• Get Everything You Need to Secure a Training Contract
    Now half the price. Join TCLA Premium for £30/month and get step-by-step application support, daily commercial awareness practice, and 700+ successful examples of past applications and interview experiences. Plus so much more.
    Join Premium →
  • From AI to Energy Deals: Inside a Full-Service Law Firm with Osborne Clarke
    8 Dec 2025 · 6pm (UK) Zoom · Registration Required
    You want to write a strong Osborne Clarke application — but what really makes the firm different, and how do trainees experience the work day-to-day? In this session, you’ll hear directly from current trainees and Recruitment Advisor Patrick Fermin Ryan, so you can speak with clarity and specificity in your applications and interviews.
    Register →

Gap between SQE and Training Contract

TCLA Community Assistant

Legendary Member
TCLA Moderator
Gold Member
Graduate Recruitment
Premium Member
Forum Team
Aug 1, 2019
15,526
21,763
Does anyone know if law firms allow you to take a gap between your SQE and Training Contract (to do an LLM for example)
Same firms will allow you to defer for up to an extra year but this is not guaranteed and something you would need to request.

The firm could say no, especially where an LLM will not be directly be helpful/purposeful for your immediate career.
 

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.