New Threads

Hi everyone,

I am a final year law student at a university like Warwick/Manchester/Nottingham. My grades so far are low 2.2s in contact and tort, high 2.2s in employment law, land law, low 2.1s in criminal and legal theory, high 2.1 in public law and a first in another module. I also have A*A*A*A at A level

My grades work out to:
Y1 58
Y2 60

I have mitigating circumstances for both years. I also did an exchange year but it was pass/fail.

My experience so far includes spring weeks in IB, open days at law firms from national to us firms, first year program with a international law firm, audit work experience at big 4 (I’ve got the graduate offer starting in 2025). I am looking to apply to vacation schemes after I graduate in 2025 and hopefully bring my average up to around 64-67.

My questions are:

1)Would I held back by my lower grades in first and second year? Despite my mitigating circumstances

2)how would my experience in other areas like audit affect me? Would it be positive in the fact that I am building soft skills and interacting with listed clients? Or would it be seen negatively as it is not directly legal?

The list of firms I am considering are:

1. Freshfields
2. Linklaters
3. Ashurst
4. Simons & Simons
5. BCLP
6. Mayer brown
7. Macfarlanes
8. Travers smith
9. Herbert smith freehills
10. Reed smith
11. Jones day
12. White and case
13. Winston strawn
14. Hogan lovells
15. A&O Sherman

I am aiming to narrow down this list but it’s just a rough guide for now.

Hi
I'm applying to the BCLP Real Estate TC and I was wondering what things I should highlight doing it. I have decent GCSE grades, slightly bad A-Levels and am averaging a 69% going into my final year (Non-Law at RG). In addition to that, I obtained my CeMAP over the summer so I could better understand real estate financing. Please give me any pointers and tips. Thank You

Hi everyone,
I am an international student, just completed my LLM and in the process of applying for paralegal positions. I hope I can find a mentor who can help me during the process. I have contacted my university's career service, tailored my CV according to the job descriptions but still haven't received any positive response. Therefore, I hope I can find someone who can help me with the process, provide guidance so that I can land my dream job.
I would appreciate any guidance or advice that will help increase my chance of landing the role.
Thank you!

Hello, I have just got a conditional offer from UCL for a LLM. I have until 10/1/2025 to accept the offer. However, I am still waiting for the response from LSE. I submitted both applications in late Nov this year. In this case, should I contact LSE directly to follow up on the progress status while accept UCL’s offer? Or should I keep waiting? Is it possible to extend the offer deadline from your experience?

Would be grateful if you guys can share your experience. Thank yoh!

Hi Everyone, I am applying to PMC this year and this is one of their questions:
How would you leverage your skills and experiences to add value to Penningtons Manches Cooper? (Max. 250 words)
Any advice on how to go about answering it?

Hi,

Can anyone provide advice for the Fieldfisher DAS AC? There is a written exercise and interview! Any advice will be highly appreciated! Feel free to PM me too if you prefer

Hi everyone. I was doing the All About Law free Watson Glaser practice test and there are some answers that I don't understand. Has anyone done it as well and has found the answers inexplicable or are the answers all reasonable? Thanks

Could I ask for some advice on Weil VI? What kind of questions do they usually ask? I have terrible stage fright whenever doing HVs or VIs and usually only do well when the firms allow re-record (my first takes are usually not very good).

I have PTSD from getting rejected from this stage by Weil two years back when I was a first year going for their Fast Track scheme. Recently, when I asked a Weil trainee at a graduate fair about advice, he insinuated that you have to be pretty dim to fail the VI (LOL - no, I didn't mention that I had failed it before haha).

Please help a person out. This is the only success I've had from a sea of PFOs this cycle.

Hi,
I am an international student in the UK on a student visa and following a spring VS, was fortunate to secure a TC with a US firm in my penultimate LLB year (in June 2024). After finishing my final LLB year in June 2025, I start my SQE with BPP in Sept 2025, followed by 2 year TC commencing in Sept 2026. Can someone who has gone through a similar journey answer following questions:
1. My final year LLB results will be declared around first week of July 2025. When do I apply for the new student visa for my sponsored SQE? Do I have to wait for my final uni results or can I apply as soon as exams are over in May? How long did it take for your SQE visa to come through? Is it ok to travel outside UK after the exam and come back in July for visa application OR should I stay put in the UK during summer?
2. What is the usual start date for the BPP SQE course in September ? Given the intensity of the SQE exam, should I be studying anything during summer vacation ? If so, what material you recommend?

Any other finer considerations for student visa extension and SQE will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi has anyone done the VI for DAC Beachcroft?

