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​How Long Does It Take to Become a Solicitor in the UK?

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Ever toyed with the idea of working in the legal sector? If becoming a solicitor is of interest, you might wonder: how long will it take you to become a solicitor in the UK?

Let’s assume you have successfully completed your A levels* you are applying for England and Wales, and not Scotland (which is different). Your timeline to getting the solicitor title will change based on the route you will partake when it comes to studies.

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The Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme

If you are a qualified lawyer or barrister from a recognised jurisdiction overseas, you can qualify as an English lawyer by undertaking the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS).

Technically, all you need to do for the QLTS is pass two exams; one is a Multiple Choice Test (MCT) and the other is an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). Both tests are known to be quite difficult: depending on your experience and how similar your home jurisdiction’s legal system is, successfully completing the two exams can take anywhere from a few months to a few years.

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Why Is It Long or Difficult?

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the authority that controls the admission of lawyers in England and Wales. The reason they make it so tough is to protect members of the public and to support the rule of law. If you don’t have properly trained lawyers, clients would suffer and the legal system would break down.

* Entry requirements for an undergraduate law degree at top universities typically range from A*AA to AAB.

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Contact

Felix Blumer is an ex-lawyer and a Consultant at Rutherford, the executive legal and compliance recruitment specialists.
Contact us for a confidential search, send us an email to enquiries@rutherfordsearch.com or see our latest vacancies.
Email: felix@rutherfordsearch.com

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About Rutherford

Rutherford is a boutique search firm that specialises in legal, financial crime and compliance recruitment within the financial services and legal sector, with London and New York being the main focus. We use our carefully curated relationships, networks and market knowledge to find the best fit for the clients in hand. We work with a wide range of clients, spanning from advisors, corporate and commercial banks, brokers, exchanges, MTFs and financial tech, through to global investment managers, hedge funds, private equity firms and investment banks.

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Remote working

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We are currently looking for regionally-located Compliance Officers from the following areas who would be interested in working for London firms on an interim WFH basis: Kent, East Sussex, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Surrey or Hampshire.

We are also interested in hearing from candidates in Manchester, Birmingham, Oxford, Winchester and Salisbury.