What are BPP students saying about teaching quality and materials?

BPP's teaching quality consistently receives praise, with tutors described as "phenomenal" and experienced. However, material presentation suffers from organisational issues, and content gaps in key areas require significant supplementation for exam success.

The overwhelming consensus among BPP students is that teaching quality is genuinely good. Multiple students confirm this pattern:

"Teaching quality has been great, the tutors are enthusiastic... They sent physical textbooks in the post and provided digital copies."

"My tutors have been phenomenal without exception."

"Teaching is good... I just focus on the classwork and learning."

However, material presentation varies significantly in quality. Students report consistent frustrations with the online platform:

"The Adapt materials are not as detailed as the textbooks they provide. When asked, request the paper versions of the textbooks. They will come in handy."

"I also passed SQE1 on the first attempt... However, my tutors have been phenomenal without exception [but] admin is poor, tech is poor, some of the buildings have seen better days."

Multiple students describe serious organisational issues with course materials:

"Materials are okay but very all over the place on the hub. They are extremely disorganised... the tutors can't answer any questions about anything other than the content they teach."

"They are just basically printouts of the slides not even bound together for mine.

"I am with BPP and have found the lectures provided for the SQE mixed, some great teachers, some not so good. Depends who you get."

Key Strengths Students Identify:

• Experienced, enthusiastic tutors

• Regular classroom structure

• Now provides physical textbooks

• Good pass rates for structured learners

Common Challenges:

• Online platform (Adapt) less detailed than books

• Materials scattered across different platforms

• Workbooks sometimes just "loose sheets"

• Gaps requiring external supplementation

How BPP students use Law Drills: BPP students use Law Drills' organised, topic-based practice on mobile—often during commutes and evenings—to fill content gaps and counter platform limitations while building on good teaching.

Has BPP really stopped providing OUP materials?

Recent student reports suggest BPP removed Oxford University Press (OUP) access for some new intakes after July 2025. BPP has told students its additional MCQs mean OUP is not necessary. Students report paying around £450 if purchasing OUP separately.

This change represents one of the most significant concerns raised by BPP students. When a sponsored student discovered their OUP access had disappeared, BPP's official response was unequivocal:

"In the early days of the SQE programmes, BPP provided students with access to OUP's SQE materials. The purpose of this was primarily to allow access to OUP's SQE MCQs for question practice. More recently, BPP has generated a range of additional practice MCQs for students to use in preparation for assessments. These additional BPP resources are available on the SQE Question Practice tile of Hub (which did not exist at the time BPP first provided access to OUP). As such, we consider that students have all of the question practice they need without also needing the OUP materials."

However, student reactions tell a dramatically different story. A successful candidate explains:

"Without OUP I wouldn't have passed. BPP's questions not counting those on inspera are not reliable... My exam was OUP standard. Not remotely close to BPP standard."

"My exam was OUP standard. Not remotely close to BPP standard. If they have actually ended access, I would honestly say that you should withdraw from BPP and go to ULaw instead."

Current students report a fundamental disconnect:

"What an earth am I supposed to do now? Just use their subpar questions?"

The Impact on Preparation

Students describe a significant gap between BPP's practice questions and actual exam difficulty:

"The questions at the end of individual sections in Adapt are worthless. They don't reflect the SQE at all and are often misleading."

"OUP is free with the LLM and i found that to be really good for legal services."

What This Means for You

If you're considering BPP:

• Budget additional ££ for question banks like Law Drills or OUP

• Expect a gap between included materials and exam reality

• Plan for extensive supplementation

If you're already enrolled:

• Consider external question banks immediately

• Don't rely solely on BPP hub questions

• Supplement with realistic practice materials

How BPP students use Law Drills: BPP students use Law Drills for exam-standard MCQs across all SQE topics to replace the OUP practice they lost—at a fraction of the cost—and to align practice difficulty with the real exam.

Who is BPP really right for?

BPP works best for firm-sponsored students with strong existing law knowledge who can supplement extensively. It's particularly suited to those preferring structured classroom learning with regular schedules, but offers poor value for self-funded students.

Understanding who succeeds at BPP helps clarify whether it's right for your situation.

BPP Works Well For:

Firm-Sponsored Trainees Most successful BPP students are sponsored by law firms. Multiple students confirm this pattern:

"If not sponsored by firm, would have chosen literally any other institution."

"My firm paid for the course so it's difficult for me to complain, but it is frankly very expensive for what you get."

"I'm sponsored so not an option unfortunately!" — student explaining why they can't switch to ULaw despite OUP removal

The financial support removes pressure, allowing students to supplement freely with external resources that often prove essential.

