TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[Abbie Whitlock]

Hey @Jaysen do you know roughly how long it takes to hear back from a last stage partner interview for a direct training contract? I did the interview on Friday last week. And there were only a handful of candidates who made it to the final partner stage and all have been interviewed. Surely it’s a case of just calling who made it or not

Hi!

Just thought I'd jump in and add my thoughts!

First of all, congratulations on making it to the final stage partner interview - I totally get how nerve-wracking the wait is, especially since it's the final stage!

Usually firms take about a week or so to finalise things after partner interviews, but sometimes it can stretch a bit if partners are busy or decisions need sign-off. Since everyone's been interviewed, you should be hearing soon!

Hang in there - you've done the hardest part already! Wishing you the best

 

[Popsmoke]

Hi!

Just thought I'd jump in and add my thoughts!

First of all, congratulations on making it to the final stage partner interview - I totally get how nerve-wracking the wait is, especially since it's the final stage!

Usually firms take about a week or so to finalise things after partner interviews, but sometimes it can stretch a bit if partners are busy or decisions need sign-off. Since everyone's been interviewed, you should be hearing soon!

Hang in there - you've done the hardest part already! Wishing you the best

Thank you so much, honestly your words have genuinely calmed my anxiety!

 

[BM99]

Can anyone confirm if the online assessment for Freshfields is automatic?

 

[lolololol]

Slaughter pfo, disheartened first rejection of thr cycle

 

[Andrei Radu]

Slaughter pfo, disheartened first rejection of thr cycle

Hey @lolololol I am very sorry to hear about the rejection, and I completely understand how you must be feeling right now. I can certainly relate to the incredible frustration of being rejected after spending hours and hours researching a firm and then honing an application to perfection. I also definitely relate with how disheartened that can make you feel. This is an experience almost every single successful candidate will know - even the ones who eventually ended up securing multiple offers from top firms. It is important to remind yourself of that so that you do not judge yourself too harshly or deem your situation hopeless.

Thus, I think you should internalise the fact that even the most successful candidates are rejected in the vast majority of their applications: a friend of mine who ended the last application cycle with 5 VS offers (including from elite US firms such as Weil, Akin, and White & Case) started the application cycle by being rejected at the application stage 6-7 times in a row. The point is that what matters is not whether you succeed or not with any individual firm, but whether you can be resilient, use your frustration as a source of motivation, and simply show up again and again. You should know that if you keep submitting great applications, and if you keep doing your best to improve yourself as a candidate, you will eventually end up succeeding.

 

[lolololol]

Hey @lolololol I am very sorry to hear about the rejection, and I completely understand how you must be feeling right now. I can certainly relate to the incredible frustration of being rejected after spending hours and hours researching a firm and then honing an application to perfection. I also definitely relate with how disheartened that can make you feel. This is an experience almost every single successful candidate will know - even the ones who eventually ended up securing multiple offers from top firms. It is important to remind yourself of that so that you do not judge yourself too harshly or deem your situation hopeless.

Thus, I think you should internalise the fact that even the most successful candidates are rejected in the vast majority of their applications: a friend of mine who ended the last application cycle with 5 VS offers (including from elite US firms such as Weil, Akin, and White & Case) started the application cycle by being rejected at the application stage 6-7 times in a row. The point is that what matters is not whether you succeed or not with any individual firm, but whether you can be resilient, use your frustration as a source of motivation, and simply show up again and again. You should know that if you keep submitting great applications, and if you keep doing your best to improve yourself as a candidate, you will eventually end up succeeding.

thank you for the kind words!

 

[Deek14]

Is Clifford chance rolling or non rolling for their direct TC?

 

[emily3827]

has everyone received the test from Freshfields?

 

[Abbie Whitlock]

Is Clifford chance rolling or non rolling for their direct TC?

Hi!

According to this thread, it looks like they are non-rolling!

 

[Tcmaker]

Slaughter & May TC interview invite!
Please share any advice!! Thank you.

 

[LegallyBrunette_]

I've also been invited to TC interview for Slaughter and May and would similarly appreciate any advice that anyone can share!

 

[Bread]

I've also been invited to TC interview for Slaughter and May and would similarly appreciate any advice that anyone can share!

Slaughter & May TC interview invite!
Please share any advice!! Thank you.

Congrats to you both! Would you mind sharing when you applied?

 

[LegallyBrunette_]

Congrats to you both! Would you mind sharing when you applied?

I applied on the 21st September.

 

[TC seeker]

@Ram Sabaratnam I saw on A&O's they require candidates to have 7 GCSEs, as an international student I haven' t studied GCSE before. Can i still apply their TC?

 

[Abbie Whitlock]

@Ram Sabaratnam I saw on A&O's they require candidates to have 7 GCSEs, as an international student I haven' t studied GCSE before. Can i still apply their TC?

Hi!

Yes, I'd say that you can still apply! The GCSE requirement will be aimed at UK-based applicants, and as an international student, firms like A&O will understand that you'll have studied a different qualification.

What they'll look for instead is the equivalent academic performance in your own education system. You can usually explain your grades in the application form, if there is space, and note that your qualification is the equivalent of GCSEs.

If you're still unsure, it might be worth emailing the graduate recruitment team to double-check how they interpret your specific qualification - they're usually very helpful about this and can confirm how to present it.

I hope that helps!

 

[WeGotThis!]

How do firms assess the Capp SJT? On one of them I got teamwork as a weakness but challenge myself and thrive in high-pressured situations as a strength. Considering it's the legal industry is teamwork as a weakness an automatic PFO?

 

[Bread]

How do firms assess the Capp SJT? On one of them I got teamwork as a weakness but challenge myself and thrive in high-pressured situations as a strength. Considering it's the legal industry is teamwork as a weakness an automatic PFO?

I think amberjack is more transparent when it comes to this. Capp just shows your highest and lowest ranking strengths, but it doesn’t actually tell you how well you did in those strengths, so imo it’s pointless to stress about which ones your feedback report returns

 

[lelezb1]

I’ve seen people getting TC interviews for slaughter & may, congratulations!! Is it late to apply to them this week?

 

[Abbie Whitlock]

How do firms assess the Capp SJT? On one of them I got teamwork as a weakness but challenge myself and thrive in high-pressured situations as a strength. Considering it's the legal industry is teamwork as a weakness an automatic PFO?

Hi!

I can't speak much on how firms assess Capp SJT (as I don't know!), but I don't think having teamwork as a weakness is an automatic PFO. It's important to remember that just because it's the 'weakness', this doesn't necessarily mean you scored badly in that trait - it just means it was your lowest scoring trait overall. You could have still scored highly across all of them

If your score is high overall, it's unlikely that teamwork being your weakness will stop you from progressing!

 

[elliece]

I’ve seen people getting TC interviews for slaughter & may, congratulations!! Is it late to apply to them this week?

From my understanding, not at all! I spoke to grad rec at a Legal Cheek event, and they stated they interview in batches which is why the deadline is rolling, but the deadline is still over a month away (24th Nov I think), so you could get an interview in the next batch if you apply soon! I applied a few days ago after an insight afternoon, and grad rec recommended this approach to me.