Facts, Figures, Statistics 

About ILEX:

ILEX was first formed in 1892, becoming the Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX) in 1963.

ILEX has around 22,000 members who are either trainee or qualified Legal Executive Lawyers (7,500 are Fellows and so fully qualified lawyers).

Around 84,000 people have chosen ILEX as their route to become a lawyer.

On average, 75% of our members are women, and around 13% of all our members are black or of a ethnic minority (compared to 7.9% for the UK population as a whole).

ILEX opens up access to a career as a lawyer to all. 81.5% of ILEX members do not have parents who attended university, and only 2% of ILEX members have a parent who is a lawyer.

As well as being an awarding body for qualifications for trainee lawyers, ILEX also works in partnership with City&Guilds, the UK’s largest awarding body. In conjunction with City&Guilds, ILEX offers a range of legal studies and legal secretary qualifications which are available in over 70 centres in the UK and overseas.

All ILEX members are independently regulated.

About Legal Executive lawyers:

Legal executives are able to become judges. 

Legal executives are able to become partners in law firms.

Legal executives can represent their clients in court and become advocates.

Legal executives rights are on an increasingly level playing field with barristers and solicitors.

75% of students qualifying as lawyers through Ilex are women.

13% of students qualifying as ILEX lawyers are from ethnic minorities.

About the ILEX route to becoming a lawyer:

ILEX is the most accessible route to a rewarding career as a qualified lawyer – it is open to those holding GCSEs, A levels or a degree.

No further full-time study is required: students can complete their ILEX qualifications by part-time study or distance learning. There are around 90 ILEX accredited study centres across England and Wales.

ILEX students usually earn a salary (usually around £20,000 per annum) by working in a law firm whilst studying an average of one day or two nights a week for four years, either at a local college or university, or via distance learning.

The length of time students study is flexible – students can chose their own pace for when they sit their ILEX exams and can fast-track those, or take breaks – therefore the length of study time until course completion will vary accordingly.

Studying for  ILEX qualifications costs around £7,000 whereas the NUS says that students are now leaving Uni with debts of up to £20-30,000 on average. On top of that even law graduates still face post-graduate legal qualifications (the LPC or BPTC) to become a lawyer. An LPC will cost between £6,000-£10,000 and a BPTC will cost between £8,000 and £11,000.

However, ILEX now offers a Graduate Fast-Track Diploma which costs around £2,200 and takes 9 months to complete through part-time study.

ILEX holds an annual graduation ceremony, which your family can attend.

You don’t need a Training Contract or Pupilage to become a Legal Executive lawyer (these are very hard to secure and are currently mandatory to become a solicitor or barrister).

ILEX Fellows who wish to dual qualify as solicitors are usually exempt from the SRA's 2-year training contract.

Salaries:

Salaries vary according to location and area of law. Starting salaries are usually £15,000 to £28,000 per year whilst qualifying. When you finish your ILEX studies you can expect to earn up to £38,000. Fully qualified Legal Executive lawyers can expect to earn £35,000 to £55,000, and can earn much higher.

The Wider Legal Sector:

City lawyers are more than seven times as likely to have been privately educated than the general population, according to research undertaken in 2010 amongst almost 50,000 City professionals: 15% of City lawyers were educated at the UK's 250 public schools, compared to just 2% of the general population. From those surveyed, 2,717 (5%) had been educated at either Eton, Westminster or Winchester, with 830 of those (30%) going on to become lawyers.

The findings came after a report last year looking at fair access to the professions included a submission from the Sutton Trust stating that between 1988 and 2004, the proportion of magic circle partners aged under 39 who had been privately educated increased from 59% to 71%.