-
Join Premium →Get Everything You Need to Secure a Training ContractNow 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.
-
Register →From AI to Energy Deals: Inside a Full-Service Law Firm with Osborne Clarke8 Dec 2025 · 6pm (UK) Zoom · Registration RequiredYou 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.
TCLA Direct Training Contract Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26
- Thread starter Ram Sabaratnam
- Start date
24/10/25 - under review, though i did receive another "your application is under review" mid nov
it seems the dates are random because mine says 12/11/2025 but I didn’t even have an a&o page then. I guess we won’t be hearing from them until next week 😔
Does the FF Stage 1 have any VI components? Or only Stage 2?
ibsr i just want to see that "unfortunately" email just so i can finally get some peaceful closure
slaughter pfo 😶
spent a lot of time and energy on the application, but it is what it is.
spent a lot of time and energy on the application, but it is what it is.
Hi all,
I've been discussing this with some friends recently and wanted to get some opinions. This is purely a hypothetical - I'm curious about the general stance on this dilemma.
If you were to secure a TC offer in one cycle (be it from a VS or DTC), but had doubts about whether the firm’s training style or practice areas aligned with your long-term vision (or that firm was less aligned than a different firm which you didn't receive an offer for that cycle), would you consider rejecting it and reapplying in the next cycle to the firms that rejected you and that fit better?
Because on one hand, the legal job market is competitive, and the "take what you can get" mindset is understandable. On the other, the firm and TC you choose can significantly shape your career trajectory and qualification path.
Is it strategically unwise to turn down an offer in the hope of something more aligned later? Or does it make sense to prioritise long-term fit over short-term security, especially since the practice area you qualify into down the line is quite an important decision?
Interested in hearing thoughts!
I've been discussing this with some friends recently and wanted to get some opinions. This is purely a hypothetical - I'm curious about the general stance on this dilemma.
If you were to secure a TC offer in one cycle (be it from a VS or DTC), but had doubts about whether the firm’s training style or practice areas aligned with your long-term vision (or that firm was less aligned than a different firm which you didn't receive an offer for that cycle), would you consider rejecting it and reapplying in the next cycle to the firms that rejected you and that fit better?
Because on one hand, the legal job market is competitive, and the "take what you can get" mindset is understandable. On the other, the firm and TC you choose can significantly shape your career trajectory and qualification path.
Is it strategically unwise to turn down an offer in the hope of something more aligned later? Or does it make sense to prioritise long-term fit over short-term security, especially since the practice area you qualify into down the line is quite an important decision?
Interested in hearing thoughts!
Last edited:
A&O not getting back to us today despite explicitly stating they would. How ironic lol. I thought the legal profession required us to meet deadlines and not set unrealistic expectations?
Oop 🫢 Maybe THEY need to take their virtual assesment and strengthen their organisational skills…
Take the tc and apply next cycle for direct Tc’s or until you secure a Vs. Then ou make your decision.
It’s all luck. This is my situation now I did a vs at a firm I thought I’d love but in fact it did. Not live up to what I thought and I know I’d be suited elsewhere. You only know a firm once you go there. I went there and I knew. I’m not applying again. Some people make little comments on the forum saying it could never be them but they’re the one without a tc so how could they remotely understand lol.
Go with what’s right for you if you get an offer and third not 100% apply and keep going. It’s not your fault you were good enough to get an offer and didn’t take it.
It would be different if you secured an offer enjoyed the fork and knew you’d take the tc but kept applying that is not fair. Why take an opportunity from someone else when you know you’d won’t take it.
Just to add you can have an offer and do vac schemes and make DTC applications. Having an offer doesn’t stop you but accepting one can bar you from applying to some vacation schemes but I think you can apply to DTC not sure.
Being honest I would just take the TC and then move to another firm upon qualification, this process is so competitive and luck based that I wouldn't be able to take the chance of potentially not getting one the next year
Ooh I didn't know or think that one could have an offer and still apply haha. I would assume that offer would expire if you don't accept it by a certain date, so either you accept and be barred from applying again, or you reject it and keep on applying.
That's very true, you won't know if that firm suits you until you experience it yourself. It makes me wonder how DTC applicants navigate that.
Can I ask what factors made you confirm that that firm wasn't for you if you initially really loved it?
Unless they’re holding another set of ACs then it’s highly unlikely for them to invite anyone for the AC as it’s next week
The offer must not expire before 15 September in your final year of undergraduate study, or four weeks from the date the offer is made, whichever date is later.
Many firms will extend offer deadlines for longer (they’ll ask you what firm). I knew someone who got a Tc offer after their winter scheme last year had a spring scheme (didn’t convert) had 2 summer schemes and convert the summer and took that tc offer.
I’ve heard some firms don’t allow you to take a vs at another firm you accept an TC offer with them but many do.
Also if you had a spring scheme got a tc off the back off that but had a summer scheme you can accept the spring tc offer and do the summer one as you hadn’t accepted a tc offer at the time of signing the contract for the summer scheme. There are many caveats.
You could just accept a tc offer and continue applying for DTC that is allowed. Being barred from applying to firms whilst holding a training contract is subject to the firm and they’ll put these in their t’s & c’s but obviously you wouldn’t know until you get the offer. But it’s not a thing that you’re automatically barred.
You can also just not tell them go about your day and do the vs whilst holding a tc. Many people do this so don’t feel bad. But feel bad if you know you’ll take the original tc and are just applying for the sake of it.
I have nothing against the firm I hold a tc offer at. It has a niche and that niche isn’t for me I’m interested in a different area of law and I don’t want to be pigeonholed into an area of law I did not enjoy on my scheme. Many Of the trainees and associates stayed within the selected few firms that specialise in this area and I knew moving out would be a challenge I went with how I felt and that’s not to be stuck. This is ultimately you making a life decision at such a young age. Don’t accept any tc because someone on a forum with a fake ass name told you to because they would. You like CC find other firms similar to that firm that you like and apply don’t settle.
Excuse any spelling or grammar I’m on a plane with very slow WiFi.
Don’t raise my hopes 😩🙏🏾 did they say if the second ac includes dtc again? Seems like the ac before Christmas will be for vac schemers
Last edited:
Similar threads
- Sticky
