TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[lawstudent2]

Does anyone know if there is a VI in the second hogan lovells sjt, if so how long du get to prep each question?

 

[Abbie Whitlock]

Question - don't know if anyone has any advice on this. Last year I did a vac scheme and then turned down a training contract at a very small, non-London firm. When discussing the vac scheme in applications, should I include that I declined a TC to apply to international firms? I do not want to use the TC offer as leverage, but equally feel like it is important to include. Any advice hugely appreciated !!

Hello!

That's a really interesting question, and I totally understand your point. It's great that you already have that experience and TC offer under your belt, and shows your capability and commitment to law.

In terms of how to present it, I would definitely discuss the vacation scheme, as it is valuable experience that gives you examples for competency and motivational questions. In relation to mentioning the TC offer, I would simply acknowledge it in a professional way (e.g. "I was offered a TC following my scheme but decided I was better suited to an international environment where I could gain exposure to cross-border work"). You could even link in experiences from the vacation scheme that reaffirmed your interest in international work, strengthening your motivations to the firm you are applying for (if used correctly).

The key is to make sure that you frame it as a positive experience where you learned a lot, rather than leveraging it.

I hope that helps, and best of luck with your applications

 

[Abbie Whitlock]

Hi,

I was just wondering, if a firm says that they assess applications for their vacation schemes on a non-rolling basis, is it really okay to apply whenever you think you are already or should you still make an effort to apply as close to the opening date as possible? e.g HSF, Latham, Linklaters

Hello!

If a firm specifically says their process is non-rolling, then in principle it means they review all applications only after the deadline, so you won't be disadvantaged by applying later in the window.

As a general rule of thumb, I would avoid submitting your application at the last-minute, just because tech issues can happen which can cause a lot of stress. It is always safer to apply earlier rather than on the final day.

However, you definitely do not need to rush and can focus on writing a high quality application. I'd aim for a comfortable middle ground - enough time to tailor your answers, but early enough that you are leaving some room for last-minute issues.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi Andrei, thanks so much for the advice and insights, and for your work on the firm profile too. Is there somewhere I can easily find the statistics you've mentioned here or in the profile (Revenue per lawyer/partner, department headcount etc) or is this something more obscure that I would need to search the websites and directories to find out? They're all really cool and I'd love to find out more and see what really stands out to me

Unfortunately such specific information is not usually available in the public domain. The only sources I found it on were Law.com and The Lawyer, and both are only accessible with an organisational subscription - you should check if your university has one if you are a student.

 

[tjeya26]

Bird & Bird WG!

Congratulations! Can I ask if this is for the spring or summer vs?

 

[SamiyaJ]

Congratulations! Can I ask if this is for the spring or summer vs?

Thanks! It’s for spring

 

[abc124]

Does anyone know if there is a VI in the second hogan lovells sjt, if so how long du get to prep each question?

Yes, and based on the practice test it’s 1.5mins prep time

 

[berocca567]

Hi, I need advice. I haven't received the second test for HL (I did my first one nearly 2 weeks ago), but I just got onto an Open Day with them. Is it worth accepting? I have other interviews in October so would an Open Day be helpful with law firms in general or will it be a waste of my time seeing as I am obviously not progressing with the HL WVS. I have to consider whether or not I go to an Open Day because I work full time and don't want to waste Leave on somethign that won't be helpful

 

[Andrei Radu]

Would anyone have any advice on how to answer: Why have you chosen to become a solicitor? What relevant skills do you possess? (200 words)
I'm not sure how in-depth I'm meant to go into the 'skills' part - how many skills should I be mentioning, how detailed should my examples be...

Hi @legallybrunette8 the word count limit for this question is quite low considering the amount of material you have to cover, so you will have to be very concise and efficient with your writing. I can see two approaches working here:

1. You split the answer in two sections - one dealing with the "why have you chosen to be a solicitor" part and one dealing with the "what relevant skills do you possess part", where each is around 100 words in length. The advantage here is that your writing will be more structured and clear, although somewhat more modular.
2. You have one integrated answer that addresses both the interest in law part and the relevant skills part. The advantage is that this makes for a nicer and more integrated reading experience; the disadvantage is that you will have to be more careful to ensure your writing is very clear so that the recruiter can easily see both questions are addressed even without specific sections.

