BPP vs University of Law for the SQE

BPP and the University of Law are the two names most people land on when they search for a big, campus-based SQE provider. Both have been training solicitors for decades, both have offices across the UK, and both now sell a version of the SQE prep package built to sit on top of the exam. Picking between them usually comes down to price, whether you want an LLM alongside the SQE qualification, and how you like to be taught.

This isn't a ranking. It's a straight look at what each provider actually offers, where the costs land, and which questions to ask before you sign a contract with either one.

The headline price comparison

Course pricing at both providers depends heavily on format (full-time, part-time, online-only, in-person), location, and whether you're bundling in a PGDL conversion or an LLM. That variation is exactly why the ranges are wide.

• BPP: roughly £12,200 to £14,300 for the combined SQE1 and SQE2 preparation, depending on format and location.
• University of Law: SQE1 and SQE2 prep can be booked separately from around £10,000 to £13,000 combined outside its LLM-integrated pathway, while the LLM-integrated route (its main SQE offering) runs roughly £15,150 to £18,850 depending on location.

At the lower end, the two providers land in a broadly similar range. At the top end, ULaw's range stretches further, mostly because its main SQE pathway bundles in a full LLM, something BPP doesn't build into its core offering in the same way. If you're comparing like for like (SQE prep only, no postgraduate degree attached), the gap between them is smaller than the headline numbers suggest.

Always confirm current pricing directly with each provider before you commit. Course fees move year to year, and both BPP and ULaw publish their own up-to-date fee pages that will be more accurate than any third-party summary, including this one.

Where the money actually goes

Neither provider is selling you access to the exam itself. SQE1 and SQE2 are set and marked by the SRA via Pearson VUE, and those assessment fees are separate from anything you pay a course provider. What you're buying from BPP or ULaw is structured teaching, materials, mock assessments, and (depending on the package) tutor support and a campus or online learning environment built around the SQE syllabus.

That reframes the comparison. You're not choosing which exam is easier with one provider over the other. You're choosing which teaching structure, timetable and support model fits how you actually study.

The LLM question

This is probably the single biggest structural difference between the two.

The University of Law has built LLM-integrated SQE pathways as the core of its offering. You study for the SQE and come out with a postgraduate law degree (an LLM) alongside it, generally for a higher fee than booking SQE1 and SQE2 prep separately, typically landing somewhere in the £15,000 to £18,850 band depending on location and study mode.

BPP also offers postgraduate routes and has its own LLM-adjacent options, but the LLM-plus-SQE combination is more central to ULaw's positioning than BPP's.

Whether the LLM matters depends entirely on your own plans. If you already have a law degree or a PGDL and just need SQE prep, paying extra for another postgraduate qualification you don't need is money you could put toward a resit fund or simply save. If you're weighing an academic credential for reasons beyond qualifying as a solicitor (an international move, a future in academia, a specific employer preference), the LLM route becomes a genuinely different calculation. Ask each provider directly whether the LLM is compulsory on your chosen pathway or optional, since that changes the price comparison significantly.

Delivery: campus, online, and hybrid

Both providers offer a mix of in-person, online, and blended delivery, and both have physical centres in multiple UK cities, London among them, plus other regional centres that vary by provider and intake.

The practical differences tend to show up in timetabling flexibility (full-time, part-time and accelerated options exist at both, but the exact structure and how much is live versus recorded varies by centre and format), class sizes and tutor access (worth asking about directly rather than assuming, since marketing pages describe the best case), and how much is genuinely optional versus a paid add-on, such as drop-in sessions or extra workshops.

Neither provider's website substitutes for a direct conversation about your situation. If you're working full-time, ask pointedly about evening and weekend timetabling. If you learn better with structured deadlines, ask how much of the course is genuinely paced versus self-directed.

What to actually compare, provider by provider

Before choosing, get the same answers from both BPP and ULaw:

1. Total price for your exact format (full-time vs part-time, online vs in-person, with or without an LLM), not just the headline range.
2. What's included in mocks and feedback. How many full mock SQE1 and SQE2 sittings, and how detailed is the feedback on each.
3. Contact hours vs self-study hours. Guidance commonly points to 300 to 500 hours for SQE1 prep alone; ask how much of that a course structures for you versus leaves you to organise.
4. Resit and repeat-module policy. What happens, cost-wise, if you don't pass SQE1 or SQE2 first time while still enrolled.
5. Refund and deferral terms, in case your circumstances change mid-course.

Get these in writing from both providers before comparing final numbers. Two courses that look similarly priced on a marketing page can differ substantially once you factor in mock volume and support hours.

Both providers also sit at the higher end of the SQE prep market, well above leaner providers and self-study routes. The case for paying more usually rests on structure, in-person contact, tutor access and, for some people, the campus experience itself. If budget is the deciding factor rather than provider reputation, it's worth researching the full range of options before assuming a campus provider is the only serious route.

Whichever provider you're weighing, a free SQE study planner can help you map your own SQE1 and SQE2 timeline, resits and QWE included, so you know what you actually need a course to cover before you pay for one.

Frequently asked questions

Is BPP or University of Law cheaper for the SQE? At the lower end, prices are broadly comparable: roughly £12,200 to £14,300 at BPP for the combined SQE1 and SQE2 course, and roughly £10,000 to £13,000 at ULaw if you book SQE1 and SQE2 prep separately outside its LLM pathway. ULaw's upper range extends further, up to roughly £18,850, because its core SQE offering is LLM-integrated. For SQE-only prep with no LLM attached, the gap between the two is often smaller than it first appears. Confirm current figures directly with each provider, as both revise pricing periodically.

Does BPP or ULaw offer an LLM with the SQE? The University of Law has built LLM-integrated SQE pathways as a central part of its offering, typically priced in the region of £15,000 to £18,850 depending on location. BPP also has postgraduate routes, but the LLM-plus-SQE combination is a bigger part of ULaw's positioning. Ask each provider whether the LLM is compulsory or optional on your specific course.

Which provider has better SQE pass rates, BPP or ULaw? Individual provider pass rates aren't consistently published in a way that allows a fair, current comparison, and cohort composition (background, prior study, full-time vs part-time) affects results as much as teaching quality does. If pass rate data matters to your decision, ask each provider directly for their most recent published figures and how they're calculated, and read our piece on how to read published SQE pass rates before treating any single number as decisive.

Do I have to study at BPP or ULaw's campus, or can I study online? Both providers offer online and blended options alongside in-person campus study, though exact formats vary by course tier and location. If flexibility matters to you, ask specifically about evening or weekend timetabling and how much of the course is live-taught versus self-paced.

Is a £12,000+ course necessary to pass the SQE? No. The SRA's own assessment fees are separate from any prep course, and providers exist across a much wider price range, from a few hundred pounds for short courses up to the campus-provider level covered here. Whether a higher-cost, full-service course is worth it depends on how much structure and support you personally need, not on any guarantee of a better result. See our full breakdown of SQE prep course pricing for the wider market.