in law. It may be possible for you to borrow up to £20,000 and many banks offer discounted interest rates and deferred repayment options. Contact your bank for further information.

Career Development Loans

Loans of up to £8,000 are available for the LPC. These are available from Barclays Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland and the Co-operative Bank. The loans are interest free until up to one month after the end of the course but interest is payable after that date. The loan is repayable over a period of 12 to 60 months from two months after completion of the course. For further information see www.lifelonglearning.dfee.gov.uk/cdl/.

Local Authorities Assistance

Discretionary awards

Local authorities publish information detailing mandatory and discretionary award policies; they normally list courses eligible for financial support.

The Common Professional Examination, Graduate Diploma in Law and Legal Practice Course are eligible for discretionary awards. Consequently, local authorities use a series of criteria (established by officers and elected members) to decide whether an applicant qualifies for an award. Discretionary funds are always limited. Application submission deadlines vary. Contact your local authority for further information.

Exemption from council tax

If you share private accommodation with other students you may not have to pay council tax. You may need a certificate from the University verifying your student status.

Training Support Grants from the Legal Services Commission

This is a scheme to help fund the training of new legal aid solicitors. The grants are awarded to students with training contracts with a legal aid firm or other organisation within the scheme. The grants cover the tuition fees of students studying the LPC plus 75% of the Law Society's minimum salary and costs of the professional skills courses. See trainee advertisements from firms and other organisations eligible for funding. Please refer to: www.lapg.co.uk or www.lawcareers.net.

The Law Society

The Law Society Diversity Access Scheme

The scheme provides support to talented people who must overcome particular obstacles to qualify as a solicitor. Obstacles might relate to:

• social, educational, financial or family circumstances;
• a disability that makes qualifying as a solicitor especially challenging.

Successful applicants are granted sponsorship to cover fees for the CPE or the LPC. The application process normally begins each year in February. Contact the Law Society at: www.lawsociety.org.uk

The Law Society Bursary Scheme

The Law Society's Bursary Scheme is funded by several trusts and scholarships that were established to encourage the development of new solicitors. Awards from the fund are exclusively for students who have secured a place on the CPE, Graduate Diploma in Law or the LPC. To be eligible to apply for an award, you must be able to demonstrate that;

• your financial position would make it difficult for you to further your legal studies;
• you are able to complete the course for which you are registered;
• you are committed to completing the course; and
• you are committed to pursuing a career as a solicitor.

The fund is limited and competition for awards is immense. The application process normally begins each year in February. Contact the Law Society at: www.lawsociety.org.uk

Disabled Students Allowance (DSA)

The postgraduate DSA is a single allowance and can be used to purchase any specialist equipment, cover the costs of any non-medical help and pay for general items. It may be possible to top up the allowance with an additional support fund grant. Contact the Aberystwyth University Disability Officer by email: rha@aber.ac.uk or telephone 01970 628537] at the earliest possible opportunity. Further information is available at: www.aber.ac.uk/welfare-disability/.

Aberystwyth University

Information and advice about financial issues, grants, trusts and hardship funds is available on the following website: www.aber.ac.uk/studentfinance/.

Aberystywth University Financial Contingency Funds

Financial Contingency Funds are given to higher and further education institutes in Wales to assist students who are in hardship. The money is administered by individual institutions at their own discretion but in keeping with guidelines issued by the Higher Education Council Wales (HEFCW). All awards are discretionary and are based on a documented shortfall between income and reasonable expenditure. Information is available on the following website: www.aber.ac.uk/studentfinance/financialcontingencyfunds.htm.

Specific grants or bursaries from local charities or grant making trusts

Eligibility requirements vary and are often very specific. Awards usually consist of small sums. To see what may be available, try searching the Web against 'educational trusts and charities UK' or contact:

• the awards officer at your local authority; or
• your local library; or
• your local Law Society, which may know of or operate a scheme.

Inderpal Rahal Memorial Trust

The Trust makes one or two grants per year to women from immigrant or refugee backgrounds who intend to practise or teach law in the UK. Contact the Trust on email irmt@twogardencourtchambers.co.uk or write to: The Administrator, Inderpal Rahal Memorial Trust Garden Court Chambers, 57-60 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3LS.