Regardless of the option you pick, I think you should discuss at least two skills (since the question makes use of the plural rather than singular) but no more than three (simply because of the word count restriction). Of course, each skill will have to be illustrated with an example of an experience, but you will have to describe the experience in less detail than you normally would. Instead of a full STAR structure approach, I think you should aim to describe each experience in one-two short sentences which encapsulate the essence of your tasks and responsibilities (i.e. the 'action' part of STAR, what you actually did) and the relevant results.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi, I need advice. I haven't received the second test for HL (I did my first one nearly 2 weeks ago), but I just got onto an Open Day with them. Is it worth accepting? I have other interviews in October so would an Open Day be helpful with law firms in general or will it be a waste of my time seeing as I am obviously not progressing with the HL WVS. I have to consider whether or not I go to an Open Day because I work full time and don't want to waste Leave on somethign that won't be helpful

Hi @berocca567 open days are very useful experiences generally both because they help improve your commercial awareness and knowledge of the legal market, and because they are at times highly-selective opportunities to mention in an application to impress a recruiter (even if at a different firm).

That said, you will of course have to think carefully in the context of your circumstances to decide if this opportunity is worth the time investment. If I were in your position, I think I would first of all not necessarily conclude I have been rejected for the WVS, as firms sometimes have delays when progressing people through the stages for many reasons, and 2 weeks is not a very long wait period in the first place. Thus, it may be worth provisionally accepting and waiting to see the outcome of your VS application.

If you are indeed rejected, and also end up concluding it will take too much of your time in a busy period, you can email graduate recruitment and apologise for not being able to attend as planned due to a change in circumstances. It is very unlikely this will have any negative impact on your future chances if you choose to reapply later.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hi Andrei, thanks for the answer! I have another question, although unrelated.

I plan to start mentioning open days in the work experience section (which I surprisingly haven't been doing in my previous applications). I have attended about 10 open days so far from a range of firms, with a mix of open days that have a selective application process, and some which simply require a registration form.

I was wondering if I should mix my first year open days, selective open days, and just normal open days into 1 big group? Or should I seperate them?
And when doing so, how much detail should I go into the open days given the word count?

And lastly, should I also be mentioning virtual work experiences in a different section too? Or would I only mention them if they're relevant to the firm I'm applying to

I do not think you should necessarily separate them in categories; recruiters are aware a substantial proportion of open days are selective, and as such will likely infer that several of yours are as well. Nonetheless, there is no harm in separating them in two broad "non-selective careers events" and "selective careers events" groups either. You should simply choose what you think makes more sense in the context of your answer.

As for the second question about the level of detail to go into: you likely will not have sufficient space (and nor would it be appropriate) to describe in detail what happened in each open day and what you learnt. I would either (a) simply list the events and, next to each bullet point on the list, have a short one sentence line with a key takeaway about what I learned; or (b) after listing the open days, go for a more narrative style approach, and have a bigger paragraph explaining how going to these events shaped your interest in commercial law and particular practice areas (and even potentially your interest in the particular firm you are applying for).

For the third question: I think you should always be listing your Forage virtual experiences as well, as they are proof of interest in commercial law and of actual engagement with trainee tasks.

 

[applicant457]

Jones Day spring scheme VI ! Any insights massively appreciated

 

[Legallywhatever]

Hi,

Does anyone know what the Osborne Clarke vac scheme Qs are for this cycle?

 

[chiichii]

A pleasant surprise today, just checked my spam folder in my email and realised BCLP sent an invite for their open day 2 days ago! Ahhhhh

 

[chiichii]

Unfortunately such specific information is not usually available in the public domain. The only sources I found it on were Law.com and The Lawyer, and both are only accessible with an organisational subscription - you should check if your university has one if you are a student.

Hi Andrei, that's really helpful! I know this is not my question but I would like to know how is this information and statistics ( revenue per lawyer, department headcount, etc) helpful for application? Or how can i link these information to me personally if I want to use these stats?

 

[baj5]

given that some firms like freshfields only ask for work experience now, what is the best way to do the section to ensure it is hitting the points they need?

 

[Andrei Radu]

1. Hi Andrei, that's really helpful! I know this is not my question but I would like to know how is this information and statistics ( revenue per lawyer, department headcount, etc) helpful for application? Or how can i link these information to me personally if I want to use these stats?

This type of information can be useful for a variety of purposes in terms of assessing a firm's general business prospects, the quality of its practice and work, and the kind of work and responsibilities you may have at the firm.

