Key Facts

Course Title: Law - Common Professional Examination
Course type: Graduate Diploma
Mode of Study:Full Time or Part Time
Contact Details:Postgraduate Administrator
Contact email:law-postgrad@keele.ac.uk
Website: Go to School homepage
Faculty: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Subject Area: Law
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The CPE (Common Professional Examination) Graduate Diploma course is designed to enable non-law graduates to qualify to practice law in England and Wales. It fulfils the requirements of both the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board for the academic stage of qualification. Students on the CPE course have a wide range of backgrounds and experience, with first degrees from institutions all around the country and from abroad. A second class degree or equivalent is a minimum requirement for entry.

Higher degrees or additional qualifications are advantageous, as is work experience. Work within a commercial or legal environment, or voluntary work with an organisation such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, can be helpful and relevant. CPE students who pass the course are guaranteed a place to study for the LPC (Legal Practice Course) at one of the sites offered by the College of Law or at Staffordshire University. Our research strengths lie in interdisciplinary and contextual approaches to the study of law, as well as in doctrinal legal research, making Keele an excellent environment for graduate students to undertake an intensive Law conversion course of this sort.

The course will be open to graduates who do not hold a qualifying degree in Law, but who wish to become solicitors or barristers. The course is designed to satisfy the academic stage of professional legal education. The overall aim is to provide the students with an intensive legal education which, taking into account their transferable postgraduate skills and expertise, will maintain the standard of academic work and examination provided on the first degree programme.

Accordingly, it is intended that the Diploma will provide non-law graduates with a further and valuable academic qualification as well as offering an alternative method of completing the academic stage of training for qualification as a barrister or solicitor in England and Wales. The course is also intended to offer a recognised qualification even for those who do not ultimately enter the legal profession.

The course is open to graduates who do not hold a qualifying degree in Law. It is intended to bring students to the same level as law graduates for the purposes of vocational training in England and Wales. It is not therefore, taught at postgraduate Masters level, but is a Graduate Diploma. The principal criterion for admission is the applicant’s academic profile. Evidence of academic ability to at least a second class honours degree will normally be required. Other factors which may be taken into account include evidence of commitment to the profession, personal circumstances and links with the local area.

Overseas applications are welcomed. However, those wishing to practice outside England and Wales should enquire of the authorities in the jurisdiction concerned whether the CPE qualification is recognised as satisfying the academic stage of training. International students whose first language is not English must have IELTS 6.5 or equivalent.

The full-time diploma will consist of a 7-module course of 140 credits, spanning 36 weeks. Attendance is based on a four-day timetable. The part-time diploma consists of the same modules but spans two years and attendance based on approximately two and a half days a week. Within these modules all the ‘core subjects’ will be extensively covered. The English Legal System and Legal Method module will comprise a four-week intensive introduction to the legal system and is taught during September for both full and part-time students. This module is devised so as to cater for the needs of non-law graduates and to provide an essential background to legal studies.

Course Modules

Lecture classes are taken alongside undergraduates, but all tutorial classes and the pre-semester course are CPE small group only. All modules are level 3 – credits in brackets.

Pre-Semester Course

  • English Legal System and Legal Method (10) (24 teaching contact hours plus library exercises, guided court visits, visits to law firms and chambers and careers sessions)

Other Modules

  • CPE Criminal Law (20)
  • CPE Public Law (20)
  • CPE EU Law (15)
  • CPE Obligations (30)
  • CPE Property Law (30)
  • CPE Research Training, Interviewing and Advocacy (15)

The pass mark for the Graduate Diploma is 40%. Most modules are assessed on the basis of examinations at the end of the second semester which contribute 70% and coursework set during the first semester which contributes 30% of the overall mark for each module. The assessed coursework takes the form of an essay, problem or project. The pre-semester English Legal System and Legal Method module is assessed by a one hour examination at the end of September. The Research Training module is assessed by a 3,000 word research project.

'Thanks to the Keele Law School for creating a very friendly and stimulating environment. Studying CPE at Keele was enjoyable.''

Nzinga Kiameso (CPE student, part-time 2010-2012)

'Thanks for your help and support on the CPE. It has been a very good experience and I would recommend the Keele course to anyone!'

Abigail Pearson (CPE student, full-time 2011-2012)