TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[meredithgrey]

Any advice for Northridge AC?

 

[Serendipity2026]

any news from bakers?

 

[Gracejonesd]

Anyone heard from Kingsley Napley, Howard Kennedy, Bevan Brittan or Winckworth Sherwood? :/

 

[Cece176]

Is this for London?

Yes

 

[Hanzeeb]

Anyone heard from Kingsley Napley, Howard Kennedy, Bevan Brittan or Winckworth Sherwood? :/

I think I read somewhere that Howard Kennedy would progress applications in April

 

[Applicant7874652]

I agree with this completely. Unconverted Sidley winter vac schemer here. Hopefully will take stuff I learned and try it out at vac scheme this summer (have a second chance but will be doing things differently for sure). I went on TONS of coffee chats at Sidley - about 15, and I didn’t get the TC. I deffo treated it like more of an exercise rather than actually doing it meaningfully, as everyone gives you different advice (ie, ‘it’s all about networking’) but it’s also about showing you can balance, and also form actual connections. I think be more relaxed about coffees. Sidley ended up not asking coffee people for feedback, it was just a nice thing for us, so don’t feel like you need to perform in there either - just be natural. My two cents lol.

Just adding my thoughts as well as someone else who did the Sidley winter scheme lol.

I definitely agree with one of the other posts above about not giving anyone a reason to not hire you. The coffee chats are mainly useful to illustrate interest in the firm in the interview (which is something I did and got good feedback on). One of my supervisors also gave positive feedback on my time management with coffee chats as part of their feedback.

I would say from my experiences, the main things are performing well on all the formal assessments as the most important element (e.g. at Sidley there was a drafting exercise and a negotiation), giving a good impression at the interview (with the coffee chats there to help) and integrating well with your team and them liking you (so they give feedback that you're hireable and they'd want to staff you on work).

 

[DennyCrane]

It’s DTC!

I don't think the first slots are until after Easter

 

[amb303]

Anyone heard from Kingsley Napley, Howard Kennedy, Bevan Brittan or Winckworth Sherwood? :/

I applied to KN last cycle and they didn't get back to me until a while after the application deadline had passed, to send an invite to the next stage.

 

[summersun]

I don't think the first slots are until after Easter

Hi
There were slots before but they were probably booked really quickly.

 

[DennyCrane]

Hi
There were slots before but they were probably booked really quickly.

Gosh that means there must have been a LOT of slots since yesterday there were still 80 or so

 

[summersun]

Gosh that means there must have been a LOT of slots since yesterday there were still 80 or so

Oh wow ! When chatting with someone else we had counted about 60.
Out of curiosity, do you know when the latest ones were? Jut to see how late we can expect an answer from them after the TIs.

 

[TCchaser]

This may be a stupid question, but if an application question asks about a 'current' news story, can you talk about the tariffs? I know that things have settled down a little compared to the height of the tariff wars, but I still see it around on the news. Also, I wrote the answer to this question during the actual tariff wars, but I haven't submitted my application yet - would it be better to write about something else? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[DennyCrane]

Oh wow ! When chatting with someone else we had counted about 60.
Out of curiosity, do you know when the latest ones were? Jut to see how late we can expect an answer from them after the TIs.

There were definitely May slots open yesterday

 

[DennyCrane]

Has anyone heard back from DAC Beachcroft following the written exercise?

 

[StudentWP]

Has anyone heard back from DAC Beachcroft following the written exercise?

is this for the summer vac scheme

 

[summersun]

There were definitely May slots open yesterday

crazy considering they said they were aiming for panel interview to occur in May

 

[DennyCrane]

is this for the summer vac scheme

Yes

 

[StudentWP]

Yes

when did you receive the written assessment? this is the process they have said on their website though

• Complete our online application and upload your CV
• Answer four video interview questions
• Complete a critical thinking test
• Our deadline to apply is the 15th of March 2026, but the application window might close sooner if we reach capacity. Apply early to avoid missing out!

 

[DennyCrane]

crazy considering they said they were aiming for panel interview to occur in May

I think they might be considering applicants for the work experience scheme and the DTCs all at the same time.

 

[DennyCrane]

when did you receive the written assessment? this is the process they have said on their website though

• Complete our online application and upload your CV
• Answer four video interview questions
• Complete a critical thinking test
• Our deadline to apply is the 15th of March 2026, but the application window might close sooner if we reach capacity. Apply early to avoid missing out!

when did you receive the written assessment? this is the process they have said on their website though

• Complete our online application and upload your CV
• Answer four video interview questions
• Complete a critical thinking test
• Our deadline to apply is the 15th of March 2026, but the application window might close sooner if we reach capacity. Apply early to avoid missing out!

They've obviously departed from that and added a written assessment onto the end. To be fair it was only a week or so ago that the WE came out but they've moved fairly quickly so far. I guess it takes a good while to read through a load of written assessment answers though.