After careful consideration, the Law Society of British Columbia has chosen to join Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia in adopting CPLED’s Practice Readiness Education Program (PREP). This decision reflects a commitment to making updates to bar admission training and ensuring that future BC lawyers are equipped with the skills and competencies required to meet the demands of today’s legal profession.

PREP is built on best practices and helps future lawyers gain practical skills and competencies with a consistent, integrated approach that combines interactive, transactional learning and simulation. In addition, having an inter-provincial program allows for uniform standards for teaching and assessing entry-level competency and promotes lawyer mobility.

CPLED’s established infrastructure, including outcomes data, user feedback, and robust support networks, provides a reliable foundation for delivering high-quality education. The online format meets the needs of today’s learners while maintaining the standards necessary to serve and protect the public.

Importantly, the adoption of an inter-provincial program like PREP promotes uniform standards for teaching and assessing entry-level competency and enhances lawyer mobility across jurisdictions. We are confident that PREP will offer an enriching and dynamic educational experience for BC’s future lawyers.

The Law Society and CPLED are confident that there will be many benefits to adopting PREP in BC. Some of the highlights of PREP include:

• PREP is intentionally designed to support diverse learning styles and schedules. Students can choose to complete the four phases of PREP full-time over 11 weeks or part-time over nine months. Within the course, students complete a mix of self-study modules, live and interactive workshops with scheduling options, as well as interactions with Practice Managers and cohort members during the Virtual Law Firm portion.
• The competency-based learning approach means that candidates will acquire the essential skills and competencies needed to successfully enter the profession.
• The Capstone Evaluation assesses core competencies through a series of oral and written assignments that reflect real-world legal tasks and provide a holistic picture of each student’s abilities. A three-tiered evaluation process that includes trained lawyer assessors, psychometric analysis and final review ensures the assessment is fair, reliable and defensible.
• CPLED has built a culture of continuous improvement in its learning programs, including PREP. Their team is well set up to respond quickly to the changing needs of students and emerging topics in the legal profession (e.g., ethical use of AI in legal practice, practice management, and well-being) and to align the course content to the WCCP.
• PREP delivers consistent training and assessment across its participating jurisdictions.

The key differences are structure, content and delivery format. 

Program structure and delivery

PLTC is a full-time, 10-week program taught by one instructor and occasional guest instructors. It was designed to be delivered in person but is now delivered in a virtual classroom setting, with students attending live on camera for all lessons. Students must pass four skills assessments and two law exams to complete PLTC.

PREP offers two flexible pathways: full-time over 11 weeks or part-time over nine months. Both options are designed for online learning with a mix of self-study modules, interactive live workshops with multiple lawyer-facilitators. A simulated Virtual Law Firm phase allows students to receive feedback on assignments from trained lawyer-assessors and access one-on-one meetings with practice managers chosen by the student. 

Program design and content

PLTC consists of a series of practice modules delivered in the virtual classroom using a traditional instructional model. Course content emphasizes practical skills training, ethics, practice management and practice and procedure, with students completing classroom practice and assignments that tie into four graded skill assessments.

PREP is built on a competency-based framework, with content and assessments aligned to defined performance standards. Its modular structure includes four phases—Foundation Modules, Foundation Workshops, Virtual Law Firm, and Capstone Evaluation. This format allows candidates to build on their foundational knowledge and practice key lawyering skills while receiving valuable feedback from practitioners, and ultimately demonstrating that they have achieved entry-level competency.

Final evaluation

PLTC students must pass four skill assessments and two law exams to complete the course. The law exams cover barrister and solicitor topics.

PREP culminates in a Capstone Evaluation completed over the final two weeks of PREP and covers oral skills and written skills.

The adoption of PREP is a permanent change.

PREP is available in two formats to suit different schedules: Accelerated PREP, a full-time program completed in 11 weeks, and Standard PREP, a part-time option that spans nine months. Candidates in the Standard format may choose to article concurrently if they wish.

In response to valuable student and employer feedback about the time spent in Accelerated PREP, we’re shifting Accelerated PREP from 14 weeks to 11 weeks, which will take effect in Summer Accelerated PREP 2026.

We continuously review the program for opportunities to streamline and improve the learning experience. One example is the integration of the Foundation Modules and Workshops, which simplifies the program structure and reduces redundancy. Alongside these efficiencies, we’re also evolving the design of Accelerated PREP to include more opportunities for interactivity, practice, and skills-based workshops, moving beyond traditional digital delivery models that rely heavily on reading and reading-based activities. This evolution also reflects our commitment to modernizing content and delivery, to ensure the program remains relevant, engaging, and aligned to the required competencies. Earlier in 2025, we also revised the Capstone schedule to better support student needs: oral and written components are now separated to alleviate pressure. Additionally, we eliminated multiple Capstone writing schedules to promote consistency and fairness, and to accelerate result processing.

