CILEX enrols nine scholarship winners on CPQ

3rd March 2021

CILEX (the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) has enrolled nine scholarship winners onto the CILEX Professional Qualification (CPQ).

The students each won scholarships worth up to £12,500 each as part of the CILEX Foundation’s scholarship programme, targeted at those under-represented in the legal profession and/or from a socially disadvantaged background.

The scholarship programme will cover the training costs of becoming a fully qualified CILEX Lawyer, as well as the opportunity to network and learn from thousands of like-minded legal professionals who have benefited from the CILEX route.

Eligible groups include young carers, those with a protected characteristic, as defined by the Equality Act 2010 (such as Black, Asian and other ethnic minority students), previous receipt of free school meals or a history of being in care.

Three of the scholarships were Millicent Grant scholarships, open to those from Black, Asian or other ethnic minority backgrounds. They are named after Millicent Grant, a former CILEX president, the first CILEX member to be made an Honorary QC and the first Black person to lead a legal professional membership body. Throughout her career she has worked to tackle diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and the judiciary.

The nine students awarded scholarships are:

• Stephanie Abbey (Millicent Grant scholarship)
• Tanesha Begum (Millicent Grant scholarship)
• Daniel Dankwah
• Katie Dean
• Charlene Douglas (Millicent Grant scholarship)
• Shannon Onions
• Amy Roberts
• Maya Dimitrova
• Katie Thurston

Stephanie Abbey is one of the first cohort of students to be awarded a Millicent Grant scholarship by the CILEX Foundation. She said: “I wasn’t able to complete my law degree due to a family bereavement and later, a difficult pregnancy. I wanted a career in the law but felt trapped, without the qualifications I needed to progress.

“The scholarship means I can start studying right away, fitting the CPQ around my part time role and care of my three-year-old daughter. The funding will take me through to qualification as a CILEX Lawyer and the possibility of fulfilling my dream of working as an immigration lawyer.”

Speaking on behalf of the CILEX Foundation board of trustees, chair HHJ Marc Dight CBE says: “CILEX is committed to improving social mobility within the legal profession – ensuring dedicated individuals like Stephanie and our other scholarship winners can succeed in the sector, regardless of their personal circumstances.

“Not only does the CPQ offer a route to a successful legal career to those with or without a university degree, the targeted support offered by the Foundation will also help further remove barriers for promising future legal professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds.” 

The CPQ qualification builds on CILEX’s core propositions of accessibility, affordability and flexibility with CILEX students combining work and study. It marries legal knowledge with the skills, behaviours and commercial awareness needed in the modern legal market and introduces mandatory elements of legal technology, business skills and emotional intelligence for the first time in legal training.

For more information and for students who want to enrol visit: https://www.cilex.org.uk/cilex_lawyer/about_cpq

For further information about the CILEX Lawyer Scholarship visit:
https://www.cilex.org.uk/membership/cilex_foundation#Scholarships 

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Louise Eckersley, Black Letter Communications on 0203 567 1208 or email: [email protected] 

 Kerry Jack, Black Letter Communications on 07525 756 599 or email: [email protected]