University of Law to offer out-of-work graduates half their tuition fees back in cash

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A university has promised to offer graduates half their tuition fees back in cash if they don’t land a job nine months after completing their studies.

The University of Law (ULaw) says its new ‘100% for You’ initiative will also offer a half-price discount to its out-of-work graduate lawyers should they wish to pursue a postgraduate course.

ULaw has described its move as “market-changing” which puts students “firmly at the heart” as part of the university’s new vision for “student success.”

The tuition fees refund, however, applies only to graduates from the Legal Practice Course (LPC) course.

Depending on which one of the nine centres around the country students choose to attend, LPC fees can cost up to £15,200, meaning unemployed grads could potentially get back £7,600.

The full-time course lasts for just over ten months, and is assessed by a variety of methods including a combination of open and closed book assessments for core practice areas, deadline-driven research and writing assignments, oral presentations, and submission of a file of work for elective subjects.

And, with the postgraduate discount promise, those, for example, who studied the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) would receive half off. The BPTC can cost up to £19,000.

Dr Stelios Platis, ULaw’s CEO and managing director, described how “students are at the heart of everything we do,” adding how the university focuses its efforts into ensuring long-term success.

He continued: “We were the first university to offer a money back employment promise, and, this year, we are backing our students with an even bigger commitment with this new initiative.”

Post-Brexit, though, the law sector is one of several which could see a tough time in the graduate job market.

ULaw’s announcement has come just a week after half of the top graduate employers in the UK threatened to slash their recruitment intake should the UK vote to leave the European Union.

The three main reasons cited for downsizing were the impact on the economy and, therefore, on the volume of business, general uncertainty, and a lower talent pool of EU graduates applying for jobs.

With employers’ views compiled into a report by PathMotion on the day the nation went to the polls to vote in the EU referendum, PathMotion CEO, David Rivel, described how the concerns raised by graduates about the effect of a Brexit were “confirmed by employers” who predicted a loss of graduate jobs in the UK.

Rivel said: “British graduates are not protected, despite some employers shifting from EU to British graduates. The report also reveals employers are worried at the prospect of losing access to the talent pool that they can already tap into.”