This is offered at various institutions around the UK as well as test centres around the world with a choice of face-to-face tuition or study by distance learning. The test covers four subjects (Heads) including property, litigation and professional conduct and before entering for the QLTT Test, you must first obtain a Certificate of Eligibility from the Law Society of England and Wales.

This will confirm which Heads of the test you must pass, together with any requirement for further training. This can take six to eight weeks to process. This will vary according to the primary jurisdiction of the applicant.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is currently reviewing requirements for overseas lawyers and expect to publish a full report in 2010. As of July 2008 lawyers from outside the European Union applying under Regulation 6, 10 and 11 of the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Regulation route will need to show before being admitted that:

You have at least two year's of working in legal practice in a common law jurisdiction, of which at least one year must have been gained by practising the law of England and Wales. This experience must have been gained under the direct supervision of solicitor who must have been admitted as a solicitor in England &Wales. You must also have had experience of three distinct areas of law and experience of both contentious and non-contentious practice.

This new guidance will be used when dealing with applications for a certificate of eligibility received by the SRA on or after 1st September 2008. Please see the SRA's website http://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/qltt.page for more detailed information on how this will affect your application.

The QLTT is usually paid for by a firm itself but you could consider funding the QLTT yourself. If you do decide to pay for the QLTT yourself check the individual providers for current prices but expect to have to pay anything from £300 - £1,000 per head.

Exams are held throughout the year and students work through study material taking the examinations as and when you are ready. It is usually recommended that you study for four hours a day for two weeks in order to take an examination. There is no limit on the number of times candidates can sit the QLTT. A firm may also require you to complete a quasi-training contract for two years after completion of the test.

"If we offer you a position we are happy to support you in studying for your Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (QLTT).  This includes payment of your Law Society application fee for the Certificate of Eligibility to take the QLTT, course fees for the QLTT, registration fees to sit the test, examination fees, an allowance of £100 towards the cost of books, and the Law Society application fee for Admission to the Roll"

Herbert Smith LLP

Every day in the legal press you will read about UK firms opening offices in new countries and merging with overseas firms to further increase their international dominance. In addition many international firms are also opening offices in the UK as it offers a bridge from the US to mainland Europe and beyond. The UK legal market has been and will continue to expand both rapidly and globally and UK firms need the experience and language skills non-UK nationals can offer.

52% of the 7,247 solicitors admitted to the Roll in 2003/04 had law degrees, while 18.5% had taken non-law degrees and 23% had transferred from a different jurisdiction or career, according to Law Society statistics. Ten years ago, 64.3% of those entering the profession had come through the traditional route and studied law. The Solicitors Regulation Authority estimates around one fifth of lawyers in the UK qualify via the QLTT route.

The market for overseas qualified lawyers is strong as always in the UK and to get a better of idea of the kind of vacancies are open to you, here are a few useful websites to start your job hunting.

Interested in qualfying in the UK? To find out which course you need to take and when visit our online guide to qualifying as a lawyer in the UK