Policy recontextualisation: the proposed introduction of a multiple-choice test for the entry-level assessment of the legal knowledge of prospective solicitors in England and Wales, and the potential effect on university-level legal education

Much of the substantive content of undergraduate law programmes in England and Wales is framed by the requirements of the legal regulators. There are now proposals for changes to the entry-level assessment of the legal knowledge of prospective solicitors, which include the use of a standardised multiple-choice test (MCT). It is anticipated that for most law students this would be taken alongside or immediately after their undergraduate studies. This paper uses discourse analysis to explore the positioning of the regulators in the consultation documents for this proposal, and undertakes a review of the literature on the use of MCTs in legal education. By using theoretical concepts derived from the work of Basil Bernstein, most notably the recontextualising rule, and classification, it explores the potential effects of this change in policy on university-level legal education.