Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)

Please note that a sample client interview station and a sample advocacy/oral presentation station are provided at the end of this information. These sample stations do not represent all the material that will be covered by the OSCE.

Description of the OSCE

The OSCE will examine Parts C, D and F of the SRA's Day One Outcomes.
The OSCE will cover the 3 practice areas of Business, Civil & Criminal Litigation and Property & Probate.

For each of these practice areas you will be required to undertake 3 assessed exercises or stations as follows:

You will therefore undertake the above cycle three times; once for Business (3 stations) once for Civil and Criminal litigation (3 stations), and once for Property and Probate (3 stations).

In total, across the 3 practice areas, you will move through 9 stations.

Different candidates will complete the stations in different orders. Thus you may for instance be asked to start with the advocacy/oral presentation station.

Timing of the OSCE

The following table illustrates the OSCE cycle which you will have to undertake, for each of the 3 practice areas of Business, Civil & Criminal Litigation and Property & Probate.

It is anticipated that you will undertake OSCEs in the 3 practice areas on 3 separate but consecutive days. Further details of this will however be given for each sitting.

Components of the OSCE

Station 1 – activity 1 - preparation (10 minutes)

You will be handed an email from a partner or a secretary which will enable you to prepare for the interview with the client by letting you know who the client is and something about what the client has come to discuss. It may, but will not necessarily, be accompanied by documents.

The email will also give you guidance on whether you should deal with client care, funding or money laundering issues. If the email tells you not to deal with these issues then there is no need to do so. The email may also indicate specific legal issues which you should have particular regard to in the interview and the subsequent attendance note/case analysis.

You will be able to make notes during the preparation.

Station 1 – activity 2 – interview (25 minutes)

The client will enter the room and the interview will commence. The client may, but will not necessarily, bring documents with them. During the interview you will be able to refer to the notes made during preparation and to make additional notes.

You should have two main objectives during the interview: First, you want to establish a good working relationship with the client and to ensure that they will instruct you or continue to instruct you in their matter. Secondly, you want to obtain all the relevant information and as full an understanding as you can of their concerns. You will not be expected to provide the client with detailed advice at this stage. The client may, however, ask you specific questions and if they do you should answer these as appropriate.

Once you have completed the interview you should bring it to an appropriate close on the basis that you will be advising the client at a later date when you have considered their case.

At the end of 25 minutes if you have not already brought the interview to a close, the client will do so.

Station 1 – activity 3 – completion of attendance note/case analysis (25 minutes)

You will have 25 minutes to write by hand an attendance note/case analysis of the interview. You will be able to consult the notes you made during activity 1 and activity 2.

Your attendance note/case analysis should record all relevant information obtained during the interview. If you wish this can be done by incorporating the notes you made earlier where appropriate. If you have been given any documents by the client you should attach them to the attendance note.

You should provide an analysis of any legal issues that arise in the matter and record your initial advice for the client. The attendance note/case analysis should also identify the next steps to be taken by you and, where applicable, your client. Also note in the attendance note/case analysis any professional conduct issues that arise and how they should be dealt with. And if the email from the partner/secretary has asked you to deal with any specific issues you should do so. Please note that legal issues, advice for the client, next steps and any professional conduct issues should be recorded in the attendance note even if they have already been discussed in the interview.

Station 2 – preparation, interview and completion of attendance note/case analysis

This will repeat the above activities, using a different case study.

Station 3 – activity 1 – preparation for advocacy/oral presentation (45 minutes)

You will be given a case study on which you will be expected to conduct a piece of advocacy/make an oral presentation. The first document in the case study will be a memo asking you to conduct the advocacy/make the presentation and telling you before whom this will be made.

Where relevant you will also be given a file of documents. This file may contain relevant legal authorities to help you with your advocacy/presentation. It may also include some authorities that are not relevant.

You will be able to make notes. You are given 45 minutes to prepare for the advocacy/presentation but the advocacy/presentation itself should not last longer than 15 minutes.

Station 3 – Activity 2 - advocacy/oral presentation (15 minutes)

You should make your submission/presentation to a decision maker who will be present in the room. You may be asked questions. You will be able to refer to the notes you made during activity 1.

Your presentation should not last longer than 15 minutes and you will be stopped at the end of this time.

Please note that at the end of the OSCE all question papers will be collected in as will all rough work. You will not be allowed to remove the question paper or anything else including rough working.

Marking the OSCE

An assessor who has been trained in playing the role of the client will assess your performance during the interviews. Your attendance note will be marked by a solicitor. Your advocacy/oral presentation will be assessed during the submission/presentation by a solicitor acting as the decision maker. The assessment criteria outlined in the Marking and Moderation Policy will be used.

Passing the OSCE

In order to pass the OSCE candidates must obtain the overall pass mark for the OSCE. Law and skills will be weighted equally. The overall pass mark will be set using the borderline group method.

For further details see the Marking and Moderation Policy.

Permitted Materials

There will be no permitted materials for the OSCE.

Fit to sit

You should be aware that a "Fit to Sit" Policy will be in operation for all assessments. Essentially by attending an assessment you are certifying yourself as being fit to sit it and you will be required to sign a form to this effect at the beginning of each assessment. Full details of the Fit to Sit Policy are in the Assessment Regulations.

Exemptions

Provision will be made for candidates with exemptions. Please refer to the SRA website for further details regarding exemptions.

Applicable law

Unless otherwise stated in advance candidates will be assessed on the law in force at the time of the assessment.

Sample OSCE Materials

Please note that these sample stations do not represent all the material that will be covered by the OSCE.

Sample Materials for client interview station

1. Candidate email
2. Instructions to standardised client

Sample materials for advocacy /oral presentation station

Candidate instructions and documents