There is no "right" answer here.

If you are new to the UK then you may well benefit from the complete grounding in HR practices that a L3 will give you. It is a good foundation for many. Academically you will certainly be able to cope however with L5. So I can see why you have been given both sets of advice

It may well depend on where you see your career going but I would go for L5 assuming you will try and utilise your legal experience to specialise at some stage

Hi Dafne,
I'm quite new to HR with little experience in the field and asked myself the same question when i started studying as I have a degree in Primary Education with QTS, but decided to move away from the education world into HR.
I was told by different people that I could do both Levels and there isn't a right or wrong answer.
I decided to start at Level 3 to set a good foundation to build on. I found the course really interesting but also quite easy and so sped through it quite quickly. I'm now doing Level 5 and I appreciate the knowledge that i built during Level 3 and am finding a lot of the assessments that i wrote for Level 3 could be built on for the Level 5 assessments.
So, if you're in no rush and can afford it, I would advise to start at Level 3 and then move on to Level 5.
Hope this helps
Thanks
Jenny

In reply to Keith:

Hello Keith,
thank you for your honest response.

I went for level 3 in the end, worried about the gap in HR matter.
I do hope that my background will make things easier and will speed up the diploma achievement.
I appreciated your advice anyway.

In reply to Jenny:

Hello Jenny,
thank you for your help.
I had the identical thoughts and, indeed, I went for level 3 as well.
I preferred to proceed step by step, acquiring a good knowledge without rushing.
I just started and, to be honest, the subject is really new to me, so I need to become familiar with the contents. However, I am excited and can't wait to go deeper into the topic.
All the best to you and thanks for the advice.
Dafne

In reply to Jenny:

I wish I'd read these forums before I chose my course! I was told level 3 or 5 and went for level 5, which I now regret. I got a big shock when I looked ahead at the assignments, both in terms of the word count and the type of assignment - I feel like I don't have enough experience or knowledge of HR to properly complete them. I'm going to transfer to level 3, but I'm challenging a steep transfer fee - I think training providers need to give potential students more information before they decide. Simply saying that you should take level 5 because you either have a degree or some HR experience was not enough in my case.