collageThe UK Bar Exam is an exam that is held by The General Council of the Bar of England and Wales. This exam is meant for international lawyers who wish to practice as barristers in the UK. The exams can also be taken by those who wish to pursue a career as a barrister in the UK. Ever wondered what it’s like to bag a law degree with masters and you came from an accredited school? Are you seeking for an individual who can help you in acquiring a legal practice license? Are you a student trying to know how can I practice law with a UK law degree? Do you have any questions regarding where can i practice law with a UK law degree? Have you checked for US bar exam for foreign lawyers without getting anywhere?
What is a ‘Lawyer’ in England and Wales?
The English legal profession is divided into two branches: solicitors and barristers. The reasons for this division are mainly historical, rather than the result of a conscious effort to divide the profession into two distinct parts. The Bar Council regulates barristers and the Law Society regulates solicitors.
The Need for Solicitors
Legal representation is the prerogative of the law firm, not the client. There are certain tasks that must be undertaken by solicitors or barristers, such as representation in court. However, clients may not instruct a UK lawyer in simple matters such as debt repayments, although they are more likely to seek legal advice when the claim is complex or if they sue for a significant sum of money. People often do not feel they have the legal knowledge or skills to represent themselves and therefore solicitors can expect regular employment
What Does a Barrister Do
Barristers are specialist legal advisers and court room advocates. They have their own areas of expertise just as solicitors do, and specialise in one or more of the following: Criminal Law; Tort/Personal Injury; Immigration Law; Crime/Commercial Crime. Barristers provide objective advice to clients on the strengths and weaknesses of their case and will offer their best opinion on the likely outcome of any particular case.
Becoming A Barrister
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Once the candidate joins one of the four Inns of Court (Middle Temple, Inner Temple, Gray’s Inn and Lincoln’s Inn) they undertake the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) over one or two years for Vocational Training. Once this is successfully completed and any extra training is undertaken, the Inn “Calls” you to the Bar.
Once we’ve finished our training, we are called to the Bar by a senior barrister at a ceremony known as ‘Call Day’. Once called, we can’t practise as barristers until we complete the final stage—Pupillage. This is practical work experience/Work Based Learning under an experienced barrister, and it’s very competitive to get a place. After one year, the supervising barrister can recommend that you’re ready to work as a barrister. You can then apply for a Practising Certificate. The barrister can then apply for tenancy of a set of Chambers—a group of Counsel who share the costs of premises and support staff, while remaining individually self-employed.”
How To Become A Barrister UK
Barristers are skilled advocates who work on behalf of their clients. They’re also known as UK lawyers. Barristers often specialise in niche or complex areas of law. They are often consulted by others for research and advice on complex or unusual cases, or novel points of law. Approximately 10% of practising barristers are Queen’s Counsel (or QCs). The rank of Queen’s Counsel has, traditionally, been a mark of distinction and seniority. The process of becoming a QC is known as “taking silk”, as they wear special silk robes. QCs are normally instructed in very serious or complex cases. Most senior judges
So, what do you have to do if you are actually a qualified lawyer and you want to practice as a solicitor in England and Wales, but you qualified in another country?
Stage 1
Qualified within the EU
If you are a qualified lawyer in any member state of the EU Rule 15 (Overseas practice) and rule 16 (European cross-border practice) of the Solicitors’ Code of Conduct explain the conduct requirements for Registered European Lawyers (RELs).
Qualified outside of the EU
In order to practise as a solicitor in England and Wales, you must sit the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS). The QLTS is a conversion test that enables lawyers qualified in certain countries outside England and Wales (such as the US, Israel, Australia, Nigeria, India and South Africa), as well as UK barristers, to qualify as solicitors.
Before entering for the QLTS, you must first obtain a Certificate of Eligibility from the Law Society of England and Wales. This will confirm which Heads of the test you must pass, together with any requirement for further training. This can take six to eight weeks to process. This will vary according to the primary jurisdiction of the applicant.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is currently reviewing requirements for overseas lawyers, but as of March 2008, lawyers from outside the European Union are required to satisfy The Law Society that they have gained two years of common law experience within the past five years. Such experience must have been undertaken in three areas of common law, and must have covered contentious and non-contentious areas of practice.
If you are not eligible to sit the QLTS, then you will need to follow the route to qualification as a non-law student.
Stage 2
The QLTS is usually paid for by a firm itself and so, for many, the task of job hunting as a newly qualified English lawyer would have begun before the start of the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme.
Every day in the legal press, you will read about UK firms opening offices in new countries and merging with overseas firms to further increase their international dominance. In addition many international firms are also opening offices in the UK as it offers a bridge from the US to mainland Europe and beyond. The UK legal market has been and will continue to expand both rapidly and globally and UK firms need the experience and language skills non-UK nationals can offer.
The market for overseas qualified lawyers is strong as always in the UK and to get a better of idea of the kind of vacancies are open to you, here are a few useful websites to start your job hunting:
- The Lawyer
- Legal Week
- Totally Legal
Benefits of LLM
You do not need to have an LLM qualification to become a solicitor in the UK – whether you are a UK citizen or not – however there are many career benefits to gaining this qualification. A Master of Laws program is the ideal way to increase knowledge in a specific field of law and students can choose to specialise in a whole range of areas, for example International Law or Environmental Law, and this improved knowledge will make you a much more appealing prospect to future employers. An LLM qualification will help you stand out from other applicants, and don’t forget it is also a well respected qualification internationally.
