• TCLA Premium: Now half price (£30/month). Applications, interviews, commercial awareness + 700+ examples.
    Join →

TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

Novaa

Legendary Member
Dec 2, 2022
374
1,378
EU: 🤮
Public: 🥰
Contract: ☺️
Criminal: 😐
Tort: 😘
Land: 🙄
Trusts: 🥱🤔🤯
EU: 🫠
Public: 🫥😓 (made me cry)
Contract: 🥰
Criminal: 😘🥰
Tort: 🤕☺️ (great content but also made me cry)
Land: 😘🤨🥇
Trusts: 😘🤨🥇

Land and Trusts make me giggle, because I really didn’t understand what was going on, but that third-year pressure made me lock in 😭😭😭

Me opening my results:

Shocked Album Of The Year GIF by VaynerSpeakers
 

Abbie Whitlock

Administrator
Staff member
Gold Member
Premium Member
Sep 11, 2025
834
895
hey all!! @Abbie Whitlock @Abbie Whitlock

I have a written assessment coming up and I was wondering do i need to know any key legal terms?? I have just been practising written tasks in timed condition but im worrying about not knowing key terms.
Hey!

Congratulations on being invited to the written assessment!

This is a great question, and it is totally understandable to be worried! For most written assessments, you are not expected to know lots of technical legal terms - they are typically designed to test how you think and communicate, not what you already know legally.

That said, I would definitely make sure that you understand common commercial concepts such as warranties, indemnities and representations (although you won't be expected to know them in technical depth). An exercise might utilise these concepts, and it can be helpful to have an understanding of how they're used to allocate risk, and whether they are advantageous / disadvantageous to your hypothetical client.

However, for most written exercises, the assessors will be more interested in whether you can identify potential risks, think about their impact on the client, and explain your reasoning clearly. Therefore, I would try not to stress about learning lots of technical legal terms before the exercise :)

Best of luck!!
 

Donna Paulsen

Legendary Member
  • Sep 23, 2025
    312
    1,018
    EU: 🫠
    Public: 🫥😓 (made me cry)
    Contract: 🥰
    Criminal: 😘🥰
    Tort: 🤕☺️ (great content but also made me cry)
    Land: 😘🤨🥇
    Trusts: 😘🤨🥇

    Land and Trusts make me giggle, because I really didn’t understand what was going on, but that third-year pressure made me lock in 😭😭😭

    Me opening my results:

    Shocked Album Of The Year GIF by VaynerSpeakers
    What is this public hatred???? Me and @Lord Sumption will not stand for this x
     
    • Haha
    Reactions: Novaa

    Abbie Whitlock

    Administrator
    Staff member
    Gold Member
    Premium Member
    Sep 11, 2025
    834
    895
    Hiya! Does anyone have any experience of attending Irwin Mitchell’s AC and have any advice/what types of questions do they ask? Guidance says it’s a strength based interview
    Ty :)
    Hello!

    Congratulations on the AC invite, that is amazing news!!

    Whilst I haven't completed Irwin Mitchell's AC before, I have previously shared some advice on strengths-based interviews - I have quoted it below. Hopefully it is useful in your preparation! Wishing you the best of luck with the AC, I'm sure you'll smash it! :)

    Hi!

    Just to add to Andrei's advice, I thought I'd share my past experiences with strengths-based interview questions!

    For these types of of questions, the important element is to answer truthfully and be yourself. They are typically looking to see how you would handle specific problems, your general working style, and the traits that you naturally possess that would make you a good fit for the firm. In preparation for the interview, I would make a note of what your key strengths are, and how they align with the skills needed to be a trainee (and what the role involves).

    If you are given a hypothetical scenario, I'd talk the interviewer through each step that you would take to address the situation, and how you would use your personal strengths to aid you in handling anything that comes up.

    Additionally, I've also found that the questions can be reflective in nature and may ask you specific questions about your way of workings. For an interview I did on a vacation scheme, I was asked "What type of person are you under pressure?" (which definitely threw me off!). There isn't necessarily one right answer here, and I would take a moment to actually think your answer through and consider how you usually approach these situations. It might be helpful to reflect on your past experiences and weave these into your answer, so that the interviewer can see that you are rooting your answer in concrete examples.

    I hope that helps! :)

    Hey!

    It's totally normal to feel nervous, but I'd try to remember that they've progressed you this far for a reason! From my experience with strengths-based interviews, I would try to build rapport with the interviewers by being warm, engaged and genuine - try to treat it as a discussion rather than a formal assessment (whilst still remaining professional, of course!). Interviewers are human too, and sometimes asking genuine questions about their roles and career journeys can go a long way to show your interest in the firm.

    When answering strengths-based questions, I'd focus less on giving a "model answer" and more on explaining how you naturally think and work. They are likely trying to see what motivates you, what you enjoy doing, and how you respond in real situations. In a previous strengths-based interview I completed, I was asked questions such as "What kind of person are you under pressure?" - this definitely threw me off, but the important part is to just be honest! You don't need long STAR-style answers, as short and specific examples are usually more than enough to demonstrate your point.

    It can also help to link your answers back to the kind of environment BCLP offers (e.g. collaboration, adaptability, etc.), while still remaining genuine. The goal is to show that your strengths would translate well into how trainees at BCLP actually work day to day, and that you are motivated to work in the kind of environment that BCLP has.

    I hope that assists, and wishing you the best of luck with your interview - I'm sure you'll do great! :)
     
    • Love
    Reactions: Aug123

    Abbie Whitlock

    Administrator
    Staff member
    Gold Member
    Premium Member
    Sep 11, 2025
    834
    895
    Hi @Abbie Whitlock, hope you are well!

    Just wanted to ask how long my answer to why this firm should be in an interview. I timed myself and it's 5 mins, which is quite long. But I used the same lengthy answer in the initial interview (with grad recruitment) and they invited me back to the AC. Not sure whether this long answer would go down well with partners.

    Thank you so much!
    Hello!

    I am doing well (despite the endless rain in the UK...), thank you! I hope you are doing well too! :)

    Congratulations on being invited to the AC! I would say that 5 minutes is likely a bit on the long side for a "why this firm" answer. Even if it worked well with the graduate recruitment team, as you mentioned, partners tend to prefer clear and structured answers that get to the point more quickly.

    As a general rule of thumb, I would aim for around 2-3 minutes - you could start with a strong opening that signposts the rest of your answer, and then move onto 2-3 well-chosen reasons. You can always expand if they prompt you or ask follow-up questions!

    The fact that your longer answer worked before is a good sign, as it shows that the content is strong! The key now is refining it so that it is concise, rather than cutting entire ideas out.

    I hope that assists, and best of luck!! :)
     
    • ℹ️
    • Like
    Reactions: floral.tcla and londonlawyer

    About Us

    The Corporate Law Academy (TCLA) was founded in 2018 because we wanted to improve the legal journey. We wanted more transparency and better training. We wanted to form a community of aspiring lawyers who care about becoming the best version of themselves.

    Get Our 2026 Vacation Scheme Guide

    Nail your vacation scheme applications this year with our latest guide, with sample answers to law firm questions.