Become a CILEX lawyer
CILEX is your route to a successful legal career, offering a fast-track route for SQE exemptions.
Your qualification route to success
- Become a lawyer in under 3 years: Fast-track your career with a practical, work-based qualification.
- SQE Exemptions: Already part-qualified with SQE? We recognise your progress, so your study time, cost and journey are tailored to the learning you’ve already done.
- Specialise early: Unlike the SQE, you choose your legal specialism from early on.
- Flexible and affordable: Study at your own pace, around your commitments, for a fraction of the cost of other legal routes.
- Practical skills employers want: CPQ combines learning with real-world experience, helping you build a job-ready skillset.
With CILEX your career is in your hands. Whether you want to work in a fast-paced law firm or as part of an in-house legal team, the possibilities are endless. As a CILEX Lawyer, you could even become a partner, a coroner, or a judge!

Trusted by top employers hiring CILEX members

How does it work?
CPQ is made up of three stages:
- Foundation – Start your legal journey and gain paralegal status on completion, a rewarding career in itself.
- Advanced – Deepen your knowledge and expand your career options.
- Professional – Qualify as a CILEX Lawyer, with the right to practice unsupervised in your specialist field and at the same level as a solicitor.
Starting at just £13,000 (depending on your chosen specialism), you can study at your own pace and be a qualified CILEX Lawyer within 3 years—especially with SQE exemptions taken into account.

Get started by submitting your current SQE status
18,000+ legal professionals
Become part of the CILEX community, supporting you to build your career at every stage.
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Build your job prospects
Over 70% of the top 200 law firms in the UK are hiring CILEX Lawyers, you could be one of them!
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Helping you reach your potential
Over 1,000 partners in law firms qualified with CILEX and are shaping the future of law.
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Interested to find out more?

Submit your current SQE status for a callback.

Learn more about CILEX qualifications including pricing, entry routes and how to study.

Join our free monthly webinar to find out more and ask your questions.
Your career partner for life
When you choose CILEX you’re not just gaining a qualification, you’re joining a thriving community of over 18,000 legal professionals who support and inspire each other throughout their careers.
As a CILEX member you’ll benefit from:
- A wide range of learning resources and study aids to help you succeed
- Building connections at face to face events and online
- Career guidance and support at each stage of your career
- A dedicated customer support team to help you every step of the way.
With CILEX you’re never on your own – we’re with you from your first step into law to the peak of your career.
