What Qualifications Do You Need To Be a Lawyer?

Working out exactly what you need to become a lawyer can feel like a lot to take in at once, so it helps to break it down into a handful of clear stages. Here's the full qualifications for law laid out as four straightforward steps, from your first exams right through to professional training.

Step 1: Sort Out Your Level 2 Qualifications

Everything starts here. You'll usually need a minimum of five GCSEs at grade four or above, with a strong result in English Language being particularly important given how much reading and writing legal study involves. You can check the full GCSEs for law that universities tend to expect. If GCSEs aren't quite the right fit, Functional Skills Level 2 in Maths and English is generally treated as equivalent to a grade four pass, can be sat entirely online, and results usually come back within around ten working days. It's worth reviewing the full law course qualification requirement to see how this fits alongside the more traditional route. Whichever option you take, having some extra support at this stage can make a real difference, particularly if it's been a while since you last sat exams.

Step 2: Choose The Right A Levels

Next comes A Levels, and most law degrees ask for somewhere between BBB and AAB, with the most competitive courses sometimes asking for AAA. You don't need to have taken A Level Law itself, and plenty of successful applicants haven't. What tends to matter more is picking essay-based subjects that show off analytical thinking and written argument, such as English Literature, History, Politics or Economics. Take a look at the A Levels for law to see which subject combinations tend to work well together.

Step 3: Study Your Law Degree

From here, most people move onto a Bachelor of Laws degree, usually known by its abbreviation, LLB, a three-year full-time course covering core areas such as contract, criminal, tort, public and land law. If your degree is in a different subject, a one-year conversion course gives you the same grounding, so a later change of direction doesn't mean starting from scratch. When comparing courses, the UCAS law subject guide is a genuinely useful place to see everything laid out side by side.

Step 4: Complete Your Professional Training

Passing your degree isn't quite the finish line. From here, the path splits depending on whether you want to become a solicitor or a barrister. Solicitors sit the Solicitors Qualifying Examination and complete two years of Qualifying Work Experience, while barristers complete the Bar Practice Course followed by a period of pupillage in chambers. The national careers service lawyer job profile is a helpful place to see how both roles are actually described day to day.

Final Thoughts

At Ilkley Tuition, we know how much of a difference the right support can make at any of these stages, which is why we always recommend seeking guidance early if a particular subject feels like a struggle. Whichever step you're currently working on, you can look into Pass Learn exams when you're ready to move forward.