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I have worked for several providers of the LPC and have been very impressed with the quality and content of the corporate electives offered by the three largest providers. In fact, and to declare an interest of sorts, I have delivered all of them at LPC courses at some time. (I have not had the opportunity to work with the other elective materials or to review the courses of other institutions). There is no doubt that the corporate electives mean that many trainees begin their training contracts much better prepared than they otherwise would be. If they do not hit the ground running, they at least hit the ground familiar with the terrain. The question is whether this should be a 'requirement'.

As far as I understand it, the contents of the SQE will go nowhere near preparing trainees for corporate work to this level. It may be that City firms will need some training to replace the LPC and, in particular, the corporate electives. This can be achieved either by an off-the-shelf course delivered by one of the current LPC providers or a bespoke course designed, owned and delivered by each firm. The benefits of the latter include the fact that firms can make use of their own precedent and know-how. The smaller non-City firms who require the other electives may have to use an outside provider, if they can afford to do so.