TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[msclm]

For the people who have asked me to find out Sidley updates re spring and summer - I don’t really have any lol sorry! The vac was kinda intense so didn’t really get chatting to grad recruitment at all. I know that they are working right up until Christmas, so maybe some movement could happen. I’d imagine once they give the tc offers next week they’ll have more free time to focus on the next schemes

 

[Amgrad]

For the people who have asked me to find out Sidley updates re spring and summer - I don’t really have any lol sorry! The vac was kinda intense so didn’t really get chatting to grad recruitment at all. I know that they are working right up until Christmas, so maybe some movement could happen. I’d imagine once they give the tc offers next week they’ll have more free time to focus on the next schemes

Hey thanks for the update! I was about to DM you tomorrow as the WVS just finished on Friday. I applied 06/10 and not hearing back loll

 

[msclm]

Hey thanks for the update! I was about to DM you tomorrow as the WVS just finished on Friday. I applied 06/10 and not hearing back loll

When I did speak to gr, they made super clear that their focus was on us on the current scheme (also their grad team is really only 3 people - and for winter they got like 1800 apps so that’s a lot per head lmao). There was so many gr ran assessments that I imagine we kept them busy this week. The tc offers are coming out on Tuesday or Wednesday so I imagine they’ll hone their focus on spring and summer immediately after.

 

[Amgrad]

When I did speak to gr, they made super clear that their focus was on us on the current scheme (also their grad team is really only 3 people - and for winter they got like 1800 apps so that’s a lot per head lmao). There was so many gr ran assessments that I imagine we kept them busy this week. The tc offers are coming out on Tuesday or Wednesday so I imagine they’ll hone their focus on spring and summer immediately after.

What an Insane number! I hope you get TC offer though..

 

[Bbhu19]

Have you heard anything? I did ity a while ago and havent had a pfo or 2nd test invite

Took me a whole month to get mine

 

[FutureTraineeMaybe]

For those that applied to DLA Piper Birmingham, how long did it take for the WG to come through?

 

[lawstudent2]

How long does it take to find out if you failed the taylor wessing test?

 

[Trophy]

What I found more weird is that they never asked for work experience, or did I somehow miss that section?

I’ve not applied to the firm before but surely if there’s no grades or WE it makes it a level playing field for all. It’s not based on grades or who has the most experience but who is the best at the tests or interviewing stage! I’d say it’s best imo as you would know why you were rejected (the assessments).

 

[futuretraineeihope]

If a video interview is monitored to ensure it’s completed “independently and unaided”, is it generally acceptable to make brief notes from the question and my own ideas during the preparation/reading time (e.g. to structure my answer), provided the notes are made from memory and not from any external materials? The prep time is unlimited.

 

[BillSikes]

Sorry to say the ACs were last week, they invited 25 people from 2.5k

Firms with no application questions always like to brag about their application numbers!

 

[Amgrad]

Firms with no application questions always like to brag about their application numbers!

And firms with automatic test invite 😭 if I knew there's no chance I'd not apply them

 

[FutureAntitrustLawyer]

I’m also wanting to know this!

There is no VI attached to the SJT. You must pass the SJT before moving onto the VI

 

[Dannie]

Hey guys I know this is quite late but I'm confused - I'm trying to figure out if the Autumn budget truly led to high tax rises? income tax didn't increase. there is fiscal drag but this affects individuals and high earners. from my understanding businesses are not affected significantly from the budget, with the only changes being to min wage, capital allowance relief and more compliance requirements. Would the dividends tax increase be problematic? I'm not sure what to make of this from a business POV. Would love some help!

 

[Amgrad]

Hey guys I know this is quite late but I'm confused - I'm trying to figure out if the Autumn budget truly led to high tax rises? income tax didn't increase. there is fiscal drag but this affects individuals and high earners. from my understanding businesses are not affected significantly from the budget, with the only changes being to min wage, capital allowance relief and more compliance requirements. Would the dividends tax increase be problematic? I'm not sure what to make of this from a business POV. Would love some help!

