LLM Professional Legal Practice (SQE1 and SQE2)
Develop the legal knowledge and skills required of newly qualified solicitors while gaining wider experience for employment in legal practice.
Year of entry: 2027 (September)
Applications for this course are via LawCab. Please apply directly via the LawCab website.
This course is subject to major revisions and key details will change for September 2027.
This course has been designed specifically to prepare you for both parts of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE1 and SQE2), and also to enable you to gain the additional experience and lawyers’ skills required for employment in professional legal practice.
Why choose Professional Legal Practice (SQE1 and SQE2) at York?
Prepare for the two Solicitors Qualifying Examinations under the guidance of expert tutors. At the core of this course is comprehensive training for SQE1 and SQE2. You'll be taught by qualified legal practitioners, experienced in vocational and professional training. You'll also have access to extensive customised learning resources. With this support, you'll develop the functioning legal knowledge and oral, written and research skills required of newly qualified solicitors, as assessed in SQE1 and SQE2.
Strengthen your understanding of foundational legal concepts assessed in SQE1. You'll develop a comprehensive legal understanding through extensive practice in answering SQE1-format multiple choice questions (MCQs). This is underpinned with training in the five core SQE1 practice areas. These areas are dispute resolution, property, business law, criminal practice, and wills. You'll engage with problem-based learning (PBL) to understand how these areas of the law interact in practice.
Work through replications of SQE2 assessment conditions, receiving individualised feedback. Your SQE2 training will take place exclusively in the context of scenarios and materials that replicate the SQE2 assessments. You'll have frequent opportunities to practice the required oral and written skills. This means you'll receive regular feedback on how you're meeting the SQE2 assessment criteria.
Develop a practical legal skill set through PBL. We are the only law school in the UK to use PBL as the basis for our teaching. Under the guidance of expert tutors, you'll work in small student law firms to tackle complex legal scenarios. This modern, hands-on method allows you to develop the key legal skills that lawyers use every day.
Course content
You'll study 180 credits in total. The course consists of:
- Six 20-credit core modules
- A 60-credit independent professional legal practice project
Modules
Core modules
- SQE 1 Functioning Legal Knowledge A
- SQE 1 Functioning Legal Knowledge B
- SQE 1 Functioning Legal Knowledge C
- SQE 2 Professional Legal Skills A
- SQE 2 Professional Legal Skills B
- Professional Legal Practice
Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff, and in line with Department/School academic planning.
Dissertation
- SQE Professional Legal Practice Project
In the summer, you'll work on this 60-credit Professional Legal Practice supervised project module, based on an agreed topic developed from the Professional Legal Practice module taken in Semester 2.
Learning outcomes
Every course at York is built on a distinctive set of learning outcomes. These will give you a clear understanding of what you will be able to accomplish at the end of the course and help you explain what you can offer employers. Our academics identify the knowledge, skills, and experiences you'll need upon graduation and then design the course to get you there.
Learning outcomes for this course
- Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the functioning legal knowledge of a competent newly qualified solicitor.
- Analyse realistic client-based cases, problems and situations to identify relevant legal and ethical issues.
- Critically apply relevant core legal principles and rules to realistic client-based and ethical problems and situations to determine courses of action and provide solutions that meet client needs.
- Identify the processes and procedural steps required to progress legal matters and transactions for individual and business clients.
- Interpret, evaluate and apply the results of research, including practitioner know-how and legal documentation.
- Demonstrate oral communication skills in advocacy and client interviewing at the level required of a competent newly qualified solicitor.
- Demonstrate written skills in communications with clients and other professionals, and in drafting legal documents and attendance notes, at the level of of competent newly qualified solicitor.
- In the context of chosen specialised legal practice areas, analyse and solve problems, and plan and implement tasks to progress legal matters and transactions for individual and/or business clients.
The staff are the best part of studying at the University of York, their expertise and style elegantly guided me through each subject area.
Fees and funding
Annual tuition fees
| Study mode | UK (home) | International and EU |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time (1 year) | £14,390 | £14,390 |
Fees information
UK (home) or international fees? The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.
Find out more information about tuition fees and how to pay them.
Funding information
Discover your funding options to help with tuition fees and living costs.
We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2027/28 throughout the year.
If you've successfully completed an undergraduate degree at York you could be eligible for a 10% Masters fee discount.
Funding opportunities
Chevening Scholarships
We are pleased to work with Chevening Scholars to offer funding for our Masters programmes. Chevening Scholarships provide one year of fully-funded postgraduate study in the UK for international (including EU) students. The scholarships are open to early and mid-career professionals who have the potential to become future leaders.
I think law school is about learning how to “study the law” rather than trying to learn “all the laws”. The PBL system teaches you just that: how to take a case/ area of law, break it down, understand what is being asked of you and translate it into manageable research questions.
Deepshikha, LLM Law
Teaching and assessment
Your learning will be guided and supported by qualified tutors experienced in vocational and professional legal training. Your learning activities and assessments will be directly focused on preparing for SQE1 and SQE2, and more widely for a career in professional legal practice.