Hey guys. I just did my Interviewing and advising assessment. I think I did terrible. I didn't take note of the VAT and cost and gave a number that was £10 higher than the actual cost. I also stuttered a bit throughout my interview. For some questions I asked, the client replied "As I said ...". This got me thinking that I might be redoing this interviewing assessment in the future. In all honesty I prepped a bit late which I know I shouldn't have done.

Could someone please explain how many resits we get in the LPC? The dates for the resits and how much we have to pay for the resits and any other relevant information. Thank you

hi does anyone have any tips for passing the kennedys SST test?

Hi all, I’ve been progressed to the next stage of Skadden’s assessment process- the written assessment. I’d greatly appreciate any tips or guide on what to expect, format Etc.

Thanks all

I’m graduating from university in June, and although I’ve done well academically so far (I'm at a good university, and I've got good grades), it’s looking likely (for various reasons) that I’m not going to have a training contract at a commercial law firm lined up by the time I leave university.

I’m currently trying to work out what the best course of action is (immediately after graduation) if I don’t graduate with a training contract – at the moment, I’ve narrowed it down to two broad choices: (1) doing the SQE in some form, or (2) doing some work as a paralegal. Obviously, with either option (1) or (2), I’ll be applying to firms for vacation schemes and/or training contracts at the same time as working/studying (as the case may be).

Out of these two options, what would you guys say would be the best thing to do, in order to be in the best position in which I can be vis-à-vis future vac scheme/training contract applications?

Also, would you say that it’s advisable to do at the SQE (at least in some form) in order to even be able to land a paralegal role at a decent firm (and if so, would it be enough to just do the SQE1 in the short term, rather than the whole SQE1&2 LLM option)?

If I don’t graduate with a training contract, then in an ideal world, I’d quite like to do some work as a paralegal after graduation (not least because the various SQE options, if self-funded, are quite expensive!), but I thought it best to get the benefit of your advice.

If you can give any pointers, I’d be really grateful!

@Jessica Booker @Jaysen

Hello everyone! I'm currently doing my LLM at NUS in Singapore after having finished my LLB in the UK this year.

Posting my daily progress here, just to keep myself accountable throughout this so very tiring process as a student applying from outside the UK ‍

No luck so far, with PFOs from:
Clifford Chance
Pinsent Masons Direct TC
A&O Shearman Direct TC

Waiting to hear back from:
- CMS TC (London) - submitted 28/11, received WG on 29/11 [AHHH hoping for VI soon, but I also hate VIs]
- Linklaters Singapore-London TC [honestly don't think I met the requirements (studying in the UK) ahah, but applied anyway]
- Slaughter & May TC - submitted 29/11
- Mayer Brown TC - submitted 30/10

It doesn't help that applying for most vacation schemes is now ruled out for me ahah. But I'm more frustrated because every year, I tell myself that I will work on submitting my applications early. And every year, something gets in the way. NUS this year has been 10x more rigorous than studying in the UK, and its been so difficult to dedicate time to this because of submissions and exams every week for the past two months. BUT, hoping to be really productive this winter break! Hopefully, this tardiness won't cost me...

️ This week, I'm aiming to submit:
- Reed Smith Summer VS
- Sidley Summer VS
- Macfarlanes Summer VS
- Hogan Lovells Direct TC

Note: Trying to also get my sleep schedule together at the same time lol, so going to try and avoid burning that late night oil so I can be productive during the day instead

Hi! I have just been invited to complete a written exercise and a video interview with Dechert. Honestly, this is the stage where I usually struggle and often face rejection. I was wondering if anyone has insights into what the process might involve, what the questions might be, or any tips and tricks to help me approach it with more confidence? I could not find anything even in the premium database.

Here are some of mine:

• forms with mandatory fields that shouldn't be mandatory (I didn't do an SQE prep course, stop asking me)
• errors in underlying data feeds that the suppliers refuse to fix (e.g., missing schools)
• brittle in-house application systems which ask lots of questions but flake out during submission
• third-party application systems that have you re-enter identical data for multiple firms
• ridiculous recruitment games testing sub <100ms reaction times and claiming this represents your ability to work under pressure
• spelling mistakes and other errors in the third-party recruitment tests
• having all 3000 applicants go through multiple involved stages of computerised application before a human even looks at it
• not replying to applications at all, or till after the relevant date (e.g., the vacation scheme start date)
• seeing the same right/wrong test questions being used for multiple law firms
• zero feedback/indication of whether you passed or failed the computerised test

This is my first time posting here, so I apologise if my question is properly aligned with forum's focus. I'm currently navigating vacation scheme applications and came across Linklaters' process, which really stood out to me. For those who may not be familiar, their application does not include any traditional-essay style questions. Instead, it simply requires you to complete a situational judgement test and the Watson Glaser.

