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Hi all, just started going through applications now and just wanted to confirm I'm along the right tracks. The full question is: 'Please tell us about a personal achievement outside of your academic career and how this has impacted on you personally?'

Am I along the right lines in approaching the q as follows?

• Brief description of achievement (50 mile overnight non-stop challenge walk)
• Time spent preparing/planning, and how preparation/planning took place (time dedicated; learning)
• Problems faced (external factors), how these were resolved
• Personal impact - learning (i.e., goal orientation/perseverance etc.)

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone who did public companies can help. I'm just having a great deal of anxiety re this exam.

I'm really worried for this exam, particularly as I just had Banking. Everyone found it easy after hearing exam chatter, and though the content of the exam was decent, the timing issues stumped me, in particular I missed a 5 marker.

Public Companies seems more intensive. Any tips for anyone who has completed Public CO recently and passed?

1) Any particular exam tips for Public companies?

2) In particular, did any of you refer to the resource pack itself during the exam? I haven't even opened it, but my friends who completed the exam recently gave me their (updated) legacy notes, and in class, whenever I discuss with tutors or classmates, It tracks. I'm just relying on the textbook(which refers to most of the provisions in the resource pack) and my updated notes I've updated(which refers to the textbook).

This was the way I revised for the core exams, and things worked out okay- but I'm wondering if this approach is viable for electives, since it seems more intensive in some ways.

Thanks

Hi All,

First time posting on here.
I have disclosed a criminal conviction that I have to the SRA. The conviction was for speeding (I was doing 60 mph in a 30 mph zone). The offence happed 8 years ago and I have never been caught speeding again. I was also accused of driving without insurance but that charge was dropped.
I have provided references from a KC and my previous employer. I have also provided evidence that my fine was paid.

my application is yet to be allocated to a case handler within the SRA. I have received and email saying that I will be contacted about the next steps.

What are the next steps ?

can anyone explain the process to me please?

Hi there,

Several years back when I was 19 I was arrested but it resulted in NFA for a drug related and affray incident that occured. Will this come up on my record and will this be taken into consideration by the SRA (as I am an aspiring solicitor)?

Thanks,

M.

I did a due-diligence task and an attention to detail task as a part of my application for Freshfields. This was nearly two weeks ago.

Is it common to wait this long?

Thanks!

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Hi All,

I'm really happy to have found TCLA and have heard many great things about it from a friend who got a TC at her dream law firm (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to specify but it's a Magic Circle Firm).

I study Politics, Philosophy and Law and I am in my final year. I'm optimistic for this academic year and also for this application cycle because I know I am entering this cycle better equipped with the TCLA.

Whilst I am obviously interested in corporate and commercial law, I am also interested in Family law with a specific focus on financial relief and divorce. I have therefore researched a number of law firms which have TC seats in the family law department as well as seats in the usual corporate and commercial departments.

I am also really interested in Fintech developments, specifically cryptocurrencies. I think it's such a great time to get into these topics because of all the recent controversies which have been unveiled by this ruthless bear market.

Hi all,

Does anyone have any tips or guidance on how to prepare for AO's numerical reasoning test (or the SJT and verbal reasoning elements)?

.

Hi All,

I'm currently studying my MA Law (conversion) at the ULaw, currently finished all my exams and onto my dissertation.

However, my personal circumstances are changing and was wondering if anyone has changed their masters course to a PGDL by dropping the dissertation and "cashing in" the credits I have so far.

Thanks

This one looks quite difficult. I believe it includes a video interview, a SJT and an "applied intellect" section. Anyone have experience completing it? How should I prepare, and how should I approach different stages of the exam? Many thanks!

Hi everyone!

My name is Maria and I am very excited to introduce myself as one of TCLA’s new application reviewers alongside @Gus Courtauld and @NatashaS98 ! We thought we would start this thread to share a little bit about ourselves and allow you to ask us any questions that you might have about our experience applying to training contracts and the work we do at TCLA.

I’m a future trainee at Ashurst, having only just received an offer this summer after completing the summer vacation scheme. I’ll be joining the firm in September 2024 after doing the SQE!

