TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[aspiringsolicitor2027]

Hey!

I think that the question is a really good opportunity to show a bit more of yourself beyond work and study. It's less about having some huge achievement, and more about showing how everyday experiences have helped you build skills that matter in a trainee role. Activities such as being part of a sports team, volunteering, or organising a society event can all work well if you can link them back to what you learned.

A structure that I would usually use is:

• What you did - the activity or experience.
• What you learned - the key skills that you built (teamwork, resilience, communication, organisations, etc.)
• Why it matters - how these skills will help you as a trainee solicitor

For example:

"In my role as secretary of the university magazine, I was responsible for organising meetings, managing deadlines, and keeping communication clear between the editorial team and the design time. This meant balancing different priorities, resolving last-minute issues, and making sure that the magazine stayed on track to meet publication deadlines. Through this, I developed strong organisational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work effectively as part of a team under pressure. These are directly relevant to life as a trainee, where clear communication, teamwork, and the ability to manage competing demands are essential"

You don't need to link it back to Hogan Lovells directly, but thinking about the kind of qualities that they value in their trainees can help you frame your answer in the right way.

I hope that assists

On this question, does 'beyond work and study' mean that I can't mention any paid roles like vac schemes or other internships (I did as a student)? or any part time work as well

 

[tosin4774]

Yes there is a test. Grad rec confirmed.

Blame Gen AI, writing applications are now becoming too easy. Even some universities are moving away from written coursework

What will the online assessment process comprise of?

 

[abc124]

lol yes, I just finished it. it wasnt too bad!

Hey, if you don’t mind me asking, was it mostly video interview questions or written questions?

 

[aspringlawyer25]

Has anyone heard back from A&O for the WVS?

 

[msclm]

just got invited to the Sidley HR Interview!

 

[a1024]

just got invited to the Sidley HR Interview!

is this for the winter VS?

 

[whywhy88]

Anyone who applied for HL WVS around the 23rd of September received the first test link yet? Should I be worried lol?

 

[millierichy]

Has anyone heard back from Fox Williams for their March 2026 TC Opportunity?

 

[msclm]

is this for the winter VS?

yep

 

[nbjani]

lol yes, I just finished it. it wasnt too bad!

Nice! What type of questions was it? Any motivational interview style questions or all situation based?

 

[s123]

Anybody hear from Gibson Dunn post cappfinity test?

Does the cappfinity include an interview?

 

[Andrei Radu]

On this question, does 'beyond work and study' mean that I can't mention any paid roles like vac schemes or other internships (I did as a student)? or any part time work as well

Having spoken to recruiters about this, by "work" they generally understand a role involving a contract and payment, so I think internships and vacation schemes would be excluded from the experiences you can base your answer on here. That said, I do not think it would be an issue if you mentioned such experiences so long as this is a mere tangential mention that reinforces a broader point which is based on a non-work/study experience.

 

[lawyergal101]

I took the HSF online test and received an email a day after saying I’d met the benchmark and my application was under review, but today I got another saying I hadn’t met the benchmark. Has anyone else had this happen/know what it means?

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hogan Lovells asks for details of any Open Days or Events attended. I’ve been to quite a few, but since my open days are already covered in my work experience section, I was planning to highlight other events instead. For example, I recently attended the Legal Cheek “AI, Blockchain and the Future of Corporate Law” event with Hogan Lovells. The only issue is that I was at work at the time and my Wi-Fi kept cutting out, so my notes didn’t save. I’d still like to reference the event since it was directly with the firm, but I’m unsure if I could confidently discuss it in depth at interview without reviewing my notes.

Bit of a random question but unsure if I should just focus on other events not with the firm or still include this?

I would still include it. Unless you specifically identify AI and blockchain as being major interests of yours, and unless you attempt to describe this event in a lot of depth vis-a-vis what you learned from it, I doubt any partner would think to ask you many questions about it. Firstly, partners will be well aware that you must have attended many events with many different firms, so there can be no reasonable expectation for you to have remembered and analysed a lot what you were taught in any particular one months afterwards. At most, they will expect you to have some short high-level reflections/takeaways from it. Secondly, even if they did want to test you on it, in most cases they couldn't: partners do not attend/know what is being covered in the vast majority of recruitment events the firm is doing, and briefing them for the purposes of your assessment would be highly inefficient.

As such, my advice would be to mention the event in your answer, but briefly, noting just one or two key takeaways. This is the approach I implemented in my "firm events" answers when listing almost a dozen events, and it never ended up being an issue at interview stage. I have also not heard of this becoming an issue at interviews for many people I have helped prepare, so I would really not worry too much about it.

