Hi, I don't often post on here but felt the need to respond to this. I hope you won't take anything I say as either gospel, or an indication on you as person or as an applicant.
Keep your chin up. If there's one thing in the world that you have control over it is your own ambition. Measuring yourself against quantifiable metrics that may or may not be better or worse than others is a great way to discourage yourself from achieving your dreams. The process of applying to law firms in this country is not easy, for anyone. There's no amount of priviledge that automatically opens doors for you, it is why the qualifying age is near 30. Competition is high, places are low and the constant demoralisation doesn't help. The only thing you can do as an applicant is keep that chin up and continue grafting.
That being said, it is unfortunate that your position makes it especially hard. I saw a post on here the other day about a list of firms that takes international sponsored TCs, there aren't many. Furthermore, 8 rejections is quite frankly nothing. Many people will go through 25++ rejections before landing even one AC. I'd say the fact that you have made it to 1 AC in two years and 8 applications is actually quite a strong showing all considered.
As for your mitigating circumstances, there's no one on here that can read the mind of graduate recruitment and tell you that it is enough or not enough to be considered. Some firms will unfortunately be very harsh and automatically extinguish you on the back of not good A levels. Others will consider it character building and really like to know your story and how it defines how badly you want to become a lawyer. It's a toss up. The fact that you have progressed to graduating first class with distinction as well as interned with Band 1 firms undoubtedly works in your favour despite the A levels.
Don't demoralise yourself on the back of 8 rejections, that's rookie numbers. I know people that graduated from their LLB 10 years ago, had bits and bobs on their CV before getting their life together and confidently applying who are now working for some big PE American firms. No one's story is set in stone.
Maybe some practical tips. Look beyond TCLA, Legal Cheek and Chambers Student. They are very useful but there's also a vast number of other firms out there who are both operating at a very high level and don't receive many applicants. Firms like Wilmer Hale have a 3 month arbitration internship despite not taking TC's. Applying to solely the top 10 most firms list on Legal Cheek is a great way to bunch yourself in with the rest of the pack. Once you've done that, have a think about the number of applications you are submitting. Unfortunately, those who say quality over quantity aren't in touch with reality. It needs to be both quality and quantity. Spit out 25 applications this cycle, you can still do that. Once you think you can't go on, do more. If some firms offer both VC and DTC, do both. The game isn't over until you're ready to give up.
Hope this helps.