I’m originally from Brazil and moved to Portugal when I was 15. I then moved to England to study International Relations with French at the University of Sussex. I realised in my second year that I did not want to pursue IR as a career, but decided to finish my degree before doing a conversion degree. In fact, I just finished studying the MA Law (GDL + dissertation) at ULaw!

I absolutely loved my conversion degree! While there was quite a lot of content, I personally found the course really practical (something I really craved whilst in undergrad) and liked the fact that it was quite easy to understand what you needed to get out of each workshop. So, if you know that law is for you, please don’t be discouraged by the process of changing careers - it really is worth it at the end!

I only ever applied to vacation schemes. However, my first time around, I had 0 idea of what I was doing. I was also quite late to applying, so I had a very reduced number of firms to consider because most deadlines had already passed. During my MA, I made sure to treat applications as a priority. Something that really helped me was using the summer and the start of the academic year to understand what I was looking for in a firm. I ended up making a list of 8 firms, but only applied to 6 at the end! I’m genuinely really happy about the offer I received, as I think that the firm and I are quite a good fit!

This experience taught me quite a lot, but my top tip for applicants would be: please don’t feel like you need to apply to specific firms to make your “application cycle count”. Writing a good application takes a lot of time and effort, and it is not worth sacrificing this on firms that don’t genuinely interest you. Everybody is different! Take a little time to reflect on (and be honest with yourself about) what kind of work you’d like to do and what kind of environment you want to work in - this will already help you discard many options! Then, having created a short(ish) list of firms that you’d like to learn more about, make sure to connect with them as much as you can (attend events, reach out to employees, etc). This will not only give you unique stuff to mention in your application, but will also help you to get a feel for the people at the firm and whether you’d fit in.

If anyone has any questions about my background, being a non-law student, or applications, please feel free to let me know!

I think I'll spend 2 days preparing before starting on it. How can I best utilise my time?

Hi there,

I’m a future trainee at a silver circle firm. I’ve asked a lot of questions on the forum in the last year, so a massive thank you to everyone!

My SQE begins next year and I am hoping to to work until about may/June before I go travelling. I’m quite flexible about what role I take on. I am particularly open to working at a startup or taking on some sort of political role (think tank or within Labour Party) or paralegalling as well.

At the moment I have just looked on work4anmp.com and emailed my firm. Does anyone have any advice on where else I could look or any other areas where future trainees often end up. Any advice from anyone would be welcome aha!

Hi, has anyone heard back from Allen and Overy direct tc 2025/2026 as yet?

@Jaysen I'm getting in touch because I can't access the Gold Member's forum despite my gold membership. I have been contacting the zendesk email for a while now but I haven't had any assistance and my two accounts have not been connected. I created my forum account before acquiring the gold membership. As advised in the indication, I emailed zendesk.

Could you please advise me on how to carry this further? Sorry to bother you with an administrative issue, but I can;t think of what else to do.I'd like to benefit from the forum aspects of my membership as soon as possible.


Thank you so much.

Best,
Chayan

Hey, I was wondering how much space people tend to use to detail their work experience on TC/VS applications. On my CV, I just have 'one-liners', detailing responsibilities and achievements, but I am finding that I tend to elaborate more on applications. I am new to the application procedure, so was wondering whether others have been successful using a paragraph format, or whether it is preferred to succinctly list achievements, as per a CV?

TIA!

Hi all,

Just looking for some advice! I applied to a national full service firm last cycle for a direct TC. I attended both their first an final stage interviews but got rejected after the final stage.
I have reapplied for this same firm this cycle (submitted my app a few days ago). The questions were largely the same but since the last application I have gained 2 new paralegal experiences in new fields, so I have changed my answers to the questions about what areas of law I like, etc because I developed new interests. I’m now feeling a bit anxious as I’ve seen a few threads saying that firms do not always appreciate a candidate who reapplies especially after being rejected from the interview or AC stage. If they reject me this time around at the application stage because I have reapplied and was unsuccessful last year, I suppose it is what it is!
But I’m wondering how I would handle this question if it were to come up in the interview? i have good motivations to apply to this firm and really keen on working there. so just looking for advice on how this would be viewed and dealt with. Thank you!