Viewpoints

In their article “Diploma admissions: a thorny issue” (Journal, July 2023, 41), Kerry Trewern and David Boag carefully set out the difficult balance in dealing with applications to the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice. As they note, demand in recent years far exceeds the available Diploma places. This leads to many disappointed applicants. The appropriateness of the admissions process to the Diploma therefore carries significant consequence. 

This process has traditionally – across all Diploma providers – ranked students based on their “GPA” (grade point average) in core LLB subjects. As Trewern and Boag set out, this approach has been considered “fair and consistent” as all students, regardless of where they studied the LLB, undertake the same subjects. 

The trouble is this assumption of consistency appears not to be borne out by data. While subjects are effectively the same, approaches to marking and assessment vary. In the most recent round of admissions, the data I have seen (admittedly only relating to students applying to the Diploma at Strathclyde) suggest that while some universities appear to be awarding very high marks in core subjects, others are more conservative. It is not clear to me that a national comparison of GPA is actually apples with apples.

Even if it were, the GPA has other pedagogical flaws. The GPA is a result fixed in time. Once a student has undertaken their core LLB classes, their GPA will forever follow them. An individual could go on to achieve a first class honours, a master’s, a PhD, or even secure a traineeship, but all would have little bearing on their Diploma chances if their GPA is low. 

The GPA further fails to recognise the difficulties in educational transition that some students face when they start university. For example, in a recent study undertaken at Strathclyde, we identified that students from widening access backgrounds tend to perform less well compared against other students in years one and two. While results even out at honours, the GPA is by then already determined. 

Strathclyde has this year piloted a new points-based process to give weight to other factors and not just the GPA. The early signs are this approach gives some students a better chance. We are encouraged by that, but it remains imperfect. For what it’s worth, I believe we should consider moving beyond the GPA altogether. A solution could be a national entry exam for the Diploma. Exams are not free from risk, and have their own practical and pedagogical challenges. Yet it may be the benefits would outweigh the difficulties. There would be national consistency and, importantly, there would always be the chance for applicants. An applicant could keep trying, and the door to the profession would not be shut due to results they might have obtained when they were 19. This is just a suggestion. Regardless, we surely owe it to those studying law, and to ourselves, to find a solution other than sole reliance on the GPA to ensure that everyone has a fair and consistent chance for entry to the profession.

Stuart Kelly, director, Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (University of Strathclyde)