Editor's weekly: Testing times

As we exclusively reported last week, Kaplan Law School is to introduce an admissions test for students hoping to secure a place on its Graduate Diploma in Law and Legal Practice Course (LPC) (read more).

Surprisingly, the radical move has been welcomed by law students who argue that it will make students think twice about embarking on a course that can cost in excess of £12,000. For instance, Zainul Jussab says: “This test will both deter people and lead to better qualified, better trained and generally better lawyers” (read more). Do you agree? Let us know.

But it isn’t just Kaplan that is planning to introduce more hurdles for aspiring lawyers. In a trend that appears to be gaining momentum Addleshaw Goddard, Herbert Smith, Pinsent Masons and SNR Denton have all introduced extra layers of testing to their training contract recruitment processes (read more). This follows similar moves by the likes of Berwin Leighton Paisner and DLA Piper, as reported in the Winter 2009 issue of Lawyer 2B.

Again like Kaplan, Addleshaws et al are likely to face criticism, but in a period where competition for training contracts is fierce and many students gain straight As in their A levels and strong 2:1s in their degrees it’s inevitable that firms should want to make recruitment processes more robust, especially because when firms hire trainees they hope that many will one day become partners.

Let’s face it, being a lawyer is hard work so if you can’t hack the idea of an admissions test perhaps law isn’t really for you.

husnara.begum@lawyer2b.com

PS - want to win a free place at BPP Law School? Click here to find out how.