TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[Lawlawland]

Highly shy to put this out, but I would highly appreciate if anyone who was successful with Slaughter and May's application stage could DM me and go through the CV and CL.

I would like to reciprocate the favour for firms I've been successful with.

 

[c.t.tc]

For the Mishcon chat interview can you have your notes open at the same time as typing the answers?

Not really - they said at the open day that they get notified if you switch screens

 

[c.t.tc]

Anyone heard back from Osborne Clarke post that bloody SHL test?

They said they would only get back to people a few weeks after the deadline in their confirmation email

 

[c.t.tc]

Anyone heard back from Osborne Clarke post that bloody SHL test?

Tbh I’ve completely forgotten about them though with how horrific that test was - genuinely the worst one ive ever had to do

 

[yasmars]

Tbh I’ve completely forgotten about them though with how horrific that test was - genuinely the worst one ive ever had to do

Was it as bad as TW?

 

[elizabethkate]

Also can someone confirm if there is time in between the chat and VI answers? e.g can I do the chats in PJs and have enough time to wear a shirt for the vI section?

yeah you pick how fast you go i wore PJs through chat then shirt for video

 

[elizabethkate]

For the Mishcon chat interview can you have your notes open at the same time as typing the answers?

idk everyone else’s experience but i had the webcam on the whole time recording me and when i clicked my camera went black so i couldn’t click but i had some hand written notes

 

[Prudentia]

Does anyone know what the Clifford Chance WG pass mark is for TC?

They don’t have a set pass mark. You’re ranked based on how well your cohort does. That’s why they advise scoring as high as you possibly can.

 

[emily3827]

Hey!

I'd recommend emailing them now rather than waiting. Firms will usually prefer the transparency, and it's much easier for them to move you into a different pool of candidates rather than trying to reorganise when they've given out offers (as at that point, they may need to ask people to swap to the other scheme if there are set numbers for each).

If you politely explain that you have have another WVS and would like to be considered for the spring scheme instead, they're normally understanding - I did this last cycle and asked to be considered for the spring scheme instead, and still ended up receiving an offer.

I would just send a polite and appreciative email, as I'm sure it is unlikely to be a problem

perfect, thank you so much !!

 

[Prudentia]

I'd say I hope they all move to something more like Amberjack if they really wanna keep online assessments. The options are more sensible and not as much of a false dichotomy as they are in Cappfinity imo but as long as VSs/TCs remain this competitive, they're gonna use whatever they can to filter people out.

It's such a shame as well because promising candidates get tripped up by these false dichotomies esp in Cappfinity tests. Take the slider questions where you get examples like "I'm practical and down-to-earth vs I'm thoughtful and reflective" (I've learned the hard way that you get better scores if you hard commit to one side rather than sit in the middle). In this example, I'd say being thoughtful and reflective can lead to you becoming practical and down-to-earth. The Cappfinity reports don't give useful, quantifiable, or seemingly substantiated feedback (as compared to e.g. Amberjack's pillars) either.

These companies must really have some excellent salespeople considering they earn millions in revenue by essentially scamming major employers within the the market for "screening high volumes of applications". Ironically, after being tripped up by a lack of clarity on the ranking questions (it didn't state if 1 was best/most likely or worst/least likely) in a non-law test once, I've been asking the firms that use Cappfinity if they've looked into this before I even make an application, and a couple of firms did say that they spotted that and made sure to adjust the wording on their tests lmao.

Really does feel like we're all being made to jump through fiery hoops and walk across trapezes on our hands to even get to an AC these days. I do hope, at the very least, that law firms move away from Cappfinity.

I don’t think the purpose of these tests (Cappfinity, Watson Glaser, etc) is to find the best candidates (regardless of what the marketing says). I think they’re purely meant to knock as many candidates out as possible to reduce the number of applications needing human review. Law firms can’t manually review thousands of applications, so an easy way to massively reduce that number is to introduce an online test they know will trip a lot of people up.

 

[c.t.tc]

Was it as bad as TW?

TW is the hardest normal WG style test I would say I’ve done. OC is hard bc of how weird it is - it’s like extreme logistics rather than verbal reasoning if that makes sense.

 

[user55998384]

how long did everyone recieve the mishcon test after application?