When CILEX created their CPQ courses in 2021, their previous qualifications became known as legacy courses. Legacy courses are only available to those who had CILEX membership before 31st May 2021.
The legacy route includes
For some lawyers it may also include
CILEX, the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, is the professional association and governing body for CILEX Lawyers, other legal practitioners and paralegals.
CILEX offer unique routes to a legal career and becoming a qualified lawyer without a requirement to having a law degree, although law graduates and graduates with non-law degrees can also qualify as a lawyer through the CILEX route.
CILEX are the professional membership and awarding body. You can find their website here www.cilex.org.uk
You will need to arrange your membership, any exemptions, CPQ stage registration and examination entry directly with CILEX and you should make sure you diarise their key dates and deadlines. It is part of your professionalism requirements that you manage these deadlines and processes.
CILEX Regulation are the independent regulatory body of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives. They authorise and regulate individual legal professionals and law firms. Their role is to protect consumers’ interests, promote high professional standards and encourage a diverse and effective legal profession.
When CILEX created their new professional qualifications (CPQ) in 2021 they made plans to withdraw the existing qualifications and they became known as legacy qualifications.
Legacy qualifications are still available to anyone who was a CILEX member before 31st May 2021. Learners have until 2023 to complete level 3 legacy qualifications and until 2026 for level 6.
The last level 3 exam is in November 2023 and for level 6 it is 2026,
Brightlink will offer legacy qualifications until their withdrawal. Enrolment for level 3 has now closed for enrolment and enrolment for level 6 will end in 2026 for all legacy law and practice study units. Brightlink’s legacy level 3 professional skills courses have now closed as the last exam session has passed. Our last level 6 professional skills courses will run from July of 2025 to June of 2026.
To qualify under the legacy route, a learner needs to complete a Level 3 Diploma in Law and Practice, a Level 6 Higher Diploma in Law and Practice and 3 years in qualifying employment, at least 1 of which must be undertaken after successful completion of the level 3 and 6 academic qualifications. Someone qualified this way, after successful application for their qualifying employment will be a Chartered Legal Executive and a Fellow of the Institute.
If someone with a legacy qualification would like to gain the title of CILEX Lawyer and thereby parity with those qualified via the CPQ route, they can undertake an application for practice rights once they have 5 years’ experience in their chosen practice area.
More information and up to date details in relation to qualifying employment, advocacy and practice rights can be found on the CILEX Regulation website and by contacting them.
There are three stages to becoming a Chartered Legal Executive
The CILEX Level 6 Diploma in Law and Practice is the second and final academic stage towards becoming a Chartered Legal Executive lawyer. You can study at your own pace, the average time taken to complete this stage of the qualification is two years.
The Diploma is made up of
No Practice unit can be counted as achievement towards the Level 6 Diploma in Law and Practice without the candidate having also achieved the linked Law unit.
You can find the list of all CILEX legacy level 6 units offered by Brightlink and purchase any you would like to study here. You can choose as many or as few units as you would like but all will begin as soon as you buy, unless you tell us you would like different start dates.
Enables students to achieve a recognised national qualification in an individual subject of law, legal practice or legal skill. The certificates can be useful if you want to change to working in a new area of the law, take a ‘refresher’ course, or get a stand-alone qualification in a distinct subject area.
They are best suited for those who do not wish to go on and become full Chartered Legal Executive lawyers, but who want recognition for their skills in a specific professional area of law and legal practice.
You can choose to study as many or as few units at a time as you wish. Each unit will take around 150 hours of your time in total. Our course subscriptions are 10 months long so that will mean a time commitment of around 4 hours a week if you follow the full course.
You will make up your Diploma qualification by following the rules of qualification and selecting the correct individual units.
If you need to, because work becomes busy or something comes up in your personal life, or even because you realise that you’ve taken too much on and you need to take a step back, you can ask us to pause your units at any time.
Our law and practice units can be purchased at any time, you can begin studying throughout the year at a date to suit you. Our professional skills units, client care and legal research have two start dates each year in January and July and we operate a waiting list to join these courses. You can put your name on our lists by emailing connect@brightlink.org.uk
You can find the list of all CILEX legacy level 6 units offered by Brightlink and purchase any you would like to study here. You can choose as many or as few units as you would like but all will begin as soon as you buy, unless you tell us you would like different start dates.
Payment for CILEX Membership, exemptions and assessments must be made directly to CILEX, more information and contact details can be found at www.cilex.org.uk
Brightlink level 3 legacy law and practice units have now closed.
Brightlink Level 6 law and practice units cost £430 each and professional skills £395 each.
The only other expense you could incur in studying is that of recommended reading. CILEX Chief Examiners recommend textbooks each year which they believe best support study of their courses, no matter which training centre someone learns with. We incorporate reference to these books into our learning materials where possible. You can find out more about the recommended reading from your Brightlink tutor or on the CILEX website.
To buy a Brightlink legacy law or practice unit, you can buy and pay immediately online. You can contact our admin team on connect@brightlink.org.uk to request an instalment application form or for an application so that we can invoice your employer. You can also email our connect inbox if you want to put your name on a list for our professional skills unit courses which run twice each year beginning in January and July.
If you are purchasing courses from us to the value of £2000 or more and you are working you can make an application to our partners Lendwise for a professional development loan www.lendwise.com/borrow
CILEX level 3 courses have been closed.
Brightlink will offer enrolment to level 6 until 2026.
The last Level 6 exams are in 2026.
When you choose to study with Brightlink for CILEX legacy qualifications you receive:
When you join us to study you will be allocated a named tutor for each subject. Your tutor will contact you and invite you to a face-to-face induction via video conference. At your induction they will tell you all you need to know about working with us and our resources. They’ll ask you what you need to give your best to your study and they will share what they need from you to offer you the best support they can.
Only those who were CILEX members before 31st May 2021 may study legacy qualifications. If you did not have an active CILEX membership at that date please see our CPQ course information as that is the route you will take to qualification.
You can start to study a law or practice unit at any time by purchasing online and beginning here (please insert a link to the shop). If you would like to pay by instalments or for us to invoice your employer, you can request an application for this by emailing connect@brightlink.org.uk
Our client care and legal research units run to specific schedules with two course starts each year, in January and July, aiming for external assessment a year after you begin them. These units are often heavily oversubscribed, if you would like an opportunity to study them with us you will need to add your name to a waiting list by emailing connect@brightlink.org.uk
