Canadians Studying in the UK Unlikely To Have Their Degrees Recognized

[BlockedQuebecois]

Quote

He's now entering his second and final year of the program, but with just weeks to go before the semester begins, he's been told the degree likely won't amount to much.

Richardson is one of more than 150 Canadian students enrolled in the JD Pathways program at the University of Leicester in England. It allows Canadian students to finish their law education in two years instead of three, with the caveat that once they return to Canada, they must pass a series of accreditation exams before continuing their careers.
…

Richardson did his first year remotely because of the pandemic, and with the Delta variant currently surging in the U.K., professors at the school have planned to do a mix of online and small class learning for the upcoming school year.

But the NCA remains steadfast that law students must have at least one full year of in-person learning. For second-year students like Richardson, that means his two-year degree won't be recognized in Canada. 

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6138265

This was raised as a potential issue on the old forum by several posters, and it’s interesting (and not surprising) that the NCA has stuck to its guns on this one. 

While I feel bad for these students, they should have known this was a calculated (and honestly not very smart) bet that COVID would be sufficiently suppressed within 12 months. To the extent they’re surprised or disappointed, it’s likely because they didn’t do enough research into the NCA’s requirements (and I’m sure the schools didn’t do anything to help them). 

[epeeist]

On 8/12/2021 at 12:30 PM, BlockedQuebecois said:

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6138265

This was raised as a potential issue on the old forum by several posters, and it’s interesting (and not surprising) that the NCA has stuck to its guns on this one. 

While I feel bad for these students, they should have known this was a calculated (and honestly not very smart) bet that COVID would be sufficiently suppressed within 12 months. To the extent they’re surprised or disappointed, it’s likely because they didn’t do enough research into the NCA’s requirements (and I’m sure the schools didn’t do anything to help them). 

I lean towards sympathy for almost anyone not an anti-vaxxer (and even some of them) whose life has been disrupted by Covid, rather than lecturing them about how they should have known it would still be going on after 12 months, contrary to all the optimistic messaging from many governments (depending upon when).

Correct me if I'm wrong, I went to law school a long time ago, but even in non-Covid times most Canadian law schools (i.e. NCA irrelevant) don't require class attendance (some profs may)? The NCA requirements of in-person instruction for foreign graduates would make more sense if Canadian law graduates were required to attend, not merely be enrolled (I believe, again non-Covid, the ABA requires accredited law schools to have attendance required - used to be more prescribed, now I think it's just that the law school has to have a policy requiring "regular" class attendance, which many define as taking attendance and students not missing more than X% of classes).

[honeybunches]

13 hours ago, epeeist said:

I lean towards sympathy for almost anyone not an anti-vaxxer (and even some of them) whose life has been disrupted by Covid, rather than lecturing them about how they should have known it would still be going on after 12 months, contrary to all the optimistic messaging from many governments (depending upon when).

Correct me if I'm wrong, I went to law school a long time ago, but even in non-Covid times most Canadian law schools (i.e. NCA irrelevant) don't require class attendance (some profs may)? The NCA requirements of in-person instruction for foreign graduates would make more sense if Canadian law graduates were required to attend, not merely be enrolled (I believe, again non-Covid, the ABA requires accredited law schools to have attendance required - used to be more prescribed, now I think it's just that the law school has to have a policy requiring "regular" class attendance, which many define as taking attendance and students not missing more than X% of classes).

This is correct. Students in the UK actually have to attend around 80% of lectures in order to keep their visas, so the schools track their attendance. 

On 8/12/2021 at 9:30 AM, BlockedQuebecois said:

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6138265

This was raised as a potential issue on the old forum by several posters, and it’s interesting (and not surprising) that the NCA has stuck to its guns on this one. 

While I feel bad for these students, they should have known this was a calculated (and honestly not very smart) bet that COVID would be sufficiently suppressed within 12 months. To the extent they’re surprised or disappointed, it’s likely because they didn’t do enough research into the NCA’s requirements (and I’m sure the schools didn’t do anything to help them). 

I'd like to shed some light as a current student at one of the schools affected. 

The school has actually been heavily involved and in contact with the NCA since May. They proposed a method of teaching where lectures would be delivered online and we would continue to have small group tutorials in person. The NCA rejected this, they said 100% of the program delivery must be in person. 

Most of the schools with programs catered to Canadians are actually always in contact with the NCA in order to ensure their programs meet their requirements. Thanks to their lobbying they were actually able to change the old in-person requirement. 

 

Edited August 17, 2021 by honeybunches

[soulchoice]

Has there been any update to this situation via the NCA or Leicester?  Or will the degrees still be in limbo, for those in the second year of the two year llb?

[Renegade]

On 8/12/2021 at 12:30 PM, BlockedQuebecois said:

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6138265

This was raised as a potential issue on the old forum by several posters, and it’s interesting (and not surprising) that the NCA has stuck to its guns on this one. 

While I feel bad for these students, they should have known this was a calculated (and honestly not very smart) bet that COVID would be sufficiently suppressed within 12 months. To the extent they’re surprised or disappointed, it’s likely because they didn’t do enough research into the NCA’s requirements (and I’m sure the schools didn’t do anything to help them). 

My friend is studying Physiotherapy in the UK and she has been required to attend in person during the pandemic.  I'm surprised that any UK law school would let Canadian students attend remotely.  That being said, it is extremely hypocritical of the NCA to do this considering that every single Canadian university student was online during the pandemic.  This entire generation has been so screwed over. 

[Iwias]

Though NCA likely places a high discount on online education, when compared to in-person training, I am guessing this is no longer such a big issue, given that most pandemic restrictions are pretty much gone by now.

On the bright side, NCA was forced to adopt online examinations rather than on paper and a handful of examination centres in Canada (and likely due to demand, in Delhi, India). These are not going away, though the examination time has gradually been reverted back to 3 hours, while the cost per attempt ballooned to $450!