Graduate Diploma in Law (Graduate Diploma)

at Cardiff University

In term one you will study modules in Contract, Crime and EU Law and also Equity and Trusts Law. In term two you will continue with Contract and will also be studying Land Law, Public Law and Tort. In term two you will also be working independently on an extended essay set in a legal area outside these modules.
 

Most GDL teaching takes place on two days per week. However, you will also be required to study and pass a short test on the basics of the English and Welsh Legal System (EWLS) within a few weeks of starting any GDL course. 
 

To help prepare for this, you will be asked to carry out some directed reading before enrolment. Following enrolment there will be intensive teaching sessions designed to ensure that all students, whatever your previous discipline, are able to tackle the EWLS test with confidence. To allow for these and for introductory sessions, you will be required to attend lessons for most of the first two weeks of the course.
 

During your two contact days you will attend tutorials. During the remainder of the week you will be reading, listening to lectures (these are recorded electronically so that you can listen to them when most convenient) and preparing for tutorials.
 

All modules within this programme are compulsory. 

This is a conversion course. Conversion courses allow you to study a subject unrelated to your undergraduate degree or current career, and support you with a change of career path. No prior knowledge or degree in the subject is required.
 

Applications for this course must be made via the Central Applications Board (“CAB”) website.
 

The usual academic requirement in an Honours degree from a UK university in a non-law subject, Class 2.2 or above. Applicants from overseas or with non-standard qualifications must apply for a Certificate of Academic Standing from the Bar Standards Board (if you are planning on qualifying as a barrister). Subject to those, the following criteria will be taken into account:
 

• academic record

• the applicant’s personal statement

• reference from the applicant’s referee

• degree of commitment to the legal profession (shown, for example, by placements with solicitors’ firms or equivalent experience)

• general work experience

• reasons for wanting to study the GDL at Cardiff

• date on which the application is received by Cardiff University

• order of preference of institution and

• any special personal reasons affecting ability to study elsewhere.
   

English Language Requirements: IELTS with an overall score of 6.5 with 6.5 in writing and no less than 6.0 in all other subscores, or an acceptable equivalent.
 

Application deadlines
 

Applications open on October 1st in each application cycle. The earlier you apply the greater your chance of receiving an offer (subject to meeting entry requirements). Although applications to the CAB close on 31 July each year, Cardiff University operates an initial deadline of 30 April due to competition for places. It is strongly recommended that your application is received by Cardiff University in advance of this date. Offers will be made on a first come, first served basis and the programme will close to applications when the course is full or on 30 April, whichever comes first.
 

Applications received after 30 April will be considered for entry if places are still available. Please note that applications are only received by Cardiff University when they have been released to us by the CAB. The CAB will only release applications to us once the application form has been submitted, a reference received by the CAB (where required by the CAB), and the application fee paid. Please contact your referee to ensure both their willingness and availability to provide a reference in good time.

Fees for home status

Tution Fees - £10,950
Deposit - £500

Fees for overseas status

Tution Fees - £19,450
Deposit-£500
 

Completion of the GDL allows you to progress to the current professional stage of legal training, either the Bar Training Course (BTC)* or the Legal Practice Course, either of which may be studied at the School of Law and Politics.
 

To become fully qualified under the current system, completion of the BTC or LPC then needs to be followed by a period of work-based learning, either pupillage in a barristers’ chambers or a training contract with a solicitors’ firm. Alternatively, the GDL or one of the professional courses may be directly followed by legal work in some other capacity, with the option of seeking full qualification at a later date.
 

Please note that the route to qualification both as a solicitor and as a barrister will be changing in the near future. For further information please refer to the websites of the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board.
 

The Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), will be introduced in September 2021. Before undertaking the SQE, you will also need to have studied the professional aspects of practice previously taught through Legal Practice Courses (LPCs). However, once the new centralised assessment regime is in place, LPC courses will be replaced by a range of courses aimed at preparing students for the SQE. Cardiff University is currently developing SQE preparation courses to succeed its current LPC course following the introduction of the new regime.
 

*subject to validation