The Graduate Diploma in Law
(otherwise known as the Common Professional Examination or the CPE)
is a postgraduate law course that can be taken by
non-law graduates (graduates who have a degree in a discipline that
is not law, or who do not have a qualifying law degree)
wishing to qualify as either a solicitor
or barrister in England and Wales.
The University of Westminster
offers the GDL course on a full-time (day time) and part-time
(evenings) mode. All full-time applications must be submitted to
the Central Applications Board. Part-time
applications must be submitted directly to the University of
Westminster.
The full-time course normally
takes one year to complete and the part-time takes two
years. Successful candidates can go on to study either the
Legal Practice
Course which will lead to qualification as a solicitor or
the
Bar Vocational
Course which will lead to qualification as a barrister.
The GDL does not aim to cover
everything contained in a three-year law degree. It seeks to
develop a knowledge of the core areas of law and the skills of
legal analysis and research that are essential for success on
the professional courses and in the early years of practice.
The School of Law has been
successfully running the full-time GDL course since 1977 and the
part-time course since 1993. For the academic year 2009/2010, the
fees for the full-time course is £5,100 (EEA students) and
£10,100 (non-EEA students). Fees for the part-time course (per
year) is £2,520 (EEA students) and £5,130 (non-EEA
students). Discount applies to students who have
obtained a 2.1 degree or or above from a UK institution or
equivalent.
Please note that the University
of Westminster does not offer the Bar Vocational Course. For
further information on how to qualify as a solicitor or
barrister, please visit either the
Solicitors
Regulation Authority (SRA) or the
Bar Council
website. Alternatively, please read the following guidance
document recently produced about the
Common Professional
Examination (CPE/ GDL) Rules issued by The Solicitors Regulation
Authority 2008.
Read more on the
course
entry requirements for the GDL programme at The
University of Westminster.
Course Enquiries
For further information on
applying to the course, admissions process or administrative issues
please contact
GDL Admissions
Office.