The Solicitors Regulation Authority was today due to reignite the controversial issue of a central examination for all would-be solicitors.
The regulator is ready to go back to the profession for its views after an initial document prompted a barrage of opposition and more responses than for any previous consultation.
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A second consultation, which closes on 9 January, will give details on what the exam should include and what topics candidates should be tested on.
Crispin Passmore (pictured), executive director, policy, told the Gazette the legal market had changed and that meant ‘thinking in different ways’.
‘But before anything, we need to make sure we have an ample design for what the exam may look like,’ he said.
Passmore admitted the plans wouldn’t necessarily be universally popular.
He said: ‘In the responses [to stage two] we will be looking for “nuggets of gold” that test our opinions and could make us reconsider how we do certain things.
‘People simply saying “I don’t like change” isn’t powerful – we will take note of it, but there are always going to be people who don’t like change and they will be the most vociferous.’
The consultation also confirms that there will be no requirement to have a degree but that prospective candidates should be educated to an ‘equivalent level’.
‘If you don’t have a degree it will depend on what you have been doing,’ Passmore said.
‘It may be adequate to have been in the workplace for a number of years,’ he said, adding that all qualified candidates will have been through ‘robust testing’.
Last week, the Gazette reported that the exam would be sat in two stages and would test knowledge on legal knowledge and practical skills.
The Law Society said it strongly supports centralised assessment – provided that the level is set appropriately and does not result in a dilution of standards.
SRA to renew battle over central legal examination plans
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