When Terry Cape enrolled to study the unique law degree at Northumbria University, he was attracted by the savings.

"I knew I would save about £6,000 on the cost of a legal practice course," he said. The four-year exempting course covers both the vocational and standard three-year university elements.

He realised there were other benefits. "I saw the degree for what it was - a combination of theory and practice," he said.

Mr Cape now works for a City firm in Leeds, but he hit the headlines this year as part of a team of students that won compensation for Alex Allan, who was wrongly convicted of robbery. In 2001, the team succeeded in getting his conviction quashed.

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In 1991, Mr Allan was convicted of robbing a Post Office van near Newcastle. The main evidence was an alleged confession to police.

After serving an eight-year sentence and exhausting all appeal routes, Mr Allan sought the help of Northumbria's Student Law Office. "It is thanks to students and lecturers at Northumbria University that I got some justice in the end," he said.

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Mr Cape said: "To get that sort of experience and publicity as a student was incredible." He added: "The financial pressure on students is astronomical and exempting degrees are a way forward.

"The fact that they are likely to be mainly in new universities shouldn't put big City firms off. They should stop seeing students from new universities as a risk."