Morning, Wednesday, 24th September 2025
Online
This conference will consider the future of legal education and training in England and Wales, looking at ethics, digital skills and qualification routes.
It will bring together key stakeholders and policymakers to discuss progress, challenges and next steps for integration of ethics into legal education, training and continuous professional development, as the sector prepares for implementing the Legal Services Board’s new requirement by July 2026.
With the SRA confirmation of increased SQE fees from September 2025, delegates will also consider implications arising from the Department for Education’s withdrawal of funding for Level 7 solicitor apprenticeships, and the transfer of apprenticeship oversight responsibilities to Skills England. Sessions will examine access to the profession, particularly for disadvantaged candidates and smaller firms, as well as the future of apprenticeship models under revised funding structures.
Attendees will assess implications of recent SQE evaluation findings and the formal approval of the new barrister apprenticeship standard, including questions around delivery timelines, regulatory oversight, consistency of quality across providers, and the adequacy of pastoral and financial support for candidates navigating new qualification routes.
Further discussion will focus on preparing the profession for future demands, including the integration of AI tools, data literacy, and wider digital competencies into initial and continuing training. We also expect delegates to examine options for addressing persistent competence gaps in areas such as probate, family, and housing law - particularly in light of changing client needs, regulatory scrutiny, and varied distribution of training resources. There will also be consideration of how best to support early-career professionals within this shifting landscape.
Attendees will also assess how workplace culture and professional development practices can evolve to reflect generational change, rising expectations on wellbeing and inclusion, and the need to maintain public confidence. Areas for discussion include enabling access to consistent, high-quality learning throughout a legal career, and developing models of CPD that are adaptable, accountable, and aligned with professional and ethical responsibilities.
With the agenda currently in the drafting stage, overall areas for discussion include:
- embedding ethics in practice: new requirements - course design, assessment methods, and workplace behaviours - application beyond academic settings - consistency across providers
- funding and pathways: momentum of apprenticeship uptake following loss of Level 7 funding - affordability and support long-term sector workforce planning - how smaller firms might respond
- access: new funding models and reforms - support for candidates from underrepresented or lower-income backgrounds - interventions in other professions - inclusion and regulatory standards
- alignment across routes: transparency and parity between SQE, apprenticeship, and traditional pathways - perceptions of fairness and rigour - avoiding fragmentation in qualification routes
- digital and AI skills: options for new frameworks or standards - balancing AI literacy with legal reasoning and ethical judgment - keeping training in pace with innovation in service delivery
- mid-career learning: maintaining competence across long legal careers - creation of flexible, ongoing CPD models - competence reviews - accounting for changing public expectations and risks
- oversight and governance: accountability across multiple regulatory and policy bodies - coordination on managing reform impacts over time - sharing learning and outcomes between institutions
