Thousands of aspiring lawyers in Ghana are set to benefit from sweeping changes to the country’s legal education system after the controversial entrance examinations for professional legal training were officially abolished.
Majority Chief Whip Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor confirmed that the reforms have taken immediate effect following the passage of the Legal Education Reform Bill, 2025.
Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Monday, May 11, 2026, the South Dayi Member of Parliament said the entrance exams, long viewed by many students as a major obstacle to becoming a lawyer, are no longer part of the admission process.
“The entrance exams, as we know, no longer exist effective immediately,” he stated.
According to Dafeamekpor, the new system will apply to all accredited law schools across the country and introduce standardised admission procedures aimed at ensuring fairness within legal education.
He explained that even if the Ghana School of Law eventually secures accreditation under the new framework and wishes to continue conducting entrance examinations, it would first require approval from the newly established Council for Legal Education and Training.
“One school cannot do another thing from the other,” he said.
The lawmaker added that institutions seeking accreditation to run professional legal education programmes would undergo strict verification, authentication and inspection processes before they are allowed to admit students.
The reforms follow President John Dramani Mahama’s assent to the Legal Education Reform Bill on Monday, May 11, 2026.
The new legislation effectively ends the Ghana School of Law’s 66-year monopoly over professional legal education in the country.
For decades, access to professional legal training remained highly competitive, with thousands of LLB graduates competing annually for a limited number of spaces. The entrance examinations became one of the most controversial aspects of the process, leaving many qualified students unable to continue their legal careers.
Under the reforms, accredited universities will now be permitted to offer professional legal education programmes, a move many stakeholders and campaigners have advocated for over the years.
Supporters of the reforms argued that the previous system created unnecessary barriers that restricted access to the legal profession.
While signing the bill into law, President Mahama said the reforms were intended to achieve two key goals simultaneously — preserving standards within legal education while expanding opportunities for students seeking to enter the profession.
