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QLTS School offers several packages for the MCT and OSCE assessments, which include textbooks, videos, practice questions, mock exams and online resources. QLTS provides a route for lawyers from other recognised jurisdictions, and barristers from England and Wales to qualify as solicitors of England and Wales. Updated 7th January 2021 - COVID-19 Update for MCT assessment candidates.

1. Kaplan QLTS is the sole authorised assessment provider for the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) of assessments under the QLTS. The QLTS assessment comprises 2 parts, a Multiple Choice Test (MCT) and an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). Candidates must pass the MCT before enrolling for the OSCE.
2. Your real QLTS training School. QLTS Advantage is a training provider for the QLTS assessments (MCT/OSCE), in association with a real accredited. Law School – CITY, University of London. All courses include our renowned Live Tuition, the key to our delegates' ongoing success with consistently high pass rates well above Kaplan's in both MCT and OSCE sittings.

OSCEsmart

OSCEsmart is a QLTS training provider specializing in preparation only for Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). The course is developed by successful QLTS qualified solicitors and offers a unique methodology of preparation, covering:

1. Concise and focused materials, to save your time on making notes and focus you on the key subjects;
2. Lists of LPC books and manuals viewed as the main theoretical source for OSCE prep that candidates are encouraged to read; and
3. Practical online mock stations as per exam conditions, conducted on-line at any time from the comfort of your home or office.

We aim to provide high quality individually tailored services and have a limited number of places available. Therefore, we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. Before being enrolled on our course, the candidates will be tested on their legal knowledge and the required standard of character and suitability, taking into account the time frame of the exam and other relevant aspects.

How We Are Different

• Our course integrates first-hand experience of passing the OSCE
• Our course is tailor made and based on real-time individual training
• We keep our prices reasonable and our services affordable
• We prefer quality to quantity

Our Values

For us you are not clients but colleagues

Technology is good, but it will never substitute individual feedback

We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone

QLTS OSCE

QLTS – The Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme is an exam for foreign lawyers to qualify as English solicitors. It is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and provided by Kaplan QLTS. The QLTS consists of two exams. First foreign lawyers have to pass the Multiple Choice Test (MCT) and further the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) [Read more on our blog].

OSCE – is a super practical exam, aims to assess lawyers as per real legal practice conditions. Approximately since 2021 the exam will be greatly improved and extended to domestic (UK) prospective solicitors, now known as the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) or super-exam.

SQE – those who have successfully completed the multiple choice of QLTS, will be able to qualify via QLTS by clearing QLTS OSCE for the next 12 months since SQE is coming into force.

OSCE Prep

Qlts Test

The QLTS OSCE is a very practical exam, where the candidates are assessed based on a real solicitor’s practice conditions. In particular, they should demonstrate their ability to:

• Handle a client interview and prepare an attendance note or case analysis;
• Deliver an oral client presentation or advocacy, within the courts;
• Conduct legal research and complete a record sheet;
• Write letters, memoranda, emails, and other documents to the clients or colleagues; and
• Draft legal documents and complete different forms.

The above skills will be assessed in five practice areas: business, property, probate, civil litigation, and criminal litigation. The law also covers your substantive law knowledge from MCT or LLB/GDL e.g. contract, tort, trust, criminal law, administrative and constitutional law, professional conduct etc.

Preparation to OSCE should consist of 2 stages: study the actual law and develop your legal skills.

Theory/ law

• Concise video lectures covering key issues you should know, learn, and memorize in order to succeed. Accessible from PC, tablet or smartphone
• Short printable notes in a table format
• Further reading guidance: LPC books, manuals, online resources, and case law
• Five Online Seminar Group Sessions (OSGSs): one per each practice area, purported to develop practical skills for application of the law to the facts
• Support from your tutor who can answer any questions you might have

Practice/Skills

• Concise video lectures on Interview, Advocacy and Presentation, Legal Research and Writing and Drafting
• Attachments providing further guidance, instructions, and samples of different documents e.g. attendance note and case analysis, research record sheet, sample drafting materials, research record sheet, research, drafting and writing mock questions
• Interview, Advocacy and Presentation and Legal Research followed by in-depth feedback. This will help you: understand your readiness then revise accordingly, get acquainted with the process and the procedure of the exam, and ultimately develop your own approach to handling it. We expect you to submit Attendance Notes no later than 24 hours after the interview.

