Proposed changes to the training regime that will allow more flexible routes to qualification and put more emphasis on assessment of skills could greatly enhance the quality of traineeships, the Trainee Solicitors Group (TSG) said this week.

TSG chairman Peter Wright said the controversial proposals, put forward last month by the Law Society's training framework review group (TFRG), would see an end to training contracts where trainees are treated as little more than clerks and given unchallenging tasks.


Under the plans, the Law Society will no longer prescribe a set course of study, but will assess candidates' proficiency in a series of skills necessary to become a solicitor. A period of work-based training, during which candidates will complete a portfolio of up to 10,000 words documenting evidence of the required skills, will form part of the assessment.


The proposals have split the TFRG, however, with two members filing a minority report to the Society's standards board, while the blueprint prompted 20 law schools to sign a petition complaining of a lack of consultation.


Mr Wright said the TSG's executive committee was broadly supportive of the plans. The Law Society's Council will next week be asked to endorse a consultation paper to seek the profession's views.


Mr Wright said: 'We think that continuous assessment and reliance on portfolios could actually enhance the quality of traineeships. At the moment, many trainees are nothing more than glorified clerks who sit behind counsel, make some tea, prepare a trial bundle, and that is their training.


'Under the new system, firms will have to give trainees their own cases and client contact if they are to gain the evidence they need that they have the necessary skills.'


Mr Wright added that the new regime would make it easier for those who are currently working as paralegals to use the experience they have gained to qualify. He said: 'People will be able to gain experience first and then look at becoming qualified, without facing the almost insurmountable difficulties that they do at the moment. It costs the best part of £10,000 to complete the LPC [legal practice course] and have some money to survive on.'


He continued: 'We could see LPC providers offering more specialist courses, for example focusing on advocacy or legal aid work. And those who already have experience in, for example, commercial litigation will not have to sit through the same course as someone with no experience.'


However, Mr Wright warned that the more flexible approach could leave some students confused. He said: 'The plans will open up the profession and improve diversity. But we already receive a lot of calls from a frightening number of students who are not sure about how to qualify, even though the route is quite linear at the moment.


'Under the new system there will be a patchwork of routes, and we would have to ensure that there is plenty of material available to students to tell them how they can qualify.'


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