 

[Andrei Radu]

I took the HSF online test and received an email a day after saying I’d met the benchmark and my application was under review, but today I got another saying I hadn’t met the benchmark. Has anyone else had this happen/know what it means?

This looks like a system error, so I would strongly recommend contacting graduate recruitment as soon as possible to let them know about the issue.

 

[James Wakefield]

Anyone heard back about the Hogan Lovells non-law open day? They said this week…

 

[Andrei Radu]

Thank you @Abbie Whitlock, in terms of client sector I am not sure which one to choose as I do not have a set sector I am interested in so it is quite difficult to say how it aligns with my ambitions. I have practice areas in mind which would be much easier. Do you have tips on the way to go about this? thank you

Just to add to @Abbie Whitlock's great answer, what worked well for me in terms of identifying a sector I could justify an interest in back when I was applying was simply thinking about the sector I know most about. Thus, I thought about what I know in terms of:

• How much I know about how different sectors impacts my life personally, the economy, and broader society
• How much I know about the inner workings of a sector: how it is divided in subparts, how its supply and distribution chain work, who the major players are etc.
• How much I know about recent events and trends in the sector
• How much I know (and can find out) about how a lawyer's work in this sector will differ from work in other sectors

After considering all of these factors, I would choose the sector I know most about simply because the more you can speak in detail about it, the more persuasive will your reasoning be. As to how it aligns with your ambitions - I would focus on how the sector impacts society/the economy and express your personal interest in contributing to that.

 

[tom-sawyer]

Hi guys, I submitted my Mayer Brown application on the 20th of September and have yet to receive the Online Assessment.

Is the Online Assessment automatic or do you receive it only if you pass the application stage?

Also, has anyone else submitted around the same time and received the test already?

 

[berocca567]

I find all the tests rather than anywhere being read by a human quite depressing. I know obviously AI has made it difficult, but a multi-step process that takes hours before your work might be read makes applications draining and pointless

 

[Andrei Radu]

Does anyone have any tips on writing an Open Day application for Davis Polk?
I normally wouldn't ask but this question has tripped me up a bit as I'm not 100% sure if I can really find 500 words for an Open Day application without waffling.

My interests are very much in finding out about deal origination (US-sourced vs Europe-sourced), proportion of work in certain practice areas (I've seen a video where the previous Training Principal and current Head of Europe talked about their laser focus on corporate finance), exploring the culture in-person, the ratio of on-the-job vs formal training, and how all of these things intertwine. Not sure if I can/should try and personalise every point for an Open Day application either.

Hi @DavidJC I think what you should do in general for an Open Day application is to:

1. Identify a Unique Selling Point of the firm (USP) you are interested in
2. Explain why you are interested in the firm's USP, making reference and describing any relevant experiences and achievements
3. Analyse the USP more in depth based on your research and then express a desire to learn more about said USP at the open day

For instance, say you express an interest in the firm's leading M&A practice. Firstly, you would want to explain why you are interested in this type of work by picking out which features of it attract you more than the features of other practices. At this stage, you should also describe (using a STAR structure) any relevant experience (and relevant need not mean solely an M&A-related role; it could be a negotiations competition, a prior firm event, a Forage Experience etc.).

Then, you should go on and explain the firm's USP in more detail based on your research. You could thus firstly discuss Davis Polk's global M&A practice, which consistently ranks in the top 10 firms by total M&A deal value it advises on and which has one of the highest average deal values in the world, suggesting the firm has a high deal value-lower deal volume model; you could then express an interest in learning more about how this model functions. Then, you could analyse Davis Polk's London practice in more detail, focusing on how it has a small headcount compared to similarly ranked rivals (it has a Chambers 4 ranking, similar to White & Case, a firm with a headcount roughly 6 times higher), suggesting it punches significantly above its weight in terms of high-end M&A work - and then, on this point you could look at some of the notable mandates the firm recently worked on. Next, you could mention how the firm is particularly active in the TMT and life sciences sectors and how its client base tends to be formed of institutional relationships rather than individual partner relationships. Further, you could go on to look at how efficient the firm's corporate practice is, as it has consistently boasted of some of the highest revenue per corporate partner and revenue per corporate lawyer figures in London, and then explore how this ties into the firm's general sky-high profitability (Davis Polk has the third highest PEP in London, only behind Kirkland and Quinn Emanuel).

All of these are just features that I think you can mention and elaborate on in your analysis to make it more persuasive and to also fill the word count - but none needs to necessarily be featured; this is simply something you should choose depending on how your answer shapes up. You should think about exploring similarly very specific features and sub features of the firm's other USPs, be they related to strategy and growth, other practices, or trainee programme. To get the relevant information, I would highly recommend you read the firm's TCLA Law Firm Profile here, which I have recently updated for the 2025/2026 application cycle.