If you study full time, it will take about five or six years to qualify as a solicitor. This includes a three-year law degree, the SQE assessments and two-years of qualifying legal work experience. Studying a non-law subject for your degree means you’ll need to factor in the time it takes to study for a law conversion course and/or an SQE preparation course, both of which can extend the training period Law tuition.
Becoming a fully-fledged barrister takes five years – including three years for your law degree, one year for a Bar course and a one-year pupillage in chambers. Again, add an extra year for a law conversion course if your degree wasn’t in law.
Meanwhile, if you’re studying to become a lawyer via the CILEx CPQ each stage will take between 18 months and two years – although students can progress at whatever speed suits them – meaning a student could qualify as a CILEX Lawyer in five to six years.