Retraining to become a solicitor

[Cleanthatup]

Hi all, I’ve been thinking for a few years that I would like to retrain as a solicitor. I currently teach Drama and I tutor in my spare time. However after a few years of not being as financially secure as I’d like I would like to retrain into the law sector.

I have a 2:1 in English and Drama, but I’ve not done anything further with my education.

Can I do another undergraduate degree and get finance or is there another route I can take?

Thanks

There has been some changes recently with the introduction of the SQE so have a look at that.

I think you can do a course, and then try and get work in a law firm, before doing the SQE in time.

I qualified many years ago and it's all changed now but there's a few that will attempt the new route at my firm now.

I don't think you can get funding unless it's for a masters degree, so the SQE and it's course, the the conversion course is all self funded I believe

You don’t need to do another undergraduate degree. The new qualifying route (SQE) has recently been introduced and in theory you could entirely self study for SQE1. However most non-law grads will take a prep course (the old conversion course or GDL). I am not sure if student finance is available for that.

Think very carefully about retraining - getting a training contract is very competitive and remains very much the typical route to qualification although the SQE may change that in time. You will need to be in a financial position to fund the study and then train - depending on what kind of firm you want to aim for, you could well be earning less while training than you do now as a teacher. And you’ll be taking orders from people younger than you while doing so.

Thanks for your replies. I’ve just about enough saved to be able to retrain - might need a part time job at some stage to see me through.

looks like I needs to do a lot more research and planing before I head down these routes. I can do the SQE online, which would be a help. However I feel like maybe attending a course might be better, even for networking purposes.