TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[user123987]

Has anyone heard from AG Manchester who applied on deadline post application?

 

[TCLAuser2002]

Post test I assume (mine was post test). It seems their benchmark this year is at least 33/36. Feels like such a waste of time writing my cover letter such a shame

They don't even read the cover letter I guess, maybe post AC max

 

[Donna Paulsen]

I swear i should not have found this forum - I'm so addicted, reminds me of when I discovered the student room right before university applications

Omg I was thinking this. I was so obsessed with the student room, constantly checking the offer spreadsheets seems like I haven’t changed

 

[TCGrad1642]

Has anyone heard post stage 2 for Milbank with an AC invite since the first batch of invites was sent?

No nothing yet sadly

 

[EfficientBag123]

Nah mine had that from before I did my VI.

 

[switchingup]

As a 31 year old, no, you're not too old for vac schemes... don't forget the average age of qualification is 30. You are nice and early in your journey lol

Also turned 32 in December. No rush!

 

[M123]

Has anyone heard from AG Manchester who applied on deadline post application?

Nope Applied on the deadline too

 

[Afraz Akhtar]

Guys I'm doing Clifford Chance's Middle East Vac Scheme application and I would appreciate any help on how to approach this question; it says "In no more than 1440 characters including spaces (this is approx. 200 words), what are your motivations for applying to the Middle East?" They didn't mention why Clifford Chance in this question like they had done 2 years ago when I had applied previously. Should I approach this question by mainly talking about the Middle East alone? Thank you!

@sqe4676 I think for Clifford Chance's Middle East TC, they want to see that you have a strong enough desire to work there, or at least some connection to the area e.g. language, work experience, family etc. which is why they've opted for this as opposed to the generic "Why CC". So, I agree, you should approach this question by focusing on the Middle East. However, I would encourage you to ensure that if your reasons have to do with the type of work that you could do there, then make sure this aligns with CC's offering in that location. For example, there's no use talking about, lets say infrastructure if CC don't really do that kind of work over there (I'm not saying they don't, it's just an example).

 

[letthisbethefinalcycle]

nrf pfo just in

 

[Bruce Wayne Attorney at Law]

NRF rejection post test, was expected

 

[User2640]

They don't even read the cover letter I guess, maybe post AC max

Firms that screen applicants before reading apps should ask for written apps / cover letter after they've passed the test :/ Or if you automatically progress people to the next stage anyway, you shouldn't ask for written apps cos you don't even read them. Tbh I really like firms whose next stage is not automatic

 

[Bruce Wayne Attorney at Law]

the pain lately

 

[Lawyergyal123!]

Oh gosh sorry to ask, but when does Bakers start contacting referees? I haven't properly talked to mine in a whileee

I wouldnt worry too much about this, just email your tutor and ask if it is okay but they never really ask more than a confirmation of grades..etc. They usually contact after you get an offer for VC or TC as well (or just before they make the offer). Most tutors are used to students asking and dont mind at all. Mine got fed up of me asking everytime and said i can put her down for all applications she doesnt care LOL

 

[Lawyergyal123!]

Congrats everyone who got Weil AC!!!! seems like quite a few, wondering if anyone got a rejection LOL i havent heard back yet so waiting..

 

[Bree]

Saw people getting offers beginning of March in the previous app cycle thread so might be a long wait

Offers or ACs?

 

[Maria56]

Offers or ACs?

ACs sorry
Someone said it was 1.5 months silence

 

[Bree]

ACs sorry
Someone said it was 1.5 months silence

Ah alright thank you!!

 

[Afraz Akhtar]

How do firms actually make offer decisions after an Assessment Centre?
I’m curious how decisions are typically made once candidates reach the AC stage.
Do firms still take a genuinely holistic view at that point (e.g. academic record, prior experience, overall trajectory), or is the decision largely driven by AC performance itself?
More specifically:

• Are candidates scored numerically across exercises (case study, interview, group task, etc.) with certain exercises weighted more heavily?
• If so, do different exercises carry different weight (e.g. case study vs competency interview)?
• Or is there still a degree of discretion and qualitative discussion when deciding who receives offers?

Interested to hear perspectives from trainees, associates, or anyone involved in the recruitment process.

@rohing99 the decision is largely driven on candidate performance. At this stage, your written application, test performance, academic criteria (and the vast beyond) has done what it needed to do, and that is get you to an AC. The decision after that is made on how you performed in the AC.

The way this tends to happen is that you are scored across each exercise against the metric that they've set. I don't know what grading they use, some grade you like you're sitting high school exams and others grade you out of a number - it really depends on how what works for the firm but the outcome will be the same regardless. All of the marks are provided to graduate recruitment, who then, create a final coalition - whether that's a total or an average and you're placed in a leaderboard.

Typically, at the end of the AC, all the assessors and graduate recruitment will sit in a meeting and talk through that leaderboard, and each assessor will talk through your feedback and what they liked. Essentially, they want to anticipate if the assessors think you should be made an offer. The reason this is important, is that you could have raised some serious concerns in one exercise but your performance in the other two was really strong - so hearing directly from the assessors is important.

Some firms may place a higher emphasis on certain components of the AC over others, but again, this depends on their process and what it is they consider to be most important.

 

[tc2026]

Does anyone known if DLA will still be giving out AC's - passed my TI 20th Dec... this is for the London office btw

 

[pfoapplicant]

Hi guys!

On the Charles Russell Speechlys application form, there's a "Why this firm" question, which is worded as follows:

"Please outline the reasons you have chosen to apply to Charles Russell Speechlys.
We're interested to understand: your research on the firm, how our work/clients has captured your interest, what excites you about working for an international firm, and the reason for choosing your preferred office location."

Ordinarily, I'd use part of my answer to this question to talk about why private client work interests me (because I can then tie this in with Charles Russell Speechlys' private client expertise). However, I'm thinking that this kind of reasoning is already covered by another question on the application form (relevant text highlighted in bold):

"Please use the space below to describe the reasons you want to be a solicitor.
Outline what first prompted your interest in the profession, your research on the profession and how this informed your decision, and particular areas of law that interest you."

Would a good, joined-up approach to these questions to be, for example, to use the latter to talk about, for example, why private client work interests me, and then talk in the former about Charles Russell Speechlys' emphasis on private client work (whilst alluding to the fact that I have mentioned elsewhere that I'm interested in private client work)?

If anyone has any ideas (no matter how small), I'd be really grateful!