Ben Palmer

Senior Paralegal at Taylor Wessing, LLM student, passed SQE1 and awaiting SQE2 results

I’m Ben, and I’m studying the LLM in Legal Practice which includes preparation for the SQE1 and SQE2 exams. I was working full-time as a Paralegal at Marks and Spencer whilst studying and I have passed the SQE1. I recently took the SQE2 exam, and I am waiting for my results. I have recently taken my next career step and I'm now a Senior Paralegal at Taylor Wessing. I’ve had a fantastic experience with The College of Legal Practice and highly recommend it to anyone wanting a supportive, high-quality provider, backed by a team who understand the need for flexible study around busy lives and commitments. 

Why did you choose to study with The College of Legal Practice?

It can be a bit of a minefield searching for the right provider for your LLM, or SQE1 and 2 prep. For me the biggest thing was finding a course which would fit around my full-time work, which offered that flexibility while maintaining excellent standards and support. The College of Legal Practice did exactly this and stood out to me from the get-go. 

I found that straight away the College demonstrated its support for students. The Student Services team responded to my enquiry within an hour of contacting the College and walked me through my options, the course contents and how it could fit around my other commitments. This made them stand out straight away, and the support has carried on throughout the course itself! 

I really like the way the content is delivered. It’s structured in a way that aids retention and each module is planned out in the same way. You typically begin with a podcast or introductory video explaining the content and structure of the module. You then carry out reading, then are assessed to check your understanding. For example, for the SQE1 prep, it’s laser-focused on the content for the exam, which helps consolidate your knowledge, followed by an interactive activity to practice what you have learned. I like this way of learning as you practice and retain your knowledge straight away, and can see precisely how it relates to your end goal of the exam. 

There is a fantastic level of support with several layers. Firstly, you get assigned a personal tutor who you have regular catch-ups with. I have had several conversations with my personal tutor about my SQE readiness to ensure I’m on the path to success for the SQE. We also worked on study plans to help me plan out how I’m going to complete my work alongside my other commitments, too. 

There’s plenty of pastoral and study support. We have town halls, which are really useful to help plan your week, covering important announcements such as SQE updates, reminders to book exams, and hear feedback on what students have submitted to the course leader. These really show that we’ve been listened to. We also have surgeries, which are like virtual seminars with a question and answer format, and discussion boards which are monitored by module leaders who are experts in each area of law. 

I’m also a big fan of the materials we are offered. Sometimes I like a break from my screen and the provision of hard copies of resource books helps with that - and would be great for learners with varied learning styles or needs. There are also thousands of example multiple choice questions to prep for the exams which I’ve found to be brilliant.

For me, the notable experiences are both the huge amount of support and the way the course fits around my commitments.

My personal tutor has helped me with study plans and given me lots of feedback throughout the course to ensure I’m on track to pass the SQE. The town halls, the surgeries and the discussion boards are also brilliant at making sure I keep up and never get lost or confused with what I’m working on.

From day one the course has been remote, meaning I can fit it around my life while retaining the excellent level of support and academic teaching. In the town halls we’re given clear deadlines for when work is needed each week, but we’re trusted to decide when to complete this work, which for me is usually evenings and weekends. We have sessions in ‘lunch hours’ too, which means I can hop on a call for half an hour from the comfort of my desk - this wouldn’t be possible if I had to travel to a physical building during my lunch break. An LLM alongside work requires a lot of dedication and commitment. For me, the virtual nature of the course is what makes it possible and manageable.  

This case study was written 19/04/02024.

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