Students with Strong Legal Foundations Current students emphasise this prerequisite:

"BPP is fine but only if you are pretty confident in your underlying law already."

"I have no idea how you do this exam without

Structured Learners BPP's classroom approach suits students who thrive with:

• Regular timetables

• Face-to-face instruction

• Traditional teaching methods

BPP Struggles With:

Self-Funded Students The value proposition becomes questionable without sponsorship. Students report significant financial stress:

"Full course costs £10k+ even with minimum scholarship... Alternative prep courses available for £4-5k."

"I got the minimum [scholarship] - and I will still have to pay £10k+."

Multiple students recommend alternatives for self-funders:

"If you want to just do the SQE you should not go to Ulaw or BPP but self study instead. I recommend QLTS as they have a complete SQE prep package for more or less 2x cheaper."

Success Despite Challenges

Importantly, students do succeed at BPP, but often through significant personal effort and supplementation:

"I passed in the top quintile... but I attribute my success more to personal hard work and ReviseSQE books than BPP materials."

"I also passed SQE1 on the first attempt... However, my tutors have been phenomenal without exception [but] admin is poor, tech is poor."

"Overall, I thought BPP was a really good provider that prepared me for the exam really well." — student who supplemented with multiple external resources

The Pattern: Successful BPP students typically combine good teaching with extensive external resources. They succeed not just because of BPP, but because they compensate for its gaps.

How BPP students make it work: Firm-sponsored and self-funded BPP students alike use other question banks like Law Drills for flexible, mobile practice that complements classes without extra contact hours.

How does BPP's administration and support affect your studies?

While teaching quality receives praise, administrative issues are universally criticised by students. Reports include "poor" support, frequent technical problems, and no weekend IT help precisely when most studying occurs.

Administrative challenges appear in virtually every detailed BPP review. The consistency is striking.

Universal Administrative Criticism

Student descriptions of BPP administration are remarkably consistent across multiple accounts:

"Admin is poor, tech is poor... Teaching is good, admin is poor. Both law schools are what you make of them."

"Admin is awful. IT support is non-existent on weekends when people are studying."

"Depends how willing you are to put up with minor annoyances - for me, it hasn't really mattered, I just focus on the classwork and learning."

"Their student support staff is badly trained... all contradicting advice and some of those advice I relied on and lost my first attempt for an exam."

"When I had one problem, they would fix 10% of that problem and tell Me everything is okay.. 3 months later I'm having to chase every single person who gave me advice so i can appeal the matter."

Despite challenges, successful students develop workarounds and stay focused on learning:

"Depends how willing you are to put up with minor annoyances - for me, it hasn't really mattered, I just focus on the classwork and learning."

"Teaching is good... I just focus on the classwork and learning."

What content gaps do BPP students consistently identify?

Students report significant gaps in Legal Services coverage, insufficient Ethics content, and unrealistically easy mock exams. Many discover their preparation doesn't match actual exam difficulty, with BPP mock scores misleadingly high - which matches our own independent research

Content gaps represent BPP's most serious academic concern according to student experiences.

Legal Services: The Biggest Gap

Multiple students highlight Legal Services deficiencies, with some discovering this only during their actual exam:

"BPP neglect Legal Services massively in their course" — Oxbridge graduate who found SQE harder than university education

"Definitely spend a bit more time on Legal Services and Solicitors accounts than the BPP course allocates. These are highly assessable areas according to the SRA SQE spec."

"I felt like most of my questions were based on legal services and constitutional rather than other subjects."

"almost every third or fourth question was legal+professional services."

Ethics Coverage Insufficient

Students consistently supplement Ethics materials:

"Ethics. And definitely read the books / don't just rely on Adapt."

"A good few questions on professional conduct in wills and property situations too?? What was that about!"

BPP Content vs. Exam Reality

Students report a shocking disconnect between what they studied and what appeared on exams:

"I sat FLK 1 yesterday... I couldn't think of a single Q where I covered that topic in a workshop."

"The business Qs were hard. Nothing came up that I revised for (very annoying)."

"Hardly anything I revised came up. The type of questions and mocks I practiced was very different to questions in the exam."

The Mock Exam Reality Gap

Perhaps most concerning is the disconnect between practice and reality. Students report dramatically inflated scores on BPP materials:

Student reaction to this massive discrepancy:

"This massive scale in scores isn't very helpful... I'm wondering if anyone found that the BPP hub mocks were relatively too easy compared to the exam."

"the BPP hub mocks are scarily easy compared to the exam."

"BPP hub mocks are scarily easy; but I havent attempted the 100q inspera mock yet."

"The questions at the end of individual sections in Adapt are worthless. They don't reflect the SQE at all and are often misleading."