It's double edge sword, recently the UK wants to mirror US whistleblower tax policy, the Parliament still consider it with a prospect to be enacted in 2026. The HMRC stated even though only high earners got the direct impact, it influences business. Many high earners work at big business even for SMBs, the owner or the head also can be HNWI. So, that can be challenging, we've seen that many people moved their residency to GCC such as Revolut CEO, even some move their corporate HQ elsewhere too.

The UK remains a hotspot for market segmentation for business and sourcing high talent, better than US due to their current lucrative immigration and income tax policy. I think that without whistleblower, it's perceived as negative as the HNWI tax isn't effective and unfriendly to business.

 

[Abbie Whitlock]

@Abbie Whitlock

During my WFW VI I experienced a major technical difficulty. I could not locate the time remaining for the first question, and was looking for it throughout the question, moving my cursor and scrolling. In the end, I found it after 1 minute in the bottom right corner where the small video window was, and it was only displayed AFTER my cursor went above it.

This was not enough time to save an already disjointed answer which I had prepared really well, because I was simply looking for how much time I had left and it wasn't visible.

I have emailed them explaining to them this situation, is there any chance (with a poorly constructed answer) that this is not a PFO and they will understand and take this into account?

Hey!

I'm really sorry to hear about that situation - it's incredibly frustrating when things go wrong that are out of your control.

It's difficult to say either way, and I couldn't say whether an individual firm has a policy on adjusting outcomes for technical issues, even when they're genuine. That said, emailing them promptly and clearly explaining what happened was absolutely the right thing to do, and it means the issue is at least on record.

A weaker first answer doesn't automatically equal a PFO, especially if the rest of your interview was solid and they know you had technical issues to deal with. I'd say that the graduate recruitment team are generally aware that the VI interface isn't always intuitive, so they may have a policy in place for these situations.

At this stage, you've done everything you reasonably could. I'd try not to assume the worst based on one disrupted answer, and hopefully the strength of your preparation and later answers will carry more weight

 

[Abbie Whitlock]

If a video interview is monitored to ensure it’s completed “independently and unaided”, is it generally acceptable to make brief notes from the question and my own ideas during the preparation/reading time (e.g. to structure my answer), provided the notes are made from memory and not from any external materials? The prep time is unlimited.

Hey!

Generally, yes - making brief notes during the preparation / reading time is acceptable unless the firm explicitly says otherwise. In previous VIs, I have used the preparation time to structure my thoughts on paper, and I haven't ran into issues with this. "Independently and unaided" is usually aimed at preventing candidates from using external help (e.g. other people, pre-written scripts, websites, or AI), not at stopping you from jotting down a few structure points.

As long as the notes are made during the prep time, they're based only on the question and your own ideas, and you're not reading from a pre-prepared script or external materials, then this is typically fine and very common practice.

I would just make sure to check the specific VI instructions carefully - some platforms explicitly allow note-taking, while a few may ask you not to. If it's not prohibited, brief bullet-point notes for structure are generally understood and acceptable.

Best of luck with the VI!

 

[Z1234]

It’s similar to stage 1 in terms of situational judgement questions. You’ll then be asked follow up questions at the end of each section; video interview style. There’s also a short untimed written task 😊.

Sorry if this has been covered, but I can't find information on the types of questions. Were any of the VI follow-up questions motivational? Or, strictly about the section/situational?

 

[James Wakefield]

Any tips for preparing for Freshfields stage 2 would be great, thanks! ☺🙏

 

[Jennifer2003]

Does anyone know if there’s been Hogan Lovells AC invites for summer yet?

 

[James Wakefield]

Any tips for preparing for Freshfields stage 2 would be great, thanks! ☺🙏

Is the VI all strengths-based? Thanks! ☺️