Vocational courses gain support, but sceptics claim university graduates retain edge. Pui-Guan Man reports

Moves to establish an apprenticeship route to the profession have drawn considerable support from senior lawyers, despite fears that such candidates will struggle to compete with university-track practitioners.

The latest Legal Week Big Question survey comes after news last month that BPP Law School is in talks to create a vocational job route, which could help non-traditional candidates qualify as solicitors.

BPP's initiative comes amid vocal support from the Government for degree-equivalent apprenticeships focused in areas including law, accountancy, human resources and engineering, and the creation last year of a £1m state-backed fund to support work-based qualification for paralegals.

But the aim continues to divide the profession, even though many believe such policies offer a major shift towards opening up access to law.

Fifty per cent of respondents said work-based routes to qualifying as a lawyer would be either 'very effective' or 'effective' at improving social mobility in law, compared to only 24% who believed it would make 'no difference'.

In addition, more than half thought it was important to build credible work-based routes to qualification, though a third took a negative view of such policies.

Norton Rose chairman Stephen Parish (pictured, top) commented: "The previous system of permitting non-graduate entry did not appear to cause a two-tier profession.

"Indeed, many of the legal greats of that generation did not go to university. It is true that, upon qualification, the skills of those qualifying may be slightly different, but I would argue that can only be a good thing. 

"It will open up the profession to people who upon qualification will have had many years of practical experience of working in an office environment."

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer senior partner Will Lawes (pictured) told Legal Week: "Social mobility is very important to us.

"Last year, we made an arrangement with UCL to provide scholarships and other support for students from more disadvantaged backgrounds, to encourage them to come into the law in a way that is affordable to them.

"We believe recruiting people from the most diverse sources is a real strength. If apprenticeships help in taking the high costs of legal education off the shoulders of future lawyers, that is likely to be a positive thing. In many ways, the apprenticeship model is the way people learn in our firm in any event."

However, views from partners were generally downbeat on how apprentice-route solicitors would fare compared to traditional candidates.

Nearly half (48%) of partners responding to the survey believe university-track lawyers would outperform apprentice-route solicitors, while 43% believed both would be 'about the same' level. Only 9% thought those without a degree qualification would be better.

Pinsent Masons graduate recruitment manager Edward Walker said: "People can be against alternative routes to one set track, thinking it could water down standards.

"Education bodies face the challenge of setting up an equally rigorous and challenging framework so that one isn't seen as the front door and the other as the back door to the profession.

"Until such a scheme becomes reality, it is natural to have doubts, but I see no reason why successful alternative routes cannot be developed."

Kennedys chief executive Guy Stobart said: "I don't think this will mean that those coming through the apprenticeship scheme will be second rate. In many cases, we'll see a better standard of lawyer who may well bring a different approach and a refreshing attitude to the profession."

When asked which law firms are most likely to adopt work-based training, 39% said high street and small outfits would be participants, while 27% believed alternative legal service providers would take part.

Meanwhile, just 14% responded that 'it would be adopted across the board'.

In comparison, larger law firms were seen as the least likely to sign up to apprenticeship schemes, with 16% believing that mid-tier and regional firms would take on work-based training and only 4% holding the opinion that large City firms would adopt such an initiative.

CMS Cameron McKenna senior partner Dick Tyler (pictured) concluded: "I don't know how prevalent apprenticeships schemes will be, but I certainly don't think that the change is going to be transformational [in the next 10 to 20 years].

"But such schemes would be bound to make a difference as far as social mobility is concerned, even if they're in a minority."

Partners on apprenticeships in law

• 67% say it is 'important' or 'quite important' to build credible work-based routes to law
• 48% say university-track solicitors will be of higher quality than those from apprenticeships
• 34% are strongly positive about apprenticeships
• 4% believe large City firms will be most likely to adopt work-based learning