Chartered Legal Executive Diploma

The Chartered Legal Executive Diploma is the academic and professional qualification that takes you to CILEX Fellowship and a career as a Chartered Legal Executive. Datalaw, an authorised CILEx Regulation training provider, delivers the diploma online through charteredlegalexecutive.co.uk via two routes. The graduate route is a fast-track for anyone who already holds a qualifying law degree or a GDL conversion. The non-graduate route is the full CILEX Professional Qualification (CPQ), open to school leavers and career changers without a degree. Both routes lead to the same Fellowship and the same practice rights.

Chartered Legal Executive Diploma

Graduate Route: Who It Suits

Designed for LLB graduates and non-law graduates who hold a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL). The graduate diploma takes your existing legal foundation as the starting point and skips straight to the Lawyer-stage practice units.

Graduate Route: What You Study

Two CILEX Level 6 practice subjects of your choice (one of which must link to a law unit you covered at degree level), the Client Care Skills unit, and Datalaw's Advanced Professional Conduct and Ethics module. A Competence Portfolio runs alongside.

Graduate Route: Time to Complete

Around 12 to 18 months of part-time online study, sat alongside qualifying legal employment. Practice subjects are assessed by three-hour written exams in January and June. Course access is typically granted for up to 18 months.

Non-Graduate Route: Who It Suits

Designed for school leavers, college leavers and career changers entering law without a degree. The non-graduate route covers the full CPQ pathway from the very start, building you up to Lawyer-stage competency.

Non-Graduate Route: What You Study

All three CPQ stages: Foundation (introductory law and professional skills), Advanced (intermediate practice and ethics), and Professional (specialist practice and the Professional Skills assignment). Fourteen module assessments plus two ethics modules in total.

Non-Graduate Route: Time to Complete

Around three to five years of part-time online study fitted around qualifying legal employment. Most learners progress through one stage per year to 18 months, sitting assessments at the relevant stage exam window.
Gradaute Chartered Legal Executive Diploma

How the Two Routes Are Structured

The graduate and non-graduate routes are designed to start in different places but end at the same point. A law graduate already has the legal foundation that the non-graduate route spends its first stages teaching, so the graduate diploma simply lifts that prior learning across and drops the learner straight into the Lawyer-stage practice units. The non-graduate route covers the same ground from scratch, with the academic foundations built in.

This is what each route looks like in practice:

  • Graduate route Stage 1: choose your first CILEX Level 6 practice subject (must link to a law unit you covered at degree level)
  • Graduate route Stage 2: choose your second practice subject from the CILEX menu of options
  • Graduate route Stage 3: complete the CILEX Level 6 Client Care Skills unit covering negotiation and complaint handling
  • Graduate route Stage 4: complete Datalaw's Advanced Professional Conduct and Ethics module plus your Competence Portfolio
  • Non-graduate Foundation: five mandatory modules introducing law, the legal system and professional skills
  • Non-graduate Advanced: four compulsory modules, one optional module, and Ethics and Professional Responsibility in Context
  • Non-graduate Professional: a mandatory Professional Skills assignment plus one specialist Lawyer-stage module

Eligibility for Each Route

The two routes have different starting requirements. Datalaw will review your prior qualifications and confirm which route you’re eligible for before you enrol. As a rule, the graduate route requires a recognised law qualification at degree level. The non-graduate route is open without any prior law-specific study.

Common eligibility profiles look like this:

  • Graduate route eligible: holders of an LLB (qualifying law degree) from a UK university
  • Graduate route eligible: non-law graduates who have completed a GDL or PGDL conversion
  • Graduate route eligible: international law graduates whose degree is recognised by CILEX
  • Non-graduate route eligible: school leavers with four GCSEs at grade 4 or higher including English
  • Non-graduate route eligible: career changers from any background, no formal law qualifications required
Non-Graduate Chartered Legal Executive Diploma
Chartered Legal Executive Diploma Online

Choosing Between Graduate and Non-Graduate

For most learners, the right route is determined by what you already have. If you hold a qualifying law degree or a GDL, the graduate diploma is faster and cheaper because you don’t repeat material you’ve already covered. If you don’t have a degree (or your degree is in a non-law subject without a GDL), the non-graduate route is your way in and gives you the academic foundation alongside the practice units.

Here are the practical differences to weigh up:

  • Graduate route is shorter, around 12 to 18 months versus 3 to 5 years for non-graduates
  • Graduate route is cheaper overall because you sit fewer modules
  • Non-graduate route teaches the foundations so you don't need a law degree before starting
  • Both routes are delivered fully online by Datalaw, so location is not a barrier
  • Both routes require qualifying legal employment alongside study (3 years total for Fellowship)
  • Both routes lead to the same CILEX Fellowship and the same Chartered Legal Executive title
  • Authorisation and practice rights are built in on completion plus the Competence Portfolio
  • The non-graduate route can be combined with paralegal work to build qualifying experience faster

How to Enrol and Progress

Enrolment runs throughout the year, so you can start whenever suits you. Datalaw handles the academic delivery, and you register separately with CILEX as a student member to access exam entry and the official qualification framework. After your last assessment and once you’ve logged the required qualifying legal employment, you apply to CILEX for Fellowship.

The full enrolment-to-Fellowship sequence is the same for both routes, with the modules differing in number:

  • Confirm your route by submitting your prior qualifications to Datalaw for assessment
  • Enrol via charteredlegalexecutive.co.uk and set up your monthly payment plan or upfront fee
  • Register as a CILEX student member to access the qualification portal and exam-entry system
  • Begin your first module with online tutor support, structured study materials and on-demand resources
  • Sit the relevant assessments at scheduled CILEX exam windows in January or June
  • Build your workplace Competence Portfolio with examples drawn from your qualifying legal employment
  • Accumulate three years of qualifying legal employment in any law-related role
  • Submit your CILEX Fellowship application supported by a workplace referee
cilex diploma

Compare to the Apprenticeship Route

Both Datalaw diploma routes are self-funded (or sometimes employer-sponsored). If you’d rather have your training fully paid by an employer and earn a salary throughout, the Chartered Legal Executive Apprenticeship is the alternative route to the same Fellowship endpoint.

Compare Diploma vs Apprenticeship