PGDL/CPE Postgraduate Diploma in Law

Looking for a law conversion course in Birmingham? Our Postgraduate Diploma in Law is open to graduates from all subjects.

The PGDL is an ideal stepping stone into either a full-time law career or advanced legal study. If you do not have an LLB Law degree awarded by a university of England and Wales, completing this course enables you to go on to professional training as a barrister or a solicitor.

Upon completion of the PGDL, you are eligible to undertake the Bar Professional Training Course if you want to qualify as a barrister, or the Legal Practice Course if you want to qualify as a solicitor. If you do not intend to qualify as a solicitor or barrister, the PGDL can also be a stepping stone into further advanced legal study.

What's covered in the course?

We have an established record of providing this course and have excellent links with Birmingham Law Society and professional practice in the area. We also have a successful LPC course, which our PGDL students can progress to. Our innovative approach to legal education is demonstrated by our very successful American legal placement scheme and our active Student Mooting Society.

PGDL courses at all institutions necessarily have a degree of similarity in content and assessment. However, the PGDL at Birmingham City University focuses on supporting you to develop relevant legal skills as well as knowledge content and at the same time offers you a unique opportunity to apply for our US internship scheme.

We have active student-led Legal and Mooting Societies. Our Student Mooting Society is one of the most successful in England. Our students have reached numerous finals and semi-finals in the past few years and have regularly beaten teams from some of the country’s most prestigious universities. In the past 10 years, we have beaten eight of the elite Russell Group of universities, including Cambridge, Oxford, Nottingham, Leicester and Warwick.

With excellent links with Birmingham Law Society and professional practices in the area, this course provides you with the attributes and knowledge you will need to progress in the law field.

By choosing to study this course, you will be part of the School of Law, providing you with a wide range of activities and opportunities to gain valuable experience.

Previous students have gone on to successful careers in the legal professions. We have recent ex-students currently working as solicitors at regional law firms such as Duncan Lewis, Syeds Law Office Solicitors and Wragge & Co, as well as national and international firms, such as and at national and international firms such as DLA Piper. We also have ex-students who have qualified as barristers and one who is a QC.

We also have a number of students who have used the course to further their own business or current career paths and those who have entered non-legal professions (such as banking).