Five independent bodies oversee the work we do.

Provider Type

Awarding Bodies

Qualifications Regulator 

Apprenticeship Register

Practice Scope

Verifiable on

CLC

Council for Licensed Conveyancers

Sector regulator & co-awarding body.

The CLC: the specialist regulator and our co-awarder

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers was established by the Administration of Justice Act 1985. It is the specialist regulator for conveyancing and probate lawyers in England and Wales, with powers extended by the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 and the Legal Services Act 2007. Unlike the SRA — which regulates a generalist profession — the CLC's exclusively regulatory function is focused on two specialisms.

Access Law is a CLC Approved Training Provider. The CLC owns the qualifications we deliver — the Level 4 and Level 6 Diplomas in Conveyancing and Probate Law and Practice — and our students sit CLC assessments. On qualifying, students are eligible to apply directly to the CLC for a Licensed Conveyancer or Licensed Probate Practitioner licence. There is no alternative awarding body for these specific licences.

The Legal Services Board, which oversees all frontline legal regulators in England and Wales, rated the CLC highest of any frontline regulator on its most recent regulatory standards report. That's a substantive credential, not a marketing line.

What the CLC regulates

Under the Legal Services Act 2007, the CLC is an Approved Regulator for three reserved legal activities: reserved instrument activities (the legal work of property transfer), probate activities, and the administration of oaths. The CLC was the first body in England and Wales designated as an Alternative Business Structure Licensing Authority, in September 2011.

For a deeper look at the CLC's statutory basis, the 2025 Code of Conduct, Ongoing Competence, and how the CLC route compares with the SRA route — see our dedicated page: How the CLC works as a regulator.

QS

Qualifications Scotland (formerly SQA)

Independent awarding body, centre regulator, standards scrutineer.

Qualifications Scotland: three roles, not one

Qualifications Scotland is the UK's national awarding and accreditation body. It was established on 2 December 2025 under the Education (Scotland) Act 2025, replacing the Scottish Qualifications Authority. Despite the name, Qualifications Scotland accredits qualifications used UK-wide — it is not a Scotland-only body.

QS's role in relation to Access Law is the most often misunderstood, because there are three distinct functions, and conflating them undersells what QS does.

1. Co-awarding body

The Level 4 and Level 6 Diplomas in Conveyancing Law and Practice and Probate Law and Practice are co-awarded by Qualifications Scotland and the CLC. QS's name appears on the certificate alongside the CLC's.

2. Centre regulator

We are a Qualifications Scotland Approved Centre, authorised to deliver these specific qualifications. QS approves us, monitors us through formal verification activity, and has the power to withdraw centre approval and impose sanctions if we fail to meet their criteria. This is regulatory oversight, not soft quality assurance.

QS centre oversight is delivered through two distinct verification activities, both conducted by independent verifiers appointed by QS — not QS staff:

• Systems verification. Conducted by experienced Systems Verifiers. Checks that our quality assurance, resources, candidate support, assessment management, internal verification, and candidate data management meet QS criteria.
• Qualification verification. Conducted by experienced subject-expert Qualification Verifiers. Checks that we are assessing students in line with national standards, that our assessment instruments are valid and reliable, and that our resources support the qualification properly.

That the verifiers are independently appointed subject experts, not QS staff, is a substantive trust signal. It isn't a paper exercise.

VERIFY OUR CENTRE STATUS INDEPENDENTLY

You don't have to take our word for it. Access Law Online is listed as an Approved Centre on Qualifications Scotland's own centre finder.

Search QS's centre finder   -->

Search by centre name (Access Law Online) or by postcode (SL6 0JQ).

3. Standards scrutineer for Ofqual

Because the CLC Diplomas are Ofqual-regulated qualifications, QS — as the awarding body — is required by Ofqual to operate a Centre Assessment Standards Scrutiny (CASS) strategy. CASS is the formal mechanism through which QS's centre regulation of Access Law also satisfies Ofqual's requirements. More on the QS / Ofqual split below.

"Will I be able to practise in Scotland?"

No. The qualifications licence practice in England and Wales only. Conveyancing in Scotland operates under a different legal system (Scots law) and a different regulator (the Law Society of Scotland). Qualifications Scotland's involvement as the UK awarding body doesn't change the practice scope of the qualification — the Diplomas teach the law of England and Wales.

Ofqual

Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation

Qualifications regulator for England.

Ofqual: the qualifications regulator

Ofqual is the independent regulator of qualifications, examinations and assessments in England. Our Diplomas are Ofqual Regulated and listed on the Ofqual public register. They sit on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) at Levels 4 and 6.

Ofqual regulation is the standard UK marker of qualification credibility. It signals that the qualification has been independently assessed against national regulatory standards for design, assessment, and quality.

The QS / Ofqual relationship is a chain, not parallel oversight

A common confusion worth clearing up:

• Ofqual regulates the qualification. The Diplomas are listed on Ofqual's public register, and Ofqual sets the regulatory standards that awarding bodies must meet.
• Qualifications Scotland, as the awarding body, is responsible for delivering against Ofqual's standards — and, as part of that, regulates Access Law as a centre on Ofqual's behalf via QS's CASS strategy.
• Ofqual does not deal with Access Law directly. Ofqual deals with QS; QS deals with us.

It's a regulatory chain, not parallel oversight by two regulators of the same thing. The diagram below sets it out.

DfE

Department for Education / ESFA

Apprenticeship oversight in England.

DfE and ESFA: apprenticeship registration and funding

The Department for Education oversees apprenticeships in England. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) administers funding. Apprenticeship standards have historically been owned by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE); IfATE is being folded into Skills England as part of the post-2024 reorganisation.

Access Law is a registered apprenticeship training provider on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP). RoATP registration is required for any employer wanting to use Apprenticeship Levy funds with us — and it's a meaningful filter in its own right, because it requires providers to demonstrate they meet DfE quality, capacity, and financial standards.

We deliver against two approved apprenticeship standards:

• ST1311 — Licensed Conveyancer or Licensed Probate Practitioner (Level 6).
• ST1312 — Legal Technician: Conveyancing Technician or Probate Technician (Level 4).

For the broader picture of how UK apprenticeships work — the levy, off-the-job training, End-Point Assessment, and what changes from August 2026 under the new Growth and Skills Levy — see our explainer: How UK apprenticeships work.

Ofsted

Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills

Education inspectorate for England.

Ofsted: inspection in due course

Ofsted inspects education and training providers in England, including apprenticeship providers. As a registered provider on the RoATP, our apprenticeship provision is subject to Ofsted inspection.

WHERE WE ARE WITH OFSTED

We have not yet been inspected. New apprenticeship providers typically receive a first monitoring visit within the first two years of starting delivery, with a full inspection following. We have therefore not yet been awarded an Ofsted grade. We'll publish our grade and inspection date here once we have one.

Until that point, our trust story rests on the four other layers of oversight on this page — the CLC, Qualifications Scotland, Ofqual, and the DfE/ESFA. That's a substantive regulatory stack on its own. We'd rather be honest about Ofsted than overclaim.