Common Professional Examination

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (March 2007)

The Common Professional Examination (CPE) is a postgraduate law course in England and Wales that is taken by non-law graduates (graduates who have a degree in a discipline that is not law or not a qualifying law degree for legal practice) wishing to become either a solicitor or barrister in the United Kingdom. The course thus allows non-law students to convert to law after university (exceptions exist for non-graduates depending on circumstances); it is also commonly known as a 'law conversion course'. The main idea of it is to open up the law sector to a wider range of people with wider ranges of educations.

Most CPE courses award a diploma and are thus often titled Graduate Diploma in Law or GDL.

It takes 1-2 years and successful candidates can go on to do either the Legal Practice Course which will lead them to qualifying as a solicitor or the Bar Vocational Course leading to them qualifying as a barrister.

Some law students study for four years (rather than three years, although this is usually only the case for students taking a combined law degree with the LPC, or for those whose courses include study abroad), making it possible for both non-law and law graduates of the same starting year to finish at the same time, with the CPE providing the 'foundations of legal knowledge'.

The CPE is regulated by the Law Society of England & Wales with admissions handled through the Central Applications Board. After completing the CPE a graduate must continue onto the Legal Practice Course should they wish to become a solicitor, or the Bar Vocational Course should they wish to become a barrister. This course can be taken over one year (full-time), or up to three years (part-time) during evenings or on weekends.

[edit] Hong Kong

In Hong Kong the CPE is also recognised for the purpose of admitting to the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) course, which is a prerequisite to become a solicitor or barrister in Hong Kong. However CPE graduates are required to take additional conversion courses before the commencement of PCLL course.

The CPE course is offered by the University of Hong Kong's School of Professional and Continuing Education (HKU SPACE) in Hong Kong, jointly with Manchester Metropolitan University. The program is also known as, and completion of the program leads to the awarding of, the Graduate Diploma in English and Hong Kong Law (GDEHKL).

[edit] Providers

The CPE tends to be offered through private institutions or new universities. The largest course providers are The College of Law and BPP Professional Education, while new universities (such as Middlesex University and De Montfort University) also offer courses. Tuition varies widely from £2,000 and BPP fees are in excess of £8,000 p.a. for a London full-time CPE, as of 2007 which makes it the most expensive provider of the course in the UK.