Staffordshire Law School GDL | Graduate Diploma in Law | GDL | CPE

Starting life as a Polytechnic, changing to a University in the early 1990’s, the Law School sets it apart. It has a reputation for providing an excellent start to a career in the Law and, in particular, its GDL course is well renowned.

This is a speedy route to a law qualification. The course is approved by the Law Society and the Bar, and is for non-Law graduates (or those who may not have a degree but have other appropriate qualifications or work experience). The route enables entrants to gain a Law qualification, and complete the academic stage of legal training in less than a year of full-time study (or two years part-time study, either in the day or by attending up to two evenings a week).

On completion of the course, it also enables you to progress to the Solicitors’ qualifying route, the Legal Practice Course (LPC), or to the Barristers’ qualification, the Bar Vocational Course (BVC).

On completion of the CPE at Staffordshire University, successful students are awarded two awards, the Graduate Diploma in Law (the standard award offered by most UK Law providers) and, in our case, the LLB (CPE).

Another distinctive features of our CPE is that students can join the mentoring scheme that is available to LPC students. This is optional, but if you participate (at no additional cost) it will guarantee a placement with a Law firm at which you can gain a period of work experience – something which we believe is invaluable as a “first rung” of the Law careers ladder.

Much was invested in the Law School, reported to be around £3 million, which is housed separately from the other courses on the Leek Road Campus. The purpose built facility has as its centre piece a large law library, providing many of the required legal texts, free access to online publications and quiet study areas.

On the ground floor surrounding the library are numerous rooms, doubling up as offices for the staff and meeting rooms for the law workshops. On the second floor are further, similar rooms, along with two mock courtrooms used for Advocacy sessions.

The law lectures usually take place across the road from the Law School in a separate purpose built lecture theatre. Here, four large and airy theatres, fully air conditioned and equipped with audio and visual technology provide a comfortable and enjoyable learning experience.

As with all other providers, the Staffordshire GDL focuses on the seven compulsory subjects; Tort, Contract, Public, Land, Crime, EC and Equity and Trusts. You will also have to complete an independent research project in another area of law to fulfill the law society requirements.

The course is delivered through a combination of large and small group sessions, akin to the lecture and seminar format used by most undergraduate programmes. The GDL classes are on a much smaller scale however so the course is far more interactive than most.

The Law School is situated at the Stoke-on-Trent campus, within walking distance of the small town of Stoke and the train station, with a main line running to Derby one way and Manchester the other. The area around the University is largely made up of small terraced housing which is ideal for cheap student accommodation.

There are small convenience shops along Leek Road, next to the University, as well as a number of decent sized pubs. Further into Stoke itself, and also within walking distance of the University, are larger pubs and shops, selling everything from clothes to food.

Stoke is a small one way system in terms of driving and certainly cannot be described as a bustling metropolis. The larger, more useful area is Hanley. This is the largest town close by, and includes many more name pubs, such as Wetherspoons, and nightclubs, along with a modern indoor shopping centre, known as the Potteries.

There is also a theatre staging popular productions, sometimes before they reach the West End. Further out of Town, within 10 minutes drive, is Festival Park. This out of town facility houses, amongst other things, large supermarkets, a cinema, a pool hall, bowling alley, indoor water park and a dry ski slope.

Course fees for the Staffordshire GDL are £3,000 for the full-time option and £1,500 for the part-timers. For international students the fees are £8,450.

For those students who wish to use the student accommodation at the university, prices will vary depending on what level of accommodation you choose. The University has on campus accommodation for undergraduate students and also provides off campus accommodation for post graduate students.

The University accommodation starts from about £60 per week, providing a very competitive price compared with other universities.

For university supplied events, there are many of them. The on-campus students union provides entertainment every night ranging from curry club, to Gobble on a Wednesday night and even super Friday which is a dress up night.

The law society also provides for specialist events such as guest speakers, and every year provides trips to Alton towers and has its annual trip to London to visit the courts. Many other events include debating and mooting which are excellent if you wish to improve upon these necessary areas of achieving a law degree.

For those students who also like to enjoy a bit of exercise, the on campus sports facilities offers many activities ranging from football to their own specialised gym.

The support from the staff of the law school is second to none as they provide all the information and support to students necessary to provide an excellent education and to help with any problems that a student may face.

The Law school continually offers workshops and guest speakers in lectures as well as employment workshops in order to provide students with the information necessary to make themselves and their degrees stand out from the others. There is on site careers office who continually speak to students and also offer assistance in finding part time work as well as helping students to achieve the career they seek.