I found this approach to be quite a refreshing change compared to many other firms, and I was wondering if anyone else had encountered a similar application process with any other firm out there? I've been searching haven't come across anything that does not also require an essay question so far. Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Is there anyone who is willing to speak/text me about specific questions I had on doing admin litigation tasks, please?

I start as a contract litigation paralegal at Tier 1 London firm on 20 December Friday.

I would be grateful if you could spare a few minutes.

Can some guide me generally at a paralegal level on

(1) questions I can ask while being given asks if we don’t know it and
(2) practical tips on working in a US firm in a very busy team - if we don’t know a basic task - how to speak to the team
3) if the senior solicitor who is very busy has given a task, can we ask someone else questions about doing the tasks

I start a contract paralegal role at a US firm on 20 December.

I'm asking this question to those who have already sat the SQE1 exams (whether you passed or not!) -

As objectively as possible, how 'ready' did you feel leading up to the SQE1 exams, and how did it correlate with your performance in the real exam?

I know a lot of us law students are quite harsh on ourselves, myself included. And, although I have decent mock results so far, I struggled to cover even half of the academic law thus far and am almost there with a revision of the practice law we learned this term. This has left me feeling incredibly conflicted; underprepared, but somehow getting through OK, especially with fellow SQE takers saying that 'you never feel ready', despite them passing (and some failing). Can I pass whilst feeling this way?

So what I wonder is, if you were to look on your preparation and performance as objectively as possible (without the classic self-deprecation and belittling of oneself); how prepared were you? (maybe consider how many mocks taken, practice SBAQs, how recently you had reviewed Academic Law, how genuinely confident you felt on a scale of 1-10). And how did you perform? (I'm talking grade, but also whether you felt it was a true reflection of your preparation).

It would be a great insight into what is a realistic 'feeling' prior to sitting the exam, and an indication of how too far gone I may actually be without realising it...

Hi everyone,

I am an Indian qualified lawyer, 3+ years of experience working with one of the top law firms in India. Just finished my LLM in TMT from QMUL and I am applying for vac schemes in this cycle. I did two TC applications last cycle just to understand the process but I was unprepared and knew nothing so obviously was unsuccessful. In this cycle, I have a list of firms that I want to apply to for vac schemes (about 10 firms), with their deadlines spread across December, Jan and Feb. Considering TCs, if I manage to get one, won't start till the next two years, I am planning to work as a paralegal in the interim so I am also applying for paralegal jobs whilst working a part time sales job. The lack of a routine, rejections in daily applications and the uncertainity of the process has left me very overwhelmed and while I was initially due to apply for winter vacation schemes, being severely underprepared forced me to concentrate on summer vac schemes. I am looking for advice on how to navigate the process from people who would have been in a similar position like me, I unfortunately haven't come across anyone with a similar trajectory as most master's students prefer to go back to India. Any advice on how to stand out in applications and/or leverage my Indian legal experience would be helpful.

Honestly just looking for some advice. I am a second year law student at the Uni of Cambridge, got a 2:1 in First Year, I had met HSF at an open day and networked with them on 3 different occasions. I believe my application was as good as it could have been - I had a friend who get the vac scheme at HSF last year have a final look and give me lots of advice which I incorporated. I did the personality test thing which I apparently passed. All of this just to get rejected with the rejection email citing academics.

I guess I'm asking what more should I do? Aim for a First this year? Or reduce my expectations and apply to some less competitive firms - possibly in the silver circle? (I have never made it past the application stage at any MC or US firm).

Any advice would be appreciated - thanks.

First of all, sorry if this is redundant and similar topics already exist. I tried to look for them but couldn’t find anything that exactly answered my question, which is:
How can I effectively proofread my applications if I don’t have anyone to review them? Most of my friends and acquaintances don’t have the required level of English proficiency to spot minor grammar, punctuation, or sentence structure errors. Additionally, none of them are familiar with the specific nature of vacation scheme or training contract application writing.

Currently, I proofread my applications first and then use Grammarly (free version, as I can’t afford premium) until it gives me a score of 100. After that, I ask ChatGPT to identify any further mistakes. However, after watching the video on proofreading available here on TCLA, I’ve realized that this approach isn’t sufficient.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Hi everyone,



I am due to accept an offer for a place at the University of Law. The offer is for a origramne in SQE1&2 LLM PART TIME. please anyone able to explain to me the exam dates on the website because they make no sense to me at all.



As a partime student I start my course in January 2025 and write my SQE1 in July 2025. This is the same amount of time given for a full time student that started their course in September 2024 ans is writing their exams in January 2025. I cant seem to don't understand why I am getting the same amount of time ti oreoare for the exams as someone who is a full time student. I have tried calling and messaging the university a number of times and I have gotten no where in trying to find a response to this question.