Real-life legal experience at the heart of new course is giving aspiring solicitors in Hertfordshire the best chance of qualifying
Firms registered with Hertfordshire Law Society have heard first-hand about the University of Hertfordshire’s new Master of Laws (Solicitors’ Practice) ('LLMSP') (SQE) course aimed at boosting the number of newly qualified solicitors for the county.
At a meeting hosted in one of the University’s lecture theatres, students and professional staff at Hertfordshire Law School set out the rigorous new programme that wraps practical skills around academic learning. Thereafter, guests were given a tour of the University’s replica Crown Court, where students gain their advocacy skills under the guidance of practising solicitors and barristers.
Despite the existing qualification route (SQE) for new solicitors being notoriously demanding, students registered on the brand-new course feel that it is supporting them to develop confidence and competence.
Mohammed Nawaz, a student on the intensive one-year LLMSP, which is also a master’s course, set out one of the ways the course aligns with the profession’s qualifying work experience requirements.
“We take part in the Law Clinic, a mandatory part of the SQE, where we work in pairs under a supervising solicitor to attend court, talk to clients, and write attendance notes and advice letters”.
Another LLMSP student, Karen Jenkins said that Herts LLMSP students are also attending court to assist solicitors in practical real-life settings.
Carolyn Marsh, a Barrister, set out the unique selling point of Herts’ approach, which is, “to combine knowledge learned with the skills required” to become a practising solicitor and talked about the value of building up local knowledge and relationships.
Recent SQE qualifier, Dylan Keenan, who is now working as a solicitor with Hertfordshire County Council, gave some expert tips on how students could build stamina and resilience for tackling the centralised assessment days at the end of their course.
The session clearly impressed the President of Hertfordshire Law Society, Massimo Trebar, who remarked at the end that:
“It’s a very impressive course and I am pleased to see the importance of criminal advocacy included in it.”
Mr Trebar said that the session setting out the new course, which was recorded online, would also be shared with all 200 or so members of the Society, which includes employed solicitors, sole practitioners, specialised firms, general practice firms, substantial regional firms, and firms with international connections.
Sharmila O'Reilly, a Solicitor of the Senior Courts, Principal Lecturer and Programme Leader of LLM (Solicitors' Practice) (SQE) said:
“We’ve devised the new course to align with all the qualifying criteria for the final examination.
“This includes five weeks shadowing a practising solicitor and thereafter taking instructions directly, as well as building up the resilience of our students for the rigour of real-life practice.
“They are getting exposure to housing law, working with and alongside duty solicitors, and triaging clients at court, among other things.
“The students have really demonstrated they have grasped the opportunities despite the intensity of the course, and I have great confidence in them when they take their exams in July.
“We could not prepare them any better for professional life than we do through this course.”
You can apply to study the SQE at Herts here or learn more about studying at Hertfordshire Law School generally.
Hertfordshire Law School was independently assessed as offering exceptional student learning scoring 93% for overall satisfaction score in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (2023) and ranked 2nd for Law in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES, Advance HE, 2023). Post graduate taught programmes at the University are Ranked 1st in the UK for support (PTES, Advance HE, 2024) and Ranked 1st in the East of England for Social Policy(Complete University Guide, 2025).