Record numbers accepted onto law courses
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University admissions statistics have revealed that more students than ever before have been accepted onto law courses.
The provisional figures published by admissions service UCAS showed that no fewer than 18,394 applicants have now had a place confirmed at university or college to study law this year, an overall increase of 1.2 per cent since 2008. This makes law the most popular subject for students entering further education yet again.
The statistics will further concern the Law Society, which earlier this year launched a campaign to warn students to think twice about embarking on a career as a lawyer (read article).
The information campaign kick-started in July is targeting university and secondary school students and contains information about the cost of legal training as well as the shrinking number of training contracts on offer.
According to the Law Society, 7,000 people completed the Legal Practice Course (LPC) in 2008, but there are only 6,000 training contracts available this year.
Meanwhile, graduate unemployment shot up by 44 per cent in the past year to its highest rate for 12 years, according to the Higher Education Careers Services Unit.
It said almost 8 per cent of those who left university in 2008 were out of work in January compared with 5.5 per cent a year earlier - and things could get worse.
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Readers' comments (15)
wannabe | 3-Nov-2009 12:50 pm
What so many people, especially the Law Society, fail to appreciate is that just because someone studies law it doesn't mean they have to qualify as a solicitor or barrister. Law is a good solid degree subject and will open many doors for students.
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Anonymous | 3-Nov-2009 4:10 pm
For the comment above, if it is the case that there are 18,394 law students in a year, then even if just half of those people wanted to go on to be a solicitor, there would still be approximately 3000 people without a training contract. When you consider that perhaps far more than half of those 18,394 may want to be solicitors, the problem becomes clearer. Added to that, they must compete with all those non-law students, of which there are many.
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Anonymous | 4-Nov-2009 9:01 am
There might well be eighteen thousand people signing up for the course but a huge amount of them will drop out or quickly realise that they don't want to pursue a legal career.
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LegalMan | 4-Nov-2009 12:55 pm
The problem doesn't lie at the degree stage, it's postgraduate that concerns most students and wannabe lawyers. The Law Society needs to step in and make sure the LPC/BVC providers are not offering places to every single applicant, regardless of the availability of training contracts and pupillages. The first comment is correct, a law degree is a fantastic block from which to launch a number of careers, but without a cap on LPC/BVC places, people will not consider alternatives until they have spent an abhorrent amount of money further lining the pockets and CoL, BPP and the rest.
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Anonymous | 4-Nov-2009 1:38 pm
It’s no secret that there are more people wanting to go into the law than the profession can satisfy. With increasing numbers of law students, increasing numbers on non-law students going on to study the GDL, and decreasing numbers of training contracts the equation is simple and the law society’s advice sensible.
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Anonymous | 4-Nov-2009 4:07 pm
Lets also not forget all those who are backed up in the system. We have a number of paralegals who are just waiting to get a training contract but still working so dont appear anywhere in the above stats.
I would be thinking twice about it now I tell you and I am a 20 year qualified equity partner in a profitable firm !
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City Gent | 4-Nov-2009 5:04 pm
This is just another example of millions of young people being conned into getting Mickey Mouse degrees from third rate "universities" in the mistaken belief it will launch them into a career of glittering prizes.
Instead, all they end up with is a job serving pizzas and £30k in debt.
Still, it keeps down the unemployment figures, and that's what really matters.
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Anonymous | 4-Nov-2009 5:07 pm
It is not an issue for the Law Society or any other body to step in and ensure that the number of professional qualification course places matches the number of available training contracts/pupillages in the legal industry. This risks being manipulation of a market. This is an issue for the individual. If all 18,394 law students wish to become solicitors or barrister then good luck to them. They will have to compete for limited places in the legal job market and should consider this before embarking on a route to employment in the law.
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Anonymous | 4-Nov-2009 5:41 pm
It is great there are so many students wishing to become lawyers. Legal fees are far too high and for the vast majority of British people the doors to British justice are locked shut because they cannot pay the huge fees demanded by barristers and litigation solicitors. The only way to address the cost issue is to flood the profession thereby driving down costs to clients. The profession must be forced to relax the route to qualification so that those without pupillage or training contracts are not denied the opportunity to practise law.
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Anonymous | 4-Nov-2009 10:55 pm
It would be hugely damaging to the profession to simply flood the legal market with the goal of pushing down prices. Legal work obviously varies from area to area in terms of technicality, but in general being a good lawyer is not an easy job and it isn’t something that just anybody can do. Flooding the markets would simply lower standards. The way things are, many students will be left disappointed and in debt. It is comforting that the Law Society is actually looking out for these people rather than letting many students carry on blindly.
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