One or two year conversion?

There are many different reasons why most potential students of law choose the one year CPE/GDL over the two year conversion, but there are pros and cons for both:

One year conversion - CPE/GDL
Advantages

• Completion of the academic stage of one's legal career in one year is the quickest choice available to a non-law graduate.
• As such, it is also the cheapest way to gain a qualifying law degree.
• One can choose to study it at either a university, or one of the franchised institutions across the country, meaning there is plenty of choice regarding location.
• If needed, the course can also be taken over two years if studied part time.

Disadvantages

• Having to condense three years of study into one means that the course is extremely intensive in terms of both time needed to devote to attending, and study outside of class.
• Due to the time constraints, teaching is strictly on a 'must know' basis, meaning that applicants who are interested in broadening their legal horizons beyond the minimum may be disappointed. Hence, there is not the range of scope within legal study that is available to a two or three year undergraduate.
• Similarly, teaching quality may be affected as the aim of the course is to impart the knowledge needed to students, with little or no discussion outside of the guidelines.

Two year conversions - Affiliated or Senior Status
Advantages

• There is more time than the GDL to study around the basics of the law, as well as the opportunity to develop legal skills and critical thinking further.
• Due to the extra year, there is far more time to relax into both your course and where you are studying.
• There may also be the option of choosing additional modules in your second year, meaning you are able to investigate specific areas of law you have a personal interest in.
• Two years of study affords candidates extra time to consider whether they actually want to practice law, and if they do, then to arrange work experience, training-contracts or admission to an Inns of Court.
• As all two year courses are taken at universities, it is likely that the student will benefit from whatever reputation the institution has when seeking training contracts or pupillages.

Disadvantages

• The largest factor is that tuiton fees and living expenses for two years is likely to substantially more than the GDL, unless the student is living at home whilst studying.
• No student loans or public funding are available for Home students, so the only extra money one could attain would come from postgraduate bursaries or awards offered by the individual universities.
• Depending on where the course is taken, it can be as intensive as the one year GDL, except this is drawn out over two years.
• For people eager to begin the vocational part of their legal careers, it is an extra year they have to spend studying.
• The course is only offered at 17 university locations across the country, so choice is restricted compared to the GDL.

One would ascertain that the reason most candidates decide to take the CPE over a Senior Status degree is chiefly over the issues of money. Most people will already have accrued a debt of their student loan, and so are keen to minimise the time they have to spend in further study.

For students on a CPE/GDL they are awarded the LLB, as are students on a two year course anywhere apart fom Bristol, Cambridge or Sheffield. These three award an MA in Legal Studies, a BA (which is eligible for the Cambridge MA) and a MA (Law) respectively.

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Applying for a Law Conversion

Nowadays, law conversions are a popular route for graduates of all disciplines. If you have managed to, or are about to attain at least a 2.ii (Lower Second Class) in your degree, there is a strong possibility you could be accepted onto a large number of conversion courses which run across the country.

Many people decide to follow the one year course, otherwise known as the CPE (Common Professional Examination) or GDL (General Diploma of Law) which gives you the basics of a legal education in a intensive twelve month period. These courses can be taken at several universities, or more commonly at franchised institutions such as the College of Law or BPP.

Fewer people apply for a condensed undergraduate degree, something which fits the three years of a typical law undergraduate into two, and is commonly known as 'Senior Status' or 'Affiliated' law.

I've got a 2.ii in my degree - is there any point in my taking a conversion course?

Although several courses admit candidates with a Lower Second Class degree, the hard truth is that it is going to be difficult for someone with a 2.ii in their undergraduate to compete in an extremely tough and overpopulated career sector. It is not impossible, but one will need to perform well in whichever course is chosen, and subsequently in their LPC or BVC.

The former route will certainly be easier to follow in terms of rural firms, but as the Bar and Magic Circle are notoriously competitive, one wishing to stand a good chance in pursuing a career as a Barrister or a London solicitor after a 2.ii is likely to have to excel in both their conversion and BVC in order to even stand a small chance.

However, if one is more interested in smaller non-commercial firms, then there may well be various job opportunities available. Obtaining as much legal work experience as possible to supplement a lower degree will also help greatly in any case.

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Cambridge FAQ

Can you do a law conversion at Cambridge?

Yes - at Cambridge it's known as a 'Senior Status' Law degree (B.A.), and it condenses the three year undergraduate into two. At the end of the course, you'll be qualified to the same extent as a normal undergrad. (provided you take certain modules) meaning you can go straight on to take the one year LPC (Legal Practice Course for solicitors) or BVC (Bar Vocational Course for barristers). It's also eligible to turn into the Cambridge MA.

How do I apply?