Student Solutions

Successful students develop comprehensive supplementation strategies:

• Law Drills for realistic practice questions

• ReviseSQE books for additional coverage

• QLTS mocks for realistic difficulty

• ULaw materials for comparison

• External Ethics resources

Content Gap Analysis:

• Legal Services: Major deficiency requiring external materials

• Ethics: Insufficient depth in BPP materials

• Mock Difficulty: Unrealistically easy, creating false confidence

• Welsh Law: Weak coverage of assessable content

What BPP students use Law Drills for: Comprehensive SQE coverage—especially Legal Services and Ethics—at realistic difficulty that matches the exam.

Why do major law firms choose BPP despite student concerns?

BPP maintains strong institutional relationships and reports high official pass rates. Many firms value the structured approach and established track record, though student accounts suggest success often comes through extensive supplementation rather than core materials alone.

Understanding the firm perspective helps explain BPP's continued prominence despite student challenges.

Institutional Strengths

Established Relationships BPP has decades-long relationships with major City firms. These institutional connections create momentum that individual student experiences may not immediately influence.

Reported Success Metrics BPP's official statistics show strong pass rates, though students suggest these reflect extensive supplementation:

"I passed in the top quintile... but I attribute my success more to personal hard work and ReviseSQE books than BPP materials."

Structured Professional Approach Firms appreciate BPP's:

• Consistent timetabling

• Professional presentation

• Established assessment frameworks

• Predictable outcomes for HR planning

Why the BPP-Firm Partnerships Work

Supported Environment: Firm sponsorship removes financial pressure, allowing students to supplement freely.

Resource Access: Firms often provide additional study time, materials, and peer support that compensate for BPP's gaps.

Reduced Stress: Financial security lets students focus on learning rather than value-for-money concerns.

The Balanced Reality

BPP isn't necessarily wrong for everyone—it's the context that matters:

• With firm support + supplementation = Often successful

• Self-funded + relying mainly on BPP = Probably not a good strategy

How firms see trainees using Law Drills: Trainees use mobile-flexible, comprehensive practice to plug BPP gaps without disrupting the structured approach firms value.

How BPP students use Law Drills to succeed

BPP students use Law Drills to address key gaps with flexible, mobile-friendly practice, realistic exam-standard questions, comprehensive topic coverage, and AI-powered adaptive learning. They access quality practice anytime to fill the content and difficulty gaps they consistently report.

Rather than replacing BPP's structured teaching, Law Drills enhances your preparation by targeting specific limitations students repeatedly encounter.

BPP students:

• use Law Drills for uninterrupted access when they need it most—evenings, weekends, and commutes.

• use Law Drills' mobile app to practice anywhere without technical barriers—ideal for busy professionals and commuters.

• rely on questions calibrated to match actual SQE difficulty, building genuine confidence.

• use Law Drills for comprehensive Legal Services practice, ensuring they're prepared for this heavily assessed area.

• use Law Drills' thorough Ethics coverage with practical scenarios matching exam standards.

• benefit from Law Drills' AI that identifies weak areas and adapts accordingly, maximising study efficiency.

• use Law Drills to see exactly where they stand across all topics, identifying gaps that might not emerge in BPP's general teaching.

Success Stories: BPP + Law Drills

Students who combine both report:

• Confidence from realistic practice

• Better time management through mobile accessibility

• Comprehensive coverage without content gaps

• Reduced stress from consistent preparation

Cost-Effective Enhancement

Value Comparison:

• OUP materials (now separate): £450

• Law Drills comprehensive access: £195 for 3 months

• Additional coverage of gaps BPP students consistently identify

The Transformation

Law Drills transforms your BPP experience from:

• Dependent on BPP's schedule → Flexible study anytime

• Gaps in key areas → Comprehensive coverage

• False confidence from easy mocks → Realistic preparation

• Platform frustrations → Seamless mobile experience

The Result: You keep BPP's teaching strengths while eliminating the preparation gaps that concern students most.

Key Takeaways

BPP offers quality teaching and institutional credibility but comes with significant challenges that successful students consistently address through supplementation. The removal of OUP materials, content gaps in crucial areas, and administrative issues create real barriers to exam success.

BPP works best when combined with comprehensive supplementation—and Law Drills provides exactly the mobile-flexible, exam-realistic practice that addresses students' most common concerns.

Whether you're firm-sponsored or self-funded, already enrolled or still deciding, understanding these realities helps you make informed decisions and, if you choose BPP, maximise your investment through strategic enhancement.

Join the BPP students who use Law Drills. Get comprehensive, mobile-friendly practice that fills the gaps they consistently report and approach the SQE with genuine confidence.