Foreign Lawyers In UK
The process of registering as a solicitor in England and Wales is complex and time-consuming. The majority of internationally educated foreign lawyers have little idea of what is involved in the process of registering as a foreign lawyer. Although the SRA does not handle overseas applications, it does keep a record of all international applications lodged with the Office of the Immigration Service Commissioner (OISC), which is responsible for considering all applications from non-EU and non-Commonwealth countries.
Students who have completed a full-time degree in any subject from an overseas university qualify for entry onto the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL), after which you can complete the Legal Practice Course (LPC) if you want to become a solicitor, or the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) if you want to be a barrister.
UK Bar Exam For Foreign Lawyers
What is a bar exam?
The bar exam or law bar exam is a professional qualification examination for lawyers in the UK. After passing a bar exam, you can be granted permission to practice as an advocate and carry out other licensed activities done by legal professionals, e.g. property conveyancing.
Starting from September 2021, the UK will have a single standardised bar exam for all future solicitors – the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). The situation with no single bar examination for solicitors will soon be history. The SQE exam consists out of two stages:
- SQE 1 – multiple choice test – read more how to prepare for the SQE1; and
- SQE 2 – skills-based set of exams – read more how to prepare for the SQE2 exam.
UK bar exams for aspiring solicitors
At the moment, there are several solicitors’ UK bar exams or equivalents:
- Qualified Lawyer Transfer Scheme (also known as the QLTS exam) – the outgoing UK bar exam for foreign qualified lawyers who are already admitted in their home jurisdictions and wish to convert their qualification to practice as UK solicitors (replaced by the SQE in 2021 – please see below).
- Solicitor Qualifying Examination (also known as the SQE exam or “super exam”) – the newly-introduced common or single route to qualify as a solicitor of England and Wales. Replacing the QLTS in September 2021, this will be the only UK bar examination for solicitors.
- Yet another UK bar examination is known as Higher Rights of Audience (HRA). Passing this exam gives already-qualified solicitors the possibility to practice law in the same courts as barristers.
UK bar exam structure
The new SQE is clearly rooted in the QLTS exam. Both the QLTS and SQE are modelled on the Miller Pyramid and seek to assess not only knowledge as the lower-level value, but more importantly skills as values of a higher level.
SQE and QLTS are two-stage assessments, with stage 1 being a multiple-choice test (for both SQE1 and QLTS MCT). At the same time, the two assessments are in no way identical. The major difference lies in the assessment range of the SQE stage 1 and the MCT component of the QLTS. The SQE1 and SQE2 both cover the same subjects included in “functional legal knowledge” – which is not the case with the QLTS.
Unlike the SQE, part 2 of the QLTS (called OSCE – Objective Structured Clinical Examination) assesses the candidates’ knowledge and skills in such areas of law as business, property and probate, criminal and civil litigation – which are outside the range assessed by the QLTS MCT. Also, one element of the OSCE – oral presentation – has been converted into case and matter analysis for the SQE2 written assessment.
For stage 2 of both UK bar exams – SQE and QLTS, a distinctive feature is an equal focus on practical legal skills as well as knowledge of law. Both SQE2 and QLTS OSCE are skills-based simulated assessments aimed at testing various practical competences the candidate is required to have in actual legal practice, e.g. conducting a client interview, writing a letter to a client, carrying out legal research, etc.
UK bar exam contents
| SQE1 Law | QLTS MCT Law |
| FLK1: Business Law and Practice; Dispute Resolution; Contract; Tort; Legal System of England and Wales; Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law and Legal Services.FLK2: Property Practice; Wills and the Administration of Estates; Solicitors Accounts; Land Law; Trusts; Criminal Law and Practice. | The English Legal System and EU LawConstitutional Law and Judicial ReviewProfessional Conduct and Solicitors’ AccountsFinancial Regulation and TaxationProperty LawContract LawTortCriminal LawEquity & TrustsBusiness LawHuman Rights |
UK bar exam requirements
SQE exam:
- Obtain an undergraduate degree in any subject (it does not need to be a law degree), or equivalent qualification or apprenticeship
- Pass SQE1 and SQE2
- Complete two years of Qualifying Work Experience (QWE)
- Meet character and suitability requirements.
QLTS exam:
- As this is a UK bar exam for foreign lawyers, you must be a foreign qualified lawyer within at least one of the recognised jurisdictions
- Pass QLTS MCT and QLTS OSCE
- Meet character and suitability requirements
- Apply for admission with the given deadline.
Taking the UK bar exam
| SQE exam | QLTS exam |
| SQE1 – available to sit domestically and internationally via Pearson VUE test centres SQE2 written – available to sit domestically and internationally via Pearson VUE test centresSQE2 oral – at the beginning will be available at several locations, but within the UK | QLTS MCT – available to sit domestically and internationally via Pearson VUE test centres QLTS OSCE – available to sit in London |
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