Can You Afford a Career in Law?

Can You Afford a Career in Law?
Financial pressures are common to all students. With the National Union of Students (NUS) remarking that, on average, a degree costs students £20,000, money concerns are very real for anyone considering higher education. The introduction of compulsory payment of tuition fees in 1998 (with exceptions for low income families) added to the pressure. If you consider that students need to find their living expenses on top of their tuition fees, it is easy to see how debt is accrued. To add to these concerns, levels of debt are set to rise as top-up fees are implemented in September 2006. The NUS estimate that by 2010, student debt at graduation could be as much as £33,708. But are the financial pressures for law students any greater?

Studying law is similar in terms of cost to other mainstream degree subjects, with perhaps the only notable difference being the cost of textbooks. Legal textbooks can be more expensive, with core texts typically costing £30 to £40 each. Many are out of date even before they are printed and it’s not unusual for several editions to be brought out in the same year. Generally, second-hand bookshops at universities will not accept law books for this reason, so law students cannot even recoup expenses by selling books when they have finished with them. However, some law faculties hold second-hand book sales for law students, as some books make useful background reading. Students should look out for such sales.

The cost of being a law student can escalate significantly when individuals decide that they want to pursue a career in the law after their undergraduate studies. Students who have not obtained a qualifying law degree will need to complete a CPE/GDL (law conversion course). Anyone wishing to qualify as a solicitor or a barrister will need to complete the relevant compulsory, one-year vocational courses; the Legal Practice Course (LPC) for solicitors or the Bar Vocational Course (BVC) for barristers.