TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[TortillaTC]

For those that haven’t got the first HL test yet, I emailed grad rec and haven’t heard back (I applied 29th September). Will keep you updated

 

[jojo23]

If I inputted a grade incorrectly on a submission (via all hires), what should I do? If I contacted them, would it look detrimental/unprofessional?

 

[Legal_Beaver]

Was there any indication of when they might?

Unfortunately, not, but surely not any later now. Imminent if some PFOs gone out.

 

[Legal_Beaver]

Anyone else qualified for the AS competition quarter finals?

Congrats! I'm curious what the benchmark would be. Could you estimate how many out of 35 you got right? I was thinking 25+ was top 5-10%

 

[johnsmith]

Congrats! I'm curious what the benchmark would be. Could you estimate how many out of 35 you got right? I was thinking 25+ was top 5-10%

Thanks! I didn't get to finish as I had some issues with it getting stuck loading right at the beginning, and with about 30 seconds to go, so I only answered 31 questions - my guess would be 25 would be about right.

Looks like 98 slots taking 5 people per slot, so assuming they all fill up, that's 490 qualifiers. I think I read previously that it's between 3.5k to 5k competitors, so that is around the top 10-15%

 

[applicant457]

Thanks! I didn't get to finish as I had some issues with it getting stuck loading right at the beginning, and with about 30 seconds to go, so I only answered 31 questions - my guess would be 25 would be about right.

Looks like 98 slots taking 5 people per slot, so assuming they all fill up, that's 490 qualifiers. I think I read previously that it's between 3.5k to 5k competitors, so that is around the top 10-15%

Cool! I didn't know the next round took such a small %!

 

[johnsmith]

Cool! I didn't know the next round took such a small %!

I suppose they have to cut quite aggressively. The next stage after that is hosted across the 6 sponsor firms, who I'm sure can only accommodate so many from a practical point of view, so my guess is max 120 people move to semi, and then the final might be like 10 people? I'm sure someone on here will have experience of how big each stage is!

 

[tk.42_]

For video interviews (one way), what type of questions do they normally ask? Is it competency or my why this firm/commercial law? Thanks!

 

[Andrei Radu]

@Andrei Radu Hey! I have been enjoying your responses around structuring answers on apps. Just wondering if you have an idea of the best way to structure the answer to this Q-
What do you find attractive about BCLP's sectors/departments and which area(s) are you interested in having exposure to in your Training Contract and why? Max 500 words it is quite lengthy! How many sectors/departments would you recommend discussing? Thank you

Hi @e_turbo2 I would discuss 3-4 sectors/departments and I would use use the following structure:

Paragraph 1: Firstly, I would mention the sector or department I am interested in and explain why, describing both (i) the substantive features of the department/sector that attract me (i.e. what about the particular tasks/matters I would work for interests me) and (ii) any relevant examples of experiences related to the department/sector. Secondly, I would go on to explain why I would be interested in working in the sector/department at BCLP in particular: here, I would analyse the firm's team and expertise in the area in depth, looking at rankings, awards, notable deals/cases and comparisons with rivals.

Paragraph 2, 3 , 4: I would simply repeat the above, but for a new sector/department;

Advice on how to use all the word count without unnecessarily lengthening your points:

• Since the firm mentions both sectors and "departments", you can likely discuss practices areas of the firm as well, which increases the breadth of what you can discuss.
• You should describe your experiences in a lot of depth, using a STAR structure.
• You can analyse the firm's expertise in as much depth as you want, going though important matters they worked on and their impact, mentioning top practitioners, recent hires and strategy, etc.

 

[jojo23]

For those of you applying to Mayer brown, did you put things like open days in the employment history or just leave them out?

 

[lawyersum]

has anyone done the white & case assessment yet? is it automatic?

 

[AngelBaird]

Freshfields online test invite!!!

 

[johnsmith]

has anyone done the white & case assessment yet? is it automatic?

It is yes, comes as a link in the thanks for your application email.

 

[womp]

Hey, can I ask what u got in the arctic shores!

4/4/4/4

 

[jagath]

anyone know what the freshfields online assessment involves?

 

[johnsmith]

4/4/4/4

Reaction times of a cat! 😆 nice work

 

[Andrei Radu]

Thanks for this Andrei!! Do you have any thoughts on the ‘maintain’ aspect of the question and how to weave that in?

I would explain how maintaining a profit essentially also comes down to keeping costs under control and ensuring earnings remain constant. If you wanted to address the question of maintaining profit separately, I think you could focus more on managing risk rather than looking for growth - i.e. you would analyse what factors could lead to rising costs and/or declining revenues. Nonetheless, I think many of the strategies you would discuss when considering generating profits will significantly overlap with the part about maintaining them - for instance, M&A is both a strategy to grow market share and to protect against losing market share to an up and coming rival (consider Meta's acquisition of Instagram). As such, I would probably discuss the question of generating and maintaining profits at the same time and structure my answer in terms of a costs/earnings analysis split rather than maintaining/generating analysis split.

 

[Andrei Radu]

For video interviews (one way), what type of questions do they normally ask? Is it competency or my why this firm/commercial law? Thanks!

Firms often asks a mix of competency and motivational questions, among the most usual being the so-called big three: why you, why the firm, why commercial law. However, in many cases you will also be asked some less-encountered questions, such as:

• Tell me about a weakness, or tell me about a time you made a serious mistake?
• What do you expect to be you biggest challenges in the VS/in our TC?
• Why do you want to work in London specifically?
• What practice areas are you most interested in and why?

As such, I would advise you to prepare thoroughly and practice answering a broad range of questions.

 

[womp]

Reaction times of a cat! 😆 nice work

Thank you! 😂😂

 

[Lawlife5]

Hi @Andrei Radu what do you recommend I should be discussing about an open day attended? Do you think I should leave this out when applying to certain firms that are not similar in terms of practice areas etc? thanks!