- Yes. Several universities and private providers offer a law conversion masters, an MA Law, an LLM or a PGDL, with SQE1 preparation built into the programme.
- The degree is not required to sit the SQE. Any degree subject qualifies you for the route, so a conversion is not a formal gate.
- It does not exempt you from the exam either. You still book and sit SQE1 separately, and no course result substitutes for the exam.
- What you are buying is teaching, structure, a cohort, an academic award and sometimes eligibility for postgraduate student finance.
- It costs substantially more than standalone SQE1 preparation, so the decision is about what the extras are worth to you. Checked 9 September 2026.
The short answer
Yes. A number of universities and private legal education providers offer a conversion masters, variously badged as an MA Law, an LLM or a PGDL, with SQE1 preparation built into the programme. You study the foundations of legal knowledge and you are taught towards SQE1 within the same course, coming out with an academic award as well as the preparation.
The important part is what that does not do. It does not make you eligible for the SQE, because you were already eligible with a degree in any subject. And it does not exempt you from SQE1, because the exam is booked with the SRA and sat with Kaplan regardless of what course you did. What you buy is the teaching and the qualification, not a shortcut through the assessment. Checked 9 September 2026.
- The programmes exist and are widely offered, in full time and part time forms
- You do not need one to sit the SQE, because any degree subject qualifies
- It does not exempt you from SQE1 or reduce what you sit
- You still book and sit the exam separately, on the ordinary timetable
- The award is a real postgraduate qualification, which is part of the value for some people
What you are actually buying
Strip out the exam, because the exam is the same either way, and what is left is the honest list of what the money buys.
Teaching. Someone explains the law to you, in an order designed for learning, with the chance to ask questions. If you have no legal background at all, this is not a small thing. The foundations a conversion teaches are precisely the content SQE1 assumes you already have, and picking that up from books alone is harder than most people expect.
Structure. A timetable, deadlines, assessments along the way and somebody noticing when you fall behind. The SQE route supplies none of that. It is centrally set and centrally marked, and nobody checks on your progress until results day. The candidates who struggle are usually not the ones who lacked ability; they are the ones with no way of finding out what they did not know until it was too late.
A cohort. People sitting the same thing at the same time. Underrated, particularly for career changers who are studying alone around a job.
An award. A postgraduate degree that exists independently of whether you pass the SQE, which matters if you value the qualification for its own sake or if it helps a visa, an employer or a later change of direction.
Finance eligibility. Some of these programmes are structured as masters degrees, which can bring them within postgraduate student finance in a way that buying preparation materials never is. For some candidates this is the single deciding factor, because it changes the cash flow rather than the price.
The trade-off, plainly
A conversion masters with SQE1 preparation is a postgraduate degree, priced like one. Standalone SQE1 preparation, whether that is a revision series, a question bank or a shorter course, sits in a completely different price bracket. The exam fees themselves are the same for everybody either way.
So the trade-off is not preparation against no preparation. It is a large sum for teaching, structure, a cohort and an award, against a much smaller sum for materials you have to organise and drive yourself. Both routes end at the same test centre, sitting the same paper, marked to the same standard.
What makes the decision hard is that the expensive option genuinely solves a real problem for some people. Structure is not a luxury if you cannot manufacture it. It is simply an expensive way to buy something you could not otherwise get. The mistake is buying it reflexively, out of the feeling that a serious exam requires a serious course, when the actual reason to buy it is that you know you will not hold a schedule on your own.
Providers differ, prices and course lengths change, and what preparation is included varies by institution. Check the details on the institution's own page rather than on any summary, including this one. Nothing here is legal or careers advice, and this site is independent of the SRA and of Kaplan. Checked 9 September 2026.
- The exam fees are the same whichever way you prepare
- A conversion masters is priced as a postgraduate degree, not as exam preparation
- Standalone preparation is far cheaper and requires you to supply the structure
- Both routes sit the same exam, marked to the same standard
- Check price, length and included preparation on the institution's own page
Who it suits, and who it does not
This is the part the prospectuses will not write for you, so here it is directly.
It suits you if your first degree was not in law and you are starting from nothing, because the foundational teaching is the substantial part of what you are paying for. It suits you if you have already proved to yourself that you do not study well alone. It suits you if you want the postgraduate award for its own sake, or if an employer, a sponsor or an immigration route values the qualification. And it suits you if student finance eligibility turns an impossible sum into a manageable one.
It does not suit you if you already have a qualifying law degree, because you would be paying for foundational content you have covered. It does not suit you if you are self funding, disciplined and simply want to pass, since the same pass is available for a fraction of the money. It does not suit you if you are buying it as insurance, because no course result carries into the exam. And it does not suit you if you are buying it because a provider has convinced you the SQE cannot be passed without a course, which is not true.
A middle path exists and is worth naming. Some candidates take the conversion for the law and then buy practice separately, on the grounds that teaching and practice are two different products. That is a reasonable position: a course teaches you the law, and volume in the exam's own format is what teaches you the exam. Whichever way you go, do the questions.
- Suits: non law graduates starting from nothing who want the foundations taught
- Suits: anyone who knows they will not hold a study schedule alone
- Suits: anyone who wants the postgraduate award, or needs the finance route
- Does not suit: law graduates paying again for content they have covered
- Does not suit: disciplined self funders who only want the pass
- Does not suit: anyone buying it as insurance, since no course result carries into the exam
Related questions
This page answers one question. These cover the neighbouring ones.
- What happened to the QLTS? for lawyers already qualified elsewhere
- When are SQE1 results released? on the timetable after you sit
- SQE1 books and study materials, the full guide this page sits under
