Diploma Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)

If you’re interested in a legal career and have a degree or management experience, you will need to study the GDL as the first stage of your legal training. Our programme is designed to give you the best start to your career. We offer a wide choice of additional optional content to broaden your knowledge and enhance your skills, ensuring you are fully prepared for the next step of your training – whether you want to become a solicitor or barrister. No prior knowledge of the law is needed.

We’re a highly respected law school and provide legal training exclusively to over 25 leading law firms.

Key Information

•More weekly contact than any other leading provider – up to 21 hours a week (consisting of live and online classes dependent on location)
•Access specialist careers advice from the moment you accept your place, until you secure your first legal position
•Refine your core skills further with our additional professional skills programme
•Flexibility on when you study – weekdays, weekends, in the morning, afternoon or evening (teaching may be on set days in some locations)
•Personal tutor support throughout your studies
•Extra funding available through the exclusive Law Loan, Scholarships and interest free payment plans
•Learn more about the law with our additional specialist law modules
•More ways to study choose face-to-face, online or both
•Regular weekly catch-up and consolidation sessions in all subjects
•Two start dates a year in January or September
•All classes and materials are online for consolidation, revision and catch-up
•Positive growth in the legal industry with Training Contract vacancies increasing by 11.6% year on year

Preparing you for practice

Our GDL is designed to help you make a smooth transition from being a non-law graduate into a career in law. We don’t just give you an excellent qualification, we give you an insight into life in practice, so you enter the next stage of your training more informed, more prepared and more effective, and able to demonstrate a higher competency when applying for training contracts and pupillages.

Once you have successfully completed your GDL exams, you have the opportunity to specialise or develop an understanding in alternative areas, Take two extra modules and you could graduate with an LLB (Hons) [GDL Conversion].

When you have passed your GDL, you’re guaranteed a place on our LPC, the next step to becoming a solicitor. Or you can apply for our BPTC, the next step to becoming a barrister.

How the programme is taught

We assume you have no prior knowledge of law when you start your GDL, so you get a full induction programme and a high level of support from day one. This includes outstanding learning materials and online resources all included in the fee. All lectures and resources have online equivalents.

You’ll be taught by our experienced legal professionals and academics, with time split evenly between tutorials and lectures as well as regular consolidation sessions and a wealth of online resources. Lectures and consolidation classes are delivered live in Leeds, London and Manchester and online in all other centres.

What you will experience in the classroom

Our ethos is learning by doing. Our classes are designed with an interactive focus, based on discussions, debates and resolving case studies. You will learn the academic knowledge, but as importantly you will learn how it’s applied in practice, with a logical approach, presenting your arguments persuasively and in a structured manner.

You will study up to 21 hours a week in the classroom environment (a mixture of live and online dependent on your location), including lectures, tutorials and consolidation classes, giving you a high level of student/tutor contact time. Tutorials are taught in groups of around 18, giving you a high level of student/tutor contact time.

All our students also have a personal tutor and access to a Student Advisor, should you need any guidance or additional support outside of class time.

Independent research essay options

We offer a wide range of titles, and will always consider individual topics suggested by students. Current options include intellectual property, succession, company law family law, housing law, medical law and public international law.

Personalise your GDL timetable

BPP gives you more control over the way you study with face-to-face, online distance learning, or a combination of both available. Classes are offered morning, afternoon, evening and weekends. In centres other than Leeds, London and Manchester, face-to-face GDL classes are taught on two set days per week during the core teaching term.

You can start in January or September. For full-time study, both options take nine months. Or if you choose part-time and start in January, you’ll finish in 18 months – ready to start the LPC or BPTC in September. If you start part-time in September the programme takes two academic years.

Study the GDL 100% online

With our high-quality distance learning materials you can study the entire GDL online. Watch or listen to lectures in MP4 format whenever and wherever you want, and log into online tutorials at scheduled times.

Students studying online will be required to attend in the UK for all programme examinations except where BPP University College has agreed alternative arrangements with the student prior to enrolment.

Although you may opt to study 100% online, we still offer you the reassurance of optional face-to-face tutorials. In London these are run through weekend and/or block sessions at regular intervals over the year.

Optional modules

With the BPP GDL, you’re given access to an unrivalled range of additional modules, designed to get you ahead and give you the edge in interviews. Highlights include:

• Company law module
• Further specialist law modules – start specialising early in areas such as Intellectual Property or International Law, so you can demonstrate more expertise than other graduates.
• Professional Skills modules – Featuring areas like legal writing and legal research
• Mandarin Chinese – Gain an insight into the language used in one of the world’s most important markets with free Mandarin Chinese lessons (London only).

Specialist careers advice

From the moment you accept your place until you secure your first legal position, you can use our careers service. With our one-to-one support, we aim to give you the edge when it comes to getting a training contract or pupillage. You’ll have everything from access to our vacancies database to advice on filling out application forms, intensive interview coaching, employer research and networking opportunities with top firms.

Part-time GDL

Our part-time programme is designed to fit around your other commitments such as work and family. BPP offers a variety of part-time modes:

• Evenings: taught between 6.00pm and 9.00pm. Each module is taught by a one-hour lecture and a one-hour tutorial per week. We run lectures on one evening per week, but all our lectures are recorded and made available to students online
• Weekends: one Saturday every fortnight, consisting of tutorials. Lectures delivered online
• Day: taught on one half-day per week from 9am – 1.30pm in year 1 and from 9am – 2.40pm in year 2. Lectures are delivered online
• Distance learning: weekly online lectures and tutorials with optional face-to-face tuition.

Please note live lectures for part-time programmes are only offered in London (Waterloo). Modes are subject to availability and vary between centres.