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student experiences
Mary Brunt
Trainee Solicitor at Medical Solicitors, passed SQE1 and SQE2 with the College, studying the LLM in Legal Practice (inc SQE1 & SQE2)
Hi, I’m Mary, I’m currently studying the LLM in Legal Practice and have passed SQE1 and SQE2, and as I have been working as a paralegal, I have my Qualifying Work Experience already. I hope to qualify soon! I was on maternity leave whilst I was preparing for SQE1 in early 2022, so I was juggling both my studies and the little one!
Why did you choose to study with The College of Legal Practice?
I was specifically looking for a course that I could use student finance for so I could afford to start the course straight way and didn’t have to save for it. The Master’s Loan covered all the course and assessment fees for me. It was also important that the course was flexible for my family and work circumstances, the remote learning allowed me to mould my learning around my schedule.
I did my undergraduate degree with the Open University, so I’m used to studying online and I didn’t want to go to a traditional University campus. Lastly, I also read about Giles, your CEO, who had worked at Kaplan prior to joining the College, which gave me confidence in your knowledge of the SQE and courses.
Reflections on the College’s LLM programme
So in terms of the time that I gave to the course, any time that I wasn’t looking after my baby I was studying, I’d say probably around 20 hours per week. The course was flexible enough that I was able to break the learning down into small chunks that fitted with when I could study.
I felt that the learning resources were specific to the SQE learning outcomes, with only the information I needed for the exams, so I didn’t waste any time. I found the manuals easy to understand and a hard copy was provided as part of the cost of the course.
I was particularly impressed with the number of MCQs that there were on the course, and having now taken and passed the SQE1 assessment, the College MCQs are very similar. You take regular mocks throughout the course, under timed conditions so I was able to get used to the time constraints for the actual exams.
The surgeries with practising legal professionals were helpful too, as I had the opportunity to go over content, ask any questions and they were recorded if you can’t attend. I only thing that I would change is the speed of replies on the discussion boards from some supervisors.
I also found the SQE readiness Review useful, it was different for me however, because I booked through reasonable adjustments so I was able to wait to see how I performed in the summative assessments, which gave me the confidence to go ahead with the exams.
Finally, the 1-2-1 support I received was second to none. I had fortnightly meetings with my personal tutor which I found incredibly valuable. I had Sarah and she was brilliant, you receive targeted advice personal to you and your circumstances.