Why choose our GDL?
Our GDL is much more than an academic conversion course - it’s designed to meet the realities of today’s legal market and provide the practical skills to create highly marketable lawyers.
Preparing you for practice
Our ‘Preparing for practice’ module, unique to The College of Law GDL, will give you a real understanding of what it’s like to work with clients in legal practice as a solicitor or barrister. It uses realistic cases and work situations all designed in consultation with your prospective employers.
This is an essential part of your training to develop the skills you’ll be expected to demonstrate at interview, put you ahead of other candidates and make sure you’re ready to start your training contract or pupillage.
Endorsed by leading firms
The course has been designed in consultation with leading law firms. We are the preferred training provider to Allen & Overy, Ashurst, Berwin Leighton Paisner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Clifford Chance, Cobbetts, Halliwells, Linklaters and Pinsent Mason, who send all their trainees to the College for their GDL.
Learning by doing
You’ll benefit from a unique blend of study methods to ensure you get the most from your course:
- practical workshops give you unrivalled levels of interaction with your tutor and allow you to put your learning into practice in a supportive yet challenging environment
- inspiring lectures help review, summarise and advance your understanding
- state-of-the-art learning resources include interactive i-Tutorials and podcasts
- interactive study manuals, unique to the College, plus traditional textbooks for all subjects included in your course fee
- informal assessments, regular oral and written feedback, and one-to-one meetings with personal tutors allow you to track your progress throughout the course and help ensure your success
Learn from the experts
Your training is delivered by qualified lawyers with hands-on experience in practice. The emphasis is on face-to-face teaching in small group workshops supported by interactive online learning. Our tutors are freely available to offer advice and support in person outside class, as well as by e-mail or telephone.
Your career stepping stone
Even at this early stage of your legal training, with our GDL you can begin to focus on the areas of law that interest you most, as well as getting a thorough grounding in company law to aid your commercial awareness. This will help you to make informed choices about your future career and give you the confidence and skills to complete your training and move on to the next stage of your career.
If you want to become a solicitor, you’re guaranteed a place on our LPC on successful completion of the College GDL, provided you apply within two years.
If you want to become a barrister, the Bar Standards Board doesn’t allow institutions to give guarantees, but if you make us your first choice we can offer you a place on our BPTC in most cases.
Fast-track LL.M and LL.B awards
On successful completion of the College GDL and either the LPC or BPTC, you’ll graduate with an LL.B law degree, without any additional study or cost, reflecting the high quality of our courses. This will enhance your CV and may give you a competitive edge over others when applying for a training contract or pupillage.
And when you successfully complete the LPC or BPTC with us, you’ll earn a third of the credits towards our LL.M Masters of Law degrees, meaning you only need to study three further modules and complete a final assignment to achieve the full Masters degree.