Timescale

12-6 months – start reading, based on individual learning abilities, objectives, and availability. Please note: for LPC graduates it will take considerably less time. Useful links: OSCE Books And Manuals. To be individually assessed, please complete this survey;

3 months before the OSCE – schedule the mock exams, taking into account your individual needs and workload

2-2.5. months before the OSCE (March/Sep) – start your OSGSs and prepare for the Interview (Attendance Note and Case Analysis), Advocacy and Presentation and Legal Research

Package ‘All In’ – £1600

➢Study Group

➢5 Mock Interviews + 3 handwritten or typed individually marked + suggested answer and 2 only given suggested answer Attendance Notes/Case Analysis

➢5 Mock Advocacy/Presentation sessions;

➢1 Legal Writing Mock Station

➢1 Research Mock Station

➢1 Drafting Mock Station

Package ‘Study Group’

➢Access to all video lectures and concise lecture notes on Business, Property; Probate; Civil and Criminal Litigation (6-9 lectures in each practice area)
➢Access to all lectures on skills: Drafting and Writing; Research; Interview; Advocacy (Drafting lectures also offer drafting and writing mock questions and suggested answers)
➢10 Sample Research Mock Stations (for self-assessment, against other candidates’ answers) via Google Class
➢5 seminars OSGSs on application of law to factual scenarios: one per practice area;
➢Group facilities: Facebook Group; Google Class, online class with lecture-based flashcards

Package ‘Extra3’ – £940

➢3 Legal Writing Mock Station

➢3 Research Mock Station

➢3 Drafting Mock Station

Deadline for singing up for the Packages for May 2020 is 16 Feb 2020

To sign up for the OSCE Smart Course, please submit the Question Form on the left or email us at: sales@qltsosce.co.uk

Package ‘Budget’ – £800

➢Study Group

➢2 Mock Interviews + 1 Handwritten Attendance Note/Case Analysis

➢1 Mock Advocacy/Presentation station

➢1 Legal Writing Mock Station

Package ‘Double’ – £2000

➢Study Group

➢10 Mock interviews + Attendance Notes / Case Analysis (5 handwritten or typed individually marked + suggested answer and 5 only given suggested answer)

➢6 Mock Advocacy/Presentation sessions

Qlts School Osce

➢ 1 Legal Writing Mock Station

➢1 Research Mock Station

➢1 Drafting Mock Station

Package ‘Extra1’ – £320

Qlts Kaplan

➢1 Legal Writing Mock Station

➢ 1 Research Mock Station

➢1 Drafting Mock Station32

Package ‘Extra2’ – £630

➢2 Legal Writing Mock Station

➢2 Research Mock Station

➢2 Drafting Mock Station

Mock Stations

An Online Mock Client Interview with one-to-one mock client feedback based on the SRA and QLTS Kaplan marking criteria and outcomes – £60

A Handwritten Attendance Note or Case Analysis A handwritten Attendance Note/ Case Analysis as a follow-up to a Mock Client Interview, individually marked up and provided with commentaries based on the SRA and QLTS Kaplan marking criteria and outcomes – £110

A typed suggested answer without individual marking as a follow-up to a Mock Client Interview – £35

An Online Mock Advocacy/Presentation session with one-to-one mock client feedback based on the SRA and QLTS Kaplan marking criteria and outcomes – £110

An online Legal Research/ Writing/ Drafting exercise with tailored feedback and marked up record sheet based on the SRA and QLTS Kaplan marking criteria and outcomes – £110

A lot of people asked me why I wanted to be qualified in England and Wales when I was already qualified in New York and Philippines. Sometimes I’d try to be witty and quote a famous mountaineer – “Because it’s there.” Halfway through the QLTS (when it was too late to back out), I read that the mountaineer who said that had died while climbing Mount Everest. The good news is that I passed the QLTS in one piece. Many people helped me along the way, and I thought I’d pay it forward by passing their advice along and adding some bits I learned.

1. Prep school? To pay or not to pay extra

I signed up with QLTS School (Basic Course) to prepare for the MCT. They ship you books to read and you can take mock multiple choice exams online. They also release bulletins on recent changes in the laws which may have taken effect after their books were printed. I found the experience somewhat like Barbri review for the NY bar – study all the books they give you and do as many of their mock exams, and you should be in pretty good shape. Was it worth the extra expense? For me, it was. It meant that I didn’t have to spend time researching which books to study, or cross-checking if a case mentioned in a book was still good law, which I think is especially important because the MCT tests you on the law as of the date of your assessment.

I also signed up with QLTS School (OSCE Basic) to prepare for the OSCE in November 2017. They will assign you a tutor who will work with you on the mock tests. However, they don’t provide you one complete package unlike for MCT, and you need to spend a fair amount of time compiling all the materials. You have to buy books from OUP, check the OUP website for supplementary materials and case studies, log on to your QLTS School account for updates and mock tests, and check your tutor’s emails for more mock tests. I did find the QLTS School’s legal skills video workshop extremely helpful and worth the extra cost. If you’ve been working as a lawyer for a few years, you probably don’t have to read the “Lawyers’ Skills” book from OUP if you watch the videos. I did not sign up for additional prep courses, nor did I look at past CILEX papers – I decided to focus on the materials from OUP and QLTS School.

