Brendan Cunningham, Chair; Richard Hammon SC, Committee member; and Justine Carty, Vice-Chair

In 2025, the Education Committee approved the development of a Professional Solicitor Apprenticeship Programme under the Solicitors Acts 1954-2015, as a new route to qualification for school-leavers and law clerks/legal executives. The initial intake of solicitor apprentices is planned for September 2027. This additional route to qualification is expected to appeal to a broader spectrum of the population than the traditional graduate route and, as such, has the potential to be a key pillar of the Law Society’s access and inclusion priority.

Continuing its work on removing barriers and broadening access to the solicitors' profession, the committee approved the introduction of a new modular PPC. The modular PPC will allow trainees to complete the course over a number of years, if they so wish, providing maximum flexibility for learners. The year also saw the introduction of the Diploma in Legal Skills for Legal Executives.

The committee considered the first biennial review of the ‘fused’ PPC and approved changes, including a new ‘Introduction to Specialist Areas of Practice’ course, which includes introductory content on family law, taxation law and criminal litigation, and greater coverage of the use of AI in the legal content.

The committee continued its ongoing engagement with the Legal Services Regulatory Authority and the implementation of the agreed recommendations set out in its Breaking Down Barriers report.

In 2025, there was a significant expansion of the public legal education programme, with ten different initiatives, including the Street Law programme, Legal Ambitions, and Solicitors of the Future, which cater to transition-year (TY) students. The Street Law programme reached approximately 500 TY students in 14 partner DEIS schools. Other initiatives included a prison-law programme in Oberstown Children Detention Campus and Wheatfield Prison (‘School Tasking’), which taught over 50 fourth-class pupils in six DEIS primary schools. The Certificate in Public Legal Education offered free training aimed at developing the skills required to run an effective public legal-education programme. The Grainne O’Neill Memorial Essay competition 2025 received 350 essays on ‘The role the law can play in addressing hate crime’ from 52 schools across 16 counties. The 2025 massive online open course, run by the Diploma Centre, focused on AI and had a record-breaking attendance, with 7,100 participants from 84 countries.

There was a strong focus on artificial intelligence in 2025, with 23 courses delivered to 8,700 participants, in addition to the MOOC. These included live webinars on AI literacy and prompting, a new micro-credential, AI practical workshops supported by Law Society Skillnet, and the AI Legal Practice Summit. AI training is also now embedded within the PPC. The Education Department is also contributing to several high-level AI projects, including grant-funded research on AI adoption among Irish solicitors, collaborating at EU level on the design of legal AI training initiatives, and partnering with Trinity College on a research project exploring the use of AI for teaching and learning purposes.

The committee continued to support the Law Society in its commitment to a diverse and inclusive profession through its approval of the new Independent Law Centre Traineeship Grant, and its management of grants and programmes that provide financial support to students who would otherwise find it difficult to qualify as solicitors, including:

• Access Programme – with the addition of five funded PPC places and 20 funded FE1 places, the programme provided support for 26 trainees on the PPC and 45 FE1 candidates in 2025,
• Small Practice Traineeship Grant – in 2025, six grants worth €25,000 each were awarded to assist rural practices with the cost of employing a trainee solicitor,
• Law Society Bursary – the annual fund of €175,000 provided support to 25 trainees on the PPC 2024 Hybrid and PPC 2025.

The committee also reviewed the work carried out by the Education Department, encompassing:

• The Diploma Centre, which had a busy and successful year, with 43 courses delivered to 9,200 students,
• Law Society Professional Training/Skillnet, which delivered 151 courses to 25,369 participants, with 55 courses delivered in-person in 2025. (The Law Society Skillnet regional cluster events were very popular, taking place in ten locations with 1,300 attendees),
• The Law School, which saw an increase in numbers on both PPCs compared with 2024, with 100 trainees on the 2024 Hybrid PPC; and 477 trainees on the 2025 PPC,
• Examinations, which in 2024 processed 4,319 applications to sit the FE1s – the highest number of registrations to date – and a 13% increase on 2023,
• The library responded to 6,033 queries in 2025. In all, 2,854 books were borrowed and 328 e-books made freely available to solicitors and students; 463 precedent requests were fulfilled and two new subject guides were published, increasing the total to 12 and collectively achieving an open rate of 57,383,
• Law School Psychological Services, which presented its strategy for 2025-2028, and
• The Law Society’s Professional Outreach Programme.

Finally, the committee was delighted that the Diploma Centre’s Diploma in Aviation Leasing and Finance won an award at the prestigious Aviation Industry Awards.

Sincere thanks to my committee colleagues, my current Vice-Chair Justine Carty, the Education Officer Colette Reid, and Director of Education TP Kennedy, for their hard work and valuable contributions