SRA Handbook

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Version 13 of the Handbook was published on 01/04/2015. For more information, please click 'History' Above

Introduction to the Training Regulations 2014 - Qualification and Provider Regulations

Preamble

Authority: Made on the 6 June 2014 by the Solicitors Regulation Authority Board under section 2, 28, 79, and 80 of the Solicitors Act 1974, with the approval of the Legal Services Board under paragraph 19 of Schedule 4 to the Legal Services Act 2007.

Date: The regulations came into force on 1 July 2014.

Replacing: The SRA Training Regulations 2011 Part 1 - Qualification Regulations, the SRA Training Regulations Part 2 - Training Provider Regulations 2011 and the Monitoring of Courses Regulations 1991.

Regulating: Any individual seeking to be admitted as a solicitor and any organisation providing, or intending to provide, recognised training or the QLD, CPE, Exempting Law Degree, LPC or PSC. These regulations do not apply to those seeking admission under the SRA Qualified Lawyer Transfer Scheme Regulations 2011.

Overview

Outcomes-focused regulation concentrates on providing positive outcomes, which when achieved, will benefit and protect clients and the public. These regulations, together with the SRA Training Regulations 2011 Part 3 - Continuing Professional Development Regulations, form the SRA Training Regulations, which set out the outcomes-focused requirements governing the education and training for people seeking to be admitted as solicitors and those providing training.

Education and training underpins the regulation of solicitors - it ensures the creation of competent and ethical practitioners. We regulate and set requirements for all stages of pre-qualification training in order to ensure that individuals have achieved the required level of competency before admission as a solicitor.

The Principles

The regulations form part of the Handbook, in which the 10 mandatory Principles are all-pervasive. They apply to all those we regulate and to all aspects of practice. Outcomes relevant to education and training are listed beneath the Principles.

You must:

1. uphold the rule of law and the proper administration of justice;
2. act with integrity;
3. not allow your independence to be compromised;
4. act in the best interests of each client;
5. provide a proper standard of service to your clients;
6. behave in a way that maintains the trust the public places in you and in the provision of legal services;
7. comply with your legal and regulatory obligations and deal with your regulators and ombudsmen in an open, timely and co-operative manner;
8. run your business or carry out your role in the business effectively and in accordance with proper governance and sound financial risk management principles;
9. run your business or carry out your role in the business in a way that encourages equality of opportunity and respect for diversity; and
10. protect client money and assets.

Outcomes

The outcomes which apply to these regulations are that, if you qualify as a solicitor, you:

O(TR1)

will have achieved and demonstrated a standard of competence appropriate to the work you are carrying out;

O(TR2)

will have had such competence objectively assessed where appropriate;

O(TR3)

will have undertaken the appropriate practical training and workplace experience;

O(TR4)

are of proper character and suitability;

O(TR5)

will have achieved an appropriate standard of written and spoken English or Welsh; and

O(TR6)

act so that clients, and the wider public, have confidence that outcomes TR1-TR5 have been met.

You must achieve, and where relevant continue to meet, these outcomes.

These outcomes, and the regulations that flow from them, apply to unadmitted persons - i.e. those who are intending to become solicitors under these regulations - and to approved education providers, authorised education providers and authorised training providers. They do not apply to individuals who are entitled to seek admission through the QLTSR.