Qlts School Login

2. Struggling with taxation /solicitors’ accounts / financial regulation

If you can’t seem to understand a subject even after reading the textbook three times, read another textbook to give you a fresh perspective. Aside from reading the QLTS School’s Taxation book for MCT, I also read the tax discussion in the book “Foundations for the LPC”, as well as the UK government’s website on taxes (https://www.gov.uk/browse/tax). Same as with some of the civil litigation discussion in the OUP book – I referred to discussions on the same topics in Thomson Reuters’ Practical Law.

3. How much time do you need?

Qlts School Osce

Start as early as possible, but not so early that the principles (such as computing taxes!) that you had started studying would have changed by the time you take the test. I studied one month part-time (every weekend) and three weeks full-time for the MCT, and two months part-time and two weeks full-time for the OSCE. It is extremely helpful to have a few days before the exams doing nothing but taking mock tests and reading revision notes. If possible, use your vacation days and carry over un-used vacation days from the previous year.

4. How soon after the MCT should you take OSCE?

I took the MCT in February 2017 and learned that I passed before the end of the month. I had intended to take the June 2017 OSCE and was feeling pretty confident when I had finished reading the Probate and Property books by the end of March 2017. On a vacation to New Zealand in April 2017, I packed my Business Law and Civil Litigation OUP books so I could squeeze in some study time and … you can guess how many times I actually opened those books. On hindsight, I recommend not taking the OSCE immediately after the MCT because you’ll have just three months to study. Three months is not a lot of time if you’re working full-time – what if things suddenly get busy at work and you have to work on weekends? Someone advised to start studying for the OSCE immediately after taking the MCT even before getting the MCT results so you can take the OSCE as early as possible. Fair point- you want to make sure that the things you reviewed for the MCT are still fresh in your mind for the OSCE. Personally though, I think it’s a bit sad to start studying for the OSCE, only to find out later on that you actually have to study the MCT again.

5. E&W vs. Philippine vs. New York bar – which is hardest?

I’d say the QLTS is harder than the Philippine and NY bars because had to study for the QLTS part-time. Looking back, I think every Philippine law student has an advantage with the Philippine bar because we studied most of the subjects anyway in law school. With QLTS, there’s a whole lot of things to be studied for the first time by a foreign lawyer, especially those not from Europe (solicitors’ accounts, EU law, human rights law, etc.).

I also found OSCE more difficult compared to the essay parts of the NY bar. The OSCE will test you on your ability to identify, on the spot, any missing facts or documents that you should ask from a non-lawyer client (in addition to identifying the legal issues). In an essay question on the NY bar, you’ll be more or less supplied with the relevant facts so you can identify and discuss the legal issues. There’s also more memorization required in the OSCE – you must have mental checklists of questions for every type of probate or property interview, or you might forget to ask for the essential facts and documents (such as “Did the deceased have a will?”). You should also memorize the elements of each civil or criminal claim for the advocacy assessments.

6. Overseas Candidates – Where to live in London?

Try to stay in a comfortable place. It is bad enough to be fighting jet lag, having anxiety attacks and studying as many things as possible at the last minute – imagine if you had to experience all these in a cramped and noisy room for 11 days. I stayed in a nice serviced apartment in Pimlico along the Victoria Line. The Victoria line passes both Euston station (near the OSCE Part I venue) and Highbury & Islington station (near the OSCE Part II venue) so I did not have to change trains when traveling to the exam venues.

7. Prepare your war chest.

Taking the QLTS is not cheap. Exam fees, prep courses, books, and Lexis Nexis/Westlaw access, plus air tickets and lodging in London, can add up. Set aside money for expected expenses, plus a 20% buffer.

8. #goals

Do not just aim to score above the pass mark. Aim to get as high a score as possible because pass marks and pass rates vary greatly. For example, for the November 2017 OSCE, the pass rate for the 14-16 November Part 1 cohort was 63% whereas the pass rate for the 24-26 November Part 1 cohort was just 51%. It’s true that you won’t get any prizes if you get a perfect score, but after all the effort, time and expense, isn’t it much better to score 20 points above the pass mark and feel bad about studying too much, than score 0.5 point below the pass mark and have to take the whole test again?

Finally, if you haven’t, join QLTS Study Group on LinkedIn. It is chock-full of great advice, especially if you are studying on your own. https://lawyerinconversion.wordpress.com/ is pretty useful too.

Good luck!

Qlts School Multipack

*All info above was based on my experience in the February 2017 MCT and November 2017 OSCE, the July 2012 NY bar and the 2006 Philippine bar. Test formats, etc. may have changed since then.