I am disappointed at Simon Kenneally's disparaging remarks about the common professional examination (CPE) (see [2006] Gazette, 29 June, 16). When I decided on a career in law, I chose to complete my degree at Cambridge, and not to change to law there but to take the CPE at Bristol Polytechnic (as was).


I do not regret that decision. The other students on the CPE did not lack intellectual ability. They also brought with them both experience of the real world and their own social and political agendas, which enlightened me coming from 'public school and Oxbridge'. Most were studying for a reason, many of which were socially useful. In contrast, most the students doing the law degree in the same department seemed to be intent on doing the minimum necessary to get a qualification that would earn them big money.


Intellectual rigour is a necessary qualification for a lawyer, but it is not solely available through a degree in law. I do not consider that my lack of knowledge of Roman law has hampered my ability to help clients.

Neil Howlett, Harris & Harris, Frome, Somerset