Building on this, we’re reducing time in the self-study and assignment weeks to help candidates progress more efficiently through the program. The Capstone Evaluation remains unchanged. We’re confident this condensed format better supports articling timelines, personal commitments, and sustained engagement.

The last PLTC session will run May 19 to July 24, 2026. The first offering of PREP for BC students will start in September 2026.

Students attending the May 2026 PLTC session or an earlier PLTC session, will not be impacted by the change to PREP. Students from the May 2026 session, or an earlier PLTC session, who are unsuccessful in completing the course will still have the opportunity to rewrite any failed assessments or examinations.

No. Candidates will still be required to complete an articling term and a bar admission training program. However, instead of PLTC, the training program will be PREP.

Yes. As student enrollment grows, CPLED will be recruiting contractors admitted to the bar of British Columbia. There will be opportunities to get involved in roles such as: 

• Workshop Facilitators – Lead skill-building workshops, observe candidate practice activities, and provide constructive feedback.
• Virtual Law Firm (VLF) Assessors and Capstone Evaluators – Assess candidate competence using established PREP assessment criteria across eight assignment types.
• Practice Managers – Offer mentorship on career and practice-related matters, and provide guidance and coaching on candidate progress and challenges with assignments.  

We’ll be hosting PREP Contractor Information Sessions in the coming weeks to share more details about these roles and how to get involved. If you would like to be notified about these sessions, please email admin@cpled.ca to be added to our contractor interest list. 

PREP is delivered online with a combination of self-study and live/virtual activities, such as facilitated skill-building, interactive workshops and one-on-one meetings with practice managers. PREP’s online format provides flexibility and accessibility for students and allows access to multiple lawyer-facilitators and practice managers. PREP supports essential student engagement through PREP Recess (a peer networking program) and PREP Connect (a mentoring program), and career services.  

To successfully complete PREP, candidates must complete all four phases of the program, submit all required assignments, and achieve entry-level competency in the final phase, the Capstone Evaluation. This evaluation consists of nine assignments in three skill categories:

1. Oral skills (interviewing, negotiation, and oral advocacy)
2. Written skills (legal research, writing, and drafting)
3. Ethics, client relationship management, and practice management

These assignments are assessed by trained lawyer-assessors who assign competence level on multiple criteria, verified through psychometric analysis and data processing and finally reviewed by management for final verification. Candidates only pass the program if they demonstrate entry-level competence on each established competency category and overall entry-level competence when the competency categories are considered together.

For more information, please view the PREP Capstone Evaluation Policy.

Current PREP tuition fees are available on the CPLED website.

Yes. The Law Society of BC is adopting PREP as the Bar admissions program, which will be required to be called to the Bar in British Columbia after PLTC is retired as of September 2026.

You register through the CPLED website directly. BC students will be eligible to enroll in the September 2026 intake of Accelerated PREP with registration opening in August 2026. Please note that BC students will not be eligible to register for Summer Accelerated PREP 2026 or Standard PREP 2026–27.

Registration for PREP opens approximately four weeks before the intake start date. BC students will be eligible to enroll in the September 2026 intake of Accelerated PREP with registration opening in August 2026. The official registration dates will be announced in early 2026. Please continue to check our website for program date announcements.

We kindly ask that you wait to create a CPLED Student Account until closer to the registration opening in August 2026 for the September 2026 intake of Accelerated PREP.

Yes. If you have a Canadian common law degree or a Certificate of Qualification from the National Committee on Accreditation, you can register for PREP without securing articles in BC or applying to enroll in BC’s Law Society Admission Program.  

If you fail to meet the completion requirements for any phase of the four phases as per the PREP Progression Policy, you cannot progress to the next phase and may be unenrolled from the program. If you fail the Capstone evaluation, you must reattempt the evaluation in its entirety, with up to three attempts allowed. A fourth attempt requires permission from CPLED, as outlined in the PREP Capstone Evaluation Policy.

We encourage you to subscribe to the CPLED e-newsletter to receive updates on the transition, follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and check our website.

NCA candidates seeking BC licensure will have more opportunities to enroll in PREP with three intakes of Accelerated PREP offered in 2027 in spring, summer, and fall (program dates coming soon). Read more information on admission requirements.

We kindly ask that you wait to create a CPLED Student Account until closer to the registration opening in August 2026 for the September 2026 intake of Accelerated PREP.

Prospective NCA candidates interested in registering for PREP should refer to CPLED’s website for detailed guidance on eligibility and registration requirements.

Additionally, CPLED will offer information sessions in collaboration with the Law Society of British Columbia (LSBC) to support prospective candidates. These sessions will help clarify the PREP process, answer questions, and build awareness among those planning to enter the legal profession in BC. The first NCA Candidates Information Session will be on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, from 4–5:30 p.m. PST. Register here.