Law Conversion and SQE 1 Preparation Course (LLM)

Congratulations on receiving an offer to study the LLM Law Conversion and SQE 1 Preparation Course at Nottingham Law School. This course has been designed to equip you with the legal knowledge and skills to pass the Solicitors Qualifying Examination 1 (SQE) assessment, and also to provide you with the practical knowledge employers regard as essential in the current legal market.

You will develop an understanding of the law and practice in key legal areas and you will have many opportunities to develop and practice your legal skills, both of which you will use once you have qualified as a solicitor. Additional opportunities are available through our on-campus law firm, NLS Legal where you can work on real cases and provide legal advice and representation.

I look forward to welcoming you at enrolment.

Felicity Campbell
Course Leader

Highly effective SQE 1 preparation
The course develops key knowledge and skills for legal practice, with content and assessments closely aligned to the SRA’s SQE assessment specification. You will have access to extensive learning resources, including online manuals, hundreds of SQE-style multiple-choice questions, structured revision materials and regular mock assessments to support focused revision and exam technique.

Comprehensive conversion course
Gain the foundational legal knowledge and skills you need through a rigorous conversion course that prepares you fully for the SQE 1 centralised assessments.

Expert teaching from practising lawyers
All our tutors are experienced legal professionals with extensive practice backgrounds, ensuring your learning is grounded in real-world legal work.

Strong professional connections
Our wide network of legal employers and contacts ensures our courses remain up-to-date, practical and closely aligned with the needs of today’s legal sector.

Outstanding pro bono and practical opportunities
Gain client-facing experience through NLS Legal, our multi-award-winning on-campus law firm, and through our exclusive partnership with Support Through Court, providing valuable insight into the access to justice sector.

Dedicated personal support
You’ll have a personal tutor to support your studies and guide your career development, including applications for QWE, vacation schemes and training contracts.

Flexible study options
Our part-time routes enable you to balance your studies with work and other commitments.

Career-focused course design
We regularly review our programmes to ensure you develop the knowledge, skills and professional awareness employers expect.

Full-service Law School experience
At the end of your LLM, you’ll be able to continue your legal training with us on one of our short courses designed to prepare you for the final SQE2 assessment. Many students choose to stay with Nottingham Law School to complete the next stage of their legal training, based on their positive experience here.

Exclusive progression discounts
We offer fee discounts for current Nottingham Law School students and alumni continuing their legal training with us.

All details of your offer can be found on the Applicant Portal.

If you wish to accept your offer, log onto the Applicant Portal and follow the instructions set out in your offer email. We aim to acknowledge your acceptance straight away. If you don’t hear from us, please contact us via Ask NTU.

Useful course information

In the first part of the course, you will focus on learning the substantive law in seven key subject areas, but will also cover some essential practitioner skills in the Legal Professional Environment module. The second part will then focus much more on the procedural law and skills essential for practice.
In-person workshops are compulsory. They are at least two hours and provide an opportunity to learn and discuss topics and fictional practical scenarios in depth with your peers and tutor.
You will also be required to attend examinations and induction events during the academic year. You will receive notice of these dates well in advance.
You will need to do some preparation ahead of the course start date. This is particularly important on the part time course where Workshops will start immediately after induction. This will be available prior to the start of the course.
Learning resources and timetables are online so a laptop is essential for your studies. You will also need Wi-Fi at home.

Once you’ve met all conditions you should enrol online. Please do this before the start of your course.

Course start date:

Dates for the 2026/27 academic year have yet to be confirmed. As an indication, please find below the 2025/26 start dates:

Full Time Course Monday 15 September 2025

Part Time Course Friday 19 September 2025

Please contact us via Ask NTU if you wish to defer your place.

Our offer is based on the assumption that, when you made your application, you disclosed any disability that might affect the way in which we deliver the course or assess you.

In such a case, we will either:

agree with you that the disability will require no special facilities, or
meet you to discuss what facilities will be necessary.

If you have a disability but have not yet disclosed it, we need to hear from you immediately so that we can evaluate your needs and determine what adjustments we are able to make to accommodate those needs. Please contact Student Support Services by emailing Student Support.

Please note that if you are a current student at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and you already have adjustments through Student Support Services for your current course, these adjustments will not automatically be carried forward on to your SQE preparation course. You will need to contact Student Support Services as soon as possible so a fresh evaluation can be made to accommodate your needs.

As a postgraduate student, you can apply for University accommodation. To guarantee yourself a place, you should apply and pay your deposit before the end of May.

International students are required to make an advance payment. Click here to find out more about paying your fees: how and when to pay your fees.

Nottingham Law School is delighted to offer a number of generous scholarships and loyalty schemes to students starting in September, including:

Dean's Post Graduate Diploma in Law Scholarship for Academic Excellence
NTU alumni discount
University of Nottingham and University of Lincoln fee concession

For more information on fees and funding, please visit the NLS funding page.

Course fees

Please visit the course page for full details of course fees.

Visit us at one of our Postgraduate open events, find out more about student life and meet our academics.

Successful completion of this course provides all the knowledge you need in order to pass part 1 of the Solicitors’ Qualifying Exam. You may then also progress onto our specialist course to prepare you for part 2 of the Solicitors’ Qualifying Exam.

Building your future career

Our dedicated Employability team will support you throughout your SQE studies, helping you gain the experience, skills and confidence needed for your next step, whether that’s securing QWE, vacation schemes or a training contract.

You will benefit from:

Workshops delivered by law firms on applications, commercial awareness, psychometric testing and more.
Presentations from firms and employers actively recruiting future solicitors.
Our mentoring scheme, with firms such as Eversheds, Browne Jacobson and Geldards.
Access to FutureHub, keeping you updated on vacancies during and after your course.
Personalised career support including CV and application feedback.
Mock interviews and assessment centre practice to build your confidence.
Opportunities for mooting and advocacy, including sessions before local magistrates.

As an NLS student, you’ll also have exclusive access to the annual NLS Law Fair, where leading firms come to campus to meet and network with our students.

NLS graduates secure roles in City and regional firms, high street practices, the CPS, local authorities, the Government Legal Department and in-house teams across the UK.

Real-world experience at NLS

You’ll have the opportunity to gain hands-on legal experience through NLS Legal, our multi-award-winning on-campus law firm, working on real cases with real clients.

You can also volunteer with Support Through Court, assisting individuals navigating the court system and developing essential client-facing skills, highly valuable for future solicitors.

Find out more about Employability support at NLS by clicking here.