Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the course is designed as an intense programme covering roughly the same content as a law degree LL.B (Hons) and the main goal is to allow people with a greater variety of educational backgrounds into the legal profession.
[2] Most GDL/PGDL courses award a diploma and are thus often titled Common Professional Examination (CPE).
The GDL/PGDL is one (full-time) or two (part-time) years long, and successful candidates may proceed to either the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) for solicitors or the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) for barristers.
[1] It is regulated by the Law Society of England and Wales with admissions handled through the Central Applications Board.
In 1977, the former Inns of Court School of Law (now merged into City, University of London) launched their GDL/PGDL/CPE programme, which was the first of its kind in England and Wales.