Students, trainee solicitors and law firm owners have supported calls from Law Society Wales office for the Welsh Government to bring the Level 7 Legal apprenticeship to Wales.
New research shows that 100% of Welsh students in school and college who are interested in a career in law would want to take the L7 legal apprenticeship route if was on offer in Wales.
91% of students surveyed who are studying in Welsh universities would have taken this route instead of a traditional degree route if it was available in Wales.
And 80% of current Welsh paralegal apprentices would like to go on to become solicitors. Of these, 100% would want to do it in Wales.
The paper, produced in partnership with University of Wales Trinity Saint David, comes against a backdrop of severe advice deserts in Wales where legal aid is virtually non-existent – with just two providers of educational legal aid, five providers of community legal aid and one welfare legal aid provider in the whole of Wales, said Law Society Wales office.
Currently, in England, students can study the legal apprenticeship pathway up to level 7, allowing them to become a qualified solicitor. However, in Wales, this is not the case. Instead, students can go to advanced paralegal level and then face the choice of stopping or moving to England to access apprenticeship funding and opportunities.
Last year, the Law Society Wales office published a report detailing, in part, the issues facing the legal sector such as extreme court case backlogs and recruitment crisis in, particularly rural, areas of Wales.
The case for expanding the apprenticeship offer in Wales takes into account these problems and puts forward that the introduction of a level 7 legal apprenticeship would ‘enhance diversity, address skills gaps, and provide a sustainable pipeline of talent for law firms in Wales’, said Law Society Wales office.
Head of Wales, Jonathan Davies, said:
“The Welsh Government cannot afford to not invest in the Level 7 any longer. The status quo is simply not an option if we are to maintain equitable access to justice in Wales.
“With many of our regions in Wales having less than 1 solicitor per 10,0001 residents, the Level 7 will help provide a much-needed boost for local access to justice by providing a pipeline of local talent into local law firms from diverse backgrounds.
“As proof of this, The Law Society Wales Office paper draws together evidence showing that 85% of apprentices remain with their employer post-qualification which would provide firms with talent retention, reduction in turnover and continuity of service.”
Dr Bronwen Williams, head of Law at University of Wales Trinity Saint David, said:
“There is clear evidence that some young people are put off from going into the legal profession by the costs associated with going to university, with many young people looking at apprenticeships as routes into professions.
“Evidence has shown that aspiring Welsh Lawyers are crossing the border to England to access apprenticeship funding and therefore Wales is losing out on its ‘home-grown talent’.
“Those students who have chosen to access the paralegal apprenticeship funding in Wales all want to qualify further and will face the decision to either self-fund or have to cross the border to access funds, again causing a loss of Welsh talent in the sector.”
