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The College of Law Birmingham is an excellent choice for students planning to complete the Legal Practice Course (LPC). The College is well respected and is exclusive provider to a number of leading law firms.

Completing the LPC is no easy task and can be very daunting, however the tutors at the Birmingham centre are available to offer help and support and the workload is broken down into manageable amounts. One of the major plus points of the College LPC is that examinations are open book.

That is not to say that they are easy, but it does allow students to learn as the course progresses and makes exams a lot less daunting. The College of Law is expanding further due to its success, with a new Manchester centre opening in 2009.

The building itself is well equipped, up- to- date and all small group workshop rooms are of a decent size. The layout allows students to interact and discuss with ease. Every student has a copy of the essential texts needed for the course and the law library is well stocked with up-to-date texts; although most materials can be found online and are easily accessible via the College’s interactive learning support system.

The College has two computer rooms in addition to the computers in the library, meaning access to one is never a problem. The library itself is spacious with designated computer areas and desks for students to study at. It’s a great place to study as all the materials are in easy reach and the noise policy is closely observed.

The teaching quality is excellent, with all tutors having been in practice themselves. As a result, the teaching is very focused on what students can expect to deal with in practice. All College centres follow the same syllabus whether you study in Birmingham, Chester, Guilford, London, Manchester or York. As such, what you learn and the way you learn is almost exactly the same.

During the period of core subject areas students are required to participate in four workshops a week, each lasting two and a half hours. Preparation for the workshops is very important as it is the focal point of the class. Workshops consist of around fifteen to twenty people and for workshop tasks students tend to be split into groups of four. Workshops are highly participatory and an excellent way of testing students knowledge of the work they have done in preparation.

The LPC involves a lot of self- study, and taking into account workshops, students should expect to spend around 40 hours a week on study. The small group workshops are supported by i-Tutorials, online test and feedback exercises, online group assignments and independent reading and research. Once the core subject areas have been examined students can elect three further subjects to study.

The College offers the widest selection of vocational electives for students to choose from. Students are given a great deal of support throughout the core practice areas and vocational elective period of the LPC and each student has a personal tutor on hand to go to if they have any queries or need any help.

The centre itself is within walking distance to the bustling city of Birmingham and is easily accessible by car, train and bus. The College is a hub of activity as it also runs the Bar Vocational Course (BVC) and Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL).

The College is about a 15 minute walk from Birmingham city centre where there are a number of bars, clubs, restaurants and shops. The Jewellery Quarter, where the Ccollege is situated, also has shops, places to eat and some nice bars. Students are never short of things to do although the local area could look a bit better.

The 2008 full-time LPC at Birmingham cost £9,400, which could be paid in instalments. The part-time LPC cost £4,700 for year one. This includes all the essential texts needed for the course, materials necessary for the workshops and access to a number of essential law websites. A registration fee of £110 must also be paid to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. You also need to join the SRA as a student member which currently costs £80 as is paid directly to the SRA.

Many students live in shared accommodation, with a good standard of accommodation available for a reasonable price. Travel costs are dependant on where students live, but within the local area they are very reasonable.

Students who live further out can reduce their travel costs by choosing to study part -time, at evenings or weekends or choosing to concentrate all of their face-to-face tuition into two full days per week – rather than the standard four half-days per week. Local amenities are also reasonably priced, with some places offering student discounts.

As Birmingham is the second biggest city in England there is a range of social activities with something to suit everyone. The College itself has a social committee, of which is very active. The committee arranges a number of social events from bar crawls to summer balls to enable students to interact outside the learning environment.

There are also a number of sporting teams and societies which are generally free to join. If there's something you’re interested in and there isn't a club for it, you can start one yourself anyway!

One of the best aspects of the College is the careers department. Staff are always helpful and knowledgeable when it comes to writing CV's, producing cover letters and filling in application forms for training contracts. The careers department also assists students when preparing for interviews, offering practice advice to students who need it.

Throughout the year the careers department are responsible for a number of talks by local and national law firms and they run a law fair where firms come in and answer any questions students have about their firm and making applications.