What is an LPC?
The Legal Practice Course (LPC) is a postgraduate course, designed for Law graduates wishing to pursue a career as a Solicitor in England and Wales. This final stage of education is designed to connect academic study and practical training in a law firm.
This article will provide ways in which an LPC Tutor can help you stay on top of the course, and pass your assessments with flying colours!
Format of the Course
According to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the course is divided into two stages: ‘Core practical areas and skills’ and ‘Three vocational electives’. Breaking this down further, the first stage involves studying the following areas:
- Litigation, which is a proceeding by a party against another in a court of law;
- Advocacy, the means by which a barrister puts their client’s case to the court;
- Legal drafting, the written expression of a legal right, function or status.
LPC courses also teach practical legal research, which allows students to access the latest developments in the law. These practical skills are crucial to working as a solicitor.
The second stage is made up of vocational electives such as Employment Law, Commercial Property Law and Family Law. These electives are more specific areas of the law. There is a wide variety of vocational electives to choose from, depending on what interests you most and what you would like to specialise in as a solicitor. So how can an LPC tutor help?
Helping to Understand Key Concepts From the Course
Each session throughout the course will introduce students to new content. By undertaking a variety of modules per term, students may find it difficult to keep up with their learning. An LPC tutor can provide students with follow up tuition of certain concepts that they are struggling with. These weekly sessions allow the student to keep up to date with the content as it becomes progressively more complex. This prevents the student from getting overwhelmed. This keeps them on track to achieve the higher grade boundaries.
Alongside this, an LPC tutor should also have the ability to accurately assess a student’s level of progress throughout the course. This also includes identifying key areas for improvement. This may be achieved through regular assessment of the course content during each module. By assessing areas in which students are less knowledgeable, an LPC tutor can focus revision sessions around this in the run-up to exam season. This ensures that students have at minimum a solid understanding of each area of the course.
Reviewing Worksheets and Assignments
Throughout your studies, you must complete a number of worksheets and assignments. These focus on certain problems that may arise in your career as a solicitor. By focusing on solutions to particular problems, an LPC tutor can help plan these longer responses more effectively.
An LPC tutor can also help with practical assignments. Certain parts of the course may be more challenging to a student than others, so a tutor can help students with specific areas they find difficult. This form of specialised help allows students to feel more comfortable developing practical law projects.
Helping With Past Exam Papers
In the run-up to exam season, students may not feel confident in their ability to recall particular concepts or examples that they can use to help them pass. This may be across all areas of the course or in their electives. An LPC tutor will help students break down the content of the course. It provides ways in which a student can revise effectively. This can go beyond simply helping with the course content. For example, providing study techniques that are most effective to the student.
Secondly, LPC tutors can provide specialised help with how to answer certain questions. Being knowledgeable in a variety of areas of the course can only help a student go so far. The ability to refine your knowledge in an exam environment is a skill that can be taught. Knowing when to employ specific examples to accurately answer a question, as opposed to simply ‘knowledge dumping’ is crucial to achieving the top grade boundaries.
Helping to Prepare for a Training Contract
After a student completes their LPC, they typically look for a training contract with the desired law firm. Training contracts involve two years of practical work as a trainee solicitor in a firm. These can be especially hard to come by.
Alongside helping students with their understanding of the course, LPC tutors also offer to help with applications for training contracts. Writing up an application can be time-consuming and difficult, as the student must know why they want to practice in a specific firm as well as demonstrate their practical abilities. LPC tutors can offer to help students prepare their applications, providing advice about the process as well as deciding which firms to apply for.
Interested working with an LPC Tutor? Contact Us