BPP cuts Northern LPC fees as College of Law competition hots up

BPP Law School is slashing Legal Practice Course (LPC) fees for students who sign up to an early bird deal at its northern branches as its arch rival the College of Law (CoL) gears up for an imminent Manchester launch.

BPP is offering a 10 per cent discount on its LPC, currently priced at 9,995, to candidates who accept a place in Leeds and Manchester by tomorrow (February 13) - one month before the official Central Applications Board (CAB) deadline.

BPP is the most expensive LPC provider in the UK, having announced major fee hikes last March.

BPP dean Peter Crisp denied that the price cuts are being used to bump up numbers and claimed that they are designed to help students through the current financial crisis.

We recognise that lots of students from our Leeds and Manchester branches dont have training contracts in place and are funding themselves. Therefore we want to help those that are struggling financially to be able to afford the LPC, explained Crisp.

The news comes just after CoL announced a 30 per cent jump in students signing up to study at its North West branches and that is has signed up Pinsent Masons for its bespoke LPC. It also provides the LPC to Cobbetts, Halliwells and Panone in the region.

Both CoL and BPP also guarantee LPC places to graduates from the University of Manchester and Leeds.

CoL head Nigel Savage has questioned the motives behind BPPs decision to offer discounts to students and has said the cuts must be reflected in the quality of the LPC BPP will be offering from September 2009.

He said: This time last year Peter Crisp said Our fees are based on the service which students receive, So by the same token they must be taking something away.

BPP offers a guaranteed place scheme for its GDL students wanting to study the LPC and provides a 20 per cent discount on its LLM International Business and LLM Commercial Law courses for existing students. It is also introducing a payment plan for its London students whereby they can spread the cost of their LPC across the year.

CoL does not offer any discounts.

To receive our free Lawyer News Daily news and comment email, click here. Or get the latest news, features and comment as it's published with our free RSS feed.