PPC Experiential Route 

At the PPR we recognise that competency can be achieved through non-academic routes.

The experiential route assessment is available to Paralegals who may have many years’ experience in a specific practice area/s but do not meet the necessary qualification requirements to apply for a Paralegal Practising Certificate (PPC) and be regarded as a Professional Paralegal Practitioner.

Taking the Experiential Route Assessment will enable you to reflect on your skills and knowledge to date.

There is an additional one-off fee of £400 of which £100 is an administration fee and non-returnable should your application be unsuccessful.   You will be required to pay the fee for the Practising Certificate (Specified £155 or General £205) on applying and thereafter each year when renewing. 

The Experiential Route Process

STEP 1 – YOUR PRE-ASSESSMENT DISCUSSION 

The pre-assessment discussion is a free 15-minute discussion by telephone with an experienced assessor.   It helps determine your eligibility for the Experience Assessment, and whether it is the right route for you.

Before you book your pre-assessment discussion, make sure you check your eligibility against our requirements in our Paralegal Practising Certificate Experiential Route Guidelines click here 

Book your FREE pre-assessment discussion by calling +44 (0) 203 039 3710 

or emailing [email protected]

STEP 2 – REGISTER AND PAY FOR THE FULL EXPERIENTIAL ASSESSMENT

After your pre-assessment discussion you will need to complete and submit the Experiential Route online form and pay the experiential route process fee of £400 and the appropriate fee for the Practising Certificate (a Specified Certificate is £155 per year, and a General Certificate is £205 per year).   

STEP 3 – COMPLETE ASSESSMENT 

You should expect to invest around 10 days of your time over a four-week period to do the following part of the online assessment:

  • Impact report: Demonstrate how you have contributed to your organisation’s success or your success as a sole trader.
  • Self-assessment: Demonstrate how you meet the behaviours required of a paralegal professional.
  • Workplace or client feedback: provide feedback from people you work with, including your line manager (or clients).

The timescales above are estimates and should be used as guidelines only. We strongly advise you to plan ahead, to give yourself enough time to think and prepare your examples.

You can download the PPC Experiential Route Assessment Template here

On completion of the assessment template please email along with your supporting information to [email protected] 

STEP 4 – YOUR PROFESSIONAL DISCUSSION 

Approximately 2-3 weeks after you complete your online assessment you will be required to attend a Professional Discussion – a one-hour interview (video call) with an experienced PPR assessor.  Your assessor will explore your evidence in more detail – discussing your submission, the evidence you have provided on your experience, and ask a series of general technical questions based on the area of law that you practice.

About a week later you will receive your results.

STEP 5 – RECEIVE OUTCOME OF YOUR ASSESSMENT 

You will learn the outcome of your assessment within six weeks from the start of the overall process. If successful, you will be awarded a Practising Certificate in the respective practice area/s.   

If you are unsuccessful you will be refunded the £300 (the administration fee of £100 will be deducted) and the full fee of the practising certificate. 

                                                                                         For payments, please visit our payments page