Solicitors have warned that ­proposals to introduce a compulsory aptitude test for law students seeking to enrol on the Legal Practice Course (LPC) could lead to only ‘clones’ being selected to enter the legal ­profession.

The Law Society’s education and training committee is examining whether aptitude tests could be used to limit the number of students able to take the LPC.

There are currently many more LPC graduates than the number of training contracts available each year, leaving a large number of students unable to qualify into the profession.

Sue Nelson, chair of the Law Society’s equality and diversity committee, said: ‘Solicitors do a massively diverse range of work, from the most cerebral ivory tower thinking to virtual social work, and no single test can reflect this.

‘There is a danger that the tests will only select clones that fit the same rigid criteria, recruiting only cautious personalities, for example, at the expense of risk takers, entrepreneurs and those with people skills.’

Kevin Poulter, an executive committee member of the Law Society’s Junior Lawyers Division, said: ‘There are between 10,000 and 20,000 LPC graduates currently looking for training contracts, and they all have student debts. But what are these proposed tests going to measure?’

He added that one uniform test could be detrimental to diversity in the profession.

Beth Wanono, JLD representative on the Law Society council, said: ‘The most necessary reform is for the Law Society and Solicitors Regulation Authority to undertake a full review of the law school marketplace. Much of law schools’ income comes from LPC fees. They are not voluntarily going to cut down on student numbers.’