Dear All
I'm Duc from Vietnam, I'm going to take the CPE in England but I'm confused on the education quality of the institutions which I will enroll. I have applied for BPP, College of Law(second choice) and UWE (third choice). I have just known about CPE thus my application was sent when the round 1 for application has been passed. Recently UWE has contacted me but I'm quite confused about qualification from this UWE although the UWE provides that they was ranked "excellent" for their education by Higher Education Council. Does anyone know about UWE or any ranking of the institutions which provide CPE course in UK (some website provides that the ranking of LPC will tell you about quality of CPE, so if anyone has ranking for LPC, please give me the link also).
thank you all so much in advance

I don't think there is a ranking as such. The providers are different though. Both BPP and College of Law are based in London. Both are private institutions and have no research capacity; they started out just doing the vocational training course and BPP in particular was very effective at that element of the professional training. UWE is an university (a former polytechnic) but it still means it will be part of an institution that should have a research ethic (though I don't think its performance in the last RAE was stunning - see http://www.rae.ac.uk/pubs/2009/ov/) and will be subject to all the standard reviews carried out by the government on higher education institutions (I don't think private providers are subject to the teaching QAA regime, but I could be wrong on that - see HEFCE website - http://www.hefce.ac.uk/learning/). I suppose it depends why you are doing the CPE. My rought guess is that a university would provide a more academic atmosphere and support system than the others; whether this is important to you is another question. I don't think law firms particularly distinguish providers, but would rather assess you on how well you do in the CPE/GDL, the quality of your other qualifications and experience.

Thank you Imwoods so much. I take the CPE because (i) I want to understand more about common law and UK legal system and (ii) I want to become a solicitor. I care about the knowledge for practice more than the research, that's why I have applied for CPE other than a LLM. I think that LLM is too academic and will not be much useful for my career (as a future solicitor) as a CPE course. I want practical thinking and teaching.
Recently, I have had offers from three school including (i) BPP (centre in London), (ii) College of Law (Guildford Centre) and (iii) a CPE course provided by University of West England in Bristol (UWE). I will not take the course in UWE given that it is not a reputation law school for CPE. In consideration of BPP and College of Law, I prefer College of Law because of the following reasons:
- it has similar reputation with BPP;
- it has a close relationship with Clifford Chance (they said that some lessons will be taught by the solicitor from Clifford Chance, Baker and other great firms. They provided that these firms also send their trainees and non-legal staffs exclusively to College of Law for their CPE/GDL and LPC); and
- College of Law will save around £2000 (tuition fee of BPP is nearly £9000 while the tuition fee in College of Law is £7000) and cheaper cost of living (I will stay in Guildford, thus I think that the cost of living will be cheaper than in London).
However, what I care the most is the education quality of the school other than financial issues. Because of this, I still have some concerns as below
- Some people tell me that I will be more employable if I take the course in London, the course in London is much better than the course provided in other cities. Is there any difference in education quality between BPP in London and College of Law in Guildford. I wonder if the CPE qualification from Guildford Centers may bring me more difficulties in seeking for a traineeship?
- College of Law has other two centers in London (Bloomsbury, Moorgate). Are these two centers much better than Guildford Center?
- Do you know anything about Guildford center, can you give me any information about this institution?
Please kindly advise me if you have any information about them and please also tell me which institution is a better option for me. I will be very appreciate your advices. They will help me so much.

You are more employable in the city in which you have taken the course whether it be London or it be any other city.

the education quality is almost the same. But BPP has many advantages over the COL....i think you reallly missed those...!

1. BPP offers lectures in MP4, DVD,MP3, etc. Formats....these are in addition to your daily lectures (Incase if you wish to hear those lectures again)
2. BPP has similar tie-ups with Magic-Circle firms...even in the city of London.
3. BPP is more technically equipped than COL....! And technology is an essential part of the programme becoz when the firms are looking-out for trainees...they want someone whom they don't have to teach Techno-Legal stuff...(e.g.using various online-research websites, programs, softwares, etc.)
4. BPP guarantees you a place on the LPC on the completion of your CPE/GDL course....(College of Law does not)

I hope you take these things into consideration....! I keep posting incase if I remember more points

Thank you so much, Legal _ India .
I will take all of them into my consideration. I will make my final decision in next few days
Thank you so much again

The BPP Law School offers you to convert your GDL course to be converted into the LLB dgree after is completion...!

Also, BPP provides something known as GDL extra in Commercial or Company Law.....it really acts like an advantage when you are planning to the city firms...!

Hey guys!!
Anyone here still active or maybe who's done with the lpc course yet? i had a few questions.
Firstly i am applying for lpc and is it necessary to apply through LawCab? the reason i ask is there are a few questions over there that i am failing to understand, so....
Secondly i am applying to University of law and BPP which one should i keep first and what can be my third option for a university??

Thanks