Teaching format
Your learning on the course will be focused on small in-person workshops, where you'll work in student law firms typically of 12 students. For SQE1, you'll develop client advice that will form the foundation for applying specific legal principles and rules to the scenarios presented in MCQs. Every workshop will build your SQE1 functioning legal knowledge, which you'll then apply in practice sets of MCQs, on which you'll receive feedback. For SQE2, you'll prepare for and practice the range of oral and written skills tasks that form the SQE2 assessment, receiving individual feedback. The practice-focused modules will be based on simulated transactions and matters, and incorporate legal documentation. You'll advise your clients and undertake the tasks carried out by solicitors to progress transactions and matters for their individual and business clients.
Problem-Based Learning
A core teaching method employed in some of our modules is problem-based learning. This will involve you working in a “student law firm” in which you will work on simulated, real-life corporate and commercial law problems brought to you by virtual clients. You'll learn to identify the relevant legal principles, and unravel the legal and contextual issues that lie at the heart of the problem. As in real life, the problems are messy, and typically involve several legal topics interacting and overlapping.
Additional learning resources
Your learning and workshop preparation will be supported by a wide range of customised learning resources. These include an extensive pool of SQE1 MCQs, plus text and media resources, and a high number of online interactive exercises, all focused on developing the required functioning legal knowledge for SQE1. The SQE2 learning resources include scenarios and materials that replicate those used in the SQE2 oral and written skills assessments. You'll use practitioner know-how in the practice-focused modules.
Teaching location
York Law School is located on Campus East. Nearly all of your teaching will take place within the Law and Sociology building or nearby on Campus East, in a professional learning environment.
About our campus
Our beautiful green campus offers a student-friendly setting in which to live and study, within easy reach of the action in the city centre. It's easy to get around campus - everything is within walking or pedalling distance, or you can always use the fast and frequent bus service.
Assessment and feedback
SQE1 and SQE2 Assessments
The Solicitors Regulation Authority offers a number of sittings of the centralised SQE1 and SQE2 assessments each year. There is a separate exam fee, payable to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for each assessment, which is not included in your course fee. Should you choose to do so, you may apply to sit the January or July SQE1 assessment during your LLM course and, if successful, the subsequent October SQE2 assessment following your course.
Careers and skills
Throughout the course, in addition to your subject tutors, you will be supported by a personal tutor, as well as guidance and support from our dedicated law employability tutors. This includes individual feedback on your CV, as well as assistance in preparing for applications, interviews and assessment centres, and general career planning. There are also regular employability events at the law school, attended by employers and alumni, as well as opportunities to gain practice experience.
This course aims to develop a broader range of professional skills required by all legal services providers in progressing legal matters and transactions for both business and individual clients. These include problem analysis, document analysis, problem solving and advising, which will be developed all in the context of realistic client-based simulations. You'll also use professional know-how and legal documentation, and respond to both client and professional communications. You'll also be able to choose a number of option modules in specific legal practice areas, aligned to your intended professional career path.
Career opportunities
- Lawyer
- Paralegal
- Commercial in-house lawyer
- Arbitrator
- Conveyancer
- Advice worker
For more information on how to become a lawyer in the UK or overseas and guidance on what route is right for you, check out our guide:
Transferable skills
- Research skills
- Communication and presentation skills
- Analytical and problem-solving skills
- Project management
- Reasoning and judgement
- Document and case analysis
- Negotiation and mediation
- Advocacy
Accelerate your professional network. We'll connect you with the guidance, industry links and experiences to help you stand out and find your career advantage.
Entry requirements
| Qualification | Typical offer |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate degree | 2.2 or equivalent in Law |
| Other qualifications and experience | All applicants require knowledge of the seven Foundation subjects of English Law: Public Law; EU Law; Contract; Tort; Land Law; Equity and Trusts; and Criminal Law. |
| Other international qualifications | Equivalent qualifications from your country |
English language
If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:
| Qualification | Minimum requirement |
|---|---|
| IELTS (Academic and Indicator) | 6.5, minimum 6.0 in each component |
| Cambridge CEFR | B2 First: 176, with 169 in each component |
| Oxford ELLT | 7, minimum of 6 in each component |
| Oxford Test of English Advanced | 136, minimum 126 in each component |
| Duolingo | 120, minimum 105 in all other components |
| LanguageCert SELT | B2 with 33/50 in each component |
| LanguageCert Academic | 70 with a minimum of 65 in each component |
| Kaplan Test of English Language | 478-509, with 444-477 in all other components |
| Skills for English | B2: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component |
| PTE Academic | 60 with 52 in Listening, 53 in Reading, 65 in Speaking, and 59 in Writing |
| TOEFL | 4.5, with 5 in Listening and 4.5 in each other component |
| Trinity ISE III | Merit in all requirements |
For more information see our postgraduate English language requirements.
If you haven't met our English language requirements
You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.
The length of course you need to take depends on your current English language test scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.
After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via You@York.
Next steps
Contact us
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