To take revenue per lawyer (RPL) firstly: this is seen by Law.com (a leading legal press outlet) as the strongest indicator of a firm's financial health, as it cannot be "gamed" to the same extent as other metrics such as PEP (where firms can restrict equity ranks to boost the headline figure). The reason is that that seeing how much a firm's lawyer generates in income is an indicator of both:

• How in demand the firm is in terms of the number of mandates it works on: to have a high RPL, almost all of the firm's lawyers will have to be kept reasonably busy throughout the year (as the lawyers that are not busy do not generate significant income and thus bring down the average RPL).
• How in demand the firm is in terms of the quality of mandates it works on: to have a high RPL, a firm needs to bill clients high fees for the time their lawyers work on a matter. While RPL can be boosted by keeping lawyers very busy on a high-volume approach, as suggested above, there is a limit to this: at the high-end of commercial law, targets for billable hours converge around 2000 per year. While at some firms (such as Kirkland & Ellis) partners are known to ask associates to go beyond this and hit 2100-2300 at times, it is very rare for people to go beyond this, simply because there is a limit as to how much one can work in a year without burning out. Thus, there is a limit as to how much RPL can be boosted by increasing workload, and this is where the second factor of the equation - billing rates - comes into play (you can helpfully think of RPL as equaling average time spent billing in a year times the billing rates). The more prestigious a firm is, and the more in demand its practitioners, the higher will the firm be able to bill its clients. Normally, clients will only accept the high fees asked by firms like Davis Polk on high-value and highly-complex matters where their expertise is necessary; which means that a high RPL is indicative of a high-quality of mandates you may get to work on.

For department headcount, I would say the main points of relevance are

1. To see how the firm positions itself in the market - i.e. is it more of a boutique or a big shop in that practice area specifically (rather than in general as a firm);
2. To see how much in focus a practice area is in a firm (this is where you would look at comparative headcount between departments); and
3. To see if a firm punches above/bellow its "weight class": if a firm has comparatively fewer people in a department but still achieves the same rankings and works on the same types of matters as larger rivals, it is an indicator of a higher quality/more efficient practice in that it achieves the same results with a lower input. Furthermore, it is arguably indicative of a higher-quality of practitioners, as lawyers at this smaller department will need to juggle the responsibilities normally shared by many more people at a larger shop.

 

[floral.tcla]

I cant believe it, I’ve got an email with an invitation to A&O Shearman’s AC for the WVS!! Best of luck to anyone who hasn’t heard back and I’d really appreciate any advice for case studies, scenario based interviews and esp A&O Shearman’s AC as I’ve heard it’s very hard🥺

 

[jojo23]

Does anybody else find the wait after submitting an application agonising 😭

 

[chiichii]

This type of information can be useful for a variety of purposes in terms of assessing a firm's general business prospects, the quality of its practice and work, and the kind of work and responsibilities you may have at the firm.

To take revenue per lawyer (RPL) firstly: this is seen by Law.com (a leading legal press outlet) as the strongest indicator of a firm's financial health, as it cannot be "gamed" to the same extent as other metrics such as PEP (where firms can restrict equity ranks to boost the headline figure). The reason is that that seeing how much a firm's lawyer generates in income is an indicator of both:

• How in demand the firm is in terms of the number of mandates it works on: to have a high RPL, almost all of the firm's lawyers will have to be kept reasonably busy throughout the year (as the lawyers that are not busy do not generate significant income and thus bring down the average RPL).
• How in demand the firm is in terms of the quality of mandates it works on: to have a high RPL, a firm needs to bill clients high fees for the time their lawyers work on a matter. While RPL can be boosted by keeping lawyers very busy on a high-volume approach, as suggested above, there is a limit to this: at the high-end of commercial law, targets for billable hours converge around 2000 per year. While at some firms (such as Kirkland & Ellis) partners are known to ask associates to go beyond this and hit 2100-2300 at times, it is very rare for people to go beyond this, simply because there is a limit as to how much one can work in a year without burning out. Thus, there is a limit as to how much RPL can be boosted by increasing workload, and this is where the second factor of the equation - billing rates - comes into play (you can helpfully think of RPL as equaling average time spent billing in a year times the billing rates). The more prestigious a firm is, and the more in demand its practitioners, the higher will the firm be able to bill its clients. Normally, clients will only accept the high fees asked by firms like Davis Polk on high-value and highly-complex matters where their expertise is necessary; which means that a high RPL is indicative of a high-quality of mandates you may get to work on.

For department headcount, I would say the main points of relevance are

1. To see how the firm positions itself in the market - i.e. is it more of a boutique or a big shop in that practice area specifically (rather than in general as a firm);
2. To see how much in focus a practice area is in a firm (this is where you would look at comparative headcount between departments); and
3. To see if a firm punches above/bellow its "weight class": if a firm has comparatively fewer people in a department but still achieves the same rankings and works on the same types of matters as larger rivals, it is an indicator of a higher quality/more efficient practice in that it achieves the same results with a lower input. Furthermore, it is arguably indicative of a higher-quality of practitioners, as lawyers at this smaller department will need to juggle the responsibilities normally shared by many more people at a larger shop.

I see! Thanks for your explanation, that's really helpful! I never really look from this angle before. Could you also share some other similar examples that would help me to assess a firm's business prospects and it's quality of practice? Anything I can look up to besides than RPL and department headcount?