The preparatory course for the Law Society of Ireland's final exam is unlike anything most ex-students would be used to. There is no lecturer to demand late assignments or answer questions. For 2,700 for the necessary eight subjects, budding solicitors are being taught using lectures filmed in Dublin.

If a class is taught in Griffith College Dublin on a Thursday night it is recorded and the lecturer is paid extra for allowing themselves to be recorded.

DVDs are made of proceedings and sent to the provincial Griffith Colleges where they are used the following week to teach the non-Dublin students.

The college argues that because everyone studying their professional law courses has a third-level degree, 'live' lecturers are not required.

Philip Burke, head of the professional law school at Griffith College, said they had tried to beam the lectures live to each centre via videolink but the quality was not sufficient.

He said all pupils are graduates and the clarity of the lectures are such that queries from students rarely arise.

When they do they are answered immediately by email and any other requests or problems are also immediately addressed. He pointed out that of the nine Law Society prizewinners last year, eight came from Griffith College and two of these attended the DVD-taught course in Cork.

Burke said UCD has been using video to teach the New York bar exams for many years. He said nobody has ever complained about the DVD lectures.