MMU launches distance learning LLB

The groundbreaking LLB (Hons) in Legal Practice, launched in collaboration with the Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX) Tutorial College (ITC), will allow students to become graduate members of ILEX immediately on completion.

MMU principal lecturer Sallie Spilsbury said: “We wanted to keep pace with the legal market. It really came from both ITC and our ourselves looking at the legal market place for graduates and seeing what seems to be a growing trend for more paralegals and legal executives, and coupled with the depletion of training contracts.”

The degree is to be taught via supported distance learning, to allow students the chance to balance a full time job simultaneously. Fees begin in September 2011 at £2,420, with subsequent years subject to a potential small increase. The total course will cost around £10,000.

The qualifying law degree fulfils all academic requirements to become a legal executive lawyer but will not hinder the possibility for students to move onto the solicitor or barrister route through enrolment onto the legal practice course (LPC) or Bar Professional Training Course.

The news arrives as LPC providers roll out more flexible study options to meet growing concerns surrounding the mounting debt of legal education, with most recent developments including BPP law school introducing a more flexible payment plan and a seven-month alternative version of the LPC.