Legal Practice (SQE) (LLM)

About the Course

Applications are now open for the September 2026 intake

The route to becoming a solicitor has changed. Ambitious graduates need more than just exam preparation. They need confidence, professional judgement, commercial and ethical awareness alongside the practical skills to stand out in a competitive legal market. The LLM in Legal Practice (SQE) at Liverpool Hope University is built for exactly that.

This is a career-focused LLM for graduates who want a direct, structured and supportive pathway towards qualification as a solicitor in England and Wales. Delivered in collaboration with The College of Legal Practice, the course brings SQE1 and SQE2 preparation into a full LLM, giving students the opportunity to prepare for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination while gaining a high-quality postgraduate qualification.

Students will develop the knowledge and skills legal employers look for. Advocacy, interviewing, drafting, legal research, writing, negotiation, case analysis, commercial awareness and dispute resolution. Alongside flexible online SQE preparation, students benefit from Liverpool Hope’s Law Clinic and Moot Court facilities, practice-informed academics, and a small, focused Law department where students are known individually rather than lost in the crowd.

What sets this course apart is its powerful combination of professional preparation, academic depth and personal support. Specialist study in Commercial Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution, together with a substantial supervised dissertation, helps students move beyond passing exams and towards becoming reflective, capable and client-focused future solicitors.

For graduates serious about legal practice, this course offers a distinctive, practical and purpose-driven route into the profession  with the close academic community and individual attention that is the Liverpool Hope hallmark that can make all the difference.

Curriculum Overview

The LLM in Legal Practice (SQE) is designed as a clear, purposeful and career-focused learning journey: from building the legal knowledge you need for solicitor qualification, to developing the practical skills expected of a future lawyer, to producing an independent piece of Masters-level legal research. Every stage of the course is built to help you grow in confidence, capability and professional identity.

Modules

You begin with Solicitors Legal Knowledge, delivered online by The College of Legal Practice. This module gives you structured preparation across the core areas assessed by SQE1, including contract, tort, land, criminal law, trusts, business law and practice, dispute resolution, property practice, wills and estates, legal systems, ethics and professional conduct. This stage gives you a strong technical foundation and helps you develop the discipline, independence and self-management needed for postgraduate professional study. You are not simply revising law; you are learning how to apply legal principles to realistic client-based and ethical problems.

You then move into the development of professional legal skills through Solicitors Legal Skills. This prepares you for the demands of SQE2 by focusing on the practical competencies solicitors use every day: advocacy, interviewing, attendance note-taking, legal analysis, case and matter analysis, drafting, legal research and legal writing. You develop these skills in key practice contexts including criminal litigation, dispute resolution, property practice, wills and probate, and business law and practice. This is where you begin to think, communicate and perform more like a trainee solicitor: analysing problems, advising clients, drafting effective documents and presenting arguments with confidence.

Alongside SQE preparation, you study specialist practice-focused modules that strengthen your employability and help you stand out. Commercial Law develops your advanced understanding of commercial transactions, contracts, sale of goods, supply of services, agency, international trade, consumer protection, intellectual property, remedies and professional ethics. Through simulated transactional exercises, client advisory tasks and contract drafting, you build commercial awareness and the ability to produce clear, professional legal work.

Alternative Dispute Resolution gives you another highly valuable professional edge. In a legal market where many disputes are resolved outside court, you develop knowledge and practical experience of negotiation, mediation, arbitration, online dispute resolution and settlement drafting. Through simulated exercises, you learn to assess client interests, manage conflict, evaluate strategy and communicate effectively in high-pressure professional contexts. This module helps you become not only legally knowledgeable, but also tactically aware, emotionally intelligent and client-focused.

At Liverpool Hope, you benefit from a course that combines flexible online SQE preparation with the value of campus-based legal education. You will engage with practice-informed teaching, Law Clinic and Moot Court facilities, specialist academic support and a university environment that encourages ambition, confidence and professional growth. The course is designed to give you both the structure to prepare for qualification and the wider legal education to develop as a reflective, capable and employable graduate.

Your learning journey culminates in the Dissertation / Research Project, a substantial 15,000-word independent research project supervised by Liverpool Hope academic staff. This is what elevates the course beyond exam preparation. You choose a legal topic connected to the LLM curriculum or legal practice, develop a focused research question, engage with advanced legal sources and produce a sustained scholarly argument. The dissertation strengthens your independence, critical thinking, project management, legal research and written communication — all skills that matter in practice and beyond.

By the end of the course, you will have developed far more than legal knowledge. You will have built the confidence to analyse complex problems, the skills to communicate with clients and colleagues, the judgement to act ethically, the commercial and dispute resolution awareness employers value, and the intellectual independence of a Masters graduate. This course is designed to help you move from aspiring lawyer to confident, reflective and professionally prepared future solicitor.

Entry Requirements

Normally a minimum of a Second-Class Honours degree in a relevant discipline awarded by a UK university, or an equivalent higher education qualification is required.

International Entry Requirements

Teaching and Research

On the LLM in Legal Practice (SQE), you will be taught by a fully research-active Law team who bring academic expertise, professional insight and contemporary legal debate directly into your learning. This matters because the legal profession is not static: solicitors must understand the law as it is practised now, while also being able to respond to new developments, client expectations and employer needs.

Your course leaders have years of experience designing and delivering LLM-level legal education, so the programme is built with a clear understanding of what postgraduate students need to succeed. Teaching is research-informed, practice-focused and connected to the realities of legal work. You will not simply study legal rules in isolation; you will examine how they operate in client problems, commercial transactions, dispute resolution, ethics, professional conduct and access to justice.

Liverpool Hope’s Law team also has well-developed connections with the local legal community, including strong links with members of the judiciary and solicitors’ firms. These relationships help keep the course professionally relevant and connected to the expectations of the legal sector. They also strengthen the programme’s focus on the knowledge, skills and behaviours employers value: legal analysis, drafting, advocacy, research, communication, commercial awareness, ethical judgement and client-focused problem-solving.

This combination of academic credibility, professional connection and employer-focused skills development gives you a course that is both intellectually serious and practically relevant. You will be supported to think critically, act professionally and prepare with confidence for the demands of legal practice.

UK/Channel Island Tuition Fees

2026/27

Tuition fees for Home students for 2026/27 are £14,175

Funding

We offer a number of scholarships and loans to help fund your postgraduate studies. Visit our scholarships pages for more details.

Careers

This course is designed first and foremost to support your journey towards qualification as a solicitor through the Solicitors Qualifying Examination route. By bringing SQE1 and SQE2 preparation into a full LLM, the programme helps you prepare for the external assessments while also developing the wider professional skills, judgement and confidence expected of a future solicitor.

You will build your legal knowledge across the core areas assessed in SQE1, including business law and practice, dispute resolution, property practice, criminal practice, wills and estates, legal systems, ethics and professional conduct. You will then develop the practical competencies central to SQE2, including advocacy, interviewing, legal analysis, case and matter analysis, drafting, research and legal writing.

Delivered in collaboration with The College of Legal Practice, the course is designed to align with the SQE route to qualification and to prepare you for the realities of legal practice. Liverpool Hope’s Law Clinic, Moot Court facilities, practice-focused teaching and careers support further strengthen your professional development.

This course prepares you for qualifying work experience and future roles in law firms, in-house legal teams, commercial practice, dispute resolution, public service and other legally focused graduate careers where SQE preparation, client-focused skills and professional confidence matter.