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student experiences
Georgina Fawcett
Qualified solicitor at Irwin Mitchell, passed SQE2 with the College
I am Georgina, and I recently completed the SQE2 Prep course starting in July 2023 with the College of Legal Practice. I finished the course in September 2023, and sat my exams in October 2023. I passed with 84% and within the first quintile!
Background wise, I first started my career in law with my law degree at the Open University in 2017. Whilst I studied, I secured a job as a legal secretary with a high street firm. This experience helped set me up for my next career move, which was becoming a paralegal with Irwin Mitchell in the asbestos-related disease personal injury team. I undertook the LPC and then went on to complete my SQE2 with the College of Legal Practice whilst continuing to work at Irwin Mitchell full-time. Due to my LPC, I was exempt from the SQE1. I used my two years at Irwin Mitchell for my Qualifying Work Experience (QWE). I was formally admitted as a Solicitor in England and Wales on 4 March 2024 and started as a fully qualified solicitor on the 1st of May with Irwin Mitchell!
Why did you choose to study with The College of Legal Practice?
For me, I needed to complete my course around a full time work commitment. I worked four long days. This gave me 4 evenings and a three-day weekend to focus on my SQE2 Prep. I am glad that The College of Legal Practice allowed me this flexibility. I think if you’re looking for a course that you can fit around work or personal commitments, COLP can offer you that. COLP also stood out for me due to the amount of tutor contact you receive.
Reflections on the course/experience
The flexibility is what really stood out for me with the College. As I said I needed to fit my studies around quite intense work commitments, and The College of Legal Practice allowed me to do that.
I particularly found the SQE2 Prep resources helpful, both the physical books and online materials. The LPC is an open book exam and this is what I was familiar with, so I needed to change up my approach for SQE2. I read through the College’s materials, then rewrote them in a concise way which were also from a client’s perspective to help me memorise the information and prepare for the content required in the SQE2 exams. I then created a poster for each module with the key information on. I also really carefully considered the exemplar’s provided by the college to inform me of how I needed to answer the SQE2 questions, as opposed to the LPC method I was more familiar with.
Notable experiences
For me studying with the College reminded me to put myself in the right mindset for the exam. You need to remember to remain focused on the end goal, knowing you’ve come so far already.
One piece of advice I’d give is to let the people around you know that you’re doing this course and that you’re on this SQE journey so that they can respect you’ll be putting a lot of time and energy into it. Let your manager know what you’re doing if you’re working - they may offer flexibility so that you, for example, can attend a town hall during your working day.