The high-profile head of The Conveyancing Academy (TCA) has agreed to pay a fine of £175,000 and be disqualified from the sector after failing to tell students that it had been unable to offer qualifications since 2021.

Lloyd Davies was until recently also MD of both Welsh firm Convey Law and charity the Conveyancing Foundation. He set up the academy in 2014 and, as well as using it to train his own staff, took in students from 100 other practices.

However, in April 2021, TCA was suspended from offering Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) approved qualifications when an investigation began into allegations that staff had given internal candidates exam papers in advance.

Continued to operate

By October 2021, the SQA had permanently removed TCA’s approval, a decision that was then upheld on appeal in March 2022.

The academy, though, continued to take on new students and sent out communications that created the impression that the courses would still lead to Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) qualifications.

Also, Davies did not tell either the Department of Education or Cardiff and Vale College about the SQA action, with whom he had an ‘apprenticeship provider’ agreement.

It was only when students and employers communicated directly with the SQA, months after assessments had failed to be returned that they learned the truth.

Attending an adjudication panel at the CLC, Davies admitted that his actions had been “dishonest, lacked integrity and were reckless”.

Apprentice has wasted two years, much time, effort and personal sacrifice on studying for a qualification she won’t get.”

He later also apologised for his actions, claiming that he had “misunderstood” a confidentiality obligation to the SQA from the original investigation.

Unable to transfer any of their work to a new course, students are, understandably unhappy. An employer of one of those who attended TCA told LegalFutures: “I fail to understand how or why you could inflict such distress, confusion and deception on young apprentices that are wanting to better themselves.

“Our apprentice has wasted two years, much time, effort and personal sacrifice on studying for a qualification she won’t get.”