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Level 7 Solicitor Apprenticeship

If you are looking to take the first step in your legal career, Express Solicitors can help. Keep reading to find out more about a Solicitor Apprenticeship with Express Solicitors.

For school leavers who don’t wish to go to university but still want to qualify as a solicitor, Express Solicitors offers an alternative route with our Level 7 Solicitors Apprenticeship. This is a 6 year course and is run in conjunction with our Training Partner BPP. The apprenticeship awards a LLB (Hons) Law and Legal Practice qualification upon completion. It also includes the required SQE examinations, meaning those who successfully complete the course will be a qualified solicitor.

Apprentices will have 1 day a week ring fenced for their studies, either for course attendance or personal studies.

How legal apprenticeships work at Express

Express have an established Legal Apprenticeship programme in place, having been at the forefront of this new qualification since its inception.  We have refined and adapted our apprenticeship programme over the last decade to make sure it offers the best experience for our apprentices.

We recruit once a year from June onwards, see below for details on how to apply. If you are successful in gaining a Legal Apprenticeship with us, you will start in the following September.

Initially you will join either:

  • Our New Client Team, who deal with all the new enquiries that come into the firm; or
  • Our Portal Team within our Occupiers and Public Liability department, who deal with the initial stages of a claim.

We give you the time and space to transition into your new professional working environment, getting to grips with new technology systems and growing your soft skills.

In January you will commence your studies with our training provider, BPP. While still working 4 days a week with us, you will have 1 day a week ring fenced for studies, either for course attendance,  personal learning or revision.

How to Apply

We will recruit once a year from June, for a September start. You will need to apply from the job vacancy post on our Current Vacancies page. The role will not be on there until this time. To apply you will need to provide your cv and a covering letter. Please detail the following information in your covering letter:

  • Which level apprenticeship do you want to be considered for?
  • What has attracted you to being a legal apprentice?
  • Why are you interested in personal injury as an area of law?

Applications that do not provide a covering letter will not be considered.

If you want to know if a legal apprenticeship is right for you, we encourage you apply for our Apprentice Vacation Schemes. This will give you a week’s work experience and the chance to see if a career in personal injury is something you are passionate about.

Why be a legal apprentice?

Choosing between an apprenticeship and going to university can be a touch decision. Below we give the top reasons for being a legal apprentice.

Earn While you Learn

You will earn a salary and generally get other benefits like pensions, sick pay, death in service etc. The minimum wage for apprentices is lower than the national minimum wage, but you do get paid for your required day of studying. Many employers do offer more than the apprenticeship minimum wage but not all.

No University Debt

One of the main benefits of doing a Legal Apprenticeship rather than going to university is that it will be paid for by the government and your employer. This means that you will not acquire the normal university debt. The average debt among borrowers who finished their course in 2023 was £47,900 when they first became liable to repay this debt (April 2026).

No Post Graduate Debt

The above debt figure does not include the cost of any SQE preparation course or the SQE exams themselves, which many students must pay for in addition to their student degree loans. The cost of the SQE exams and some preparation courses cannot be financed through government student loans and are typically funded through bank lending. This means the borrowing rate is likely to be higher, and there is no minimum income threshold before repayments begin. For 2026-2027, SQE exam fees are £2,006 for SQE1 (£1,003 per FLK paper) and £3,086 for SQE2, bringing the total exam cost to £5,092. Preparation course costs vary significantly depending on the provider and study method, ranging from £300 to £1,500 for SQE1 self-study materials and £500 to £8,000 for SQE2 self-study options. Budget providers typically charge around £5,899, mid-range courses cost between £8,000 and £12,000, and premium classroom-based courses can cost between £12,000 and £15,000.

Practical Learning

Universities adopt a more theoretical approach in their teaching, though some now do offer module in their legal clinics for a term. Therefore, if you learn more practically, an apprenticeship where you do a significant amount of learning on the job might be beneficial. Some apprentices find seeing legal theory put into practice, can makes learning it easier. You will still have some exams, but there is more of a focus on your work portfolio that will be maintained in your employment.

QWE is Included

One of the biggest bottleneck for future lawyers is securing QWE. Many find it difficult to acquire and it can several years after finishing their degree to secure work within a law firm. Even with the recent changes that allows some paralegal work experience to count towards QWE. A Legal Apprenticeship, has the QWE element built in, therefore removing this hurdle entirely.

University Benefits

Depending on your training provider you could still get the benefit of the university experience, with access to university campuses and NUS membership (student discounts.)

Why choose personal injury?

Here are 5 key reasons to choose to become a personal injury lawyer:

Supporting and helping vulnerable clients

Most people get into the law to help people and we at Express are no different. Our clients are at the very core of our business and the reason we strive to do our best.

Individual client connections

By the very nature of the work we do, some of your cases will always stay with you as a happy achievement.

Making a genuine difference

Working to help someone long term, you will build connections and get to know the difference you have made in your clients’ lives. Be that a small change or a life changing one, you know that you helped.

Seeing a case from start to finish

Later in your apprenticeship you will have your own caseload. We ensure that our apprentices have the chance to run a case from initial instructions all the way to trial or settlement. We want you to be confident in every step before you qualify.

Winning at trial

Later in your apprenticeship you will get the chance to take a case all the way to court. Our current lawyers enjoy the buzz of success when they win a trial. It’s the culmination of all the hard work they have put into a case and gives them a great sense of victory

FAQs

What are the minimum academic requirements?

We require the minimum of 96 UCAS points, this can be from A-Levels, Btecs or a T-Level in Law. You must also have a grade 4 and above in English and Maths.

Will your studies be held in person or online?

For ease all lessons will be held online. Though BPP does have a campus in the centre of Manchester that can be accessed.

Can you do more than one area of law?

You will specialise in personal injury throughout the apprenticeship.

Do we offer work experience for T-level Students?

At this time we are unable to offer work experience of a sufficient length to T-Level Students. We do offer 1 week of work experience as part of our Apprenticeship Vacation Scheme.

Do you sponsor work visa?

We are not approved by the home office to sponsor work visa.