Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will introduce funding opportunities for (a) Graduate Diploma in Law and (b) other further education law courses.

Graduate Diplomas in Law (GDL) are courses that are generally shorter in duration and/or of a lower intensity than a master’s degree. Students on these courses are less likely to face the same financial barriers as those studying a full postgraduate degree and as a result, a GDL does not fall within scope for a postgraduate master’s loan. However, if a higher education provider was to include the GDL as part of a course which led to a master’s qualification (such as a Master’s in Law), then a student would in principle be eligible for the postgraduate loan.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has approved a range of law qualifications across a range of levels for funding for post-16 study. This includes qualifications which are available for 16- to 19-year-olds as well as post 19-year-olds, including through advanced learner loans. These qualifications may include Access to Higher Education Diplomas in Law at level 3, A levels and AS levels in law, as well as other level 3 qualifications in law and legal practice, level 2 qualifications in law and business, level 4 qualifications in law, regulation and ethics and level 5 and 6 qualifications in law.