Next steps · 5 min read
What is a conversion course and which ones are worth it?
What a conversion course is, the UK routes for graduates of any subject (law, psychology, computing, teaching, nursing, medicine), what each costs and how to choose.
The short answer
A conversion course is a postgraduate qualification that lets you enter a profession your first degree didn't prepare you for, usually in one to two years. The main UK routes are the law conversion (PGDL or an SQE preparation course), the British Psychological Society-accredited psychology conversion MSc, computer science conversion MSc courses, the PGCE for teaching, two-year pre-registration master's degrees in nursing and allied health, and four-year graduate entry medicine. Most are eligible for the master's loan and several carry bursaries. They're worth it when the profession is the point; they're expensive when the profession is a guess.
Key takeaways
- Law: a PGDL or SQE prep course, around £10,000 to £17,000, then the SQE exams and two years of qualifying work experience to become a solicitor.
- Psychology: a one-year BPS-accredited MSc gives Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership, which is the gate to all the applied psychology training routes.
- Teaching: a one-year PGCE, with tax-free bursaries of up to £29,000 in shortage subjects for 2026/27 starts.
- Nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy: two-year pre-registration master's degrees with NHS Learning Support Fund grants of at least £5,000 a year.
On this pageThe main routes compared
The main routes compared
| Route | Length | Typical cost | Funding | Leads to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Law: PGDL or SQE prep | 9 to 12 months | £10,000 to £17,000 | Master's loan if combined with an LLM; firm sponsorship | SQE exams, then qualifying work experience |
| Psychology MSc (BPS accredited) | 1 year | £8,000 to £13,000 | Master's loan | GBC; eligibility for clinical, educational, forensic training |
| Computer science MSc conversion | 1 year | £10,000 to £16,000 | Master's loan | Software, data and IT roles, with a portfolio |
| PGCE | 1 year | £9,790 fee | Fee and maintenance loans; bursaries up to £29,000 in shortage subjects | Qualified teacher status |
| Nursing or allied health MSc (pre-registration) | 2 years | £9,790 a year | Fee and maintenance loans; NHS grant of at least £5,000 a year | Professional registration |
| Graduate entry medicine | 4 years | Fee loan for years 2 to 4; NHS bursary later years | Student finance and NHS bursary | Medical degree and foundation training |
What a conversion course can't do
It can't tell you whether you'll like the profession. A psychology conversion is a year of statistics and research methods, not a year of helping people. A law conversion is contract, tort and land law, not courtrooms. The students who regret these courses usually chose the destination from a distance. Before you pay, spend time in the work: shadow a solicitor for a week, volunteer on a mental health helpline, do a term of teaching assistant work, spend a day on a ward. The guides on trying a career before you commit are built for this.
Choosing between them
- Start from the job, not the course: find three adverts for the role you want in five years and work back to the qualification they require.
- Check the stage after the course. For law it's the training contract market; for psychology it's doctoral training with low acceptance rates; for teaching it's a job search that is usually quick.
- Add up the real cost: fees, a year or two of living, lost earnings, minus loans, bursaries and any employer sponsorship.
- Ask the provider what last year's cohort did next, and how many finished. Good courses publish this.
Illustrative example: the shadowing week that saved £14,000
An English graduate has a place on a psychology conversion MSc and a vague plan to become a clinical psychologist. Before paying the deposit she volunteers for a term with a mental health charity and spends a day with an assistant psychologist. She learns the route involves three to five years of assistant posts and a doctorate with a one-in-six acceptance rate, and that the day-to-day work is mostly assessment paperwork. She defers, trains as a mental health nurse on a funded two-year master's instead, and is registered and earning within two years.
Questions people ask
- Can I do a conversion course with any degree?
- Mostly, yes. Law, psychology, computing and teaching conversions accept any subject, usually with a 2:2 or 2:1 minimum. Nursing and allied health master's degrees often want some science or care experience. Graduate entry medicine varies: some schools take any degree, others require a science. Check each course's entry page rather than assuming.
- Is the law conversion still needed under the SQE?
- Not legally. Since 2021 any graduate can sit the SQE without a law degree or conversion. In practice almost everyone from a non-law background does a preparation course, because the SQE1 pass rate for people without law study is low, and most large firms still fund and require a conversion-style course for their non-law trainees.
- Does the master's loan cover conversion courses?
- It covers courses that are full master's degrees, including the psychology MSc, computing MScs and the pre-registration health master's. A PGDL on its own is a diploma and isn't eligible, though many providers offer it combined with an LLM so the loan applies. PGCEs use undergraduate-style student finance with a tuition fee loan and maintenance loan.
- Which conversion course leads most reliably to a job?
- Teaching and the health professions, because the courses are built around registration and the NHS and schools recruit continuously. Law has strong demand but a competitive training contract stage. Psychology's conversion is a gate, not a destination: it qualifies you to apply for further training that is itself competitive. Computing conversions depend heavily on the portfolio you build during them.
Exercises are practice, not evidence of career fit or a qualification. How to read our guides and report a correction.
Sources
- Conversion courses · Prospects
- Master's Loan · GOV.UK
- Graduate labour market statistics, calendar year 2024 · Department for Education, Explore education statistics
How this page is written
Sources support the factual background, not a guarantee that an exercise predicts career fit. Fictional practice material is labelled. Dates record content updates; no independent expert review is implied. More about OffLadder.