Brigid North, Training Principle at Reed Smith: "The College of Legal Practice’s approach to learning is grounded in real-world legal practice, which makes it a perfect fit with our own training philosophy. It is important to us that its tutors are practising solicitors as they understand our needs as a firm, as well as how best to guide and support our trainees in their learning. We work closely with the College to identify the knowledge and the skills required for our trainees to succeed in the legal profession. As these requirements change and evolve, the courses will change too, meaning the time our trainees spend learning with the College remains practical, valuable and relevant."

Zena Comrie, Early careers adviser: “We are very pleased to work closely with The College of Legal Practice to support our trainee solicitors through the SQE Assessments. We know that the experienced College team will provide a fresh expert approach to legal learning and the right individual support that our trainee solicitors need to be successful in the SQE. The SQE is innovative and is changing the solicitor qualification route, so this collaboration underpins our social mobility commitments to increasing access to the legal profession through new and exciting career routes.”

Daniel Jones, HR Director from Clarke Wilmott: “Clarke Wilmott recognises that the SQE route to becoming a solicitor gives us opportunities for development of our paralegals, who are already committed to the business and delivering value for our clients. It also supports our work in encouraging wider participation in the profession by removing the barriers to entry. The College of Legal Practice’s flexible and high-quality training made them our natural partner and we have been impressed in their SQE expertise, collaboration and support so far.”

Claire Knowles, Senior Employment Partner: “Acuity recognises the importance of creating more open and innovative pathways for candidates to join the legal industry and develop their careers in different ways. The “one fits all approach” of the traditional training contract limits both law firms and candidates and we want to break those traditional barriers. We are delighted to be working with The College of Legal Practice to facilitate our new training programmes and the opportunities ahead for our future lawyers.”

Darren Harris, Head of PwC Legal Middle East: “PwC Legal Middle East is committed to upskilling trainee lawyers and associates in line with our strategy to create a law firm of the future as part of our unique model of providing legal services integrated with a leading professional services firm across the Middle East. We place great emphasis on the personal and career development of our team members and this starts with our trainee lawyer programme. We are proud to work with The College of Legal Practice and look forward to further collaboration.”

Lindsay Barnett, HR Director, Wright Hassall: “The firm has always believed in developing its own talent and wants to extend this opportunity to any employee with a degree. We were extremely impressed by the way that the College has introduced flexibility and accessibility into the learning design for their SQE Prep Courses. The value and quality of their proposition stands out as does their collaborative approach. Both organisations believe in individual,  personalised learning to genuinely support professional development.”

Dr Bleddyn Davies, Head of the School of Law at Keele University: "This is an excellent addition to the suite of programmes here at Keele and we genuinely believe it offers students the best of both worlds. On the one hand, the academic excellence that Keele is known for and on the other, the internationally recognised practical expertise offered by the College of Legal Practice. It means that students who want to prepare for the SQE in an academic environment now have the option of coming to Keele, and our existing students now have a clear route to complete their academic legal journey here. We are excited to see this market-leading offer go from strength to strength.”

Dr Susan Pascoe, Director of Programmes in Law, Associate Professor of Law: “This exciting new programme opens a much-needed pathway for those wishing to qualify in England and Wales as solicitors whilst also obtaining a postgraduate degree in Law in just one year. Middlesex University is proud to bring an innovative and forward-thinking approach to academia and training, collaborating with our strategic partners across the industry to enhance legal understanding, innovation, and expertise across the sector in UK and internationally. The hybrid learning techniques on the LLM Legal Practice, created alongside the College, ensure that higher education remains flexible and accessible to all.”

Professor Andrew Francis, Dean of the Manchester Law School at Manchester Metropolitan University: “At Manchester Law School, student support is at the very heart of all our programmes and these two new masters courses are no exception. We are a Law School with strong professional connections – many of which we are able to offer as part of pro bono activities which can contribute towards QWE – and world-leading research that will feed into students’ projects. Being able to offer a SQE pathway for our students through The College of Legal Practice’s proven preparation courses is an exciting development for us.”