TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[Jennifer2003]

Has anyone applied to Mishcon's Cambridge office? I couldn't attend their open evening at the office and I want to apply but I don't know how to convey why their Cambridge office, and also if the places are more competitive because presumably there are less spaces?

 

[Andrei Radu]

hello @Abbie Whitlock and @Andrei Radu : for my fieldfisher application i have these 2 qs and i was just wondering how to go about structuring them as i feel like they overlap a bit: Describe the personal event or experience than made you realise your desire to work in a law firm - specifically at Fieldfisher (800 characters)

Describe the personal life experiences that have given you the unique perspective you would bring to an insight scheme + how this perspective will support your success (800 characters)

Hi @user55998384 these questions definitely overlap in terms of the themes and experiences you can discuss, particularly since, as opposed to most other firms, Fieldfisher here makes it a point to hone in on "personal" rather than academic/professional experiences in both of them. The way I interpret them, I think the distinction in scope is this:

1. The first question is focused on your motivations: you can essentially read it as a combined (i) why commercial law and (ii) why the firm question. Moreover, crucially, you are being asked to connect only one major life experience or event to both points, so I would advise you to pick something that can easily be presented in more detail without appearing to be unnecessarily verbose.
2. The second question is instead focused on skills/abilities at a high level of generality (as you will be discussing how this influences your "perspective" - ie. your thinking process and decision-making): the way I read it, you are essentially supposed to answer a "why you" question, and, importantly, here you will be allowed to bring in more than one life experience (as the plural form is used). Furthermore, I think here it will be important to showcase your understanding of what you will be expected to do in an insight scheme and how you can perform successfully - this is once again a change of scope compared to normal "why you" question, as you are being asked what would make you succeed in the insight scheme rather than what would make you succeed in your TC/broader career as a commercial solicitor.

 

[BealMcAlly]

Has anyone applied to Mishcon's Cambridge office? I couldn't attend their open evening at the office and I want to apply but I don't know how to convey why their Cambridge office, and also if the places are more competitive because presumably there are less spaces?

Their Cambridge office heavily focuses on innovation, so you could talk about that.

 

[Suii]

Clyde and Co pfo post test

 

[Sharkfin]

Congrats!! did you get the link to the assessment? I got the email from Grad Rec but didn’t receive the link from the provider

Just following up w this - turns out you just need to click the cvmail link in the email to access the test!

 

[SemperParatus]

Clyde & Co London Spring VS Online Assessment Invite

 

[llblawstudent]

Clyde and Co pfo post test

Sorry to hear that, when did you receive the test?

 

[Suii]

Sorry to hear that, when did you receive the test?

Bro I did it too early that I forgot I even did it.

 

[sumsum]

has anyone heard from Shakespeare Martineau

 

[NorthernerInLondon]

Clyde & Co London spring vac scheme Online Assessment Invite - anyone know if this is automatic or not?

 

[lawyersum]

no way the hill dickinson work experience section has a 50 word limit for each entry

 

[yk1906]

For Fieldfisher, do we need to include our GCSE and A-level modules, but not our undergraduate ones?

 

[ninarosee]

Travers Smith has included a ‘Legal High Potential Assessment’ as part of the DTC application. Does this also apply to the vac scheme application as well?

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi @Andrei Radu @Abbie Whitlock! Could I please have some advice about how to structure an written exercise e.g. an email, as I have seen a lot about using headings and bullet points but I'm not too sure on the overall structure? Also if anyone has any resources to practice them!

I also wanted to know how I should go about preparing my commercial awareness. For example, I know about the annual budget but I don't really know how this impacts law firms. Alongside this, are there any key standout challenges effecting law firms/clients currently?

Would really appreciate any guidance!

Thank you

Hi @panda1989 unfortunately I cannot give you very specific advice as to how to structure a written exercise, simply because the type of structure that works will depend a lot on the details of the exercise itself and the information you have to cover. Looking back at my written exercises, the only common features in terms of structure that I tended to observe were the following:

1. An introductory executive summary heading with a short paragraph following it, which explains the scope of my analysis, the core point of each section, and the main conclusion.
2. Having different big headings for different parts of the task (ie if an email I had to respond to asked me three different questions, I would separate my writing in three different sections)
3. Having headings/subheadings for core assessment criteria: as you are reading the relevant information, ask yourself what are the core cost/benefit factors you need to consider; sometimes, this provides you an easy way to present information and structure your analysis.
4. Sometimes, separating section by subheading such as "Brief Summary" and "Analysis" can make sense, such as to clearly convey both what is uncontroversial factual information and what is your own viewpoint.

As for impact of news stories, when reading about a story I think you should always be asking yourself "how could this impact businesses?" and then "how does this impact change what they want from their lawyers?". Some stories have very easy and direct answers to both: eg a lowering of interest rates reduces borrowing costs, which makes deal financing cheaper and reduces valuation gaps between buyers and sellers, thus boosting demand for transactional practice areas such as M&A, PE, and banking & finance. Other stories (arguably, such as the new Budget) will not have this kind of straightforward analysis easily available, and, as such, should you choose to discuss them, you will need to conduct more in-depth research.

 

[Bree]

Does Macfarlanes read your application before Stage 2 assessment?

 

[BillSikes]

Anyone heard back from RPC after online assessments?

What is the test for RPC?

 

[p2bv]

For Fieldfisher, do we need to include our GCSE and A-level modules, but not our undergraduate ones?

Yeah, there’s no breakdown needed for undergrad

 

[Lawyergyal123!]

is latham stage two automatic ?

 

[Scottishlion]

I got 3-3-3-4 for Norton, is that an ok score?

 

[Suii]

I got 3-3-3-4 for Norton, is that an ok score?

Reading that sounded like a football formation lol but congratulations.