How long is the Advanced Diploma in Corporate Law?

The Advanced Diploma in Corporate Law runs for 12 to 15 months across on-campus, online and distance routes, with a shared assessment calendar and a live transaction drafting workshop at the midpoint.

Can I study the Advanced Diploma in Corporate Law online?

Yes. The Advanced Diploma in Corporate Law is delivered fully online with live tutorials, on-campus near the Inns of Court, or by distance learning with structured milestone deadlines.

Is the Advanced Diploma in Corporate Law aligned to SQE and CILEx?

The Advanced Diploma in Corporate Law is mapped to SRA SQE2 functioning legal knowledge and CILEx Level 6 corporate-law units, with FCA Listing Rules and Companies Act 2006 content built in.

What are the entry requirements?

For the Advanced Diploma in Corporate Law you need a Level 4 Diploma, Foundation Year, GDL or two years' legal experience, GCSE English at 4/C, plus IELTS 6.0 for international applicants.

What does the programme cost?

Fees for the Advanced Diploma in Corporate Law vary by route and domicile; employer-sponsored and merit places are reviewed each intake — contact LSCT admissions for the current fee schedule.

Advanced Diploma in Corporate Law — UK Level 5 | LSCT | Harold International College of London

Course Overview

The Advanced Diploma in Corporate Law at LSCT sits in the Law & Social Sciences department and is designed for paralegals, company secretaries and in-house legal-team staff who need a serious technical step up before applying for the SQE or moving into a senior support role. Delivered over 12 to 15 months on-campus close to the City and Inns of Court, fully online with live tutorials, or by distance learning, the programme covers UK company law, governance, mergers and acquisitions and the procedural side of corporate transactions.

From the first month you will be working with redacted versions of real-style transaction documents — share-purchase agreements, board minutes, FCA disclosure drafts. By graduation you will have drafted, reviewed and defended core deal documents and produced a portfolio that reads like the early work of a corporate paralegal at a UK firm.

The Advanced Diploma in Corporate Law timetable is built around UK assessment realities: continuous coursework that produces the artefacts employers actually ask for, plus end-of-module case-based assessments rather than rote examinations. Tutors include working practitioners drawn from the Inns of Court, the Royal Courts of Justice and Parliament Square — not only academics — so the standard being marked against is the standard legal and policy employers apply at first interview. Students join one cohort intake per year, so the cohort moves through the programme together and forms the working network that matters when first legal and policy-sector job applications start going out.

Key Features

Syllabus aligned to SRA SQE2 functioning legal knowledge and CILEx Level 6 corporate-law units.
Three study modes — on-campus near the Inns of Court, fully online with live tutorials, or distance learning with milestone deadlines.
Live transaction workshop drafting a share-purchase agreement under tutor review.
Companies House research surgery — using filings, charges and PSC data as part of due diligence.
FCA disclosure module drawing on the Listing Rules and Market Abuse Regulation.
One-to-one SQE prep coaching for eligible students with a law degree or GDL.

What You Will Learn

Graduates leave able to read a deal document critically, draft sections of common UK transaction agreements, run a Companies House DD pass and explain the regulatory environment for a UK-listed business. Modules include:

UK Company Law and the Companies Act 2006
Corporate Governance and the FRC Code
Mergers, Acquisitions and Disposals
Share Capital, Dividends and Distributions
Directors' Duties and Shareholder Remedies
FCA Listing Rules and Market Abuse Regulation
Commercial Contracts and Drafting
Anti-Bribery, Sanctions and Financial Crime
Legal Research and Case Analysis

Who This Course Is For

Paralegals and legal assistants in UK corporate, M&A or commercial teams.
Company secretaries and governance officers seeking a corporate-law credential.
Graduates from non-law disciplines preparing for SQE or CILEx routes.
International lawyers needing a UK conversion in corporate practice.

Career Pathways

Graduates feed UK paralegal, governance and compliance pipelines in the City, regional firms and in-house teams. The Advanced Diploma is positioned one rung below qualified solicitor status. Typical roles include:

Corporate Paralegal (City and regional firms)
Company Secretarial Assistant (listed and private)
Compliance Analyst (FCA-regulated businesses)
Legal Operations Officer (in-house teams)
Trainee Solicitor (with SQE progression)
Caseworker (regulatory, sanctions)

Many graduates progress directly to the SQE assessments, an LLM in Corporate Law or a CILEx Chartered Legal Executive pathway.

One pragmatic note for prospective applicants: UK firms, chambers and public-sector legal and policy teams continue to recruit at junior and senior level, and the Advanced Diploma in Corporate Law is designed to produce the documented portfolio that gets a CV read rather than only an academic transcript that does not. Coursework is structured so that, on graduation, you can hand a hiring manager three or four pieces of evidence — a project, a report, a deck, a documented intervention — that map directly to a published UK job description. Personal academic tutors also run two one-to-one careers conversations during the programme to keep that mapping honest.

Entry Requirements

A relevant Diploma (Level 4), Foundation Year, GDL/PGDL, or at least two years of professional experience in a legal, compliance or governance role.
GCSE English Language at grade 4/C and Mathematics at grade 4/C (or equivalent) — written precision is assessed in drafting work.
English language: IELTS 6.0 overall (no band below 5.5) for non-native English speakers.
A short statement of intent and one academic or professional reference (a partner or senior-associate reference strengthens applications).

Why Study at LSCT

The London School of Commerce and Technology (LSCT) is a specialist higher-education provider based in central London and part of Harold International College. We teach in small cohorts so every student is visible to their tutor, run a single intake schedule that students can rely on, and partner with UK professional bodies so qualifications carry weight with employers. London puts Whitehall, the City, Silicon Roundabout, the Royal Courts of Justice, the West End and the NHS estate within a short tube ride of every classroom — and our students use that proximity in their projects, placements and graduate job hunts. For corporate-law students that proximity is decisive: tutorials are within walking distance of the Inns of Court, the Royal Courts of Justice, the City and the FCA estate at Stratford.

The teaching model is small-cohort and tutor-led on purpose. Discussion-based seminars, regular formative feedback and structured peer-review are how forensic-judgement is built — none of which scales to large lecture halls. Personal academic tutors are assigned at enrolment, and every student has a named contact for academic, pastoral and career-related questions. UK and international students mix in every cohort, which becomes an active strength in case sessions, group projects and the legal and policy-sector network that follows you after graduation.

Beyond classroom contact, the Advanced Diploma in Corporate Law makes deliberate use of UK-specific resources that international comparators cannot reach as easily: open government data on the gov.uk estate, parliamentary publications, House of Commons Library briefings, Bank of England datasets, ONS releases and the open-access research output of British universities. Throughout the programme, tutors expect forensic writing — sourced, balanced, and precise about authority. Graduates often describe leaving LSCT with a set of writing and analytical habits they continue to use across a UK career — not only a transcript and a portfolio.

Apply for Advanced Diploma in Corporate Law

Step up into the senior track with the Advanced Diploma in Corporate Law. Click Enrol Now and our admissions team will respond within one working day with intake dates and credit-transfer guidance, including any GDL, PGDL or CILEx Level 3 units you can carry across.