Unlike other universities, for the Senior Status the application process is not done through a separate online or paper form, but instead through UCAS, using the same course code (M100) as the three year undergraduate. Before 2009, applicants were required to fill in a CAF (Cambridge Application Form) as well as the UCAS, but these have been discontinued. Now applicants will submit their UCAS, and then be sent a Supplementary Application Questionnaire (SAQ) will fulfill a similar purpose - this is how applicants will specify they wish to follow the two year course, rather than the three year route.

What are the admissions criteria?

For Home students, you must have already completed/be in the process of completing an undergraduate degree. Different colleges ask for different degree classifications - most of the undergraduate colleges specify a 1st class, whilst others have no information on their websites - but the minimum offer is likely to be at least a 2.i. You will have to organise two referees to provide references and you must also sit the LNAT (National Admissions Test for Law) before submitting your UCAS, the latter of which must be received by the 15th of October.

My GCSEs/A-levels aren't really 'Cambridge standard' - do I still have a chance?

Definitely, offers are based completely on what you should/have achieve(d) in your degree; A-levels and GCSEs play no part in the selection process, although you will have to disclose them in your UCAS application and SAQ.

What are they looking for in my personal statement?

There is nothing particular that one should mention; if you sell yourself well, and can express your interest in the law/why you want to study it then you have a good a chance as any. There is no need to have any legal work experience to gain a place, although this obviously looks impressive if you have bothered to try and attain some before applying.

Which colleges can I apply to?

You are free to apply to any of the undergraduate colleges or to make an open application (specify no particular college).
If you will be 21 by the time the term starts, then you may also want to consider applying to one of the four graduate colleges which house affiliates; Hughes Hall, Lucy Cavendish (women only), St Edmunds or Wolfson. Clare Hall and Darwin are the remaining two graduate colleges, but they do not offer the affiliated course.

How should I go about choosing my college?

The best way to narrow down which colleges you may be interested in is to create a list of your priorities - do you want to be guaranteed accommodation for the duration of your course?, do you want to be near to the law facility?, do you want to be with others of a similar age?
If you wish to be with other affiliates, the best option is to apply to one of the graduate colleges as they will have the highest number of applicants. You can view the statistics for the past four years here although it will only work for the graduate colleges, as no distinction is made between the three year or two year course for the undergraduate ones. This is also a useful document.
Everyone has different reasons for choosing their college; if you are sure to research all the possibilities, then you will be able to make the best choice.

Will I have to go to interview?
Yes, if you are a Home student; regardless of which college you select, you will have to be invited for interview before an offer is made. Interview procedures differ from college to college, but it is likely that you will have both a General and a Subject interview. The former may explore questions raised by your personal statement, your interest in Cambridge and what you hope to achieve in the future; the latter will deal solely with law and legal issues, it is highly probable that you will be set some sort of test or asked to interpret something.
This is nothing to worry about however; your college will inform you of the interview set-up, and it is likely that you need do no more special preparation for this part than you would do for the LNAT.

If you are an International, depending on where you are situated, you may still be required to come to Cambridge for an interview, or it could be conducted over the phone. It again depends on the individual college.

Can I get funding?
Unfortunately, there are no student loans available for a second undergraduate degree. For international/EU affiliates, a small number of awards are made by the Gates Cambridge Trust but for Home students there is no official funding, aside from investigating the various bursaries and awards that are offered by individual colleges.


What are the mandatory modules you mentioned?
Year 1 (Tripos IB)
1. Constitutional Law
2. Law of Tort
3. Law of Contract
4. Land Law
5. Equity or EU Law

Year 2 (Tripos II)
1. Criminal Law
2. Equity or EU Law
3, 4, & 5. Various options

In terms of fitting two years work into three the website says, "...the usual pattern would be to take Tripos IB at the end of the first year and Tripos II at the end of the second year"; instead of the regular undergraduate route, "Law IA is taken at the end of the first year of residence. Law IB is taken in the second year by those who have passed Law IA, or by those changing into law from another Tripos."

Law II is only for those who have passed Law IB, so it seems that the first Tripos is omitted completely. However, it could potentially be combined as the page also says, "Law IA and Law IB cannot be counted as two separate Tripos examinations to qualify for the B.A.".


You haven't answered my question here, what should I do?

If you're an international student, or have a specific question I haven't covered, the best port of call is going to be the specific college you hope to apply to - they will be the authority on admissions criteria, interviews etc, so the easiest thing to do is to send them a short email with your query.

Things to remember

• Be aware of LNAT opening deadlines; they are very close to the October UCAS closing deadline, so you should sign up as soon as the LNAT opens in September.
  Be aware of the date that the UCAS for your year of application opens. It's easy to accidentally start filling in the form on the old (year before) build, not realising they haven't released the new one yet.
• Think about your personal statement.
• Start researching colleges.
• You might want to prep. your two referees for the references that you'll need. As you'll be applying as a private student, you have to do the work of organising references for yourself.

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