Council for Licensed Conveyancers consults on changes to education and training

28 June, 2016

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has today launched a consultation on proposals that will see delivery of education and training move away from the regulator. The Council will continue to set the standards to be achieved to apply for a licence to practise as a Licensed Conveyancer or Licensed Probate Practitioner. The CLC has appointed SQA, a leading Awarding Organisation, to oversee the delivery of education.

The numbers training to become a CLC lawyer have increased substantially in recent years and further growth is targeted to help meet demand in the sector for more trained and qualified specialist property lawyers.

The CLC has further responded to employer demand by creating new qualifications that are standalone but may be used as a stepping stone to full licence. These qualifications will provide employers and consumers with an understanding of the level of legal training of individuals delivering legal services under the supervision of a fully qualified lawyer. They have been created in direct response to demand from firms and potential and past students. Candidates with or without prior legal education will be able to train to be recognised as a Conveyancing or Probate Technician.

As well as classroom and distance-learning, CLC qualifications will also be delivered as apprenticeships.  Those apprenticeships have been developed by employer-led consortiums supported by the CLC.

Chief Executive of the CLC, Sheila Kumar, said: ‘Formalising these new arrangements will cement a major step forward by the CLC by supporting qualifications that lead to licence as a Licensed Conveyancers or Probate Practitioner or recognition as a Conveyancing or Probate Technician. They respond to employer demand for more trained and qualified specialist property lawyers. Delivery of education under SQA will ensure a contemporary and engaging student experience and ensure that the numbers entering the profession will continue to increase.  Apprenticeships offer an especially accessible route to a career in the law and we expect that they will be popular with both potential lawyers and their employers. We hope also that many already working in the sector will take up these new opportunities.’

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