NALP has just announced that both the NALP Level 3 Certificate for Paralegal Technicians and the NALP Level 4 Certificate for Associate Paralegals are becoming Diploma qualifications.
Why the change?
As part of their commitment to Quality Assurance NALP gathers feedback from Learners and all of its training centres, including NPC, and it has become clear that the number of hours of Self Study Assignment (SSA) needed to increase. SSA hours form part of the Total Qualification Time (TQT) and the change in the total time meant that these qualifications now fit into the Diploma band.
Content, relevance and knowledge
Another reason for the change is that NALP believes the content, relevance and knowledge you gain from studying these qualifications is better reflected in a Diploma, rather than a Certificate.
April 1st 2026
On this date the NALP Level 3 Certificate for Paralegal Technicians and the NALP Level 4 Certificate for Associate Paralegals were withdrawn from the Ofqual Register of available qualifications and replaced with:
- NALP Level 3 Diploma for Paralegal Technicians, and
- NALP Level 4 Diploma for Associate Paralegals
No impact on learners
In case you are wondering, NALP has also confirmed that current Learners will automatically be transferred to the new qualification. The content has not changed, so there is no additional learning or actions required by Learners.
For those of you who have completed the Level 3 Certificate or Level 4 Certificate, you will be contacted shortly, if you haven’t been already. You will be asked to destroy/delete your current certificate (and any copies) and you will then be supplied with a new Diploma certificate.
Next steps for new learners
If you have been considering a Level 3 or Level 4 paralegal qualification, simply click here to see which is the right one for you. Then follow the links….