Spring Vacation Schemes - 2.2 Extenuating circumstances

Hb1234

Active Member
Dec 9, 2022
14
28
Hi all,

I am currently in the process of applying for spring vacation schemes.

I, unfortunately, have experienced a range of extenuating circumstances throughout my university degree which I have evidence of and my university was informed.

My second-year grades are incredibly poor as I had to return home for the year to look after my mother who was diagnosed with cancer and missed out on the majority of the year, leaving me with a mere grade of 53%.😔 However this is only 30% of my overall grade, I'm confident with my placement (10%) and final year (60%) I can graduate with a 2.1. I attend one of the lower-ranked Russell Group universities.

Despite this, this academic year I secured a placement year at a top 100 law firm, have 7 years of work experience running my own small business, a supervisor position, VP of a law-related university society and volunteer paralegal work experience.

I also never took my A-levels and have enrolled to take my A-levels this year alongside my placement in addition to a range of courses including compliance and accounting.

I have also just secured a summer analyst position at one of the world's largest banks (verbal offer, patiently awaiting the written contract)🤕 so unless this falls through I will be unable to apply for summer schemes.

In my searches, I have located around 50 spring vacation schemes but obviously, some of these firms fall into categories that would automatically reject my application without a 5-second skim read.

Has anyone got any advice on what types of firms I should be applying for? I know it's a numbers game and I will probably apply for a wide variety simply for the experience when it comes to applying for graduate jobs but it's a long process and I'm not sure if my grades are too low for consideration.

Thanks
 

Jessica Booker

Legendary Member
TCLA Moderator
Gold Member
Graduate Recruitment
Premium Member
Forum Team
Aug 1, 2019
13,335
19,148
Hi all,

I am currently in the process of applying for spring vacation schemes.

I, unfortunately, have experienced a range of extenuating circumstances throughout my university degree which I have evidence of and my university was informed.

My second-year grades are incredibly poor as I had to return home for the year to look after my mother who was diagnosed with cancer and missed out on the majority of the year, leaving me with a mere grade of 53%.😔 However this is only 30% of my overall grade, I'm confident with my placement (10%) and final year (60%) I can graduate with a 2.1. I attend one of the lower-ranked Russell Group universities.

Despite this, this academic year I secured a placement year at a top 100 law firm, have 7 years of work experience running my own small business, a supervisor position, VP of a law-related university society and volunteer paralegal work experience.

I also never took my A-levels and have enrolled to take my A-levels this year alongside my placement in addition to a range of courses including compliance and accounting.

I have also just secured a summer analyst position at one of the world's largest banks (verbal offer, patiently awaiting the written contract)🤕 so unless this falls through I will be unable to apply for summer schemes.

In my searches, I have located around 50 spring vacation schemes but obviously, some of these firms fall into categories that would automatically reject my application without a 5-second skim read.

Has anyone got any advice on what types of firms I should be applying for? I know it's a numbers game and I will probably apply for a wide variety simply for the experience when it comes to applying for graduate jobs but it's a long process and I'm not sure if my grades are too low for consideration.

Thanks
To help me answer this, I have got a couple of questions first.

What are your first year grades like and what kind of course did you do to get into university if you didn’t have A-levels?
 

Hb1234

Active Member
Dec 9, 2022
14
28
To help me answer this, I have got a couple of questions first.

What are your first year grades like and what kind of course did you do to get into university if you didn’t have A-levels?
I originally wanted to be a fashion buyer so took a course at UAL (BTEC) and then did a foundation year In business before transferring to law and received a 2.1.

My first-year grades are quite average, low 2.1 in legal studies and contract, 58 in criminal (struggled with criminal it just wasn't for me) and then I received a 45 in public (in my formative I received a 72) but was suffering quite badly from depression at the time which I have a doctor's note for and was receiving counselling from my uni.
 

Jessica Booker

Legendary Member
TCLA Moderator
Gold Member
Graduate Recruitment
Premium Member
Forum Team
Aug 1, 2019
13,335
19,148
Ok - I would stress that you don't need to do your A-levels this year as you have equivalent qualifications with your BTEC and foundation year.

I am not sure that doing your A-levels (which would need to be three in the same year) alongside your other commitments will be beneficial.

In terms of applying this year, you may want to focus on firms with no academic requirements: Firms with no minimum alevel requirements | The Corporate Law Academy Forum

The challenge for you will be that your circumstances are such that the majority of your academics are impacted by circumstances. Given this, you may find that waiting to apply until you have obtained 2.1 grades will allow you to have more success - you can apply to a range of vacation schemes as a finalist or a graduate, so don't feel you have to put everything into this year. I would suggest focusing on your own well-being and getting your grades up, rather than getting too busy with vacation scheme applications.
 
  • 🤝
Reactions: AvniD

AvniD

Legendary Member
Future Trainee
Gold Member
Premium Member
Oct 25, 2021
1,127
2,095
Hi all,

I am currently in the process of applying for spring vacation schemes.

I, unfortunately, have experienced a range of extenuating circumstances throughout my university degree which I have evidence of and my university was informed.

My second-year grades are incredibly poor as I had to return home for the year to look after my mother who was diagnosed with cancer and missed out on the majority of the year, leaving me with a mere grade of 53%.😔 However this is only 30% of my overall grade, I'm confident with my placement (10%) and final year (60%) I can graduate with a 2.1. I attend one of the lower-ranked Russell Group universities.

Despite this, this academic year I secured a placement year at a top 100 law firm, have 7 years of work experience running my own small business, a supervisor position, VP of a law-related university society and volunteer paralegal work experience.

I also never took my A-levels and have enrolled to take my A-levels this year alongside my placement in addition to a range of courses including compliance and accounting.

I have also just secured a summer analyst position at one of the world's largest banks (verbal offer, patiently awaiting the written contract)🤕 so unless this falls through I will be unable to apply for summer schemes.

In my searches, I have located around 50 spring vacation schemes but obviously, some of these firms fall into categories that would automatically reject my application without a 5-second skim read.

Has anyone got any advice on what types of firms I should be applying for? I know it's a numbers game and I will probably apply for a wide variety simply for the experience when it comes to applying for graduate jobs but it's a long process and I'm not sure if my grades are too low for consideration.

Thanks
First off, many congratulations on securing your summer analyst position 👏 I was super impressed by the fact that you have 7 years of experience running your own small business and have held multiple positions of responsibility at uni.

I think as Jessica said, targeting those firms with no A-Level requirements (and there are many!) is a good place to start. When you do end up making your applications, I would be very transparent about what exactly your mitigating circumstances were and how they impacted your performance at university. If you try to downplay whatever you experienced, then firms will not be able to contextualise your grades and take your circumstances into account. You don't have to make it a sob story but being honest is super important.
 

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.

Newsletter

Discover the most relevant business news, access our law firm analysis, and receive our best advice for aspiring lawyers.