Editing Solicitor (section)

===Training and qualifications===
The training and qualification required to enter the profession by being admitted as a solicitor is regulated by the [[Solicitors Regulation Authority]]  (SRA). There are two graduate routes of entry into the profession. Prospective solicitors holding a qualifying law degree<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sra.org.uk/students/academic-stage.page |title=Academic Stage |publisher=Solicitors Regulation Authority|access-date=4 January 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216044110/http://www.sra.org.uk/students/academic-stage.page|archive-date=16 December 2008}}</ref> proceed to studying the [[Legal Practice Course]]. Those holding a non-law degree must in addition have completed a [[Graduate Diploma in Law|conversion course]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sra.org.uk/students/conversion-courses.page|publisher=Solicitors Regulation Authority |title=Conversion Course|access-date=4 January 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218100532/http://www.sra.org.uk/students/conversion-courses.page|archive-date=18 December 2008}}</ref> prior to enrolling on the [[Legal Practice Course]]. Once the Legal Practice Course has been completed, the prospective solicitor usually must then undertake two years' apprenticeship, known as a [[training contract]], with a firm entitled to take trainee solicitors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sra.org.uk/students/training-contract.page |title=Training contract information|publisher=Solicitors Regulation Authority|access-date=4 January 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227075521/http://www.sra.org.uk/students/training-contract.page|archive-date=27 December 2008}}</ref> The Legal Practice Course and training contract can also be undertaken simultaneously although this is less usual.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/law-careers/becoming-a-solicitor/training-contracts/|title=Period of recognised training (training contract) |access-date=17 August 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150829075353/http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/law-careers/becoming-a-solicitor/training-contracts/|archive-date=29 August 2015}}</ref> The training contract was formerly known as articles of clerkship. The [[Solicitors Regulation Authority|SRA]] completed an extensive review of qualification routes into law that has brought about the introduction of the [[Solicitors Qualifying Examination|Solicitor Qualifying Examination]] (SQE). The new route was introduced from 1 September 2021 with the first examinations to take place in November of the same year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sra.org.uk/students/sqe/transitional-arrangements/|title=On your way to becoming a solicitor|date=20 July 2021 |access-date=20 July 2021}}</ref>

It is possible to qualify as a solicitor without having attended university by being admitted as a [[Legal executive|Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives]], and thereafter completing the required number of years of practical experience, and studying for the Legal Practice Course.

Although now on a downward trend, there is a large representation of lawyers in the UK with privately educated backgrounds. 37% of barristers and 21% of solicitors are from a private school background, compared to 7% of the overall UK population.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://legalservicesboard.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/The-State-of-Legal-Services-Narrative-Volume_Final.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://legalservicesboard.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/The-State-of-Legal-Services-Narrative-Volume_Final.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=The state of Legal Services 2020|access-date=14 Jan 2021}}</ref>